Feral – A SciFi web series – Chapter 3
The golden ball of fire emerged from the ground far into the horizon, rose high above their heads, and then silently fell into the other end, all the while animating their darkness on the ground behind them. Agumbe had tried different tricks to get rid of the darkness but it had always followed him, except when he hid inside the caves from where he could not see the burning sphere. With creatures all around setting traps, Agumbe had not wanted to be marked for kill. He had hid inside for an entire period between the rises of the twin moons to full but eventually had to come out when Mani had snarled at him continuously for being unhelpful.
With his head hung and eyes staring into the mud covering his feet he had approached the white area where the sphere had its spell. As soon as he had stepped out the darkness attached to him appeared. Agumbe frustrated with it fell down on the ground beating it with his bare hands only to bruise. Mani had put his arms around him and held him until he had noticed that Mani had darkness around him too. Both of them had been marked and he had nobody to protect him if something happened to Mani. He had held on to his brother tight until Mani pushed him and brought the catch he had found near the shrubs. Rarely did they find a dead animal that they could consume without hunting. Maybe it was the last meal offered by the predator before it takes them out. The demons in Agumbe’s mind haunted him but he learnt to live with them as he survived every day since.
Mani had a newfound strength after yesterday’s battle with the dancing creature. Agumbe had decided against pointing out that it was the water that had defeated it and he had merely run away from it. Mani noticed the doubt in his face and nudged him constantly until Agumbe stood up and enacted the whole scene from yesterday.
He moved into a stand where he stood facing an unknown opponent and danced around indicating the face off but soon he tripped and fell on his back and then stood and ran away from the whole scene. Mani let out a chuckle when he saw Agumbe fall down and then run but stopped when he realized that his brother was mocking him. He threw the bone that he had been chewing at Agumbe and walked away. Agumbe had stood there feeling good that he had thought his proud brother a lesson, a lesson that could keep him alive, in fact both of them.
The burning sphere continued its act and Agumbe waited for the attack to come.
Soon it was time for the twin moons to rise to full and Agumbe prepared his escape as the burning sphere hung high above their heads. Agumbe went about cheerful as he pranced around and Mani kept staring at him little suspecting that his brother had a life of his own.
As the sphere fell into the sea of brown pillars and the green canopies were nothing but a black silhouette, Agumbe settled down to eat their meal. Mani dragged the kill he had made earlier and pushed it in front of Agumbe without making any sound. A strange feeling came over Agumbe as he watched his brother silent and different. Agumbe lost in his own desire for things to move quickly ignored the feeling and dug his hands into the flesh.
Like last time Mani slipped into a slumber immediately and Agumbe found the chance and exited their home. He was soon at his spot leaning on the rocks. He kept his arm close to his body and stretched his legs. The twin moons as usual shone bright to display their art of the dragons and the woman.
Agumbe stared into the abyss and imagined the strange other world he had visited last time. Would he drift into it again or would it be a different one?
Agumbe noticed a particular section down at the valley that glistened white. The twin moons somehow like the sphere had a presence down there. He knew something was going on as he noticed movement down, near the white glistening, of what he assumed to be water again. The water had found its way down there. However, it was not the water that alone moved, another creature had arrived there.
Agumbe crouched forward towards the edge of the crevice and strained hard. The other creature moved slowly like him in the darkness without revealing itself but Agumbe knew where it headed. The creature appeared suddenly from the darkness and touched the glistening white water. Agumbe for the first laid his eyes on it. What he saw brought another strange feeling in his stomach as he saw an image of himself down there.
The creature was nothing he had seen before but wait, he had seen it earlier. It looked like his brother Mani except it was much shorter. Were there more creatures like him and his brother?
Agumbe stirred and a rock slipped out its place and into the valley below making a noise. The creature immediately looked up and caught Agumbe’s eyes. For a moment, they locked their sight and stared at each other. The creature had a different face but something made him not take his eyes off it. But the creature slowly lowered its head and head back into the darkness. He watched it disappear unsure what to do.
He came back to his spot, lay back, and remembered the face. It was not long before he was in another world. This time the new creature appeared in it and touched him on his shoulder. He woke up scared and rushed back to the caves much earlier than usual. He had to figure out a way to convey this to his brother even if it meant he had to doing something different.
The ending chapters would be published this week.
