Diablo III: Heroes Rise, Darkness Falls by Blizzard Entertainment;

Author:Blizzard Entertainment;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Doubtwalker

Matt Burns

The war began at sunrise, as it always did.

Benu and ten other witch doctors from the Clan of the Seven Stones stalked into the heart of the Teganze as swift and silent as panthers. Only the faint rattle of bone and iron charms dangling from their tribal masks warned of their presence. Striped in white, yellow, and red paint and decorated in bright bokai feathers, their bodies blended with the vibrant jungle around them.

Soon the emerald canopy grew thick, leaving the undergrowth in perpetual gloom. Benu pricked up his ears at every sound, listening for any hint of movement . . . any hint of his human prey.

The Igani Bawe, the Harvest of Souls, had come.

It was Benu’s first ritual war, and his heart thundered like a drum in anticipation. Elsewhere in the wilds, perhaps close by, rival witch doctors from the Five Hills and Clouded Valley tribes were hunting as well, called to action by their high priests just as Benu and his kin had been.

The Seven Stones war party stopped to rest within the borders of the Five Hills. Two witch doctors slipped through the trees ahead to scout for signs of their enemies.

“Do you tremble at the battle to come?” Benu’s elder, Ungate, whispered at his side. A single ivory horn, crowned by violet plumage, extended from the top of his fearsome wooden mask.

“I do not,” Benu replied.

“Show me your hand.”

Benu breathed to calm his nerves before obeying. He was pleased to see that his hand was motionless.

“Do you fear the battle to come?” Ungate edged closer, lowering his voice.

“All men fear. Such is the way of this world of shadow. My hand is still because I know this truth. If I hide from it, that emotion will control me,” the young witch doctor responded.

Ungate lightly gripped Benu’s shoulder in approval. The latter sighed in relief. He was not afraid, but he was anxious. He had longed for this day throughout the years of his training. There was no greater honor than to battle in the Igani. It was this ancient ceremony that had allowed his people and their faith to endure for generations. By sundown, when the hunt drew to a close, Benu would either return home in triumph or die at the hands of a rival tribe.

Each outcome was honorable in its own way. If he captured tributes, he would earn the praise and admiration of his kin. If he himself was taken, his spirit would be freed from this shadow world and ushered into the true reality of Mbwiru Eikura, the Unformed Land.

Such was his destiny as a witch doctor, a guardian of umbaru heritage and a living bridge between this world and the other. So it had always been for those of his station. So it would always be.

“To live is to sacrifice.” He raised his head as his chest swelled with pride.

Ungate completed the old umbaru words. “To sacrifice is to live.”

A scout glided out of the surrounding jungle, using hand signals to relay what he had seen: a Five Hills witch doctor.

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