Ekewane - The Sorceress Page 6

  Chapter Six.

  The Sinister Mountain

  The two girls pushed and cut their way through the undergrowth. There was no sunlight above them; only thick dark green foliage surrounded them. Their bodies were full of scratches from the sharp hidden limestones and crevices they had to squeeze their way through. Some of these pinnacles towered so high the girls could not see the tops.

  And still they walked on.

  As the morning went on the girls had not come into any opening. Eiru had become more fearful every step, and was angry with herself for following Ekewane, but it was too late to find the way back herself. She sat down exhausted, there was no cool breeze like on the beach, the hot humid air made it difficult to breathe and she knew that she could not go on any further. So she put her head between her hands and cried: she wanted to be on the beach with her mother and the other members of the tribe.

  After a few paces Ekewane became aware that she could not hear the moans and cries of Eiru, and slowly turned around to see why she was so quiet. Eiru was sitting further down the rough track. She quickly returned to her, afraid that she had been hurt. As she took the first step, the now familiar piercing scream rang out amongst the trees.

  She froze. The screaming continued even louder, it was coming closer. Ekewane ran as fast as she could to where Eiru was sitting looking petrified and gazing up into the high trees: she had gone very pale. Ekewane sat down beside her friend and put her arms around her.

  “I-it’s all r-right,’ she stammered, but did not look convinced. “M-my m-mother s-said that i-it w-will not h-harm us.”

  Eiru looked at her and whispered, “We have come into its land, it is angry with us, it will take us!”

  Ekewane did not know how to comfort or convince her, because she knew that it was true. They had left the place where they would not be harmed and were now deep in the forest that belonged to this spirit.

  The two girls sat there terrified waiting to be taken by the angry spirit. They listened attentively. They could hear the birds twittering high above them, and the breeze shuffling through the leaves on the high trees, but the loud piercing cry had become fainter and fainter.

  For how long they sat their embracing they did not know, but their bodies ached from the tension. Ekewane slowly got up and spoke more confidently than she really felt.

  “The spirit has gone, it understands that we mean it no harm.”

  “I want to go home,” Eiru whispered still crying.

  Ekewane nodded in agreement. She did not feel as brave now, so they started back down the half hidden track they had just come from.

  “I don’t remember this place,” Eiru whispered. She had been too afraid to speak since the terrifying scream.

  “I think you are right, these trees don’t look familiar,” replied Ekewane not been able to disguise the fear in her voice.

  They were lost and the tribe did not know they were even missing, and probably would not know for a long time. The children of the tribe ate and slept by themselves; the adults did not keep count of the older children.

  The girls stopped and tried to see the sky above, but it was still hidden by the sickly green light that surrounded them. They had no water and were very thirsty, and knew that they would die; nobody could find them here. Each in their own thoughts felt sickened at the reality of their situation. Ekewane blamed herself for being so foolish.

  “Maybe the spirit will come back and take us, it would be better than roaming aimlessly in this thick green foliage. Man eating tribes or savage animals could kill us,” she thought.

  She remembered how she felt on the canoe; the throbbing pain and cramps thirst and hunger had brought. The memory came rushing back and the tears began to swell in her eyes. Again she felt that nauseating fear.

  They sat there for a long time not having the energy to keep walking. They did not know what to do or where to go, so they waited, for what they did not know, but they waited.

  Nightfall came; they knew it was night because the dark green light became shadowy black. They could hear the strange noises that the night brings. The spirits have now left the underworld they thought, and would be here soon. They knew it would be useless to run, so they waited huddled together. But as the night continued the fatigue, fear and tension drifted away and they fell into a restless sleep.

  They woke the next morning both looking around surprised that they were still alive. Ekewane stood up and stretched, the forest did not look so dangerous this morning: they would find their way back. She smiled at Eiru to encourage her.

  “Come on! We will find our way back home.”

  Eiru did not look as confident as her friend, but slowly got up and followed.

  The girls started walking again not knowing in which direction they should go. They could not see the sun so they just kept walking.

  They had only walked a little distance when Ekewane slipped. She screamed as she kept sliding down a steep hole that had been covered with dry branches.

  She felt the rough terrain scrape away the skin from her body as she slid down faster and faster, and then a thump! All the air was crushed out of her lungs and she just lay there dazed. Only a few minutes had passed, but to Ekewane it felt a long time until her senses came back to her. She felt the air painfully flowing into her lungs again and heard Eiru’s desperate screams from above.

  Eiru screamed, and screamed, she could not stop. Then felt two strong, warm hands cover her mouth, and then everything went black and she dropped to the ground.

  Emarr stood there looking down at Eiru. He knew she was unconscious, but did not know what to do, so left her lying there and walked carefully over to the edge, and looked down the steep incline. He could see Ekewane lying there, and felt a spasm of pain within his stomach, was she dead? He frantically called out her name, and slowly he could see her turning her head and look up at him in bewilderment.

  “She is still alive!” he whispered.

  “Where did Emarr come from?”

  Ekewane could not make sense of what had happened and still felt stunned, so she slowly closed her eyes and went over her morning. She woke up with Eiru lying beside her, they got up and walked only a little way, then felt herself slipping down too fast for her to try and stop. She could feel the burning sensation where she had grazed her body whilst falling, but where did Emarr come from? And where was Eiru? For a long time she just looked dazed at the figure standing above the deep hole. Her breathing still felt painful and her body throbbed every time she tried to move.