“You think?” Aswad replied. “And, what will we do when darkness falls, and we’re at the mercy of the beasts of the night there? Night will soon be here.”
Keita pushed Ossouna aside.
“And, what protection do we have from beasts being out here?” Ossouna asked.
“Look!” said Aswad. “On the horizon!”
They shot a glance yonder and saw the outline of three figures drawing nearer.
“If you still have a death wish, Keita. I suggest you stick around. I bet you’ll see it come true,” Ossouna said.
He darted toward the woods.
Keita and Aswad were hot on his heels.
With pounding hearts, they soon found themselves within an area with heavy overgrowth.
“Stop!” Aswad said under panting breath. “How much further?”
“As far as needs be,” Ossouna replied.
“But we don’t know where we’re going,” Aswad replied. “We are lost.”
“Did we ever know where we were going?” Ossouna remarked. “We still don’t know,” he added. “We must move on.”
“But please, not so fast,” Aswad said. “Allow me to catch my breath.”
“Very well,” Ossouna replied. “But keep walking,” he said.
“We must use our heads,” Keita remarked, a good thirty minutes further into their journey. “The canopy here is thick. Soon it will be as dark as night, and I mean long before the sun has gone down. We ought to look for a fork in a tree where we could lodge ourselves to get a night’s rest. If not one, well then two or three such trees large enough to accommodate us,” he added.
“No argument here, although I doubt I’ll be able to sleep a wink,” Ossouna said.
“The feeling is mutual,” Keita replied.
“Agreed,” Aswad added. “Never slept in a tree before.”
“We’ll need to get up into the canopy to avoid detection,” Keita said.
“We’ll need to be careful,” Aswad added, “and, I don’t mean, be on extra guard from men. I mean to be on the lookout for snakes!”
Ossouna breathed deeply then exhaled. “Provided we survive the night,” he began, “call out to me by whistling when you get up in the morning. Whistle like we did back when we hunted. Do not speak!” he added emphatically, “lest whoever that might be near hear us!”
An exhausted Keita, high up into the canopy, slept as soundly within the fork of a tree as could be.
Ossouna awoke.
Below, what appeared to be a procession of light could be seen in the distance. The bearers—he could not see who they were—appeared to draw closer and closer to him as the night went by.
His heart raced.
Aswad awoke and peered through the leaves at the goings-on. Neither could discern who the bearers were, nor what was the swishing sound they heard, followed by a dull “thud.” ’Twas like the sound low hanging fruit makes after falling from a tree to the ground.
By this time, the light drew nearer, and Ossouna, covered in sweat, feared stirring hand or foot.
Long before either of them had awoken, two-legged beasts, the likes of which they had never seen, hoisted and suspended gagged men feet first, from the sturdier branches of adjacent trees.
Before they’d suspended them, the beasts used vines to wrap their captives’ arms tightly to the sides of their torsos.
They cleaved their heads from their shoulders then quickly collected them while the restrained torsos wriggled to as much a degree as they could.
An earthen vessel shaped like a large bowl was placed under the corpses.
This process was repeated for hours on end throughout the night.
Ossouna and Aswad soon found they could no longer sleep.
The following morning Keita’s face grew long after acknowledging he had awoken not out of a dream. Instead, he arose and found himself nestled within a tree.
He made his way down, turned around, and gasped violently for a breath of air.
His heel struck a root, and he fell backward.
He shot up to a seated position and stared transfixed.
Trembling with a racing heart, he broke into a cold sweat.
His chest heaved.
For as far as he could see, decapitated bodies, bound from their torsos down to their feet, hung upside down from the tree branches. As to their heads, they were nowhere to be found.
Earthen vessels positioned below the torsos were used to collect their blood. As if by art, or necromancy, the blood, which had been out in the open air for some time now, did not congeal.
Ossouna whistled short and sharply.
Keita cast a glance up at the canopy and saw him move his index finger toward his lips.
Keita nodded, and Ossouna made his way down from his place of concealment.
Aswad immediately descended from the tree he had climbed.
They walked on the tips of their toes toward him.
“Be as quiet as you can,” Ossouna whispered. “There is no time to explain. We must move swiftly and silently.”
They proceeded to walk, hearts in mouth, in agonizing silence among the dead.
The view of hung carcasses appeared to stretch on forever. Time seemed to stand still, stiller than the corpses that did not stir as there was no wind.
Birds chirped merrily. All manner of insects were no less vocal than they usually were, yet none of the three were much aware of it. For the most part, what they heard was an eerie silence punctuated by the sound their feet made as it came into contact with the fallen dry leaves.
“We’re walking around in circles,” Aswad whispered.
“We’re not,” Ossouna said. “Or, at least I don’t think so,” he said to himself, scrutinizing the scenery more closely.
“They could not have laid this many people out,” Aswad whispered.
“That’s the panic in you talking,” Ossouna replied. “Compose yourself. They went on with their ghastly business all night.”
Keita began to pray. “Who are they?” he whispered.
“Later, Keita. Apparently, you slept through it all,” Ossouna replied. “We ought to be silent.”
They continued to walk, and by degrees, the path ahead began to look less foreboding. Here they no longer saw any more suspended corpses.
Keita fell on his knees and wept.
Ossouna stooped before him. “There is no time for it, Keita. We are not out of harm’s way. Not yet. We don’t
