The wind was chilly this morning. The swerving hills channelled the winds to blow a calm breeze over the village. A beautiful village with straw-roofed houses that stood against the elements of time. Over the mountain, there was a resort. Sometimes, the villagers would hear the cheers and jubilee of men and women from the resort. This bothered the villagers for they knew their place in the mountains.
Today, the chief commander was taking the young warriors into the forest. The chief commander’s right-hand lieutenant’s medallion was found by fishermen the other day while fishing. They say that the medallion was smeared with a green slug-like substance that they have never seen. This was an important man in the village. For his medallion not to be with him, indicated he was trouble. He was too important for the village to lose him. He had to be found.
The other day, the lieutenant had gone fishing to wind down. This was his pastime activity. He had fifty fishermen working under him. Yet he enjoyed the calmness of the river. The peace that comes with the patience of fishing. While lost in his thoughts, the lieutenant saw a frog hoop by. This frog had brown spots and its skin was glosser than the frogs that he was used to. While watching the frog, a mountain cat came fishing for food. The cat thought that the frog was something to eat. The cat reached for the frog with its paw and tossed it around. The frog did nothing but bounce back up. The cat continued to toss the frog around and the cat saw that the frog did not fight back. The elders taught him that cats play with food before eating it. And so, the cat finally held the frog down and bit the frog’s head off. Green blood shot from the headless frog and its body went limp. Almost instantly, the cat fell to the ground and went limp too.
The lieutenant immediately stood up and went over to examine the cat. He was in utter disbelief. The mountain cat would take at least 16 of their best warriors to kill and yet, this frog did so instantly. He walked over to the cat with caution. You see, the lieutenant realized that the cat was still breathing. However, its eyes were hyper-diluted and the cat looked as if it was lost in a world of its own. The frog’s green blood slowly fused into the river. The cat was still breathing but completely unaware of its surroundings. Marvelled at the phenomena that he just witnessed, he left his fishing rod and searched for more of these mountain cat killing frogs.
One of the most important skills that the men of the village learnt was tracking skills. It was easy for them to get lost in the mountain forest. Moreover, it was easy to lose prey if not caught quickly in the mountain forest. The ability to track prey was of vital importance because the prey dictated whether the family ate or not. With these skills, the lieutenant carefully calculated the frog’s tiny footprints. He analysed the path that the frog used to get the river and realized that the path led deeper into the forests. Many men disappear into the Deep Forests. Only their king managed to get into the Deep Forests and come back. No one knows why he went to the Deep Forests but they all knew that when he returned, the village was more prosperous than before. The secrets of the Deep Forest were unknown to the villagers but the King.
This presented the lieutenant with a challenge. He knew that the village elders would not agree to this. But he also knew that the capture of these frogs would help the villagers capture more prey. The village loved an animal that they called the Evader. The animal was delicious and it is as if the animal knew this. And so, it was not easy to capture. Last week, one of the best warriors tried to capture one for the welcoming of his new wife. He stalked the animal like a lion stalking an antelope. Gingerly he stepped over the mountain rocks, hidden well behind the long grass that covered the mountain. As the warrior raised his bow and arrow to deliver the fatal shot, the little Evader raised its large ears and heard the warrior. The lightning speed of the animal rattled the warrior. So much so, he slipped off the rock he was standing on. He fell deep into the fissure, only to be saved by a hanging root that caught the strap of his hunting bag.
The lieutenant thought to himself that he will use this story as the basis of his argument. That as a village, they could not afford to lose good warriors. Especially since the resort told them that soon the land they have called home for aeons will soon be under their jurisdiction. According to the translator, the resort will require that every man of every household to pay the resort monthly fees. They knew the village did not use their money so they requested a chicken for every wife that a man has. Every man in the village had at least two wives. The village King told the villagers that to protect the land of their ancestors and future generations, the possibility of war with these people with skin that looked like it has been drenched in milk was real.
The lieutenant knew that he had enough to his case to convince the elders about going into the Deep Forest. He looked at the two large trees that marked the entrance of the tree. The thick bark of the thick stems commanding attention of all who pass it. The grass seemed greener inside the Deep Forest. The leaves of the two great trees were purple, with scarlet veins. It was as if the trees were humans trapped in their transition into their afterlife. The ends of the trees seemed endless. The branches stretched and scraped the heavens above. The Deep Forest; the source of their village’s prosperity and yet no one was allowed to access it.
Looking above, the skies over the Deep Forest shone green. The same green that coloured the blood of the frog that the mountain cat killed. The lieutenant was captivated by the wonder and mystery of it all. Yet he knew he had to get going. He had to discuss the matter with the elders of the village sooner than later. He turned around and headed back to his village.
He decided to pass by the river to see whether the mountain cat was still there. It was not dead after all. What if the mountain cat had woken up? This could provide the lieutenant with more information to provide for the village elders. He hurried to his fishing spot by the river. The weather had turned, the skies turning grey. The wind blowing harder than it was in the morning. There was no time to waste or less the rain would catch him by the river. With a clear objective, he walked over the river just to observe whether the mountain cat was alive or not. However, the closer he came to the river, the thicker the air became. It was strange. The wind blew hard on his knees, the air thickened making it difficult to breathe and yet, he felt as if he was walking a few inches above ground. The experience bewildered him. As a lieutenant of the royal army of his village, he had no fear. Fear was never in him so he was not afraid. He did not stop, he kept walking.
In his sight, he saw his fishing rod. He was getting close. He searched the area for the mountain cat. Instead, his eyes saw something else. Where the mountain cat lay were two large beings. The complexion of their skin was emerald, with brown coloured lines running from joint to joint. The lieutenant dared not look long. He held his medallion and quickly turned around. He tried to pick his pace up but he couldn’t. The more he tried to run, the more the Earth disappeared in front of him. He kissed his medallion and threw it as far as he possibly could. Suddenly, the lieutenant disappeared into a beam of green light.
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