World of Dawn by Shawn Gale

Author:Shawn Gale [Gale, Shawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781514435076
Publisher: Xlibris US
Published: 2017-03-14T04:00:00+00:00

20

Dejunga leads his eight braves down the mountain path toward the Valley of No Name, silent and swift as wolves stalking their prey. Ragaroo had selected them because of their loyalty, their cruelty. They will not disappoint. When it comes to hunting men or animals, their prowess is unmatched.

Dejunga sees something on the path. He kneels down and picks up a strange shine box the size of his hand. He turns it, sniffing it once, then again. A face appears. A Yankee girl, her eyes covered by a black mask. He stares at her white skin, at her pink lips for a moment. He has never seen such a shine box before. But the Wendo have come across many strange things since they left Mother Earth––large metal birds on the ground with their bellies split open, strangely dressed dead inside; men dressed in colorful outfits riding loud horses with wheels instead of legs, and huge beasts that rumbled across the land, black smoke billowing from their backsides. Yes, many strange things.

Deciding to take the shine box with him, he opens one of his hip pouches and puts it inside. After they catch the Yankees and return to their village, he will give the shine box to Ragaroo as a gift and earn his favor. The Creator will tell Ragaroo what it is for.

The Boy with the Scar is the only one who matters. One Who Sees All wants him, and Dejunga will make sure he gets what he wants. But he and his braves will be honored if they return with more Yankee prisoners, and the ceremony will go on for days as the Wendo feast on their spirits, on their flesh.

Dejunga lifts a shriveled head from where it is tied to his hip. The Yankee girl on the shine box is a head he would like to have on his belt, to put with all the other totems he wears on his many hunts and ghost journeys. There is room for one more.

As they descend into the valley, the braves do not speak. They rarely do when hunting. At the foot of the slope, the ground is covered in fresh earth as though it rained from the sky recently. Dejunga smells a familiar scent in the air. He follows it to a rock, and on it he spots a red stain. He kneels down. He licks his finger and rubs the blood. He tastes it. He knows it well. Human blood.

Hulaka approaches him, pointing toward the Skytree Forest. “Two parties. One large Sawnay party, followed by a smaller one of Yankees.”

Dejunga gazes toward the skytrees. He hates Sawnay territory, where the spirits of their ancestors are strong among the trees and where he is reminded of the anger that he feels for those who despise the Wendo, those who believe themselves higher in the Creator’s eyes than the Wendo.

The Sawnay and Wendo were allies at one time, hunting the same forests, fishing the same rivers. The Sawnay had lived on World of Dawn for many generations and taught the ways of it to the Wendo.

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