KEITA
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Chapter 1:- I
1
The day started so badly for Keita. The old man had started by hollering at him without any apparent reason, like he wanted to wake him up from slumber. He didn't care and it wasn't the hollering that bothered him. It was this weird feeling he had that something was wrong. Something was wrong in the weather, something was wrong in the way he saw things and something was certainly wrong with himself.
He had been checking his traps for hours. There wasn't any sign of luck, it was like animals had all gone on vacation way far from the steep forests of the Glens. His seventeenth birthday would be just two days away and that was the day he'd have to show to the community of elders that he was man enough to tow the line and join the ranks of those whose voices were counted in the Glenns.
It was wintry weather, though the dry season was at its peak. The air was humid and the earth smelled with nausea. He was despaired, he felt wan and listless. I will go home without game. He thought as he moved out of the tangled outgrowth of the forest into the clearing. Dusk was fast advancing. Far in the distance, the gong resounded for the warrior dance. He listened to it with a faint heart wondering if he'd ever get the chance, the faintest chance to wield a spear and sling his quiver and bow like every man did and dance to the loose rhythm of the tam tam.
You will never live to see that day! A voice spoke in his mind. And he turned as though someone was behind him. He saw nothing. He heard nothing but the rush of the wind through the grass. His heart was beating. Like it had happened many a time, he felt like someone was watching him, someone he couldn't see. There was an imperceptible presence, so annoying and distraught.
He started off towards the village. His heart beating faster than normal, like a sacred fire was lit within him, turning from time to time to gaze furtively behind him. Fear started to brush around the edges of his heart. Faint hearted. You are afraid of nothing. Yet you want to be a warrior. Even ants will beat you off the track. The words were clear in his mind. But this time he was certain that they weren't his self-rebuking remarks. It was an an alien voice echoing in his head. That is something that had happened very often, something that would make the old man call him daft if he shared with him.
He moved faster to get himself out of the woodland into the wold. The faster he moved, the more he felt that he was being watched. He stopped without knowing why. And then it happened. His eyes instinctively turned into the sky.
His heart skipped!
Just over his head, hovering over a hazy cloud was a patch of darkly clouds that didn't move with the swaying wind. Sheathed in the cloud was an eye-shaped dark patch that seemed to stare intently at him. He brushed his eyes with the back of his hand and looked again wishing it were just the deception of the eye. A wizard's eyes are never deceptive. He'd have retorted that he was no wizard, but instead he was stunned at what he saw. The dark nimbus clouds were shaped into a snake-like pattern and left a well-designed, clear eye ball that looked at him from the clear sky.
He wanted to run, he wanted to cast a veil over over him and disappear completely. Yet he did nothing but stare, and his sight darkened. He felt like a blazing fire was lit within his breast. His breathing became frantic. His legs were heavy, and it felt like the sky was closing down on him and fangs of the cloud-like snake lunged for his head. Everything shifted around him in a swirl and he passed out.
1
The day started so badly for Keita. The old man had started by hollering at him without any apparent reason, like he wanted to wake him up from slumber. He didn't care and it wasn't the hollering that bothered him. It was this weird feeling he had that something was wrong. Something was wrong in the weather, something was wrong in the way he saw things and something was certainly wrong with himself.
He had been checking his traps for hours. There wasn't any sign of luck, it was like animals had all gone on vacation way far from the steep forests of the Glens. His seventeenth birthday would be just two days away and that was the day he'd have to show to the community of elders that he was man enough to tow the line and join the ranks of those whose voices were counted in the Glenns.
It was wintry weather, though the dry season was at its peak. The air was humid and the earth smelled with nausea. He was despaired, he felt wan and listless. I will go home without game. He thought as he moved out of the tangled outgrowth of the forest into the clearing. Dusk was fast advancing. Far in the distance, the gong resounded for the warrior dance. He listened to it with a faint heart wondering if he'd ever get the chance, the faintest chance to wield a spear and sling his quiver and bow like every man did and dance to the loose rhythm of the tam tam.
You will never live to see that day! A voice spoke in his mind. And he turned as though someone was behind him. He saw nothing. He heard nothing but the rush of the wind through the grass. His heart was beating. Like it had happened many a time, he felt like someone was watching him, someone he couldn't see. There was an imperceptible presence, so annoying and distraught.
He started off towards the village. His heart beating faster than normal, like a sacred fire was lit within him, turning from time to time to gaze furtively behind him. Fear started to brush around the edges of his heart. Faint hearted. You are afraid of nothing. Yet you want to be a warrior. Even ants will beat you off the track. The words were clear in his mind. But this time he was certain that they weren't his self-rebuking remarks. It was an an alien voice echoing in his head. That is something that had happened very often, something that would make the old man call him daft if he shared with him.
He moved faster to get himself out of the woodland into the wold. The faster he moved, the more he felt that he was being watched. He stopped without knowing why. And then it happened. His eyes instinctively turned into the sky.
His heart skipped!
Just over his head, hovering over a hazy cloud was a patch of darkly clouds that didn't move with the swaying wind. Sheathed in the cloud was an eye-shaped dark patch that seemed to stare intently at him. He brushed his eyes with the back of his hand and looked again wishing it were just the deception of the eye. A wizard's eyes are never deceptive. He'd have retorted that he was no wizard, but instead he was stunned at what he saw. The dark nimbus clouds were shaped into a snake-like pattern and left a well-designed, clear eye ball that looked at him from the clear sky.
He wanted to run, he wanted to cast a veil over over him and disappear completely. Yet he did nothing but stare, and his sight darkened. He felt like a blazing fire was lit within his breast. His breathing became frantic. His legs were heavy, and it felt like the sky was closing down on him and fangs of the cloud-like snake lunged for his head. Everything shifted around him in a swirl and he passed out.
