THE KING HUNT The first rays of dawn broke on the horizon. Light danced across the rolling waves between the two islands. A commotion on the northern shore of the southern island reached its boiling point. “Is time! Is time!” A gaunt old man, the island’s elder, shouted over the murmuring of hundreds. “The water has receded. The stone revealed. It is dawn. We wait for the king.” A boy, no older than nine, stepped out from the crowd. The old man parted his lips in a three-toothed grin. “eYob!” A woman grabbed the boy, pulling him back against her chest. She glared at the old man. “You will not condemn my boy to certain death!” “Mother,” eYob protested. The old man chuckled. “He is not your boy. He is our king. The water has receded. The stone revealed. It is tradition. You know—” “Damn your tradition!” eYob’s mother stamped her foot on the ground. “The hunt was not meant for children!” “I’m not a child!” eYob slipped away from his mother’s grasp, lost his balance, and toppled over into the sand. Laughter pulsed along the front lines of the crowd. eYob’s long-haired cousin, YosYn, stepped forward and helped eYob to his feet. “Don’t listen to your mother. Don’t listen to any of them.” eYob nodded. “You turn off your mind, listen to instinct. We trained for this. It’s in your bones.” He patted eYob’s chest. “You will live to see me again.” eYob turned away from the crowd, away from YosYn, away from his mother, and took his first steps past the elder, toward the canoes, toward the ocean, and toward the island of the hunt. He forced his mother’s wails out of his mind. Ten canoes lined the shore of the southern island. eYob reached them and turned back to his people. They wanted blood. He could see it in their eyes. They had no pity for him. No pity for the boy king that, in the eight months following his father’s murder, brought them nothing but continued drought and growing hunger. The island was dying. They all knew it. And he had become the target of— “Get on with it!” someone called out from the crowd. The boy obliged, stepping toward the one canoe that appeared least likely to take on water. It was old but well maintained. The wood came from a time when the island’s trees grew thick and sturdy. He’d seen the newer canoes splinter at the slightest provocation from one of the hundreds of crocodiles that populated the water between the two islands. He couldn’t let his mother see him die in the jaws of a crocodile before he had even made it to the northern shore. He would reach the island. Give his mother the relief of dying out of sight. eYob gave the canoe a push and leaped inside. The boat swayed violently. Water leapt up the canoe’s sides and splattered eYob’s bare feet. But soon the boat steadied, and eYob eased himself down onto the canoe’s narrow seat. A gust of wind brushed the side of eYob’s shaved head and gently pushed the canoe off course. He reached down for the canoe’s oar. It was gone. He cursed and turned back to look at the shore. The oar lay in the distant sand. Another swirl of wind hit his naked back. His flesh broke out in goosebumps, and the canoe was sent further from shore. A cluster of men that had gathered at the shore bellowed with laughter. eYob tried to ignore them. He dipped his right hand into the water and attempted to turn the canoe around. Each push against the current seemed to have little effect. But after awhile he found himself facing the shore once again, now even further away. r’klYn, a muscular man with waist-length white hair, pale skin, and eyes that glowed red like embers grabbed eYob’s oar and raised it into the air. He towered over the other men. In one swift motion he thrust the oar down and drove it so deep into the sand that the shaft completely disappeared, leaving only the wide paddle visible. As eYob continued back to shore, something rumbled beneath the water. The boat drifted once again off course as the thing in the water scraped against the bottom of the canoe. eYob tore his hands out of the water and gripped the edge of the boat. All was calm. Even the men on shore had resigned their laughter. The creature lurched. PA-THUNK! It rammed the base of the canoe, sending the boat up into the air for a brief second before it crashed down once again. The canoe rocked in the churning water. eYob waited. The water calmed. A fuzzy shape beneath the water grew sharp. His mother’s scream rang out. The water parted around the open jaws of an aged crocodile. eYob heard the familiar hiss and felt a burst of the crocodile’s hot breath before it snapped its jaws shut, blinding eYob with a splash of seawater, and grabbed hold of the boat. The crocodile thrashed beneath the water with the canoe locked in its mouth. eYob clung on as best he could. Water overtook the boat. A sharp CRACK signaled the first splinter of wood beneath the crocodile’s jaws. It was a sturdy canoe, but it would not hold forever. A sudden lurch knocked eYob out of the boat and into the open water. Within seconds he had scrambled back into the canoe. Seawater filled the base of the canoe up to his ankles. Splinters of wood floated around the canoe’s damaged side. eYob spotted a cloud of blood in the water and saw the crocodile’s tail in the distance propelling the aged monster away. It must have injured itself trying to eat the wood. eYob took a deep breath. Just make it to the shore, he told himself. Just make it to the shore. eYob emptied the canoe of water using his cupped hands. He grabbed the longest splinter of broken wood, and swept it into the boat. This would be his oar. He dipped it into the water and pushed forward to the northern island, conscious not to turn back and face the stunned crowd. The going was slow, but surviving the crocodile attack had given eYob a boost of confidence. Perhaps he could survive this. If he found a secluded hiding spot and lay low he might be able to last out the day. It wasn’t unheard of. It had happened more than once with elder kings in centuries past. Back when the ground was fertile, the rain plentiful, and the hunts rare. His thoughts flashed to r’klYn. The pale one. The red-eyed one. The monster who had killed eYob’s father. eYob had survived the crocodile, but the mind of even the dullest man is sharper than that of a croc. And r’klYn was far from dull. eYob brought his makeshift oar back into the boat. His arms ached in a way they had on only the most grueling training days with his cousin YosYn. His home appeared so far away now. The men on shore were no more than distant dots. Yet the northern island seemed to have grown no closer. He was smack dab in the middle of the two islands when the aged and angry crocodile returned. She came from behind with two others. Younger crocodiles hungry for a quick snack. Their approach was silent, and nearly invisible. The small bumps from the tips of their snouts protruded above the gentle waves, and the sway of their tails created miniscule currents in the rolling waters. eYob tensed just before they attacked. His body sensed something was wrong before his mind received the message. The old crocodile, along with one of her cohorts, slammed into the rear of the boat. The third crocodile scrambled up the boat’s side in the chaos, and landed on its back inside the canoe. It rolled over and snapped, grazing eYob’s toes and drawing blood. eYob jammed his makeshift oar down into the crocodile’s back, penetrating its tough flesh. eYob held tight while the beast twisted, attempting to get free, which only drove the stake deeper. It snapped blindly now, missing eYob completely before its movements slowed and eventually stilled. The two remaining crocodiles slammed into the boat, clawing and snapping at the canoe until the whole thing rolled over. eYob was plunged beneath the sea. Water rushed into his open mouth and filled his lungs. He felt thick scales brush against his leg. He kicked out, pushing towards the surface and emerging several feet away from the overturned canoe. The dead crocodile bobbed up and down next to him. Its white belly floated up towards the sun. The pointed tip of the wooden stake protruded from the center of its chest. eYob pulled himself onto the dead crocodile. The two living crocodiles abandoned the overturned boat and swam toward him. He grabbed the tip of the wooden stake and tried to pull it free. He had only a few blood-covered inches to work with, and his fingers slipped. The two crocodiles closed in. eYob changed his tactic. He pushed the stake down, forcing it through the body and out into the water below. It popped to the surface and eYob grabbed it. Water rushed into the hole left behind, filling the dead crocodile with a surge of seawater which weighed it down and pulled it underwater. The aged crocodile moved in on eYob. Her jaws sprang open in anticipation. eYob thrust the stake forward into her mouth. She snapped down, and the wooden stake burst into splinters. Fragments of wood pierced the inside of her mouth like exploded shrapnel. A cloud of blood tinged the water as she pulled back, thrashing in pain and confusion. eYob set off for the overturned canoe before the remaining crocodile could figure out what was going on. He was one of the fastest swimmers on the island. Faster than a confused crocodile at least, and he reached the overturned canoe before the last crocodile had started after him. He rocked the boat several times, but he was unable to get it turned over. He just wasn’t strong enough. The crocodile rushed from behind, gaining on him in seconds. eYob dove underwater, swimming to the other side of the canoe. He lifted the boat up as high as he could, hoping to use it as a shield against the crocodile. His arms strained and trembled under the weight. He kicked wildly to stay afloat. The crocodile closed in. eYob’s arms gave out. The crocodile dove beneath the water, going under the canoe. Its hard, scaled snout brushed against the sole of eYob’s foot. Its tail snagged on the opposite end of the canoe, which pulled the boat back over. eYob held onto the edge, and he toppled back into the canoe as it landed right side up in the water. The crocodile launched out of the water and snapped, catching nothing but air. eYob held on as the crocodile threw itself against the boat. It bashed the sides and tried to scramble up into the canoe, but all of its attempts failed. Eventually it tired and swam away. Without any sort of paddle, and still trapped between the two islands in crocodile infested waters, eYob waited. He knew that once he reached the island the others would follow. The hunters. They had until sunrise the next day to kill him, and the man who succeeded would become the next king. eYob had no illusions that he would survive. He was a boy. They were men. The waves lapped gently against the side of the canoe and slowly drew him off course toward the open ocean. eYob eyed the two islands as he drifted farther away. He contemplated using his hands once again to propel the boat forward, but the thought of a crocodile snapping them off stopped him. He tried pulling at the splintered wood on the side of the canoe, hoping he could create another oar, but the wood did not give way. The weight of his body rocked the canoe backward each time he pulled, spinning it around in the water. By the time he had given up the canoe had spun around totally, and he was facing his home. eYob grabbed the edge of the boat, gave it a few more rocks, and found himself once again facing the island of the hunt. It was in this fashion that he finally reached the island, gripping the canoe’s edges and jerking back and forth to propel it unsteadily through the water. When the canoe finally reached the island and he stepped ashore, the world still felt as if it was rocking. He took to one knee for a moment to let the dizziness subside. eYob had landed nearly a mile from the horn of the hunt, a curved instrument made of carved bones and mounted on a crag of rocks further east. At this distance, and if he squinted just right, eYob could barely make it out. He trekked east, remaining as close to the shore as he could. The island’s dense jungle began no more than 100 paces away. Shrill hoots and cries erupted from behind the line of trees, and eYob picked up his speed. The calls didn’t come from birds but from creatures much bigger. He knew he would have to take refuge farther inland if he wanted even the slimmest chance of survival, but the thought of wading into the darkness of the jungle terrified him. eYob stepped cautiously upon the jagged, towering pile of rocks that the horn sat upon. He slipped more than once on the way to the top, badly cutting open his foot just before he reached the horn. Blood dribbled down the rocks. He pressed his lips against the horn and blew. The note rang out long and deep across the water. The hunt had begun. * * * eYob had to deal with the blood. The trail he left on the way up and down the rocks was more than obvious, and he couldn’t go traipsing along leaving further signals to his whereabouts. He walked further down shore, and the incoming tide ran over his feet. The saltwater’s sting was worse than anticipated. eYob winced in pain as he tore his foot from the water. The fastest of the men would be within sight in just a few minutes, so he didn’t have much time to bandage his wound and find a place to hide. As much as eYob dreaded entering the island’s jungle, he knew it was only there that he would be able to hide. There was nothing for him on the shore, only sand and rocks. He headed inland, weaving a path back and forth along the sand in the hope that it would confuse some of the slower hunters. He took one last look out at the water. He could already make out three canoes pounding toward him against the waves. eYob turned back and stepped into the jungle. The heat surprised him. It seemed as if he had stepped into the warm mouth of a giant. He felt the inner island teeming with life. Each step onto the soft, moist earth left his feet crawling with insects. His tracks revealed miniscule ecosystems home to writhing worms, overturned beetles, and clusters of startled ants. A fallen leaf grabbed eYob’s attention. He picked it up and tested the thick, but malleable plant. It was just long enough to cover the bleeding gash but not long enough to tie around his foot. He held it to his foot and hopped forward to grab a larger leaf, which he wrapped around the smaller one and tied off at the ends. The bandage slipped back and forth, and he had to adjust his gait to keep it from falling off. But it stopped the bleeding. For now. At the center of the island there rose a steep, green mountain, but the rest of the island was mostly flat. eYob’s best bet was hiding within a thick bush or climbing a tree and hoping no one would stumble upon him. If he headed toward the mountain he might be able to find a cave, but the thought of pressing on in the open while the hunters reached the shore terrified him. He needed to hide now, and the trees seemed like the best bet. If he picked the right one, and climbed to the right height, it would be difficult to be spotted from the ground unless he did something really stupid. He started up a tree with a spiral pattern of outreaching branches that was almost too easy to climb. The branches held his weight, and he stepped across them as if they were a staircase spinning into the sky. The branches grew short and thin as eYob ascended higher. He was a small boy and the feeble branches could still hold his weight. They would have splintered under a larger man. eYob smiled, thinking he had found a perfect hiding spot, until he realized that if the men found him up here they would just bring down the whole tree rather than waste their time climbing after him. SNAP! A twig underneath his foot splintered, and eYob lost his balance. His arms pinwheeled in a moment of pure terror as he fell away from the tree and into the open air. A heavy breeze pushed the tree back toward eYob. He made a desperate grab, but his hands fell short, and he plummeted to the ground. KA-RUNK! The thick trunk of a bent and twisted tree stopped his fall. The impact forced the air from his lungs, and he struggled to breathe. A wide oval of skin darkened between his armpit and hip. He was already bruising. He twisted. His side ached, but it was bearable. Nothing had broken. eYob’s new tree reached horizontally out from the jungle and hovered over the shore. He wrapped his arms and legs around the slanted trunk and shimmied along. He stopped at the edge of the jungle. He had a perfect view of the incoming hunters, and he hoped the branches and leaves of the other trees clustered around him would provide a decent cover. There were six canoes in the water, all of them quite far away. That left at least three canoes unaccounted for. eYob scanned the shore. No one had beached yet, unless they arrived further west, as he had. eYob certainly hadn’t planned to land off course, but he was sure some of the other men might use it as strategy. A distant cry brought his attention back to one of the canoes furthest away, which now jutted vertically out of the water. Three men toppled out of the canoe as the water around them turned a deep shade of red. The water thrashed, and the canoe burst apart. eYob spotted at least two crocodiles in the chaos. Another canoe, which lagged behind the others, turned swiftly and headed straight back to the southern island. Four canoes were left in play with one clear leader. r’klYn, the pale man with red eyes and long white hair stood at the bow of the forefront canoe and surveyed the island as they approached. eYob moved further back along the tree. r’klYn’s canoe slid onto the shore, and the white giant stepped out. eYob no longer dared to peer out behind the leaves. He listened to the men marching around the island below. Their voices carried, but eYob could only make out mutterings and random phrases, nothing concrete. “Blood!” They had found his trail. eYob anticipated them crashing into the jungle below, spotting him instantly, dragging him down from the tree, and— No. He wouldn’t let his thoughts get the best of him. What had his cousin, YosYn, told him? Instinct. Just rely on instinct. Shut off his brain. The men seemed to be dividing into groups. Two of them entered the forest, treading carefully over the crunchy underbrush. eYob held his breath, but they passed beneath without detecting him. He took a deep breath. Their footfalls carried on into the distance until the sounds of the jungle swallowed them completely. Birds twittered. Trees swayed to and fro. Distant beasts howled and bellowed. And something right behind eYob let loose a guttural snarl. What little hair eYob had stood straight up, and goosebumps rippled across his body. Even without looking, he knew what it was. He knew what was waiting for him with its sharp fangs, piercing eyes, and the muscular body of an animal born to kill. He turned. The jaguar’s claws clutched the thick bark, and its mouth hung open, exposing fangs that were longer than eYob’s head. Her eyes cut into eYob, pupils drawn down to slits. eYob’s body warmed and his senses flooded with input. eYob leapt from the tree. The jaguar sprung after him. They tumbled to the ground. The jaguar landed gracefully. eYob didn’t. He crumpled like a broken doll. The impact shattered his wrists and left knee. The jaguar crouched. She paced toward the boy, and he squirmed like a crippled sow. She flicked out her paw, swatting at his legs. The slightest stroke from her claw drew blood and an ear-shattering scream. She clamped her paw over his mouth, and his eyes opened wide with terror. She was too busy with the boy to hear the two men approach. One of them slammed a rock into the back of her skull. The force knocked her off balance. He moved to hit her again, but she leapt out of the way. Her lips curled back. She showed them her teeth and gave a hungry snarl. The two men did not move. She ran toward the men, dodged around them, and vanished into the jungle. The torn flesh on eYob’s legs throbbed. Warm blood poured down his calves at an alarming rate. “Just do it,” he said to the men, jamming his eyes shut and turning his head to the ground. They approached and stood over him. “Come on, get up.” The men pulled him to his feet, and eYob shrieked. One of the men slapped him, knocking the cry away from his lips. “We got him!” one of the men called toward the shore. “Lotta blood,” the other man said, giving a nod to the two gashes torn across eYob’s legs. r’klYn approached from the shore, flanked by a group of ten other men. “Bandage the legs,” r’klYn said. A man came forward with a strip of woven fabric and wrapped it tight around eYob’s wounds. He pressed the palm of his hand firmly against eYob’s legs. The bleeding slowed. “Ow!” eYob yelled in surprise as another man pulled eYob’s arms behind his back and twisted a knot around them. r’klYn planted his face inches from eYob’s. “You can walk?” he asked. “Um.” “You walk.” r’klYn set off, and the men followed. Someone pushed eYob from behind. He cursed under his breath. The pain was immense. It coursed up his legs and into his head which began to ache. * * * That tree must have reached clear into the clouds when it was still alive, eYob thought. Now it was dead. It lay on its side and stretched from one end of a deep ravine to the other. Far below a river roared along at a dizzying pace. Water crashed over piles of sharp rocks jutting up from beneath the waves. eYob spotted several crocodiles sunbathing on the river’s edge. From this distance they looked as small as children’s toys. “Go.” “Huh?” “Go,” the man behind eYob, a short muscular fellow with dark skin and not a trace of body hair, pushed him forward. eYob stepped onto the log spanning the ravine. r’klYn was leading the group across, and eYob brought up the rear. “Go!” the man shouted. He pushed eYob forward. eYob tried to stay on his feet, but the pain, which had numbed to a dull groan, roared to life once again. eYob attempted to make adjustments to keep his balance, but his legs gave out and he collapsed. He felt himself rolling over the side of the log. He kicked his legs in a wild effort to stop himself, but it was futile. The river and rocks and open-mouthed crocodiles roared up at him. He screamed as the hairless man clutched down on his broken wrists and hauled him back up. “Fool!” the man spat in eYob’s face. The rest of the men, now on the other side of the ravine, roared with laughter. eYob and his captor continued on at a slower pace. The hairless man held onto eYob’s wrists and led the way, while eYob walked backwards along the log. The change in direction put less of a burden on his swollen knee. The men on the other side had settled in for a short break. So it was only eYob who saw the jaguar emerge from the forest. “Hey! Faster! Go! Go!” eYob blurted out and pushed his guide along. “Careful!” The hairless man stumbled. “Stop!” The jaguar closed the distance between them rapidly. “Jaguar!” The boy yelled. “Huh?” The hairless man twisted around and spotted the giant cat sauntering after them. He bolted, releasing eYob and rushing toward safety. The men on the far side of the ravine shouted, but eYob could no longer hear anything over the deafening POUND-POUND-POUND of his own heartbeat. The jaguar had not returned to play. He could see it in her eyes. She came back to finish what she had started. eYob continued moving backwards along the log, one cautious step at a time, his eyes never leaving the jaguar’s. Each step of her graceful paws brought her closer to the boy, until she was so close eYob could smell her. She licked her lips. eYob’s knees buckled and he collapsed. He felt himself rolling over the log once again, this time without anyone to help. He clenched his legs tight against the log and found himself dangling upside down beneath the jaguar. His knee screamed in pain. Water crashed into the sharp rocks pointed up at him below. The crocodiles stirred from their mid-day slumber, snapping their jaws. eYob’s options were slim. THWUNK! Something hit the jaguar and she yowled in pain. Another THWUNK and eYob felt the entire log shake as the jaguar tumbled over the side. Her flank slammed against eYob’s bad knee as she rolled past him and plummeted to the river below. eYob held tight. The jaguar clawed at the air wildly as she made the long descent. The jagged river rocks finally broke her fall. She spasmed and rolled into the water, leaving behind a smear of blood. The crocodiles moved in on the floundering jaguar. Water exploded up as they latched onto their prey and tore her to pieces. The thrashing water and animal screams were muted and distant by the time they reached eYob’s ears. The rolling waves subsided as the crocodiles finished, leaving nothing behind but stained red water. eYob felt a large hand grip around his entire leg. r’klYn pulled him back up onto the log. “Come on.” He hoisted eYob up under his arm and carried him the across the log to the rest of the men. “topYn,” r’klYn gestured for the hairless man that had abandoned eYob on the log. The man bowed his head, but did not move. r’klYn bounded into the idle group, grabbed topYn’s shoulder and hauled him to the edge of the ravine. “No! No, please! Please!” topYn sobbed. r’klYn planted his foot in topYn’s back and pushed, sending the man straight over the edge. His screaming descent seemed to last forever. “Move!” r’klYn shouted at them over topYn’s fading yell. eYob took one last look over the cliff edge. topYn had been skewered by the jagged tip of the tallest rock. The crocodiles fought to reach him. One of the crocs leapt into the air. Its teeth caught topYn’s hand. The crocodile held tight, suspended over the water and writhing wildly. r’klYn pulled eYob away from the cliff just as the crocodile yanked topYn’s arm free from his shoulder, leaving behind tatters of flesh. The men gathered what little gear they had and continued their journey north. * * * They travelled swiftly. Men took turns carrying eYob over their shoulder. The island’s central mountain loomed to the east. The whoops and hollers of close-by animals startled eYob, and he heard frightened murmurs among some of the men. The man carrying eYob trembled, and his eyes darted back and forth between the path ahead and the surrounding jungle. A particularly loud cry from the forest made him jump, almost dropping eYob. “You hear that?” eYob said to the man. “Course I hear it.” “What are they?” “Nothin’. Trick of the forest,” the man said. “Ain’t no trick,” a man in front chimed in. “Apes. Giant apes. Bloodthirsty apes. Seven foot tall cannibals. Eat their own babies they do.” “Croc-shit,” the man carrying eYob said. “I saw one once,” another man spun around. The others stopped. “Taller than any of us. Fangs like a jaguar’s.” “And almost as hairy as your sister!” a man behind them shouted. The rest of the men laughed. “Hairy as hell, aye. And they’ll disembowel a man in seconds. I seen ‘em. Last hunt. Surrounded by a group. I’d say about yay-high.” He held out his hand at chest-height. “Barely made it out alive. Tore the men apart, and then tore themselves apart fighting over the meat.” The men fell silent. The ape calls continued nearby. The man holding eYob was shaking now. “Why the h-h-hell we t-travelin’ so c-close to them?” he said. “Shut your flap!” someone else shouted. They carried on. AH-WHUU-WHUU-WHOOOP! “Fuckin’ hell!” The man dropped eYob to the ground and took off running in the opposite direction. eYob squirmed on the ground, struggling to stand, but he was picked up by another man in seconds. A loud crunch and a high-pitched wail rang out in the jungle behind them. The men chuckled and carried on, but soon a low-pitched hum filled their ears. “Dumb-shit hit a nest!” one of the older men shouted, darting off their path and into the nearby underbrush. Everyone laughed at the older man, but the hum grew into a loud buzz and before they knew it the swarm was upon them. Giant flying insects — about as big around as eYob’s fist — with four dragonfly-like wings and the bodies of scorpions. Two pinchers in front and a giant stinger in back. One of them landed on a man’s face right behind eYob. It locked onto his cheeks with its two front pinchers and drove its stinger right into the man’s eye. The man screamed as his eye burst, oozing out from its socket and down the man’s cheek like a cracked egg. The scorpion pierced the man’s face several more times before taking flight, and large boils full of pus sprouted in each spot. The man collapsed to the ground in convulsions. The boils popped, and tiny, baby insects flew out, testing their wings. They were ant-sized, but just as deadly as the adults. A swarm of the babies zipped into one man’s ear. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed, seizing, while the swarm exited through the opposite ear, having bored a hole clean through his brain. Hundreds of the flying scorpions tore down the path and through the men. For each man they took down, hundreds of babies rose and began their own destruction. eYob felt one of the adult scorpions land on his back. He screamed as the stinger pierced his flesh. Several of the scorpions landed on the man carrying eYob, and eYob was dropped to the ground. He landed on his back and the scorpion that clung on was squashed to death before it could sting him a second time. eYob scrambled off the path and into the underbrush. Ape calls continued deeper in the jungle. eYob could feel the boil on his back swelling in size. The boil popped audibly, and pus leaked down his back. eYob took off running before the newborn scorpions could get to him. His knee was still a swollen mess, but the threat of death spurned him on. He reached a steep decline and lost his footing, falling to the ground and rolling down the hill. Twigs and ferns and rocks ripped at his flesh as he rolled. He finally came to a stop in a slop of thick mud. The world continued to spin around him for a moment before he could get his bearings. He was chest deep at the edge of a deep, wide pool of mud. He could no longer hear the buzzing of the flying scorpions or even the sounds of the giant apes. It was silent. Calm. eYob squirmed toward the edge of the mud pit, but he found himself going nowhere. Nowhere but deeper. The mud squelched against his skin each time he squirmed, and now it was almost up to his neck. Quicksand. eYob knew that if he quit moving around the mud would stop pulling him under. So he stopped. He held as still as he possibly could. And his glacial descent into the mud continued. He felt it creeping up his neck. The pressure was almost great enough to choke him. He tried to move his arm, but this only accelerated his pull under. He was too far from the edge to grab onto anything anyway. There was no way he could get out of this without help. And the only people that could help wanted him dead. The mud reached his chin now. In minutes it would reach his mouth, lurch down his throat, and he would be left drowning in thick brown sludge. He had no choice. “Help!” His voice sounded so soft and quiet. The grip of the mud around his neck restricted his airflow. “Help!” he tried again. Even quieter this time. The mud reached his lips. If he opened his mouth it would go inside. He tried to take a deep breath, but he couldn’t. “Help.” It was barely audible, even to eYob. The mud slithered inside his open mouth. He tried to stay calm. Tried to hold his breath. But as the thick mud filled his mouth and sludged down his throat, panic set in and his body fought for survival. This only pulled him down faster. He breathed rapidly through his nose, but soon even his nostrils were submerged. Then his ears. He could not speak, could not hear, all he had left was sight. And just before the mud reached his eyes he saw a white phantom coming towards him in the forest. He clamped his eyes shut, and was swallowed up completely by the mud. * * * eYob was only under for a few brief seconds before he felt the mud undulate around him, and a hand wrapped tight around his shoulder. Then he was out, coughing and sputtering on the ground. When he opened his eyes he saw r’klYn bent over him. eYob wished he had died in the mud. r’klYn said nothing. He slapped eYob in the face a couple times. “Ow!” He grunted and hoisted eYob over his shoulder, like the boy was a carcass being hauled back from a hunt. They rejoined the rest of the men on the path. The scorpions were gone. The only sign left of their presence were the seven dead bodies sprawled around the ground. The old man the others had laughed at emerged from the bushes unscathed. Fourteen men remained, including r’klYn. The shadows around them grew long, and the light warmed. Dusk quickly approached. r’klYn handed eYob off to one of the other men and set off at a jog. The others followed. * * * There was no sandy shore on the north side of the island. Only hard shale which dropped straight down to crushing waves so far below that the sound of the slamming water was swept up in the wind and carried away before it could reach the ears of anyone standing on the cliff above. A dead tree, withered with age, balanced precariously on the outermost edge of the northern cliff. Hundreds of knotted ropes, far older than any of the men, encircled the dead tree’s trunk. Dark clouds above began to drop a misty rain upon them. eYob had accepted his fate long ago, but now that they had arrived at their destination it became too immediate. Too real. eYob squirmed. “He’s fightin’,” the man holding eYob said. “Hold!” r’klYn turned and the others stopped. eYob broke free and tumbled to the ground. Several men grabbed him before he could pull himself to his knees. eYob wailed and fought wildly. It took five grown men to hold him down. He was no longer a boy, but a beast on the verge of slaughter. r’klYn wrapped a hemp rope around the withered tree three times before tying it off in a simple knot. “That’ll hold?” one of the men asked. r’klYn answered with a sharp tug of the rope. It held tight, but the tree creaked and shuddered. Roots threatened to tear from the ground. r’klYn dropped the rope and the tree settled. He walked to the group of men still fighting the boy. “Release him.” “But—” “Release him.” The men obeyed, freeing eYob. r’klYn snatched him by the leg, hauling him into the air before he could make an escape. He wrapped the rope around the boy without trouble and dropped eYob to the ground. The men laughed as eYob tried to run free. The rope yanked him back every time. He plopped to the ground and gnawed on it with his teeth. Embedded in the trunk of the tree was a carved wooden hilt. r’klYn wrapped his fingers around the aged wood and pulled it free, revealing a rusted knife blade the length of his forearm. Thunder boomed above, and the rain fell faster. A lone vulture circled twice overhead before descending to a perch in the dead tree. r’klYn felt a spear tip press against the back of his neck. He paused. The other men were finally retaliating. Another crack of thunder. “Drop it, r’klYn! Drop the blade!” the man holding the spear to the back of r’klYn’s neck said. r’klYn did not. “I’ll stick you like a—” r’klYn dipped, spun on his feet, and slashed. The blade cut through the legs of the armed man, disconnecting everything below the man’s knees from the rest of his body. The man belched like a toad and toppled forward, unconscious before he hit the ground. A crowd surrounded r’klYn. Thirteen men, each thinking they alone would become king. Someone thrust forward with a spear. r’klYn grabbed the shaft just below the tip and hoisted it over his head. The spear, along with its owner, went tumbling over the cliff. Chaos broke. eYob continued to gnaw on the rope wrapped around his ankles. Bristles pierced his gums and clung between his teeth. He scrambled out of the way as r’klYn threw newly limbless men through the air. Someone’s foot slammed into eYob’s side and knocked him right over the cliff edge. The roaring water raced to meet eYob head-on, but the rope pulled taught and held, slamming eYob up against the steep side of the cliff. He was not alone. Hundreds of former kings, all in various states of decay, dangled from ropes around him. eYob’s forehead pressed against a pulsing, maggot-filled sack on the bottom of a decayed, black foot. He tried to twist away, but the effort ruptured the sack. Pus splattered his face and dribbled into his eyes. He shut them immediately but the stinging pain had already begun. Maggots squirmed their way into his nostrils, clogging them up completely. Their writhing motions tickled his head as they wormed their way so far up his nasal cavity he thought they must be almost to his brain. He opened his mouth to gasp for breath, but let out an involuntary cough. This pulled most of the maggots down into his throat. A second cough expelled them from his body. The rope snapped and eYob fell freely before jerking to a stop. His stomach rolled and he vomited. Bile dribbled out of his open mouth and nostrils. He caught his breath. The acidic bile stung his skin, but at least it had cleared out the maggots. He reached his hands up to his ankles and felt the rope twisted around them. All the gnawing had weakened it, and now he hung by what felt like a thread. He dangled upside down for a long time. Too long. He wondered if all the men had died in the fighting. He would be left to hang here until— Something sharp clamped tight around his feet and dug in. eYob screamed. The vulture had come for him. Its talons sliced into the soft flesh on his feet. eYob shook his legs. The vulture clung on, digging its talons deeper. eYob gasped. The vulture withdrew its claws. For a brief moment eYob thought the bird had left, but then pain screamed from his legs. The vulture was on the move, working its way down eYob’s legs towards his torso. Its hooked talons cut through flesh and muscle and scraped against bones. eYob seized. Foam fizzled inside his mouth and gurgled out over his lips. KEERRAAWW! The vulture cried. The talons released him once again. A deep gust of air chilled his steaming blood as the vulture pumped its wings and took flight. The world around eYob warped. The throbbing pain that pulsed across his entire body dulled and faded as he drifted further from consciousness. He felt lighter than air. And just before darkness took him he lifted away from the cliffs and ascended to the heavens. * * * There was darkness and pain and a voice telling him it was okay. He was alive. eYob screamed because it was all he could do. r’klYn’s pale hand clamped over eYob’s mouth, and his red eyes burned close. “Wait.” eYob chomped down on r’klYn’s hand. r’klYn pulled away, leaving a chunk of his palm behind. He slapped eYob across the face. “Just do it!” eYob called after him. “Kill me!” “Wait,” r’klYn said once again. So, they waited. Clouds of distant galaxies and stars illuminated the sky. The moon was full and bright and underneath its light eYob lost all feeling. He sank into a numbness so deep that he felt as if he no longer had a body. He was just a ghost peering out at the world from dead eyes. Was he a ghost? Had he died? He tried to speak and his words came out a garbled mess. r’klYn loomed over him, a silhouette cut against the stars. “Don’t try to speak. You’ll chew up your tongue. Here.” The world turned. Stars rolled away and the ground rushed up to eYob. He could see his body now. r’klYn had sat him up. The pockets in his legs made by the vulture’s talons were clogged with clumps of moss. r’klYn stuck his fingers inside eYob’s mouth and extracted a chunk of chewed-up moss dripping with saliva. He tossed the wet lump aside and pressed a fresh ball of moss to eYob’s lips. eYob wanted to turn away, but then the sticky wet clump was balled up inside his mouth, and it didn’t matter. r’klYn wrapped his hands around eYob’s jaw and helped him chew. “I’m not gonna kill you. I guess you probably got that by now. Right?” eYob tried to speak once again. The words gurgled inside his closed lips, and he gagged. r’klYn pulled open eYob’s mouth and stuck his hand down eYob’s throat. He pulled out the moss, which had wedged itself in eYob’s windpipe. “Don’t try to talk,” r’klYn said. He pulled off a piece of the moss and re-rolled it into something a little more manageable for eYob’s small mouth. He popped it back in and resumed helping eYob chew. “The pain’s going to come back. Not for a few more hours, but I want to have you back on a canoe going home by then.” eYob sputtered. “Don’t talk!” eYob stopped. “You try chewing on your own now.” He released his grip on eYob’s jaw and sat back. eYob still felt nothing, but he thought really hard about chewing, and it must have worked because r’klYn said, “Good enough,” and stood up. He bent down and wrapped his arms around eYob, hoisting him into the air and cradling him like an oversized baby. eYob wanted to protest, but r’klYn began walking, and the gentle motion of the ground passing by lulled him to sleep. * * * “Why?” eYob had woken up and managed to force out one word. r’klYn glanced down at him without too much surprise. They continued walking through the dark jungle. eYob was about to ask again, when— “Never trust a soul. Especially your enemies.” r’klYn fell silent once again, leaving eYob to mull this over. “But—” “Shhh.” r’klYn stopped. He set eYob down on the ground. “You must end the hunt.” The silence of the jungle overwhelmed them. “There can be no other way. You see what’s happening with our people. We’re regressing. Dying. The hunts never occurred so frequently in the past. The world is changing. The sun burns brighter every year. And instead of adapting, we’re following the old ways. Slaves to tradition. The drying of the lakebed once occurred every generation, not every year. We must adapt. Abolish the hunt, and come together as a people. There’s no other way we can survive. “You’ve heard the story of the women from the sky?” eYob nodded. Sure he’d heard it. They all had. His father had been a child then. His mother not even born. As the story goes, one day many years ago a large vessel came from the clouds and landed in the ocean. It had great wings like a bird, but it floated on water like a giant boat. Three women emerged from the vessel. They wore many garments and had machines in their hands that whirred and snapped and shot bright flashes of light. Our tribe sent men in canoes to meet them, but their vessel took to the air and disappeared back into the sky before we could reach them. “My father was king then,” r’klYn said, “And I had yet to be born. Those women were us, eYob. Our people. Here from the future to warn us of something. I was born exactly one year after their arrival, with skin sickly and pale like theirs. It meant something. Means something. I was brought to this earth for a purpose, and I believe that purpose is to end the hunt. “But the people will not listen to me. Even as king they would decry an order so bold. I would have killed you in a heartbeat were that not true. But a boy. A boy that survived the hunt will be listened to. Even when he wants to abolish a tradition that goes back to the very birth of our people. You must end the hunt. Swear it to me, eYob. Swear it to me now.” r’klYn’s eyes darted across eYob’s face. Wild, desperate eyes. “My father,” eYob said. r’klYn turned his eyes away. “You killed him.” r’klYn grabbed eYob, hoisting him up again. “Never trust a soul,” he said again, more to himself this time, and resumed walking. * * * eYob drifted in and out of a melting procession of dreams. He saw his father’s murder. r’klYn’s hands gripped tight around his father’s neck. But he realized it wasn’t really r’klYn. It just looked like him. And then eYob and r’klYn were in a field, a great pasture illuminated by the full moon, and r’klYn was sobbing. eYob assumed this was waking reality, until he realized they weren’t in a field at night but on the shore at day. And r’klYn wasn’t a man, but a boy. A boy in tears as eYob’s own father, alive and well, arrived on a canoe with a great swollen head, already crawling with flies, dangling from his grip. * * * The roaring howl of an ape jolted eYob awake. They were surrounded. On the ground and in the trees above hulking apes of an enormous size pressed in on them. r’klYn had lain eYob down and covered him with leaves and twigs, presumably to conceal him. The grueling pain in eYob’s legs had just started to peak past the fading numbness, and he bit down hard on the wad of moss still wedged in his mouth to keep from crying out. r’klYn wielded two long spears. One in each hand. The lead ape, a great hairy brute that at full-height reached r’klYn’s shoulders, sauntered to meet r’klYn head on. r’klYn did not wait. He threw the spear in his right hand. It found its mark in the center of the lead ape’s chest. The tip thrust through and emerged from the ape’s back wrapped in entrails and dripping blood. A choking gasp erupted from the ape before he tottered and collapsed to the ground. The resounding howl from the rest of the apes shook eYob to the bone. r’klYn had just enough time to reclaim the spear before he was set upon by the entire horde. No less than thirty of the man-sized brutes clobbered r’klYn with heavy blows. Some of the apes wielded thick logs which cracked and splintered as they broke across r’klYn’s back. r’klYn’s thrust his two spears into the crowd, skewering apes and tossing them aside. But it seemed that for every ape r’klYn killed two or three more leaped down from the trees and launched into the pile. “Run!” r’klYn yelled. There was a sickening rip. r’klYn’s arm went flying into the air. Threads of flesh dangled from its torn end. As soon as the arm hit the ground it was over. The apes disemboweled r’klYn in seconds. Body parts went flying. A hand here, a leg there. An unidentifiable wad of flesh slapped down on eYob’s face. r’klYn’s desperate last cry to eYob lingered in his ears, but he dared not move. The real fighting was about to begin. The apes dove for the scattered remains of r’klYn, stuffing them into their fanged mouths as soon as they got their claws on a piece. One unlucky ape grabbed ahold of the largest remain of all: r’klYn’s arm. The other apes tore him apart in seconds. More apes descended into the fray, fighting over the remains of their comrade. This carried on until the apes had stuffed their faces with r’klYn and seven of their kin. eYob still could not bring himself to move. Many of the apes had departed, but several lingered, lounging on the verge of sleep as their bodies digested the meat. Moonlight faded as the dim light of morning simmered on the edge of the horizon. eYob spotted the mountain reaching into the sky far behind him. They had travelled much further than he had thought. He was close enough to the shore to hear the ocean. If he made a run for it now he might be able to get into a canoe and onto the water before the apes descended upon him. Yeah. Right. His legs were still pocked with holes and almost unusable. He couldn’t tell how much the effects of the moss had worn off, but he suspected his first footstep would elicit nothing less than the most excruciating pain he had ever felt. As dawn broke, the last of the apes fell into a deep sleep and eYob finally had a chance to break for it. He pulled himself out from beneath the pile of leaves, making far more noise than he anticipated. He stopped, watching the apes with bated breath. None stirred. He pulled himself to his feet. His legs throbbed, but the numbing moss made it manageable. He slipped away from the sleeping apes, limping his way down a steep hill tangled waist-high with thick vegetation. Invisible creatures scurried across his feet. Whether they were rodents or enormous insects, eYob could not tell. They sent shivers up his spine either way. At the edge of the jungle, close to the shore, eYob discovered more of the dense, clotted moss r’klYn had used to treat his wounds. It grew up the side of a broad tree, and eYob stopped to remove a handful. The sunlight gave it a purple cast which eYob had not seen under the moonlight. He spit out the wad from his mouth, which had become a thick, waxy gum, and replaced it with the fresh moss. The moment it touched his tongue, a tingle shot through his head and almost sent him sprawling to the ground. The relief was instant. It felt once again like he had left his body behind and was now a floating observer of the world. eYob paused before he set off toward the shore. He spotted something several yards ahead. Someone. A figure crouched behind a thick tree trunk, eyes trained on the canoes at the shore. One last hunter. eYob approached slowly. His body was numb and he had to take extra precautions not to make any noise. The figure held something by his side, which appeared to be a bow. If eYob made one wrong step, he would be discovered and taken out in seconds. He continued his slow approach. He was only a few feet away now. So close to the canoes on the shore. So close to safety. The figure adjusted its position, turning slightly toward the jungle behind him. eYob could see him in profile now, and the view stopped him in his tracks. This wasn’t a hunter. It was YosYn. His cousin. eYob tried to justify why YosYn would be waiting for him. Waiting with a bow and an arsenal of arrows. He had waited here all day and night for eYob to return. To protect him? eYob found this hard to believe. But the harder truth to swallow was that YosYn wanted him dead. A phrase rattled through eYob’s head. Something r’klYn had said to him the night before. Never trust a soul. Especially your enemies. YosYn turned suddenly, his eyes peering quickly across the jungle behind him. eYob froze, and YosYn’s gaze drifted right past him without acknowledgement. He turned back to the beach. eYob took a breath. Time crept on. Morning became noon as the sun rose higher into the sky. YosYn sat down on a rock. His knee bobbed up and down. His eyes darted across the jungle, never spotting eYob. YosYn was getting anxious. Someone should have returned by now. eYob hoped YosYn would leave his spot and go searching the jungle. That would give him a chance to make for the canoes. But YosYn stayed put. He was not leaving. eYob had to make a choice. eYob moved away from his view of YosYn and towards a more densely covered area to his left. This left him unable to see YosYn but hopefully invisible to him as well. He crouched low, hiding beneath a thick stretch of waist-high vegetation. He crept forward, holding his breath, weaving a path towards YosYn. It was guesswork. He couldn’t see exactly where he was going. When he reached a point he thought was very close to YosYn he dared to raise his head. He saw YosYn’s foot jiggling up and down. The movement of his foot rattled several arrows leaning against the rock he was sat upon, knocking a few over. YosYn bent down to pick them up and his eyes locked with eYob’s. eYob grasped a large rock and sprang. YosYn jostled for his bow. eYob swung. “Wait!” YosYn cried. It was too late. eYob’s rock connected with YosYn’s temple just above his eye. He collapsed. “Shit.” eYob dropped the rock and bent over YosYn’s convulsing body. The gash in his head bled profusely. His left eye completely clouded over with blood. His mouth and tongue moved, trying to force out words. eYob heard nothing but gibberish. YosYn coughed, spraying blood into the air. He attempted to stand. The entire left side of his face drooped. eYob grabbed the rock and slammed it into YosYn’s head one more time to put him out of his misery. YosYn fell back once again, this time hitting the rock he had been sitting on, which cracked the back of his skull open. He continued to seize. His legs and arms kicked out wildly as his brain fired its last desperate commands for survival. eYob dropped the rock and grabbed the bow and an arrow. He took aim at YosYn’s chest and loosed. YosYn gasped as the arrow punctured his heart, and then he finally lay still. eYob dropped the bow. He staggered back and collapsed to the ground, holding his head in his hands. He was beyond tears, beyond sorrow. He lifted his head and screamed. His voice cracked and became a trembling roar. Birds took to the air. Rodents scattered. His roar subsided and all was silent. * * * A canoe reached the northern island just before dusk. Two men stepped out and made their way up and down the shore before entering the jungle. They found eYob within the hour. He was not asleep, or dead, as they first assumed, but wide awake. He sat slumped next to YosYn’s bleeding corpse, watching as it was set upon by ants and other insects. The men grabbed eYob by the arms and led him to the canoe without trouble. The trip back to the southern island was uneventful. eYob was greeted by a jubilant crowd which quieted quickly when they saw his condition. The numbing moss had finally lost all potency, and the pain in eYob’s legs reached a roaring crescendo. He collapsed to gasps from the crowd. His mother rushed to his side, clutched his arm, and began to sob. The men pulled her off and helped eYob make his way inland. The medicine man lived deep within the island, where access to the plants and herbs he used in his healing were abundant. The journey took several hours on a good day, and this was not a good day. The men struggled to carry eYob’s dead weight. They were older and weaker than the strong hunters that had carried him the day before. eYob’s head lulled over one of their shoulders as they passed through town. Thousands of people lived on the island, and hundreds of wooden structures dotted the isle, growing sparser as they headed inland. The further they walked, the more destitute the people looked. Children with bellies bloated from hunger stared out from collapsed shacks. Smoke and the stench of magdYn filled the air. They stopped to take many breaks, and night had fallen by the time they reached the medicine man’s cylindrical, wooden hovel. The medicine man himself was not at home when they arrived. The two men carried eYob inside and laid him down upon a bed of leaves in one of the rooms. Just before dawn the healer finally arrived, carrying a basket full of plants underneath his left arm. His good arm. His right arm was a shriveled mess. A lucky deformity. His mother had been a magdYn addict. He could have easily been born with a mental deficiency rather than a physical one. But his mind was as sharp as ever. eYob watched as the short, pudgy man set the basket down on a squat table and began sorting his herbs. “H-help…” eYob managed to eke out. The man turned to him, nodded, and continued sorting his herbs, arranging them along shelves which lined every wall of his home. Once he had finished with the sorting, he grabbed a handful of long dry leaves and exited his home. eYob heard him building a fire outside. He didn’t return until nearly an hour later, entering with a large bowl full of a sweet-smelling brew which eYob gulped down as soon as it was presented to him. Despite its sweet smell, the drink tasted foul, and eYob almost coughed it back up. He took down the rest of the brew slowly, and after draining the bowl, a deep sleep overtook him. He collapsed back onto the bed and heard the bowl clatter to the floor just before everything went dark. * * * eYob stayed there, recovering from his wounds, for months. For a long time he saw no one aside from the medicine man. Many people came with a desire to see him, but he turned them all away. Even him mother. eYob’s mind was on other matters. r’klYn’s desire for an end to the hunt rattled around in his head without end. One day eYob called for the village elder to come visit with him. The elder came bearing several old tomes with pages nearly ruined in old age. He sat by eYob’s bedside and cracked open the books. They had been bound together with a certain type of tree-sap that gave off a ripe, fermented odor. eYob had always feared the elder. His wrinkled skin was tough and leathery. His left eye was useless, completely milked over, while his right eye seemed sharp enough to gaze right inside your head. Each time he spoke he exhaled a bitter stench from his filthy, three-toothed mouth. But eYob would have to tolerate his presence. eYob’s people once had a rich written history spanning thousands of years. But over the generations their language had developed and evolved. They no longer had any written form of communication, and only the elder possessed the ability to decipher the few ancient texts that remained. eYob told the elder what he had heard from r’klYn. That the world was growing warmer, and the hunts were never meant to occur as frequently as they did presently. “Is it true?” he asked the old man. The elder closed the open book on his lap and opened his mouth in something between a smile and a grimace. “Is true. Is true,” he nodded. “How often did they happen before?” The elder gripped the side of eYob’s bed and leaned in close. “Once, many long time ago, two hundred years pass with no drying of the lake and no hunt,” he said. “Two hundred years?” “Yes.” “Gee—” “But!” the elder said, “There was also a time. Many, many hundred years ago, the lake dry twice in one year and there two hunts.” The elder’s statement hung in the air. “The world change. It become dry. It become wet. We people only here for a second.” He snapped his fingers. “Let the gods worry the land. Let the people live it. Time will come again when the rain and wet come back. And time will come again when it drier than now. Time circle back around. It happen before it happen again.” “But it’s destroying us. We can’t grow as much food. The animals are leaving. More and more people are starving. Children are dying. The tribe is spreading out over the island. Separating. We should be coming together, not fighting,” eYob said. “You see the crocodiles worry about the dry land? You see the beetles, the birds, the lizards worry about the dry land? No. Why people should worry? The land change. The people change. You no fight the land. You no fight the gods.” “There won’t be any of us left to fight!” The elder chuckled to himself. “You little boy. You stupid. Know nothing.” “I’m your king!” The elder laughed. “I could have you thrown to the crocodiles, old man. Today!” The elder continued to laugh. eYob crossed his arms. “You a fool,” the elder said. “The hunt must end.” “You scared, boy.” “No.” “You don’t care none about our people. You scared another hunt.” “You’re wrong.” “You care about people?” “Yes.” “You care about me?” eYob glared at him. The elder pulled out one of the smaller books he had brought. He cracked it open and leafed through the pages until he reached a section of drawings. Something eYob could understand. “This the sun and moon.” He pointed at the illustrations. “There come a time, when the moon block out all light of the sun. Eclipse.” “Really?” “This true. It happen before. It happen again. Many, many years between eclipse.” “How long?” The elder thought about it. “Five, maybe six generation.” “You think we should tie the hunt to this, uh, this thing.” “Eclipse.” “Yeah, eclipse.” “No. You leave it be. Let the gods will what the gods will. But you stupid. You look a fool, you act a fool, you is a fool. Pah!” The elder spit on the ground. He slammed the book shut, gathered it with the others under his arm and stood to leave. Just before he left, eYob shouted to him, “Wait!” The elder turned. “How much longer?” eYob asked. “I mean when’s the next eclipse supposed to happen?” “Very long time. Very, very long time.” The elder turned and slipped out of the hut. * * * The winds changed. The trees grew still and dead. And on one chilly morning eYob emerged from the medicine man’s wood hut wrapped in a cloak of animal fur. He walked with great effort and the help of a gnarled staff. He made his unsteady way through the sparse jungle and toward the shore. It was a faster journey than when he had first been brought to the medicine man, but it still took him much of the morning. His legs were weak. They never would heal properly. As he travelled, people poked their heads out from their homes. He heard their whispered voices, and a crowd gathered behind him as he went. By the time he reached the shore, nearly the entire tribe had followed him. eYob stopped at the edge of the shore. Water ran up over his feet. It must have been freezing, but eYob no longer felt much below his waist. He looked out at the crowd. Thousands of faces stared back at him. eYob began to speak. “The world is changing,” he said. “Growing hotter. Drier. In the time of our ancestors the drying of the lakebed occurred once a generation, not once a year. I understand the value of tradition. But the hunt is hurting our people. It must be changed.” “Selfish bastard wants to end the hunt!” Gasps from the crowd. Shouts of, “Blaspheme!” and, “Heathen!” wrung out from all corners. eYob leaned on his staff. He searched the crowd. This would not be as easy as he expected. “I do not want to end the hunt. I have consulted with the village elder. He alone can read the words of our ancestors. The hunt was once a generational occurrence, not a yearly one. The tradition is not preserving our culture, but destroying it. Turning family against family. The elder informed me of a rare celestial event known to our ancestors. An event in which the moon crosses directly in front of the sun and blocks out all light completely. It is--” Someone threw a stone from the crowd. eYob tried to dodge, but it walloped his shoulder, knocking him of balance. The crowd laughed. eYob recovered. “Come forward,” he said. The crowd fell silent. “Bring him forward!” he yelled. The crowd moved, pushing the stone-thrower to the front. The man was short, fat, and old. eYob could smell his intoxication. He seized the man and cut his throat in one swift motion, returning the blade to his side as quickly as he had drawn it out. The round man grasped at his wet throat as all his life drained out of him. “I am your king!” eYob shouted. The man collapsed. “From now, and for all time forward, the hunt will occur only in response to a celestial eclipse.” He paused before adding the customary, “It is so.” Blank faces stared in silence. “It is so!” eYob screamed. “It is so,” his people murmured in answer. eYob began his departure, using his staff to cut a path through the crowd. They would hate him. For a time. eYob truly believed that this change would be the best for his people. Once they had gotten over their shock he could begin to govern without fear of death. They needed leadership and order. eYob would bring it to them. He would not let his people die. If the gods were trying to dry the land and kill them, then he would fight back. As eYob climbed up the beach and toward the forest, the harsh mid-day sun dimmed. A collective gasp arose. eYob turned and saw it. The light of the sun had become obscured by the darkness of the moon drifting across its path. An eclipse. The cackling of the village elder cut through the stunned silence. eYob turned and saw his gaunt face twisted in a demonic grin just before the moon blocked out the sun completely and everything went dark.