FicWad

Memories of a Snake

Prologue

The thing moving in the shadows hunted, moving through the jungle in absolute silence. The nervous survivors understood as much, but they could not understand why they were selected as prey. Twice the thing in the shadows had attacked when they were at disadvantage, but it had not pressed attack beyond killing three of their members.

Did the monster play with them like a jungle cat play with a mouse?

One of the dead had tried to invoke the protection of the guardian spirit of their tribe. It had not worked. The ground had exploded in fury and pulled him down at the moment he thought his protection chant had worked. The others had heard the monster's roar as it pulled their friend apart.

How could possibly the thing in the shadow move below the ground without making any sound?

Something must be seriously wrong with the world when such monsters could roam freely. They kept repeating this to themselves as they tried to reach the mountains. If only they could get stone below their feet the monster could not ambush them by attacking from the ground.

What had their small hunting party done to deserve this horror?

The relief they felt as they broke away from the jungle felt shallow. The thing in the shadows must had let them escape this way, they were convinced the thing in the shadows could have overcome them if it wanted to.

They huddled at a cliff made of bare rock at the edge of the mountains. Sharing their meager rations of food they had managed to bring with them from the camp. Everyone was tense, nobody doubted the thing in the shadow would try to attack them again. Could their hunting weapons prevail against such thing moving effortlessly through solid earth.

Suddenly the thing in the shadows hit again in a way they had never imagined. The monster came from the ground this time also, digging itself up through the bare rock of the cliff. Half of the remaining hunting crew lost their footing in the explosion of stone and dirt. They all fell towards a sure death below as one of their members was swallow by the monster covered in darkness.

The monster was gone again and the few survivors moved closer to the hole in the cliff to try to understand how the monster could have come up from the cliff. Trying to escape again seemed utterly futile, they understood now that the thing in the shadows could attack them anywhere.

There was no tunnel in the cliff, the monster had materialized below them and dug itself free. By magic it had arrived and then disappeared.

By joint decision they split up and traveled in different directions. They could in no way fight this monster that defied reason, escape was their only hope. They reasoned that perhaps it was possible one of them might get clear of the monster if it must chase them one by one.

The thing in the shadows let them escape, for the moment it was satisfied. In a world of prey you needed to make the prey aware they were hunted so they could spread the fear. Taking them all had its attraction, but that was not the part of the higher goal...




Chapter one

"A snake. There is snake here!" Panitzin shouted. His deeply suntanned fingers gripping a long stick he had fetched from the ground.

The black snake hissed back as it coiled itself ready to strike. A smile played over Panitzin's lips, he knew from his hunter training that the snake had no real poison. Not that he did expect the snake to be able to bite him.

Tumbling through the bushes of the jungle came clumsy Acatlotzin. At barely a year older than Panitzin he had started to grow taller now when he turned 13, but the elders of their tribe still questioned if Acatlotzin ever would find his natural calling. Panitzin didn't care, it was one of his best friends.

"Where?" Acatlotzin breathed alarmed as he looked around his bare ankles.

"At the pile of rocks," Panitzin said as he kept his gaze on the snake.

"Not poisonous, right?" Acatlotzin said. "What do we do?"

"We kill the snake of course!" Panitzin declared and nodded towards a stone on the ground.

From the left another of the children of the tribe arrived. Black haired Tiacapan did not have the smoothness of Panitzin's stalking, but she had barely made a sound when she approached her friends.

"I am with you," she said with a smirk. She bent down and picked up a couple of stones. Acatlotzin had picked a single heavy one up and Tiacapan gave it a disapproving frown.

"I use my stick to block it from advancing, you hit it with stones," Panitzin instructed.

They attacked the snake and Acatlotzin failed to throw his heavy rock the whole way, Tiacapan on the other hand hit it with one of her smaller stones. The snake curled together when hit and tried to escape, Panitzin blocked its path with his stick. Not wanting to be left out of the fun he also tried a few jabs with the stick to actually hit the snake, but he had to admit he failed to hit it with enough force to matter.

"Much harder work without the sling I am building in the work shed," Tiacapan said as they finally had finished the snake. Acatlotzin had finally hit it with a large rock when the snake become slower and that ended their extensive tries to kill the animal.

"Good team work," Panitzin said and let his finger tips slide down the side of his nose. If the other understood the ancient hunt gesture they hid it well.

"What the heck are doing!" a voice shouted behind them and the three friends whirled around to find Malinal standing there. Like usual lately her clothes fit snuggly around her body, Panitzin could not avoid staring at the tight tunic that hid her developed breasts. From one angle he did what all other boys in the village did when the few years older Malinal passed by, but he also felt terribly embarrassed since he knew Malinal had a fiancé. It felt wrong to ogling at her like she was a potential girl friend, yet she was without doubt more interesting visually than the girls closer to his age.

"Just killing a snake," Panitzin mumbled.

"Did the snake attack you?" Malinal asked. "Did you battle it down after a frantic battle of life and death?"

"Sorry Malinal, we didn't think," Tiacapan said.

"I can understand the others failed to think, but you Panitzin," Malinal said. "You, as a hunter in training, and son of the village chief Jamro should have known better."

"It is but a snake. A bloody ugly snake Panitzin wanted to shout," but he kept the thoughts to himself.

"You need to come with me," Malinal said. "I was sent out to fetch you since the village have one of these rare guests from distant lands. The village chief want all to be present. We can talk more about the snake on the way back."

Panitzin bent down and impaled the dead snake on his stick so he could carry it back to the village.

"We did not just kill it," he said in a defensive tone. "When I return to the village I'll leave it to the food shed for proper cooking."

"Is that right?" Malinal asked. "Acatlotzin or Tiacapan, did you talk about having the snake as food before you killed it?"

They all shook their heads with red faces. They knew the forage master of the village was loaded with job after the last hunt in the Arminia rift.

"Sorry Malinal, but we only wanted to make Panitzin glad," Tiacapan said."You know how much he hates snakes."

"It is foolish behavior like yours that made us exiled from the land of ancestors, " Malinal complained. "What is the teachings of our Magog the living god of rebirth?"

"Only take life when required," Tiacapan recited. "Don't gather material of wealth or weapons because such will only attract envy. When a flock of bulls are threatened the way to survival are that one of the bulls sacrifice himself for the others safety and not that the bulls tries to become warriors that can prevail against superior enemies."

"Good Tiacapan," Malinal said. "Yet I think I might have to talk to Tayauh about what you did to the poor snake."

Panitzin flinched as he heard her words. If Malinal really did talk to her boyfriend about them killing the snake Tayauh would probably talk to the other hunters. It sounded horrible, all the hunters would come to Panitzin and hold speeches about the importance of not breaking the rules of Magog the living god of rebirth.

"Why was our people exiled from our ancestral home?" Acatlotzin wondered."Was it really because of killing animals like snakes?"

Malinal frowned as she heard the question and then retorted angrily, "If you did pay attention on the night ceremonies instead of snoring you would know."

"Actually we never learn many details," Panitzin objected. "We are told that the tribe was selfish and gathered treasure instead of sharing it with our neighbors. That we followed a god named Coatlion, the eternal snake. The worship of this god did not save us when a dragon came to steal our treasures."

"Did our ancestor worship snakes?" Acatlotzin wondered amazed.

"Father is reluctant to speak about it," Panitzin responded. "Yet I have learned that Tayauh's grand father saved everyone when he was filled with the essence of Magog. He sacrificed himself so that everyone else might escape the village and travel here where father was elected chief of the tribe. This was when the tribe also gave up the worship of the snake god to follow the teachings of Magog that had protected the tribe."

"How does it feel to betrothed to the grand son of the weasel of the living bull god?" Tiacapan asked Malinal. "Aren't you worried the tribe will be in danger again and he be chosen to sacrifice himself for the rest of us?"

"I try not to think about it," Malinal answered as they approached the village. They could see people running around and making the village prepared for a night party.

"An important visitor?" Panitzin wondered.

"I don't know his name, but it is a messenger from the Jidali tribe that gave our parents refuge when they were traveling without home," Malinal answered.

They split up as they came to the village and Panitzin forgot all about the snake as he looked at the lama that carried the belongings of the visitors. An actual sword and a leather armor, the first one Panitzin had ever seen.

He moved past the animal and into the village hall. Like usual when visitors came a veil of pleasant smelling smoke covered the room. On the far side of the room Panitzin saw the visitor. Judging by appearance there was little difference between the visitor and his own tribe, but if you considered his equipment there was little doubt he came from a distant place.

Panitzin's tribe Shingali always moved around in light woven garbs made from the Jintau tree while the visitor from the Jidiali tribe had heavy wool clothes. From the looks of it the intention was for the clothes to dampen attacks that hit the leather armor. Panitzin suspected this had happened numerous times since there was quite many patches.

Panitzin moved closer when he understood the visitor was about to speak.

"It makes me glad that Shingali has been spared of troubles and violence. A great number of my people was slain when our tribe was attacked by rabid dogs. It is weird times when rabid dogs start to collaborate," the visitor said.

"Bad news," chief Jamro said. "From the sound of your voice I reckon that you are not alone in having troubles?"

"Far from alone," the visitor answered. "The Harid tribe had their crops burnt down by a mysterious stranger last month. Marnagali and Elornaki has been attacked by red ship raiders from unknown origin. Meanwhile the shaman of the Nagakai tribe was exposed as a fraud by a trader that passed by the city, the tribe is said to have chased her of their lands when they understood they had been fooled by simple parlor tricks."

"I understand, old people can be pretty set in their religious beliefs and might start to use parlor tricks when they find the tribe does turn away from the old worship," chief Jamro said.

"Did your father do similar?" the visitor asked. "Even while I did never meet him I have understood he was the village shaman when you worshiped that snake god of yours."

"Oh, I forgot the snake," Panitzin realized. Curiosity had made him forget the snake that still hung from the stick he carried. Unfortunately he discovered that the villagers had already starting to arrive to the village hall. Most of them carried the dishes that they had prepared for dinner. That dinner was already prepared meant the storage sheds for food had been closed and locked for the night.

"Maybe I can sneak out and dump the snake in the bushes," he thought. He looked towards the doors, and then dismissed that idea. If there was anyone he didn't want to see the snake it was the man standing there and welcoming the village people. Tayauh's father Ecatzin, who carried the important title as hunt master of the village, would neither miss the snake if Panitzin tried to dart past him or find it amusing that Panitzin had killed a snake for fun.

Trying to do the best possible Panitzin put the stick with the snake towards the rear wall. If he was lucky none would notice it until he was given a chance to dispose it. Yet somehow this did not seem like one of Panitzin's more lucky days.

The people of the village sat in groups around their dishes. With more than 70 people present, the room didn't have much spare floor so Panitzin had to watch his steps as he moved towards his family. Sitting with his family meant he would have to stand his mother fusing about him not changing clothes before the party, but fortunately it also meant he would be sitting close to the visitor.

"Boys!" his mother complained as he sat down. "Why can't you clean up and fetch some fresh clothes when we have visitors?"

"I came directly from the forest when I heard about the visitor," Panitzin replied. His mother shrugged as she heard his voices and sent over a bowl with bread and fruit.

Panitzin started to eat as he studied the visitor sitting close to his father on the far side of the group around their dish. He estimated that he was somewhere between his mother and father in age, not that this narrowed things down by much. His father had married late in life and had grey hair while Panitzin's mother Tiacapantzin had not yet started to look old.

Panitzin's father chief Jamru raised his hand to call for silence. The assembled audience obeyed quickly.

"Welcome members of the Shingali tribe," chief Jamru said. "We are assembled here because our friends from the Jidali tribe has sent a message by one of their best warriors, honored Fatayac. I leave it Fatayac to present the reason for his visit."

"Thank you honored chief Jamru," Fatayac said as he stood up."It is warm feelings that I visit the Shingali tribe. The Jidali are glad to call you our friends. The pact between our tribes remain where you offer us medical herbs and we offer you wares that are hard to acquire without a coast where traders can land. Yet everything is not well in the lands and even while Jidali so far has not been attacked we have seen things that suggest we just has been lucky so far. Our elders are worried and seek ways to feel more secure. One area of concern is that we know your tribe, even while feared for your knowledge of poison, lacks trained warriors."

Whispers filled the room when Fatayac went quiet to give the Shingali time to think. Finally chief Jamru also stood up and the whole room was filled by an anxious silence.

"It is good you bring us this concern," chief Jamru said. "Yet I don't understand your line of thought. You both acknowledge that everyone are too afraid of our poison knowledge to attack us and that you yet somehow think we need warriors. Care to explain this?"

"Gladly," Fatayac responded. "Any native of the lands will know the Shingali and don't dare to attack. Yet the red ship raiders that has attacked the Marnagali and Elornaki tribes are from what we know not from here. We fear that many of your lives would be lost before the attackers understand your poison skills. Even worse you might not be given time to distribute your poison arrows before the attackers are here. The Jidali wonders if we need to prepare defenses in your direction also in case you are overrun."

"That sounds reasonable," Panitzin thought, but from the sound of the people around him he understood that not many agreed.

"Please let me finish speaking before you make your judgment," Fatayac said. "The Jidali know about your religious beliefs. We will not ask you for any commitment that conflict with the teaching of your god Magog. All we suggest is that some of our warriors come here and give some of your tribe members basic instructions in how to defend against an invading force."

Fataya sat down and chief Jamru joined him with a nod. Panitzin listened carefully to determine what they said to each other.

"I understand you need to talk to the masters of the tribe before you answer, but was is your personal opinion?" the visitor asked.

"No shores around here so the threat from red ship raiders seem rather limited," chief Jamru answered.

Panitzin suddenly realized that most of the room had gone very quiet. He turned and with dread he saw hunt master Ecatzin standing at the far side of the room with the dead snake in his hand.

"If this a joke," Ecatzin said. "I can ensure you that the one responsible will pay dearly."

Panitzin looked over the room, he could see Acatlotzin and Tiacapan looking in his direction. Some distance away he saw Malinal whispering into Tayauh's ear. Panitzin would have expected Tayauh to save the matter of the snake to a more private time. Tayauh was far too wise to make a big scene, yet it was his hot tempered father that held the snake and not Tayauh.

"Acatlotzin and Tiacapan does not deserve this. If I confess maybe their involvement can be avoided," Panitzin thought.

He stood and felt every eye inside the village hall turn in his direction.

"I killed the snake because I was angry. I intended to leave it in the storage shed when I returned, but the party had already begun so I could not do that," Panitzin said with a firm voice even while he was trembling.

"Why did you have to slay the snake?" Ecatzin asked perplexed. "The snake is harmless and Magog the bull god of the rebirth teach us to not take life without a good cause."

"I better stick with the truth," Panitzin thought.

"No good reason," Panitzin said. "I dislike snakes, my first impulse is to kill them. Today I lost my temper, but I will try to keep my temper better in line in the future."

The tall man shrugged, it looked like a ghost passed over the graves of his ancestors. Panitzin frowned, he could not understand the huntmasters reaction.

"What right does you have to slay an animal for your amusement?" Ecatzin asked.

"No right at all," Panitzin answered after some hesitation. "Older people from the tribe has already reminded me of our religious beliefs. I will not allow my dislikes for snakes to make me to repeat the mistake."

"Taking lives is serious business. I am starting to doubt if I can have you as a hunter aspirant," Ecatzin stated with a grim coldness in his voice.

Panitzin stared back at him in shock. He really loved the thrill of hunting, that he would be expelled from hunting training because he had killed a snake seemed unreal.

"Father!" Tayauh suddenly called out. "You are unjust. It might be so that Panitzin is the most talented tracker student you ever had. If he was four years older you would offer him a chance to take the test to become a real hunter since he is already better than some of the real hunters of the tribe. Still that does not change the fact that Panitzin is still a child and should not be expected to show the wisdom of a grown up."

"Thank you Tayauh, you are a life saver," Panitzin thought. Ecatzin stood still, visibly ashamed.

"Your words are wise son," Ecatzin said. "I was too quick to be angered. It gladdens me that it is my son that have the courage to tell me that I am wrong. Panitzin will stay as pupil to me, I will have plenty of time to remind him of the importance of life before he reach the right age to surpass all the other hunters."

Ecatzin moved outside with the snake and Panitzin sank down. His mother gave him a supportive smile, the look on Panitzin's father was harder to read. Chief Jamru's face was stern and showing no hint of emotion.

"Are you good as using the bow?" a voiced suddenly asked and Panitzin turned to find the visitor Fatayac by his side.

"Not very good I am afraid," Panitzin responded. "The downside of being a really good tracker is that you seldom has to make those really hard arrow shots. I often get very close to the animal before I must take the shot. Good for your hunting success, but bad for the lack of training."

"I see," the fighter from the Jidali tribe replied. "Do you think the masters of your village will accept the offer from the Jidali tribe?"

Panitzin blushed, it felt awkward talking about this when everyone around was listening.

"It is not really my place to say what the leaders of our tribe will decide," he finally responded.

"Surely they will not hold anything you say against you, you are child like just was said and should be given some freedom of speech because of that," Fatayac said.

"He want my opinion since he thinks it will reveal what my father might be thinking," Panitzin thought. He could understand the idea, yet he doubted it would work. A child like him could not visit any of the meetings of the masters and he suspected Fatayac himself knew more about how chief Jamru thought in these situations than Panitzin himself.

"Yet what harm can it do if I speak freely? I might perhaps influence the final decision if I say something clever," Panitzin thought. He thought about it for a while, thinking about how he had slain the snake. "Could I have something to work with there, I killed the animal afterall since I knew it to be weak compared to myself?"

"My personal thought are that when a predator hunts in the jungle it doesn't hunt strong or fit animals. It is true that when a herd of bulls are threatened one of them must sometime sacrifice its life to save the herd. On the other hand it is also true that the weak or inexperienced are often the victim when animals are attacked. I think the Shingali tribe need the training so that we will not be perceived as lacking the ability to put our poison lore to good use," Panitzin said.

"Good thoughts," the Jidali responded. "Have you ever thought about in what ways your tribe might seem weak?"

"Well, just a bit," Panitzin said as he thought about the location of the storage shed for food. Its location at the far end of the village had always seemed unwise to Panitzin. An intelligent attacker could loot the storage without ever waking up the villagers. Panitzin looked up and saw Fatayac looking at him with curious look in his eyes.

"Do you expect me to tell you it?" Panitzin asked. "It would be most unwise to tell you about the weakness before I have become grown enough to make the village address the issue, wouldn't it?"

"Right," Fatayac said. "You think like a true warrior. If your tribe stay safe until you are grown I suspect the offer from Jidali will not matter, you have the necessary instincts. Of course it would be better if they accepted the offer."

Panitzin beamed when he heard the praise, absent minded Panitzin took a bowl of juice that came from his mother Tiacapantzin's direction. He drank deeply as thought about what to say.

"Is not the leather armor heavy to bear in the jungle?" Panitzin asked."Even just your current clothes seem terribly warm."

"Very warm indeed. Yet it gives comfort to know that you have some protection if I go into an ambush," Fatayac responded. He nodded and then returned to his place beside chief Jamru.

Panitzin drank from the bowl of juice as he thought about the events of the day. Maybe he suffered from a stroke of bad luck. That out of everyone possible Ecatzin had found the snake seemed like real bad luck.

"Would you like a bowl of juice?" his mother said and extended a bowl.

"Already have one," Panitzin replied. His mother stared back at him surprised.

"I just started to pour juice the moment, where did you get that bowl from?" Tiacapantzin asked.

Panitzin looked at the bowl surprised. It was a plain bowl without any of the usual tribe decorations that indicated from what family it came. That anyone would bring such to village party seemed strange.

"I don't know, somebody handed it to me and I assumed it to be you," Panitzin said. He looked around, but everyone around shrugged their shoulders.

Slowly he registered that his body had started to ache. He felt warm and uncomfortable, his mouth feeling dry. He tried to adjust his position but his legs failed to move respond to wish for them to move.

"Poison!" he managed to whisper before he collapsed on the ground.

Distantly he heard his mother screaming about antidote as he gradually lost hold of his conscious. Other distorted voices responding, debating about what poison it could be. Most of the voices seemed to be close to panic, their proposed cures contradicting each other. Everything went silent and Panitzin was gone in a darkness that seemed endless.

*

The ground seemed to move below Panitzin, he felt numb and slowly opened his eyes. He lay down on the ground outside. Yet it was not any kind a scenery he had expected. The jungle around him was painted in unnatural colors. He tried to twist to look at the blue leaves on the trees above him but found himself to be bound tightly by ropes.

"Am I dreaming or hallucinating? In either case it must be due to the poison," Panitzin thought. He could imagine they would bind him if they suspected he might injure himself, but dropping him outside in the jungle did not make any sense.

"Panitzin, are you awake?" Malinial asked with an urgent tone in her voice."Look at me!"

Panitzin turned his head to find Malinal also tied down on the ground beside him. She had a piece of cloth around her neck that seemed to have been used to silence her until she managed to free herself.

"Listen Panitzin," Mailinal whispered. "We have been taken prisoner by red ship raiders. They intend to sell us as slaves."

"The red ship raiders that Fatayac talked about during the village meeting," Panitzin thought.

"Why do I even bother?" Malinal mumbled. "Listen Panitzin. I want you snap those ropes and free me without making a sound. I have seen you work, you can pull those ropes apart if you really try. Do it for me and save me from here."

No hallucination, must be a dream, Panitzin concluded. "Yet why not go with the dream of saving Malinal?"

Panitzin pulled at the ropes for a while until finally they broke apart. Looking down on himself there was little doubt why. In the dream his body was full grown and more muscled than he ever could have imagined it could be. He suspected he had more muscles than the black smith in the village.

Panitzin looked around and realized they were at the outside of some kind of camp. No guards were present, but just a few steps away armed people lay sleeping. Panitzin studied them for a few moments, with all the strange colors he could not be sure, yet it looked like they had a lighter skin tone than Panitzin's own tribe. He could for sure tell they had very different clothes and equipment. Besides strange clothes they also had armor that seemed done entirely in metal. The attackers must be very rich to be able to acquire so much metal.

"Merciful Magog, let us get away before they discover us," Malinal whispered. The effort to break the ropes had left Panitzin's wrists severely bruised, but in the dream he felt nothing as he moved over to Malinal to work on her ropes. He undid the knots and they stalked out into the deep night.

Panitzin felt unsteady and had some difficulty moving his body silently. Gradually things improved and he had started to hope they would get away when they heard angry shouts from the camp behind them. They both froze and looked back, they had covered a couple of hundred steps. Malinal seemed to hesitate and then spoke.

"Panitzin I want you to go in that direction as fast as you can," Malinal said. "Try to make sure they follow you and then try to outrun them. If you get free try to find anyone that can direct you back to the Shingali village."

Malinal started to climb a nearby tree as Panitzin hesitated about what to do. Should he follow her suggestion or try to make her come with him? Sounds of pursuit convinced him that he did not have a choice. He must run before they found him standing at the place Malinal 's tracks disappeared.

He ran through the forest with the pursuers behind him. At the beginning they had contact with him and he worried about them hitting him with distance weapons in some open space, but gradually he gained more distance. His hunter training meant that he know in what situations he would leave recognizable tracks and the pursuers must again and again stop to figure out in what direction he had departed.

Finally Panitzin had enough distance to try one of his favorite tricks from similar games among the kids of the tribe. He did back track and run along the old tracks for some distance before he found a place he could move sideways without leaving any real traces behind.

At a reasonable distance from the tracks he hid below some bushes. Experience from using this trick while playing had thought him that the best option at this point was to rest. If he moved away he might scare animals that would reveal the ploy, and being rested if the hunt begun again was a good idea.

After a while he saw the pursuers coming with torches. From the sound of it they had turned pretty tired already. They passed by the place where Panitzin had departed and continued forward. He could barely hear some of their talking.

"..maybe they are getting bolder. Tracks are more easy to follow now...to get loose...should used chains...must have gotten the mouth cloth off...we should have settled just for the brainless one...", Panitzin heard.

Panitzin frowned confused, "What had they been talking about?" He decided that he must save that question for later and crawled away through the bushes. After a while he started to run again and he felt reasonably confident that the pursuers would not catch him. Finally he halted by a fallen tree a stood still to listen if he could hear the sound of the pursuers. The forest was very silent and he leaned back towards the fallen tree to rest.

Suddenly Panitzin heard a snake hizz close to his right ear. A black snake, just like the one he killed in the forest before the village meeting, lay coiled on the fallen thread. His first instinct was to kill the snake, but he restrained himself. He had no reason to kill the snake and maybe it was in the dream to talk to him. He moved backwards to come out of the snakes striking distance.

Suddenly the snake lunged forward and Panitzin raised his arm to protect himself. The snake bit him below his wrist and it hurt like crazy. The moment afterward he had pulled it off the wound and killed it with a mighty swung towards the tree.

"Good that it was not a poisonous snake," Panitzin thought as he put pressure to the bite mark to stop the blood flow. Soon the pain was down to an irritating throbbing. The marks on his wrists from pulling the rope apart had also started to hurt. He took the snake and started walking again.

The colors of the surroundings must gradually have been turning more natural during the earlier escape because now Panitzin found that everything almost had the natural color. It made it far more easy to move through the dense jungle.

He was climbing a ridge when he smelt smoke. Carefully he stalked closer to get a view of the campsite or village that must be there. It was a campsite, one single wanderer, possibly an old woman, Panitzin concluded after carefully moving closer.

"You that is hiding in the bushes!" the woman by the fire called out."You stalk well, but I heard you before you noticed my campsite. If you have ill intentions towards an defenseless woman then get it done, in other cases come forward so that we might speak before I go to sleep."

Panitzin stepped forward with arms raised to indicate that he came in peace. If the woman felt intimidated by his presence she did not show it.

"I am Panitzin and come in peace. May I perhaps offer this snake in exchange for some food?" Panitzin asked. He surprised himself with how deep his voice sounded.

"Sounds like a fair deal," the woman replied. "I have some stew left that you can eat."

They exchanged snake and bowl and Panitzin tasted the still rather warm stew.

"A late night for making stew," he commented as he calmed his hunger.

"Lost most of the night trying to stay clear of those dreaded red ship raiders," the woman replied. "Had to move my camp when they started running around looking for some poor souls they had taken as slaves."

"I am sorry to hear that," Panitzin said. "It might be that they were looking for me so I may indirectly have caused you your trouble."

"What?" the woman objected. "No way they could have been looking for you."

"Why do you say so?" Panitzin wondered confused.

"I heard the raiders talking," the woman said. "They were looking for the brainless giant from the Shingali tribe. You are obviously neither mute or dumb so they must been looking for other people."

"Brainless giant from my tribe? What is all this talk about a giant?" Panitzin wondered.

"I am from the Shingali," he finally said ."Yet I don't know what giant you are talking about."

The woman stared back at him with a curious look on her face.

"You wouldn't by chance remembering eating something very foul tasting?" she asked.

"I was poisoned," Pantizin replied a bit surprised.

"Recently?" the old woman asked.

"She knows something that I don't know, but what is it? This is surely not like any dream I ever had before," Panitzin thought.

"You have still not presented yourself," Panitzin said to gain time as he tried to sort out what to say.

"I am Anacanona from the Nagakai," the woman said. "Why don't you tell me what you know and I will tell you what I think has happened."

"I remembered being in the Shingali village when I was poisoned. The strange thing is that I am child, so I don't get why I am grown up now. Anyway I woke up in the red ship raider camp and helped a tribe member to escape," Panitzin told.

"I bet you think this is a dream," Anaconona said.

"What else than a dream could explain the situation?" Panitzin wondered.

"I used to be shaman of the Nagakai tribe," Anaconona said. "I lost this position when a mysterious stranger came and exposed the small tricks I had been using to make the cat of flames more real to the tribe. If the cat of flames ever was real I don't know, but I know that my predecessor has lots of more knowledge than myself."

"I heard the visitor Fatayac talk about the shaman of the Nagakai being expelled from her tribe," Panitzin recalled.

"One of the more impressing rituals my predecessor would do was to punish tribe members that had broken the law. He would first kill them and then bring them back as what he called animated dead. No matter what the kin to the animated dead did they could never manage to get any response. Normally the shaman took bribes from the kin until he after a couple of years gave in and set his prisoner free. The person returned to be the person he had been with no recollection of the lost years," Anaconona told.

"How could he bring them back if he had slain them?" Panitzin wondered.

"Good question," Anaconona said. "The answer is of course that the victim never really died. The villagers assumed it was lethal since the shaman demonstrated on animals that the components of the Cat's Red Revenge potion was very deadly, yet the joint combination would just rob the will of the victim."

"You mean that I was given this Cat's Red Revenge potion?" Panitzin asked.

"Not on purpose I would think," Anaconona said. "Your enemy probably wanted you dead, but did not understand that the effect would lessen after a decade or so. I have heard tales about a boy from Shingali being poisoned and loosing his sense of self during the healing. I always suspected it was Cat's Red Revenge, but since I do not know any remedy for the condition it seemed futile to travel to your distant tribe and inform your parents."

Panitzin sat still, trying to digest the thought that he really was grown. At one level it made much sense since it explained the weird colors and being numb after waking up, yet how could it feel real to wake up and suddenly be grown.

"You have any idea why anyone wanted you dead?" Anaconona asked.

"None, what so ever," Panitzin replied. "Yet I know I had angered the elders by killing a snake at the day of the poisoning."

"Hardly seems like a serious matter. Had you learned any secret?" Anaconona asked.

"Not that I am aware at. There was a village meeting about if the Shingali should take training from the Jidali tribe, and I offered the thought that this was a good idea. On the other hand I can not see how the opinions of a child could matter to anyone?" Panitzin reasoned.

"I think you must save this riddle for another day," Anaconona said. "Could not perhaps instead tell me about how you tribe decided to move away from the sea."

"Well I was not born then so I might not be the best person," Panitzin said, yet the look on the old womans face told she cared little about this. "It all started in the early spring when the village was attacked by a large red dragon. All the villagers could have ended as food for the dragon, but one of the tribe members was filled with the essence of Magog and gained the powers of the red bull god to keep the dragon away while the tribe escaped."

"I have encountered the priests of Magog," Anaconona said. "These priests come from the far side of the mountain ridge in the west and sometimes used to visit the Nagakai tribe. Very few was recruited since their talk of self sacrifice always seemed to be without merit."

"I don't know if our tribe had been visited by the priests in advance," Panitzin said. "From the talk of the elders it seem the tribe had not expected Magog's assistance."

"Must been a great shock to the tribe that the master of snakes would need help," Anaconona commented.

"What does she mean by the title the master of snakes? The chief of the Shingali ask for advice from the masters of hunt, forage and tools, but I never has heard about a master of snakes," Panitzin thought.

"Never heard about a master of snakes," Panitzin said.

"Strange," the woman said. "From what I recall the shaman of your tribe is called the master of snakes. My predecessor used to talk about how the Nariditic, the Shingali master of snakes, came to give aid when the Nagakai herd animals was hunted by a panther of supernatural origin."

"Nariditic was my grand father and shaman of the tribe, but have I never heard his title before or that he was involved with the dragon," Panitzin said.

"Could it be that your grand father died and the tribe failed to find anyone suitable for the task?" Anaconona asked.

"I don't know," Panitzin answered while he thought about the question.

"I don't think so," he finally concluded. "I have always been told that the tribe had a big meeting when they debated a prophecy about that the greed of the tribe would bring catastrophe to the tribe. I know my father sided with those that believed in the prophecy, but more important I know my grand father belonged to those who didn't believe it was a genuine prophecy so he must have been alive by then. Those that did not believe in the prophecy changed opinion when the dragon attacked a short time later."

"Shall we sum up the clues so far?" Anaconona suggested, Panitiz nodded. "We know that you grand father was alive at the meeting about that greed prophecy you mentioned. None have told you if your grand father died before the dragon came or if he also changed faith but died during the journey north or if he departed from tribe because of the change of faith or if he died during the battle with the dragon. We also know by reputation that your grand father was a bold man that would travel to other tribes and offer his support when they were in trouble."

"Sounds more like possibilities than real clues, we can't know which one is correct," Panitzin complained.

"Logics is all about looking at possibilities," Anaconona said. "The key question is why your tribe members has not told you what happened with you grand father. If we understand that we also know the answer to the riddle. I think we directly can discard the thought that he died before the dragon came or during the travel. Such a death would be safe to tell youngsters like you."

"That leaves the possibility of departure and that he died in battle with the dragon," Panitzin said.

"Actually if the tribe wanted to change faith they would very much like to tell a story about how the old shaman lacked power, so the scenario of he died in battle with the dragon is also unlikely," Anaconona said.

"That means he must have departed from the tribe," Panitzin said.

"You are not paying attention!" Anaconona snapped. "Departure sounds most likely from the little we know, but we still not don't know why you have not been told this. Until you know it unwise to jump to conclusions. The only thing we know is that your father and the others from the tribe somehow think the truth is shameful, or maybe that they find their lack of knowledge to be shameful. The essence of the lesson is not about finding the truth, but about what questions need to be asked if you should learn the truth."

"Do you often give lessons to strangers from other tribes?" Panitzin asked.

"No," Anaconona said. "Just an old habit from when I was shaman many years back."

"You seem to know much and I don't know what place I have within my own tribe after loosing myself for so long," Panitzin said. "Would you perhaps take me as student and teach me your knowledge?"

"I am tempted," Anaconona said. "I would have great assistance of a young companion that could ease the burden of labor and make sure my knowledge is not lost when I die. On the other hand I do think you need to learn the truth. There is a poisoner in your tribe that might be a threat to your family and friends. To learn the truth about your tribes history are also pretty important if you should make sure the tribe will not repeat old mistakes. I doubt you would have the patience for studies until you know this, but if I am still alive when you know the truth you might came looking for me."

"I will remember your offer," Panitzin said.

"Good, I feel I must retire for the night now if I should be able to outdistance the red ship raiders tomorrow." Anaconoa said. " I hope you excuse me."

"I will sleep myself," Panitzin said. "Thank you for the stew, it tasted well."

*

Panitzin slept without dreams and when he woke up he found Anaconona already busy with pulling down her camp.

"Sorry for departing early," Anaconona said. "It was a pleasure talking to you, but I need to put some distance between me and the red ship raiders. I left some food by the fireplace for you."

"Why are you so kind to me and give me food?" Panitzin asked as he started eating.

"The raiders are looking for you and my best chance to escape them will be if they are busy chasing you. Giving you food will increase the chance that the raiders never have time to check my tracks," Anaconona said. "Besides I also found it delightful to doing the thought exercises that I used as a shaman so why not give something in return."

"You have my sincere thanks," Panitzin said.

After Panitzin had finished eating he started to travel back towards the red ship raider camp. The most rational thing would without doubt have been to depart the area as soon as possible, but that meant loosing track of Malinal. If he returned to the village without any Malinal appearing it would be awkward at best and possibly a very bad situation.

When he arrived to the area of the camp he saw the tracks of small searching parties that moved around the terrain in random searches. Luckily it did not seem like any of the groups had so far investigated the part of the jungle where he and Malinal had split.

Panitzin carefully followed the tracks left by her, Malinal had without doubt learned one or two thing about tracking during the years that had passed. As teenager she had not been very good at it during the games of children, but Panitzin had to make a effort now to follow her tracks.

Finally he found her sleeping in the hollow of some roots. Carefully he stalked close and placed his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming as she woke up. First she struggled wildly to get free, until she realized that it was Panitzin.

"We can't stay here, " Panitzin whispered. "They have scout groups out searching."

Malinal stared back at him in utter shock. "How? You talk like a normal person," she finally mumbled.

"We must talk about that later;" Panitzin urged. "There is a river here somewhere in that direction, we need to move past it before we can dare to talk."

Malinal nodded and Panitzin took the lead. They alternated between stalking silently and running for short distances. At two times they heard scout groups moving around nearby, but both times Panitzin guessed the presence from the sound of the birds of the jungle and they could move safely past them. As time approached noon the found the river and they both stared at the muddy water with suspicion.

"Crocodiles?" Malinal asked.

"Possibly, but we need to drift a bit with the stream to make any followers loose track of us. We have to gamble about any crocodiles sleeping at the middle of the day," Panitzin replied and they nervously dived in the water.

Luck was with them and none of the four crocodiles that saw them pass by did attack. Finally they climbed up on the other shore and moved forward until they were safely out of hearing distance from the shore of the river.

"I can't believe that you returned to normal," Malinal said as the slowly continued walking. "I used to hope for a weeks that you would heal from the poisoning, but eventually even I gave up hope as you never did anything but following instructions to the very detail."

"You have no idea how strange this feels," Panitzin responded. "My last working memory before the red ship raider camp is the village meeting when Fatayac visited the tribe."

"Is that the night you were poisoned?" Malinal asked, Panitzin nodded.

"What a strange thing you would wake up to save me. Maybe something happened with your head when the raiders knocked you unconscious," Malinal suggested.

"Maybe," Panitzin responed. "What has happened with the tribe while I was lost for the world?"

"Not very much," Malinal responded. "Your father is still chief of the village even while he has become quite old and sick. Ecatzin left the tribe a couple of years ago on some secret mission and have not been seen since. My husband Tayauh has taken over as the tribes master of the hunt."

"Is my mother still around?" he asked.

"She is well, spends most of her time taking care of your father now," she responded.

Suddenly Panitzin froze, Malinal halted beside him unsure about his reaction. Panitzin listened to jungle around him. He could not hear a single sound except disturbed birds moving away in the far distance. What was it he heard the moment before that had made him feel nervous?

"There are people hiding nearby," Panitzin finally whispered when he had collected his thoughts. "Actually lots of people since they scared away the Papani birds," he said.

"Can we avoid them?" Malinal asked.

"I don't think so," Panitzin responded as he tried to decide what they should do.

"Why would anyone be out in this dense jungle? I should not have been so careless, what if the raiders have allies on this side of river also," Panitzin thought.