Rahan. Episode Fourteen. The New Trap. by Roger Lecureux. A Puke (TM) Comic.

Rahan.

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Episode Fourteen.

The New Trap.

Rahan, who knew how to observe nature, was often surprised by her caprices.
The curious way in which this creeper had grown, which coiled like a snake, was it not one of them?

But in these fierce times, it was necessary to remain on the alert.
The son of Crao sensed the danger more than he saw it.

His hand clenched on his ivory knife, and he faced the hairy being that suddenly sprang from the thick copses.

Go away!
Rahan does not fight with those of your kind!

Page Two:

The resemblance between the great ape and "Those-who-walk-upright" always troubled Rahan.
As the gorilla rushed forward, he wanted to avoid the fight.

But his foot became caught in the vine and he was brutally ensnared.

His knife escaped him, and had fluttered ten paces from him!
Rahan thought his opponent was grabbing his ankle.

But it was not so.
The gorilla pounded its chest before attacking.
And what prevented Rahan from crawling towards the knife, was the vine!
Baoum! Baoum!

The creeper that mysteriously fastened itself to his ankle!
Rahan cannot grab his knife!
Rahan is lost!

Page Three:

But he will not be sent to the territory of the shadows without a beating!
The gorilla approached slowly, as if he understood that the man was at his mercy.

When the powerful arms encircled him, the son of Crao released his battle cry.
Ra-ha-ha!

The gorilla, suddenly freeing his opponent, jumped back. This clamor from Rahan seemed to have terrified it!

When the son of Crao raised his cry again, the great ape fled, disappearing deep into the thickets.
Ra-ha-ha!

Oh! Ha-ha-ha!
If Rahan just has to shout to make the enemy flee, crossing this territory will be easy.

Page Four:

Forgetting that he was still bound, Rahan wanted to recover his knife. And found himself nose to the ground!

The vines of this country are more dangerous than the great ape!
Amused, the son of Crao loosened the vegetal knot.

He knew how to tie certain knots, but the way in which this one was formed, on its own, intrigued him a lot.

Long after he had freed himself, he remained perplexed.
Rahan wants to understand! When he saw the vine, it was crawling like this.

His gift for observation was such that he easily formed the loop, put his foot in it, and pulled.

Page Five:

And the vine closed again on his ankle.
Rahan understands!
The knot sinks! The knot slips!
And the vine closes!

Rahan is now aware of how to tie up his enemies much more quickly!
Perhaps it is thus that in the first ages of humanity, a man, copying nature, invented the "slipknot"?

Bind them? Why would he not capture them with this trap?

If the trap can crawl on the ground like the snake, it can also fly like a bird!

The skillfully projected loop ended encircling the tree stump!
The gorilla must have shuddered in the distance as he heard the triumphant clamor!
Ra-ha-ha!
Rahan has discovered a new trap!

Page Six:

Shortly after, the son of Crao climbed on a ridge.
Rahan wants to know if “those-who-walk-standing-up” live in this territory!

He soon overlooked immense forests hollowed out by deep ravines, dotted here and there with wide rocky plateaus.

His gaze fell on one of them.
Down there, between the rocks, a whole troop of great apes was busy.
But the activity of these great apes was very strange.

“Those-who-live-in-the-trees" don't roll stones like that!
Rahan wants to know more!

Night was falling when the son of the fierce ages, slipping between the rocks, reached his goal.

Page Seven:

Behind the stones of which they had made a rampart the hairy beings snuggled up against each other.

They protect themselves from the cold of the night as the clan of Crao once did!
Rahan was wrong!

Whoever attacked him was not a great ape.
But a man!
Rahan felt a deep turmoil.

The old Crao had told him about these primitive clans.
"Those-who-almost-walk-upright" said Crao.

A stone suddenly came loose under Rahan's foot, breaking the silence.
Over there, the hairy beings stood up, worried.
Chtoc! Chtoc! Chtoc!

Page Eight:

They uttered strange grunts.
Grah! Gurgh!
“Those-who-walk-almost-upright" Do not speak!
This is why Rahan's adversary was afraid of his cries!

Rahan will not be able to make himself understood by these beings!
He must avoid them! He must flee from them!
Here and there silhouettes jumped in the rocks.

The monkey men were looking for the intruder!
One of them caught sight of him, silhouetted against the moon!

The narrow cornice suddenly crumbled under Rahan, who caught himself on a thin projection.

Rahan will not be able to return to the heights.
Indeed, the wall was too smooth to be climbed.

Page Nine:

A bottomless, vertiginous chasm opened up under Rahan, who knew that he could not maintain his hold for long.

The new trap!
Only the new trap can still save Rahan!

But to throw the vine on a projection that he saw, he had to cling to the rocky wall with one hand!!

It was a terrible effort.
So terrible that he let go the instant the knot tightened on the outcropping!
Argh!

His fingers tightened on the line.
He was saved! He could pull himself up!
No, not yet!

Page Ten:

Grah! Gurr?
The cry he had uttered when he thought he was falling into the void had attracted the monkey-men!

They peered into the darkness of the abyss.
If they see Rahan they will kill him!

The male monkeys were obstinate. They saw nothing but they remained there!
Gur! Ur! Gur! Gaa! Gaa!

These "Gaa" sounds reached the son of Crao, who had just imagined a more comfortable way to wait.

And the night passed slowly.
Under Rahan was the unknown void.
Above was the danger, also unknown.

Page Eleven:

Indeed, a question haunted the son of Crao.
What fate did “those-who-walk-almost-upright” reserve for their enemies?

The darkness finally dissipated.
The first light of the new days silhouetted the peak of the tall trees and the profiles of the ridges.

The mists lifted under Rahan, revealing a large lake.
No! Rahan can't dive from so high!
His whole body would burst!

It was suddenly a drama.
One of the monkey-men had just noticed the line.
Ga! Gaa!

And the son of fierce ages felt himself slowly rising towards the rock protrusion!
If Rahan screams to scare them, they will drop the line!

Page Twelve:

Intrigued and curious, the monkey-men hoisted up this mysterious burden.
Graa! Graa!

Graa!
Graa!
They groaned deeply when Rahan's bust appeared.
Some seized heavy stones.

Behind him the void!
Before him, the clan of hairy beings!
The son of Crao had no other way out than to fight!

The first stones were falling around him when a long howl arose.
A member of the clan arrived.

Graa!
It was a female, who was holding to her chest a small inanimate figure.

Page Thirteen:

The ape-men, forgetting the “enemy”, suddenly seemed distraught.
Gga! Gah! Grah!
They act like the hunters of Mont Bleu, when a little one was sick thought Rahan.

Memories assailed Rahan.
He remembered how the mothers of his horde healed the "little Men" with Sun Fruits.

Entrust your little one to Rahan! He will cure him!

A great ape-man, the chief probably, brandished a flint.
Graa! Graa!
Since you do not understand Rahan, Rahan must act!

Leaping towards the moaning female, the son of fierce ages snatched the little one from her arms, and escaped into the nearby forest.

Page Fourteen:

The disarray of the ape-men had allowed Rahan to escape.
But the clan would quickly give chase and track him down.

Vague growls were already rising in the distance.
Rahan has often succeeded in hiding in the foliage.

He climbed into the branches of a tall tree.
Forgetting that his pursuers were nimbler than him in this kingdom of foliage.

The chief of the clan was faster than the others, whom he outdistanced.
And he glimpsed Rahan between the branches!
Graa!

With astonishing agility he hoisted himself towards the fugitive.
Rahan could dive into the torrent.

Page Fifteen:

But cold water is no good for the sick child.

The new trap once again came to the aid of Rahan.
Its loop encircled a branch of the opposite bank.

The son of Crao heard a "graa", furious as he crossed the torrent.

He answered it with a laugh and abandoned the vine.
And he let himself fall on a thick carpet of moss.
Ha-ha-ha!

His laugh redoubled when he saw the monkey-man gesticulating on the other shore.
Ha-ha-ha!
You are afraid of water!

Page Sixteen:

And while the chief of the clan was looking for a ford to cross the torrent,
The son of Crao had discovered a shrub with sun-fruits.

His ivory blade slashed one of these fruits.
If the blood of the fruit doesn't heal you, Rahan will have done everything he can do!

Carefully he squeezed the juice of several fruits between the thin lips that he rolled up.

The head of the clan suddenly appeared, hammering his chest.
Bauom! Bauom!

Ra-ha-ha!
Rahan bellowed at the top of his lungs.
But believing that the little one of his clan was in danger, the "monkey-man" was unafraid!

Page Seventeen:

The son of fierce ages, cornered at a precipice, saw his formidable adversary charge, a branch in his hand.
This time, he thought, Rahan must fight!

Yes, this time Rahan had to fight and kill!
To kill, so not to be killed!
Ten steps from him the "Monkey-man" flourished his branch!

It flew about suddenly and struck his wrist with such violence that the ivory knife slipped from him.

He saw his weapon fall over the precipice, towards the greenish lake.
The son of Crao then only thought of his knife.

And he did what he had not dared before.
Risk the incredible, the fantastic, dive!
Graa!?

Page Eighteen:

He saw the green expanse rising towards him.
He saw the miniscule ivory knife that fell under him, with him.

The yellowish spot grew and grew and grew.
He only thought of his knife, which he had to grab on the fly.

His fingers suddenly closed on the sharp and biting blade.
But he did not care!
The lake rose steeply towards him.

Would his limbs break?
Would his belly burst when it came into contact with the water?
No! He remembered the swimmers of the river clan, who knew how to dive from such heights!

Like them, he stretched his body.
His head disappeared between his arms.
And it was a human arrow that pierced the green waters!

Page Nineteen:

Rahan had the impression of sinking into the "endless-river".
But he lived! He lived and he clutched his cutlass!

A moment later, still dazed but happy, he floated to the surface.

High up on the cliff, the horde of ape-men stirred in the sun.
Were they a new hazard?

Gaa! Gaa!
No! The chief of the clan lifted above his head a little monkey-man who was also gesticulating.
Gaa! Gaa!

And the whole horde hailed this mysterious "Being-with-smooth-skin" who had brought her little one back to life!
Crao was right.
"Those-who-walk-almost-upright" one day will walk upright.

Page Twenty:

Something had just gripped his ankle that reminded him of the "New trap".
Oh!

But it was only long seaweed from which he easily freed himself.
Rahan had had a fine day! He discovered the "New Trap".

And he taught "Monkey-Men" to heal their young!

Happy, he swam towards the shore where other perils lay in wait.
Where other mysteries awaited him.

For such was Rahan's destiny, the son of Crao, the son of fierce ages.
Because such was the life of "Those-who-walk-upright".
Men many centuries ago, many centuries ago!

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