The Old World

8

"And that was where it should have ended. That was how my story should have concluded as I safely returned to the beach where my colonies stayed, but when a most frightful feeling came over me, as I felt when I snook beyond the mountain at night and came face to face with the tiger, I found myself turning back again to the mountain.

"I had descended the mountain near noon that day, and when I felt my stomach drop I knew something was wrong. It was the silence.

"For the entire week I had been with the Nepham, roaming, and hunting in the forests, it was always bustling with noise and life. Maybe my ears had become well-adapted, for I quickly noticed not the faintest call of a bird or insect could be heard in that forest.

"The hunters and the elders told me to be wary of such things. Silence in the forest was either a stalking predator or a demon spirit, bringing bad luck and misfortune... or death.

"I knew something was wrong and so I turned around for a better view. I moved slowly at first, trying my best to fox walk as the hunters did, slowly stepping over leaves without making noise. I came to the top of a hill in the forest where I could see the mountain in the east. I must have been a mile and a half from the mountain's base, and so I could see clearly.

"I saw smoke, rising so far into the air and in so much density and opacity that I could have been convinced a bomb had detonated at the mountain. I was confused. Even the celebration fires we had lit would not be so large. The time of day was wrong. It was early, too early for a fire that size. I opened my kit and grabbed binoculars. I scanned the mountain, but all I could see then was a more up-close picture of the horrifying dark cloud of smoke drifting along with the wind.

"I ran another ten minutes or so back to the mountain. The noise still remained eerily silent, and as I began scaling the mountain, I smelt the burning wood and leaves. Climbing in the mountain in such a hurry as I had not done before was tiresome, but in half an hour I was at the plateau, and once again facing the primordial forest, this time without such good feelings.

"It was then that I heard the shouting. The call of horns, that of goat horns being blown. It was then I heard the screams and the shouts. There was an attack. It was the river clan.

"I came dashing through the forest to a sight of paradise becoming stripped and molested by demons. I saw people, Nepham, the same as the villagers, beating them and killing them. I saw the men, the hunters, being stabbed and smashed like pumpkins, and the women and children grabbed and bound at the feet and hands. At last, as it was overdue and I should have known, nature had shown me the truth of this primitive world, and quickly I was overcome with grief.

"I approached quickly, readying myself with one leg forward. My flare gun was empty, but from within my kit, I equipped myself with a safety knife, almost as big as a machete. I ran into the thick of the smoke not being able to see past six feet. I heard shouting and crying on each side of me, and when one of the raiders saw me he charged. I dove away into a hut that was still standing and fell to my back. I crawled away from the tarp, but the raider followed me in. He shouted and poked his spear through the tent. I quickly grabbed his weapon and disarmed him. Holding him at my hand, I made quick work, running him through with my machete.

"I searched quickly thereafter for the shaman, but I had no luck. In a rage, I could not focus straight, and I was soon cornered by these raiders. It was almost as if my mind was tricking me. The raiders looked nearly identical to the young hunters I was bonding with the whole week. As if they had turned on me.

"'Come on!' I shouted. I was brazen and ready to draw yet more blood. But with my back and front surrounded by murderous raiders, I was forced to act as an alley dog fighting the pound. I saw out of the corner of my eye the shaman being dragged from his tent.