Moussa and the entire team moved towards Pat to take a close look at what she was referring to. Even Moussa with all his knowledge as a renowned hunter could not really say which of the animals left the tracks. All he knew was that there were two animals. One had the foot of a man while the other had claws and made a mark similar to that of a bird. Based on the intensity of the tract on the sand, the two animals were in race. The bird was chasing after the animal with a human foot. Moussa knelt down, studied the tracts and started moving towards a certain direction. The team followed him and it led them to a large tree on which a giant bird sat, laying eggs.
The bird looked like an ostrich but had the foot of an eagle. It had a sharp beak which suggested it was carnivorous. Looking further, the groups noticed blood dripping down the trees. The bird must have had a nice meal. A Gorilla was hanged between the tree and its blood was what formed the pattern that led them here.
“sssh”, Moussa whispered as he asked the team to leave the place. They quietly left the bird which was feasting on its lunch.
“Please let’s leave this place at once. It is cursed.” Pat shouted. She screamed so hard that the entire group had to cover her mouth so as not to attract the bird. They did all they could to keep her under control and just when they thought they had succeeded, she screamed the loudest making the birds fly to safety. Her tiny voice pierced the solitude of the sky, causing it to respond with a thunder. Soon, the sky was angry and the smiling sun was covered by the sad clouds which cried mercilessly.
After the rain which lasted for just a few minutes, there was a movement among the trees and the giant bird emerged from its lunch. Standing before it, the entire team looked as tiny as ants. The bird moved with so much confidence and elegance that it crushed everything in her path. She checked left and right in search of what must have made the strange sound which caused the skies to respond with a rain. It quickly left and went back into the forest to look after her eggs which had started hatching.
“Rain hardly falls in this forest except when the gods are angered”, Moussa spoke to the team. “It seems the voice of Pat has finally disturbed their peace and they would stop at nothing until she is sacrificed to them”, Moussa added with shaking lips. “What do you mean by that?” Stan asked. “You mean my precious Pat will be given as a sacrifice to some gods? That will be the last thing that will happen in this jungle. I'd rather die than let that happen”, Stan cursed under his breath. “Listen to me Stan. You don’t have to be stubborn; the gods are angry, they control this place and can do all they want to do. Just get ready; the forest natives are coming to take her away”, Moussa spoke calmly.
“Pat will have to cross the river to meet the forest natives at the other side”, Moussa pointed to the other side of the river where the forest natives were waiting.
He moved closer to Pat and held her hand. Stan moved to defend her by engaging him in a combat. Before they knew it, Pat disappeared with the forest natives. The forest natives took her without the knowledge of the team members who were busy fighting. Stan sat and cried uncontrollably.
“Crying cannot solve this, please be a man and let’s go get her back”, Moussa comforted Stan. “We have to cross the river and get to the village before dawn. She will be sacrificed to the gods by noon. If we make it on time, we may be able to stop the sacrifice. All you need to do is to challenge the king to a fight. Mind you, it will be a dance with death”, Moussa added as they prepared to cross the river against all odds. “One more thing, if you are able to defeat the king, you can take as many Nigerium as you want. The forest natives are the guardians of the sacred stone”, Moussa added almost immediately.
Stan seemed to be absent minded on the issue of Nigerium, all he wanted was to save his lovely Pat. “Let’s get going then, Pat is too good to die like this”, he cried. “There are other things you need to know about the forest natives and their combat. I will tell you that once we are able to cross this river successfully. No matter what happens, do not look into the water please.”
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**Picture used is from Pixabay