Otheris and the Serpents of Qhudrus (4 page)

“What the
hell!? What was that all about?” Otheris asked, holding to his
broken sword while lying with his back to the ground panting.

“I thought as
much!” she stretched her hand and lifted him up.

“Here! Take
this, you may find it more useful than that cucumber you carried!”
as she handed her sword to him.

“Hmm!” he
exclaimed, “light and sharp! Where did you get this baby from?”

“Forged in the
mountains of Ghunakog by the legendary Jheet of Sunthai himself,”
she replied.

“Jheet of
Sunthai? The great blacksmith from the east who got killed by his
apprentice with a wooden sword?” he laughed, “I heard the
story!”

“Did you? Well,
probably contrary to what you must have heard; after killing his
arch enemy Zugthak, the leader of his rivalled tribe, whom Jheet
believed ordered the killing of his entire clan. Jheet fled up the
mountains of Ghunakog. The rivalled clan known as the Oaturans made
several attempts to kill Jheet but failed. Well, actually his skin
was impenetrable to metal…that was wield by any man. He one day
welcomed a young orphaned girl into his house up the mountains, and
after some years she discovered his secret. Well, actually he
spilled the beans after he got drunk one night.”

“Wait, are you
saying…” Otheris interrupted.

“Why don’t you
let me finish? Well, he let his guard down and told her his deepest
kept secret of secrets. So, she killed him in his sleep…with a
wooden sword!” Thakina sighed, “The girl Jheet welcomed into his
home was actually Zugthak’s daughter!”

“Hmm! Sounds
like good bedtime story for children!”

“Whatever, but
if you deny this occurrence then the story of you killing the great
witch of Moughdug is but a fairy tale as well. I am hungry!” she
responded.

“Ha! You wish!”
exclaimed Otheris, “I’ve got something in my small bag, my aunt
prepared some…”

“Go get it
already!”

“Okay! Okay!”
Otheris put the new sword into his sheath, left Thakina and moved
to his horse as Karim walked towards her.

“You should
call your men back, this place is not a place to wander!” said
Thakina.

“They’ll be
fine Princess Thakina!” Karim answered.

“How many times
do we have to go through this Karim?” she said in a soft voice.

“Forgive me
Princess Thakina! It is my duty to protect you!” he replied, “This
is how I am able to put the food on the table.”

“Doesn’t
serving me also mean you should have respect for my words?” she
asked.

“Yes it does
Princess Thakina! But my services to you require I constantly
remind my heart and my sword whom I live to protect and serve!” he
answered, “Is the young man an eyesore?”

“No! He’s just
too stubborn, just like my father. Once I am away from my father’s
sight it’d please my heart if you’d all stop calling me princess!”
she said, “I know what the hearts of your men emit, this mission is
a failure without Otheris so you must protect him as much as you so
passionately-desire to shield me from harm.” she said.

“Your wish is
my command princess Thakina!” answered Karim as he bowed.

“Where we’re
headed is no place for men who put their trust in swords Karim!
Your men may need a special kind of knowledge if they intend to
face and defeat this particular enemy!”

Karim smiled,
“We have faced men who terrorised great kings, encountered and have
killed lions so fierce the jungle…”

“These are not
lions, they are no ordinary animal Karim! Your swords cannot save
you from their deception! They do not devour the flesh of men, they
raven destinies!” she said, “my father just wants you to protect us
along the way, when we reach the gates of Qhudrus you must stay
back and let us go in alone and if we return then you escort us
back to Moughdug!”

“My instruction
is to protect you with my life and I cannot perform my duty with
you out of sight princess Thakina. The king did not utter such
thing to me. He said I should protect you with my life and bring
you back home without a scratch!” he replied.

“Do not rub my
face with songs from the lips of my father!” she shouted, “if you
follow what my father told you then you would not go home alive. If
you want to return home to your wife and children you must listen
to me and do as I say!” said Thakina.

Karim lowered
his head, “But princess…”

“There is no
but Karim! If you allow that to have a comfortable spot in this
journey it is your sword that shall return home, and not you on
that horse! If you have never honoured my words, I beg of you to
make sure you stay outside the gates of Qhudrus!” she added.

Karim nodded,
“And what is this special knowledge you speak of?”

“I do not know
of this knowledge, but I know one who does! And I believe it’d help
us all not only in this journey but the ones we’d take after this,”
she said as she turned and looked at Otheris coming back with
something in his hand.

“The son of
Delial?” asked Karim, “they say no good thing would ever come out
of the house of Delial!”

“Yes
indeed…they thought wrong,” said Thakina as she turned her face
towards the fire, “just don’t go through the gates of Qhudrus!”

“Hey beautiful,
look what I have got for us!” Otheris panted as he knelt before the
fire with some fruits, smoked fish and loaves.

“Yeah!” said
Zuka, “Look what we’ve got princess!” he threw a slaughtered sheep
next to the fire.

“A sheep? Are
you crazy?” said Otheris.

“Yes! It’s just
one sheep it’s not like we captured and killed a whole herd!
Besides, when a sheep strays away from the herd and the shepherd
did not notice it in time to come looking for it…finders, keepers!”
he laughed.

“A good
shepherd would leave his ninety nine in order to search for the one
that’s lost!” said Otheris.

“Well, in that
case, we’d steal one and hide it, and as the so-called good
shepherd goes looking for the lost sheep, we’d come steal the
ninety nine, right boys?” Hollered Zuka as the rest of the men
exhorted.

“I can’t
believe I’m stuck with a bunch of saps!” uttered Thakina.

Karim drew his
sword, “Who’s there?” as he sensed some movement in the woods.

The rest of
them became mute and those that were seated stood to their feet and
drew their swords too.

“Show
yourself?” he said as he stepped forward.

“We mean no
harm!” replied a sweet untoughened voice as two young beautiful
ladies appeared and walked toward them.

“Stop right
there!” commanded Karim as he took some steps further, “who are you
and what do you seek?”

“I am Emerald
and this is my sister Golden!” said one of the ladies.

“Emerald and
Golden…what brought you two out at this time of the night?” Karim
asked.

“Our father
sent us to look for his lost sheep!” said the one referred as
Golden.

“Lost sheep?”
Karim asked, “There’s no lost sheep here!”

“Well, it’s
cold out here and we’ve been searching for hours, can we come sit
by the fire, please?” said Emerald.

“Sure!” Karim
turned to the men, “Why not? Please come!”

“You don’t need
fire to get warm my lady! I am here,” said Zuka soaked in the thick
pool of his pride. The rest of the men cheered.

Emerald held
her sister’s hand and led her near the fire where Otheris and
Thakina were standing. As the women made their way through, their
beauty beamed as the fire shone on them and stole the hearts of the
six men.

“Whao! I feel
like drowning in my own saliva!” said one of the men.

“Ewww!” Thakina
exclaimed.

“Hi! I am
Emerald and this is my sister Golden,” Emerald said as they both
squat to get warm around the fire.

Otheris knelt
as Thakina squatted next to him, “Yeah I heard your names when you
first introduced yourselves!”

“So what’s your
name?” Golden interjected with her eyes gazed at Otheris.

“He’s taken!”
Thakina interrupted.

“Taken? What
kind of name is that?” responded Emerald.

“I meant to
say, he’s mine!” Thakina replied, “Yes! Taken! Get it?”

“Oh! I am
sorry, he doesn’t look entangled to me!” said Emerald as she stood
up and moved closer to Otheris, “I love your eyes!”

“The rest of
the men look strong and well built, your hauteur will find
unmerited affection in their sight! Like I said; this one is
taken!” Thakina protested as she left where she was and stood
between Otheris and Emerald.

“In my village
we have tons of young men just like him!” replied Emerald.

“Well, staying
away from this one shouldn’t be a problem for you then!” replied
Thakina.

“Hey! Hey!
Ladies, come on! No one fights over an unripe apple hanging on the
tree when lots of well ripen ones are scattered on the ground, my
sweet loves!” said Zuka as he approached the fire, “Fakal! Bring
the wine and let’s make a merry out of the night!”

“Yeah!” the
rest of the men cheered again.

The men brought
wine they carried along on their horses and made merry of the
evening as proposed by Zuka. While Otheris, Thakina and Karim sat
not far from the fire enjoying the amusement, six of the men got
drunk and danced around the fire singing battle songs and laughing
hard at one another as the two strangers danced seductively.

“I love my
life!” Zuka voiced out, “things are getting better and better by
the day from where I’m standing boys!” as he pranced and
staggered.

“I don’t like
them! I don’t trust them!” said Thakina.

“Ah! You’re
just a little jealous!” Otheris said.

“No I am not!
Jealous?” she replied as she reclined her head on a headrest and
drape herself with a blanket turning herself away from Otheris.

“Don’t touch
me!” she said as Otheris made an attempt to say something, “good
night.”

“Good
night!”

Karim, Otheris
and Thakina slept off before midnight while the rest of the men
along with the two strangers enjoyed the evening.

The
serpents of Qhudrus

“Otheris!
Otheris!” someone called in the dark, “wake up son!” said the voice
louder.

Otheris woke up
but saw Karim and four of the men aiming their swords at him.

“Where is
Thakina?” he asked, “What have you done to her?”

“I am here, I
am okay!” she said, “don’t move!”

“What?” asked
Otheris, a bit frightened.

“Don’t move
Otheris! We’re thinking of the best thing to do, whatever you
do…don’t move!” said Karim.

“I don’t
understand?” said Otheris as he looked at his feet carefully then
sighted a big black snaked curled itself around his right
ankle.

“Where are the
rest of the men? Otheris asked with apprehension, “and please…what
is that?”

“Mekel and
Pelinias? They are dead! And that’s a big snake curled up on your
right ankle.” Zuka replied, “We believe that those two damn women
killed them…somehow, after we all gave in to slumber!”

“It was a very
stupid thing to do!” uttered one of the men.

“Yes, a very
stupid thing to do!” added Zuka as he shook his head.

Otheris was
sweating, “I’m dreaming, right guys?” he turned to Thakina.

“No!” They all
chorused.

Otheris did not
bother to listen to what they were saying and he saw how scared
they all were. He looked around and sighted a small rock, then
cautiously dragged his body towards the rock with the snake still
curled to his ankle.

“No! No!” they
cried out as they slowly follow him.

Otheris picked
the rock and smashed the head of the snake but it refused to let
go, instead it curled itself tighter around Otheris’ ankle. Otheris
then raised the rock higher and aimed its head again not minding
his own leg, the snake quickly loosen its grip on Otheris as Karim
ran forth and cut off its head.

Thakina rushed
to Otheris to make sure he was not hurt, “Are you okay?” as she
checked his ankle.

“Yes! I am
fine!” he replied.

“Hmm! So much
for the one who’d slay the serpents of Qhudrus!” said Zuka, “well,
all the horses are dead too! All killed!”

While they
wondered what just transpired, they heard a sound in the woods as
though something large was making its way through and so kept their
guard up, and as they gathered in one place forming a circle, a
wild wind blew its way through and swept them all off their feet. A
huge golden scaled serpent made its way and stood tall before them
with its head spread like that of a mad cobra. Otheris quickly
moved backwards in search of a weapon good enough to attack the
serpent but could not find, he then saw his sword lying on the
ground near the ashes from the fire and made an attempt to pick it,
unknown to him a huge serpent same colour as the earth was lying
close to it. The serpent expelled venom from its fangs and aimed
directly at Otheris’ eyes, Otheris used his left hand and covered
his eyes as fast as his eyelids could.

The serpent
continued to disgorge its venoms until it drenched Otheris’ entire
clothe as though his entire body was immersed in a slimed
substance. He realised that the closer he moved towards the sword
the more venom the serpent spewed.

While its
attention was on Otheris, the serpent sensed Karim approaching from
behind so it turned fast and like lightning struck Karim on the
chest, his sword fell off his hand on one side, his body on the
other.

Otheris lowered
his hand and went straight for his sword, picked it and attacked
the serpent but his attempt was futile.

Thakina got
scared and turned to flee, the serpent hit her with its tail
sending her into the air as it charged towards her, she fainted on
landing as six more huge serpents came and surrounded her. The
serpents began hissing and a great dark smoke arose and swallowed
Thakina and all the serpents away into the woods.