Sadly, though Gazda had cunning and skill, Goro still judged him to be crazy since he continued to cover his pale skin with mud and traipse about the jungle with a panther skin over his back. A skin from a panther similar to the others that he claimed to have killed on his own, a tale that Goro doubted, despite the shining fang that the night ape always carried at his waist.
One was unlikely... But Gazda claimed to kill a new panther whenever the old disguise had rotted or worn out.
Such a thing was unbelievable.
Goro had seen the shining fang in action on the odd group hunt in which Gazda eagerly participated; and the silverback respected its gleaming edge after seeing it snatch the life out of prey, even though he doubted its power against his might. To the bull ape it was but a little fang, and there were few places on the silverback’s body where it could penetrate to a depth that would kill.
His warrior nature would make him wary of it, as he was wary of many dangers; but Goro was more concerned about Omag’s whispering, and the close attention that the failed silverback and the aging queens paid to his son Ulok.
Like any silverback, the king cared for his offspring, but had no love for them as they grew into maturity, and became ambitious blackbacks. Such love could blind him when a blackback son’s challenge came, and no king could be so sentimental.
He respected Ulok’s strength, and could see his own power there in the flex and heft of the growing ape’s muscular form.
Goro did respect it, though he did not respect the ape. Ulok had become a bully and had no honor. It was normal for the blackbacks to fight amongst themselves—and such behavior was even encouraged—but they were to protect the tribe. Many times had Goro seen Ulok bully the females and infants when his needs were not met, or when disappointment loomed.
Since Omag was also bully, it seemed to Goro that the association between the two was the source of his son’s dishonor. While this bothered the bull ape as a father, is soothed him as a silverback, for being a bully would make Ulok’s challenge weaker when it came.
Goro was not as convoluted a thinker as his enemies were, and that might have been his undoing in the end. He did not obsess over the unhealthy relationship between his son, Omag and the aging queens. It was his thought that the more likely outcome would be that Ulok would reach an age to challenge and in a rage slay the crippled Omag as was sometimes the way with young males—even if the older ape was not the king.
The silverback was glad then to think of old Baho’s loyalty. Baho had also fathered blackbacks in the tribe, and those were loyal to him and to the king.
Still, Goro knew a challenge would one day come, and he would be ready for it. At 450 pounds of solid muscle, few things in the jungle could threaten him.
And only a foolish blackback would dare make the challenge before he was at the height of his power. Goro doubted such an attempt would ever come from the night ape, for besides being crazy, Gazda did not seem to be so ambitious—and he was too small.
The night ape’s inclusion in such thinking usually came when Goro had puzzled over Gazda’s claims about killing panthers. It was inconceivable to the silverback that the comparatively scrawny night ape could accomplish such a thing, shining fang or not.
This usually led the king to wondering if even he could accomplish a victory over a big cat without such a weapon.
CHAPTER 19 – The Two Trees
Gazda was well into his 13th year and growing quickly into full adolescence. Whenever he returned from a hunt there would be clashes with the other young male apes because his diet of fresh blood and his active lifestyle had left his flexible body layered in banded muscle, and his head full of pride.
His hubris and his immaturity often provoked him into competitions of strength, speed and dexterity, all of it in a lead up to the day that he and other young males would be fully welcomed into the throng of blackbacks that jockeyed for position under Goro and his lieutenants, with most of them eyeing the throne.
This could lead to brutal exchanges between Gazda and his contemporaries that usually began in the good-natured spirit of competition, but that more often than not degenerated into payback for lifelong personal disputes, answering old debts, insults and jealousies.
Gazda enjoyed the tests of strength and courage to a degree that depended upon the time of day. At night or when the sun was directly overhead, the night ape could surprise the tribe by easily overpowering his peers, and while this built him a firm reputation as a fighter; it also meant he was the target of repeated attacks, since he had become a benchmark for all other challengers.
However, battles in the long shadows had been outlawed by the king, and their outcomes thrown into suspicion, which left the night ape timing his challenges for those parts of the day when he was strongest.
This restriction left a lot of defeated young blackbacks chattering and jockeying to fight the night ape again when it most favored them. Many quickly learned the trick of issuing their challenges mid-morning or afternoon when the night ape most craved his sleep. He could still win then, but the outcome was much closer and left him exhausted in victory and defeat.
At night when he could revel in his power, Gazda was more than a match for them, and at such times he entertained childish
