As the sky grew brighter, the village became more active. Cuganwa started his second check of their saddle.

  “Four tarps, fifteen poles, six ropes, two shovels, four sacks…” the boy mumbled to himself before he paused and looked back toward the village.

  While the hunters were going out for a final hunt for supplies, most of the villagers waited in the center too afraid to leave for home. Cuganwa could not blame them as everyone recalled the strange figures and the sightings of the witch as they waited. Though the others spoke of the witch, Cuganwa’s thoughts dwelled on Deyunca’s death. Without hesitation, Gamaunda killed the man for his betrayal. The boy looked to the ground as his hand started to fidget.

  ‘We serve the village, and the guards protect it. No place for selfish gains,’ Cuganwa thought over his father’s words. His hands refused to stop shaking, forcing him to ball them into fists to stifle their movement. Cuganwa looked back at the village. He narrowed his sight noticing his mother, and Caluu, talking to Yanuma. As Caluu Clung to their mother’s blue and green dress hiding her face, their mother wore a look of horror as Elder Yanuma spoke. His mother and sister were often quite busy working in the crafters’ tent or working with others on another village task.

  ‘Caluu, have you done something?’ Cuganwa questioned as he watched them trying to read their expressions.

  The elder finished speaking looked down to the floor as she walked away from Jogia and Caluu. His mother clung to the child even tighter. Cuganwa tightened his fists, the shaking grew worse.

  ‘What happened?’ the boy questioned. ‘By the Great Lord’s will, are they alright?’

  “Cuganwa! Cuganwa!” Odaru called. The boy blinked, then looked up to his side. He found Odaru looking at him. His brow furrowed as he looked at the boy from the front saddle.

  “Yes?” Cuganwa answered.

  The senior hunter remained silent for a moment as he stared back at the boy. Odaru then asked, “How many tarps?”

  “Four.”

  “Poles?”

  “Fifteen.”

  “Ropes?”

  “Six.”

  “Shovels?”

  “Two.”

  Odaru paused for a moment as he continued to look at Cuganwa. “Sacks?”

  “Four.”

  Odaru frowned as he looked at Cuganwa. “What’s wrong, Cuganwa? You have the numbers, and we need to be ready.”

  “Sorry, Odaru. I just…” Cuganwa looked back toward the village.

  The senior hunter sighed. “Is it because of Deyunca?” The boy closed his mouth.

  ‘Not just Deyunca. The witch and my family. There’re problems everywhere,’ the boy thought.

  “You’re not blaming yourself for that, are you?”

  “No. No,” Cuganwa raised a hand. “I just wasn’t ready for that.”

  Odaru’s brow rose in an arch. “Cuganwa, no one would be ready for such a thing. Unless it were their job already. Trust me. Gamaunda has to be, and I don’t think the chief wants to.”

  Cuganwa sighed. “I guess I need to be a better hunter.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Odaru blinked several times. “Cuganwa, being a better hunter has very little to do with being ready for someone’s betrayal. That is just something you mustn’t allow on its own. Deyunca tried to betray the village. We prepare for animals. By the Great Lord’s light, there isn’t any reason to halt everyone for a reckless want.” Odaru started to right himself in the saddle as he looked forward. “Besides Little Charge-horn, this hunt should come with some ease as we ride along. I think there are too many of us right now. But this will make things all the faster.”

  Cuganwa said nothing as he glanced at Odaru’s left leg still bound in leather strands for a tourniquet. Despite a broken leg, he was still going. ‘Just focus on the village’s needs,’ the boy thought as he climbed the stirrups of Muga’s saddle.

  As Cuganwa rose, the whip-neck swung her bulbous head around and began to lick his face. The boy smirked and scratched under her chin at first only to push her bone layered snout away. The whip-neck stopped only for her large brown eyes to continue focusing on the boy as he continued his climb. Once Cuganwa reached the top, he sat down on the rear seat and looked about. He and Odaru were placed in the middle of their hunting party’s lineup. While Cuganwa’s party normally traveled in two parallel lines for their journey, they had to stay in a single file as the left held Lamoy’s party, and the right, Deyunca’s. Cuganwa avoided looking at many of them as they had faced great grief and embarrassment despite the task placed on them. Many avoided facing the other parties. Cuganwa wondered if any of the hunters would direct their attention toward him out of spite or blame him for the man’s death. After some time, hunters considered each other brothers. Even, Cuganwa had seen Odaru as more of an uncle.

  Before anything could be said, Cuganwa looked out toward the village center once more as Gamaunda spoke to the others. It was easy to see him in a crowd as he wore a red headwrap. Cuganwa’s mind flashed to the bracelet as it held the strange flat blade that gleamed like water in the sun.

  It was bewildering that such a blade could collapse into that small bead of stone as light shimmered from it. As the boy watched the chief address the village, he saw a family sitting apart from the others as the elders spoke to them. A woman was kneeling with her head low as the younger boys clung to her side.

  ‘Who are they?’ Cuganwa wondered until he realized that they could be Deyunca’s family. The village leader was explaining the situation to the others.

  Guards soon came by and escorted the family toward the elders’ tent. With every death, the village would cremate the body in a special urn and release the ashes into the river where Kelvert first brought them to life. If they wouldn’t, the spirit would fester in the body haunting their surroundings and a new life would not return to the village.

  ‘May his soul return untainted,’ the boy thought as the family walked off with the guards to join the other families that lost loved ones that night.

  Three more whip-necks started making their way toward the northern gate catching Cuganwa’s attention. It was the hunting leaders, Sutama, Lamoy, and now Bo’ede, Deyunca’s second. Today they were in the back of her light brown headwrap covering most of her brow and hair. Bo’ede was a short bald man with a clean-shaven face normally scowling and a mound of muscle. Cuganwa never noticed him but now, wanted to avoid eye contact with him seeing a deep red within them.

  In a subtle attempt, the boy raised his palm to the sky as he prayed, ‘By the Great Lord, may his shine guide Deyunca’s spirit.’ As if called by the thoughts, Bo’ede looked at the boy and his expression eased as he gave a nod. Cuganwa hesitated for a moment before doing the same.

  Cuganwa’s attention then turned to Lamoy as she rode on keeping a gleeful look about her. At the hunters’ meeting with the chief and village elders, she wore her feathers proudly in the front. Noticing their placement, he wondered why she had done so. Even in the few encounters she had with him in the village, they were always placed in the front.

  Lamoy then glanced at Cuganwa noticing his stare. She looked his way as she announced, “How bold, Little Charge-horn. A hunter for two days and now you look for a wife?” Cuganwa’s eyes went wide as Sutama gave him a look telling him to be vigilant as the others began to laugh. The boy straightened in his seat as he looked forward. From his periphery, he could see the party of Deyunca also laughing. The tension in their expressions lessened somewhat.

  Odaru even chuckled. As the hunting leaders went on toward the front, Odaru then asked, “Lamoy, why the change?”

  The woman shrugged her shoulders as she answered, “After all this, maybe a little change would be good.” Odaru nodded his head. “May the Great Lord’s light guide us all.”

  As the leaders reached the front, the gate was being picked apart by a team of guards unearthing the loose pieces.

  In a booming voice, Sutama spoke, “Alright we have a simple job to do. Let’s get it done before the storm arrives. Let’s move.”

  As the three hunting parties walked parallel to each other, Cuganwa wondered about the passing events. His mother’s conversation with the elder, Deyunca’s odd behavior, strange cold wounds found on the deceased, and rumors of the witch were all too strange to hear about within two days. ‘What’s about to happen?’ the boy wondered as they made their way into the drylands.