Merry Haven - Episode 11

 

He was having a hard time, he couldn't think straight. His findings were strange and odd, he wondered what Annas was doing with such queer company. 
 Tettes and Nal lingered, they were frightened. They sat against the trunk of a eucalyptus tree, with no prospect of running, for fear of being caught by anyone that could be lurking.

"Nal, is better we run from here. I can't sleep in a graveyard." said Tettes, moving away. 

"Let's stay longer and observe . They might still be there." Nal begged, jittering. 

"Am going."

"Wait... I heard a noise." Nal called. 

Tettes heard it. The sound had its descent around the doctor's grave. Tettes dashed to the eucalyptus tree, hiding from whatever the noise might be. Nal moved to the second eucalyptus tree that stood beside Tettes, gasping with fright. 

"shhhhhhh... Please be quiet." Tettes begged. 

The sound of multiple footsteps rang around the graveyard, the footsteps grew louder. Tettes beheld the figure of few men, marching toward Bitrus's grave. They all wore a hooded cloak, veiling their faces, all holding burning torches, save a very tall and huge man that wore a kilt skirt and a somewhat traditional brocade. With a long sandal reaching his calf.

 The man seemed younger than all the  men, he was very tall, taller than Annas; probably about eight feet and some inches

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/merry-haven

. His muscular body was a sight that frightened Tettes. He was totally bald. The huge man cradled a pet, stroking it with his huge fingers. Tettes recognized the pet, he had seen it in his dream. The creature looked like a little demon.
  The creature drew his gaze to the eucalyptus trees, peering into the trees, Tettes felt restless, he was having a strange feeling. He felt a piercing cold in his spine, permeating all over his inner faculties. 

"Tess.... It's looking our way, w-what what do we do?" Nal whispered with fright, shaking. 

"We hide, don't make a single sound." Tettes warned. 

The fiend little creature lingered his gaze at the lined eucalyptus trees. The huge man noticed, he watched the tree, trying to spot what his pet was looking. "We have company, someone is here with us." The huge man announced. He had a familiar voice, but Tettes felt it was misplaced. The owner of the voice was not bigger than the strange man, he was tall, but not taller than the man. It felt like a dream,  but it wasn't one, Annas couldn't be that big and tall within the  weeks he had left. He couldn't believe it, the voice sounded like Annas', the languid and seductive voice was meant for Annas, and Annas alone.
  A man moved closer to the huge man, studying the vicinity. "great one, let me  search around."

"Don't!" The giant commanded  

Nal was still jittering, shaking. "Annas, he sounded like Annas." he whispered. 

"Yes, but he is not  Annas. He is taller and bigger than Annas." Tettes whispered. 

"Annas is not bald as well, who is he?" Nal wondered.

 "I definately don't want to find out."

"Tess... He knows we are here."

"ssshhh... Let's hope they don't see us."

They were four men with the hooded cloak, they all circled Bitrus's grave, studying it. The man with an archaic mode of dressing was with them, stroking his pet. " Benji and Ern did a good work at masking it all, very clever." 

"Great one, let's expose the casket." a hooded man opined. 

"Don't be a fool. We are only here to observe. I get bored playing one sport for long." The man said, he seemed calm, but commanding. 

"Am sorry, great one." The hooded man  begged. He seemed frightened. 

"I must haunt down the Dajri and the healer myself. They used a shielding spell to veil their activity in the grave from me, very clever." the man muttered. 

 The man backed away from the hooded men, advancing toward the lined eucalyptus trees. He held a burning torch in his left hand and the fiend creature on the other. He halted when he was yards away from the lined eucalyptus trees. 
 A piercing cold tapped Tettes in his heart, the throbbing of his heart choked his breath, he found it hard to breathe well. It was a feeling of deep dread. 

"You come out now, I will be patient." The man called to the trees. "My galago has eyes that see even in the thickest darkness. He sees you."
  Hiding was futile, the man knew they were lurking. Tettes had put his friend in dire danger, he wish he could make Nal be safe home. He wish Nal was sleeping like other normal kids in his comfortable bed, oblivious of the night's happenings. 

"You don't keep me waiting." The young giant said. 

"Nal, please let me go out alone, please don't go out with me. I beg you, I caused this." Tettes whispered. Nal tried to argue, Tettes stole away the chance from him. He dashed out from the tree, meeting his doom. 
  
"I am here. I will not hide again, am am h-here. Please d-don't hurt me." Tettes said, with hysteric. 

"Tettes Ernest Jacob." The man muttered, moving closer to Tettes.

"You know my name?" Tettes said, the huge man was getting closer. He was very tall, huger than any human Tettes had ever seen. He was very young, he looked like a teen. Tettes could see the giant's eyes through the flames from the burning torch; it was a dark blue like Annas - with the gold spots. His facial look was like Annas', but a younger version, he was seeing his brother, Annas' younger self. "Annas!" Tettes muttered with awe. The only difference was the native mark on his face; there was a little straight mark on each of the giant's cheeks. 

"Am not Annas, he took my likeness." said the giant. The young man halted when he was very close to Tettes. "Yes I know your name, don't families do?"

"Please am am a little kid, spare me!" Tettes begged, he wondered what the young man meant by 'family', he had never seen the strange young man before, He couldn't ask, not in his fearful state. 

"I won't hurt you. Let's catch up as family do."
 The hooded men appeared, sticking to their master like a devoted warrior. Tettes couldn't place their facial looks, he could only see their mouths. 

"Leave us." The young man commanded. They withdrew. "I mean leave, I and family can't share this grave with strangers. We are leopards, we love our privacy." The young man said. The hooded men departed, leaving the graveyard, they walked past the doctor's grave, moving without turning back, their figure faded away. 

"I value good manners and courtesy, so I will start by telling you my name." The young man said when his followers had all gone. The flame of the burning torch was swaying with the wind.
  
"I am unkuriamima, just call me Unkur, people do. I don't stick with my birth name any longer, I prefer unkuriamima, the name has its essence. Unkuriamima means abomination, humans gave me the name because of who they think I am. I cherish it as it is a solid rock on which I tap strength from. calling me Unkur motivates me, it makes me spite humans. I need to, because it gives me the urge to sentence them to sorrows and death as they did me." The old man introduced himself, Tettes had no flare of courage to  speak to him. "What will you call me?" The teen-looking giant asked. 

"I - I will call you b-by your birth name." Tettes stammered. The galago glared at Tettes with its big orange eyes. Tettes felt a piercing cold. 

"I don't buy that, lad. Don't say that to please me, because you are not." Unkur said. "Tell me, what will you call me?"

"I will call you what you want." Tettes poured out swiftly. He felt tormented. 

"You know what I want, call it."

"Abomination." Tettes muttered. 

The huge teen cackled, smirking (he doesn't have dimples like Annas). "You are a strange lad Tettes. We can get along well."

"please... Can I go home?" Tettes begged. 

"life is filled with paradox. Just like a leopard begs to die in his birth home. Don't be frightened lad, you will die in your birth home." Said Unkur. He loved toying with ones head, Tettes noticed. Tettes felt the piercing cold once again, accompanied with the light pricking of his heart, it felt like the pricking was with an ice dagger. 

"Please don't kill me I beg you!"

"Come let's journey to a place I perceive is home. We will journey for just few seconds..." Unkur whispered in his ears. He pierced the burning torch in the soil. He gripped Tettes's wrist with his firm hands, Tettes watched his fingers properly for the first time, Unkur had six fingers instead of the normal five.  The graveyard flushed out of his eyes, they some how ran away, sinking into nothingness, Tettes felt lighter.

His eyes met a new scenery view, he was awed at it all. Did I just disappear? He asked himself. He felt a firm touch on his shoulders, it was the giant. Unkur was cradling his pet, stroking the little thing. 

"I will take you on a tour to my sanctuary. The men and women dancing over there are all under my time radius, they are also enjoying the slow ticking of time." Unkur said, still stroking the galago. 
 Tettes was in a large clearing, he beheld the most macabre sight of his life. They were men percussioning talking drums, dancing to the tune. They were on colourful brocade. Few ladies were with them dancing to the appealing sound of the talking drums. 
  They danced under a massive Iroko tree. Five long burning torches were planted in the soil, aiding their sight in the pitch dark night. A sight that frightened Tettes was the sorrowful looking people  buried near the burning torches; their body were buried from the neck down, with only their heads being exposed. The nine heads were alive, their eyes looked around, unable to tilt their necks, their facial expression looked confused, sorrowful, and frightened. 
 The drumming persisted, producing a sorrowful rythym. Unkur took a stride to them, beckoning Tettes come, he followed like though he was hypnotized. They all paused when Unkur approached. Unkur nestled the galago on his shoulder, he plucked out one of the planted burning torches. The torch had a sharp tip, Unkur tightened his grip on the burning torch, pointing its sharp tip on the pathetic looking head near him. 

"This is an awesome moment, watch and learn how to crush a head." Unkur said. The men with the talking drums and the ladies roared with excitement. 
 Tettes had never seen such barbaric sight before, they all hunger for blood. They were scores of them, all dressed in beautiful brocade attire. Some faces changed to a skull and back to their real facial looks, They were Dajris, but others faces remained unchanged. He acted as a boy with no idea about the changes, he wanted to secure his life and hide his healing gift from the bloodthirsty Unkur. 
  Unkur glared at Tettes, smirking like though he knew how frightened Tettes was. The fiend little galago watched from his master's shoulder, it was also keen on seeing the proceedings.
 Unkur drew the long burning torch up, with his left hand. He brought it down on the first head near him, the head cracked like a watermelon been struck with a sword. Tettes found it hard to breathe, he gasped in shock at the sight of the cruel murder.
 The roaring went wild, the men and women all danced with a strange dance step, the drummers percussioned their drums, producing a roaring rhythm. 
  Unkur moved to the next head, crushing it with the sharp tip of the burning torch. He watched Tettes, giving him an evil smile. Unkur placed the burning flames on the face of the third head, the head mouth opened, probably trying to scream, but it couldn't. They were all mute, Tettes was awed himself, They should have given the heads the liberty to scream and purge out their pain. It was so inhuman, he couldn't comprehend their vicious ways. The drum roared when Unkur burnt the fourth head. 
  The faces of the remaining heads were filled with sorrow, they couldn't flee from the bloodshed, they couldn't bring out any sound, their eyes only moved, feeling restless, some closed their eyes.
  Unkur smashed the fifth head, burnt the next, smashed, and smashed... He turned back to Tettes when he was near the last head, the dancers watched Tettes as well, some watched him with a 'What is a little kid doing here' look, others watched him with spite. He was trying to get his breath back, their sight choked his heart. 

"Tettes Ernest Jacob, care to burn the last?" Unkur asked. There were no noises, it all looked calm around, but Tettes wasn't calm. the only noise he heard was from the chirping of crickets. 

"I - I c-can't..." He said, shivering. 

 Unkur smashed the head, leaving the burning torch stock in the head. He moved to Tettes. The dancing and drumming rang all over, defeating the silent night.

 Tette strode slowly, trying to meet up with the giant. They left the mad dancers behind. 
   lined trees were at each side of the road, coalesced at the top, he only saw hints of the dark cloud. Unkur held out a burning torch, maintaining a steady movement. The galago was nestled on his shoulder. 

"I am taking you to your great great grand parents, they are with me in my sanctuary." said Unkur. Tettes was silent, he had no guts to speak, for fear of an unknown reaction from the giant. "My sanctuary is the place I embrace the warmth of solace. It makes me see things from my own lens."
 The lined trees seemed endless. Tettes beheld skulls and some skeletal parts of humans flung around their path; like hands, heels, ribcages and many severed part. 

"They have all been resting here for centuries now, they bumped into my fury, and Unkur don't like that." unkur said, referring to the skeletons. 

Tettes met more skeletons along the way, it was giving him a strange cold. "All of them, did you do it?" Tettes managed to say, after long minutes of silence. 

"please disambiguate your sentence, I prefer it plane." 

Tettes watched him, with fright, trying to think straight. 

"Tell me what you have to tell me, don't use tricky ways to ask me questions. You are a leopard, leopards are fearsome, we don't act with fear, we make people fear us." said Unkur. 

"I mean, that,  I am asking how they died - the skeletons."

"Still frightened..." Unkur sighed. "Let's say they died as a reparation for their sins."

"W-what sin."

"Nice! You are now bringing forth the leopard spirit in you. It runs in our family, we are leopards, we are not timid." said Unkur, moving fast, it was hard for Tettes to catch up with him "Their sins can never die, because the scar still remained on the poor soul they wronged."

"Y-You did it?" Tetes muttered. 

Unkur only watched him, moving his heels faster. The view of a storey building loomed nearer, burning torches were planted around the building, filling the surrounding with orange flame. Tettes wondered who could have the courage to build in such a sinister forest. 
  They left the lined trees behind, approaching the wooden storey building. It was an old building, with a withered look. The orange flame shone clearly, he could see the forest; looking sinister, in its pristine form, it frightened Tettes.

"Welcome to my sanctuary, it's bigger inside, I am housing hundreds of our family in there." Unkur announced, he paced along a path that led to the building. The galago never took his big orange eyes off Tettes. 
  Unkur made the burning flames of his torch dead with magic, tossing away the stick. "Let's go and see family." said Unkur. 

 The living room was somewhat different, for it was stacked with rows of a wooden furniture, looking like bookshelves, (it was backing them) to Tettes left was a big wooden chair, standing near the first bookshelf. The chair had a severed head placed at its right arm, the head looked so pale and withered. 
   The chandeliers with burning candles made him see clearly the wooden ceiling; it had large leopards painting.
 Unkur sat on the chair, caressing the severed head. "At my back, lies endless memories. Care to read what's on all the shelves?" Unkur asked 

"no, no, I can't read books today."

Unkur sniggered, "I can see that ignorance is indeed a malady." 

 The living room was extremely cold, ten times colder than the fridge in his home. Back home their fridge had a source for its coldness, but he couldn't spot any in the forlorn building. The living room was very broad, looking like a large hall.

Unkur dropped the Galago on his large chair, moving straight to Tettes. The little creature glared at Tettes, the Galago seemed too small on the  large chair; it looked like an ant lost in a large desert. It leaped higher, climbing up the tip of the chair.

"Come with me now, let's go and read - if that's what you call it." Unkur commanded, chuckling. Tettes lingered at the entrance, still in shock. "Come closer, lad... Don't make me loose it." Unkur threatened. 
  Tettes watched the shelf behind the big chair, closely examining a strange writings on the back of the shelf. It was similar to the writings on the Merryhaven murder scene. 

"let's move along the aisle, I want to introduce family to you." Said Unkur. 

  He was sandwiched between lined shelves, with the giant at his side. Moving with fright, he beheld a very vicious sight. 
  The shelves wasn't meant for books, it was stacked with severed heads. The heads were clumped together, the way librarians store books together on a shelf.
Tettes felt the piercing of a cold dagger in his heart, the sight was too inhuman for his delicate heart to take. 
 His body dropped on the wooden floor, gasping in shock. This was no place for a young boy, he ought be with his mates, having happy time, he shouldn't be here. The living room was draining him of his good memories, the thought of the severed head on the shelves was painting a deep scar in his heart. 
 He wanted to be somewhere else, not in the living room of sorrow. Tettes knelt with his left leg, his right hand rested on the other knee, trying to rise. He managed to rise up, He was scared of watching the heads, so he cowered his head, looking down at the wooden floor. 

"P - p - please.... I want to go home...." Tettes begged. 

"You are home. These are family." Unkur said, pointing at the heads. 

The lined shelves at each side of Tettes were filled with pale looking heads, they were perfectly stored and seemed fresh, but jarred. Tettes couldn't see the end of the lined shelves, it seemed very long and unending. 

"Let's begin from the beginning," Unkur announced, moving closer to the shelf backing his chair. "This was where their tribulation all started." Unkur watched the heads with sympathy.

The giant narrated his tales to Tettes; starting from his birth, his healing and magical powers, and the vile treatments he got from his community. He talked about his loving brother and how he was murdered by his father with impunity. "That day was the saddest day of my life, it was a day I vouched to hate humanity. Ache my father - your very very great grandfather stripped me of my only joy."
 
  Unkur gave Tettes more tales about his life, how the lady in a sacred river helped him with a curse, a curse that had been wreaking havoc to Tettes generations. "I killed my father and all his family, including the only woman that gave me genuine love, I had to. I spared only one of my brothers, he had to grow his own family. He did got a family, but I didn't kill them, his own son slayed him and his family, but one of his sons fled. And that has been the tradition; one kills the family, one flees. Your father and his brother were lucky, they both escaped.  Benjamin didn't settle down with family, the forces didn't lure him to, since your father have settled down with a family of his." Unkur finished, peering at the heads as though he had spot something of interest. "But your time wouldn't be that way, one must kill the family and one, only one will escape - just one!" Unkur snapped.
 
 Tettes quaked with shock. He wondered why a relative of his could be so mean and bloodthirsty, Unkur was his very great great grand uncle; if relatives could be this mean, he wouldn't pray to have one. The thought of seeing Unkur as his uncle made his mood sour. It made him recall a story his dad once told him, about a foolish duck and her eggs. The duck layed nine eggs, but she was too cruel and foolish. In a bid to be free of the eggs responsibilities, she smashed the nine eggs (before they could be harshed) with her beak, walking away to what she thought was freedom. 
  Tettes never believed she would be free after that, she was more than foolish, she was mean and bloodthirsty like Unkur. It all rang a bell in his head now, It was foolishness as well, his dad never lied, the duck made a foolish decision just to be free. Unkur was the duck, Tettes and his family were the unfortunate eggs.