21.
Tonto heaved up his sagging shoulders while his eyes
rested on the caravans ahead. He had seen those similar caravans before; they
are the wanderers of the land. The caravans were small but they are well
maintained. He seen them mostly loaded onto the trains and dragged from town to
town but the one he saw was an exception. He counted fifteen wagons and
carriages in the caravan train. He then looked to the white horse of his
missing partner. The darned horse had trod towards the caravan probably to
snare the mares there or hungry for the oat served. He knew the horse was a
stallion with the obvious protrusion that it displayed when it raised it body.
“Bloody oaf!” Tonto cursed in the adopted tongue. He
pushed himself forward with his weary legs. His walk was made easy when he
caught the scent of the camp fire cooking. He rush and then stopped in his
walk.
“We don’t want your kin with us.” The bare chested
man stood there with a rifle in the hands. Tonto raised his hands and was to
speak when he saw the lady intervened.
‘Let him through, Pedro. It’s the wishes of mine.”
The lady dressed in the off shoulder white blouse and colorful wide skirt stood
before the bare-chested man. “He will share my food.”
“Lady Quita, he is ….” The bare chested man
interrupted.
“He is an Apache. I know that. He is not our enemy.
Leave us.” Lady Quita replied and motioned to Tonto follow her.
There were two campfires there; the main one shared
by the others while the single one occupied by Lady Quita. He offered food and
drinks to Tonto. He took his share and then rested there at the campfire used
by the lady alone. He looked at the lady whose hospitality he was enjoying. She
was in her mid-forties with the few strand of the gray hair.
“I saw you coming in
the fire.” Lady Quita told him. “The fire never lies that one who was a fiery
one will emerge from the plains. I looked over and saw you but Pedro our sentry
was more vigilant.”
“What more did the fire
say of me?” Tonto asked.
“The fire showed of the
greater fire and dead. From it you have emerged. It also showed me of your
purpose.” Lady Quita paused then before he looked at Tonto. “The avenging devil
that rode with you is missing. You seek him. I may help you for a price.”
Tonto glared at the
lady who offered him the assistance and yet she attached a price.
“You are to give me a
part of your soul in exchange for that of my son.” Lady Quita told him. “Agreed
and your avenging devil will be shown to you. You must hurry for my son is near
for now.”
Tonto looked
disbelieving at the lady. He contemplated on the exchange and was asked on the
son when she rushed him up. He valued Kemo-Sabe as his partner but to give up a
part of him was unheard of. He was to reply when he heard the shouts and then
the growls.
“My son is here.” The
lady called out. She then motioned to the back of Tonto. He turned around and
saw the huge wolf there. It was cornered by two wolves which were smaller
compared to the first one. He then saw one of the men ran to approach the three
wolves but during the run, the figure evolved into a wolf on its hind legs. It
shed its human skin to be replaced with the furry chest and the rear limbs
elongated into a set of paws with the claws. The upper limbs also evolved into
the same but the major change was the head which protruded into an extended
snout and the huge jaws. The pace of the run on the figure sped up with the
evolution and it then leaped at the huge wolf. The huge wolf stepped aside and
with its left huge paws lashed out at the leaping wolf. The swipe of the huge
paw on the side of the wolf’s nose and threw it a distance across. I saw more
men approaching the huge wolf. They all evolved in their appearance to the
wolf. A total of seven wolves surrounded the huge wolf.
“The time is now.” Lady
Quita glared at Tonto. The later was stand transfixed there but his hands
spread out on their own calling. Lady Quita reached for the right hand and then
began her chant. From the arms of Lady Quita, a rodent appeared. It scruffy
from inside her blouse to her right arm and towards the extended arm of Tonto.
It moved fast and then reached across to the other arm. Tonto was to scream out
that the rodent had urine on his arms but then he felt the tugging on his
flesh. The rodent had moved down his spine towards his left feet. The tugging
of the flesh got intense and then he screamed out loud. The tugging at the
flesh soon became like a series of contraction and then he felt himself
growing. Tonto pushed himself backwards when he felt the tugging again. His
face stretched out and his face bones expanded to form a snort. His limbs felt
like it was pulled out and the fingers extended. His spine curved out and his
chest expanded. He then left off a growl and then a long howl.
Tonto in his new form
glared at the huge wolf. The pack of the smaller units had retreated when he
approached the huge wolf. He stepped around the huge wolf with the slight
growls under his mutterings. Without a warning, the huge wolf leaped at him.
Both of them clashed and then rolled on the plains like a bunch of kids. Tonto
raised his right hand and sneaked in a punch at the huge wolf jaws. He then
moved in for the next punch when both sides of his ribs were jabbed by the huge
wolf claws. He used his rear limbs to kick himself out. The two split and then
Tonto stood up. He looked at his foe. It would be a long fight but this fight
had to end. He leaped at the huge wolf and then grabbed it by the head and then
did a somersault to the rear. In his somersault, he twisted his body and felt
the neck cracked on the huge wolf. That was another move he needed to do.
Tonto dropped behind
the huge wolf and then kicked his right leg against the spine of the huge wolf
to leverage against it. His next move severed the head.
The pack of wolves
howled when the headless body dropped to the ground. The anguish mother rushed
forth to hold the severed head and cried her heart out.
Later it was time to
bury the dead.
Tonto stood there
watching the burning funeral pyre set before the setting sun. It was a fast and
simple ceremony and then the dead sent off with the burning fire. His body
ached from the fight but he was back in his own body. He twitched his weary
legs and then stepped away. He made his way back to the caravan owned by Lady
Quita. She soon joined him there.
“Thank you.” The lady
replied. “You do realize that your sacrifice was needed to remove my son’s
agony. He was demonized and none could stop him until the stars told me of the
prime. You are that prime.”
Tonto looked away and
felt shame on his transformation. It was his suppressed shame. He had suffered
from it and his adopted father had taken him away to a God fearing country.
‘You will find solace there’; that was the advice of his adopted father. He
found solace but never the full strength of it. He was still cursed.
“Your shaman skills and
spells assisted you.” Lady Quita told him. “I invoke your curse to get you
alive. Only then could you find your avenging partner. And with it you may just
destroy the demon.”
“And the Lycans will be
there with you.”
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