Rahan. Episode Twenty-Five. The Territory of Shadows. by Roger Lecureux. A Puke (TM) Comic.

Rahan.

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Episode Twenty-Five.

The Territory of Shadows.

Panting, the son of Crao let himself fall in front of the swamps.
He no longer felt the strength to flee from these mysterious beings, who had been hunting him since the moon shone.

Rahan cannot defy the water that swallows "Those-who-walk-upright"!
He caught his breath as he stared at the shimmering, ominous surface of the swamps.

From all sides, strange murmurs reached him, interspersed with heart rending sighs.
If Rahan lets himself be consumed by fear, he will not be able to fight anymore!

Page Two:

There remained in this son of fierce ages, a certain fear of night and darkness.
But he still dominated it.

Who are you "Beasts-of-the-night"!?
Show yourself to Rahan!
Show yourself!
His hand clutched the polished handle of the ivory knife, restoring his confidence.

Haunting wailing arose constantly from the forest.
The gleams of torches echoed behind the thickets.

The son of Crao felt dread seep through to his veins.
Rahan is dead!
Rahan has violated the "Territory of Shadows"!

The lights were not torches, as he had thought.
They were haloed human skulls!
This is how "Those-who-walk-upright" become.
When they have joined the "Territory of Shadows"!

Page Three:

Rahan has disturbed the peace of the dead!
And the dead are looking for him, to take him with them!

The skulls appeared here and there, above the thickets, as if floating in the void.

The son of Crao had formed another image of this "Territory of shadows".
From which no one had ever returned.
He had always thought of a realm of silence and eternal stillness.

He pricks himself slightly with his knife to see if he was not the victim of a nightmare.
Rahan does not dream! Rahan is alive!

So. Why is he in the "Territory of Shadows"!?
The moans still rose as the skulls haloed in light approached.

Page Four:

But why do these dead no longer have bodies?
And why do their heads float so high??

A scene suddenly surged from his memory.
The one where, one night, he had lit a fire behind a mammoth skull to impress his enemies.

His calm returned.
Hunters may be doing the same thing, to scare Rahan!

A moment later, the son of Crao was crawling silently through the brushwood.
He circled around the closest of the luminescent skulls.

And.
Rahan was right!
It is just a ruse of "Those-who-walk-upright"!
A man had his back to him.
Brandishing a bamboo where a skull was fixed.

Page Five:

Rahan does not fear you man!
The hunter turned around but did not hear the whistle of the ivory knife.

The blade stuck in the bamboo and the skull rolled on the ground.
The flaming resin it contained flowed from an orbit.

Rushing on the man, Rahan was already tearing away his long bamboo.
Why are your people hunting Rahan!

The hunter had no time to answer.
Alerted by the rising flames, all those of his clan came running.

The son of fierce ages found himself surrounded by these men who waved their macabre emblems.
You will not capture Rahan! Rahan will escape you!!

Page Six:

He no longer had time to snatch his knife, but an idea came alive in him.
He struck the nearby tree.

Ra-ha-ha!
And the ivory blade went right through the bamboo!

The son of Crao now had an unusual weapon, with which he could keep his opponents at a distance.

These fell back in disorder when a breach opened up in their ranks.
Rahan does not kill “Those-who-walk-upright”!

But he does not allow himself to be captured like a beast!
The ominous swamps shimmered under the huge moon.
He rushed there!

Page Seven:

He knew the treachery of these muddy swamps which stick and suck at his feet.
But the water was not deep enough to swim in.

But Rahan has only this path to escape the "Fire Skull" hunters!

The luminescent heads were still floating above the copses.
But those who wielded them dared not venture into the swamps.

Rahan felt the soft mud beneath his feet as he stalked towards a clump of tall reeds.

He was reaching that one when a saurian sprang from it.
Back "Little Wood"! Rahan will not be afraid!

Page Eight:

The crocodile's tail whipped the reeds.
He faced the man and his mouth gaped open.

The son of Crao struck with his strange, improvised weapon at the mud-covered side of the monster.

His cry of victory ran over the swamps, and drowned the distant laments of the men with the "Skulls-of-fire".
Ra-ha-ha!

The Hunters had spears.
Why did they not throw them at Rahan??

Luck seemed to be on Rahan's side as he found firmer ground beneath his feet.
The water only reached his knees.

Page Nine:

The moon lit up a small island, where on a few trees hung garlands of vines.
Rahan will be able to wait there for the sunrise!

He was very close to the island when he felt sucked into the mud!
The water came suddenly to his thighs!
He got bogged down!!

Instinctively, he raised his bamboo, hooking a vine with the knife.
But he was wrong to believe himself safe.

For the vine suddenly yielded under the edge of the ivory blade!

And the son of Crao got bogged down again!
Up to the belly.
Up to the chest.
This time, Rahan will experience the true "Territory of Shadows"!

Page Ten:

The muddy water was now up to his neck.
He tried to hook another vine, but in vain.

Rahan comes to join you Crao! Oh!
When he thought he was seeing the moon for the last time.

His feet met a hard body!
No doubt the roots of one of the trees on the island!

Feeling these roots with his toes and heels, he slowly freed himself from the filth of the mud.
Ra-ha-ha!

A moment later, he climbed up onto the island.
And then disputed the place with young crocodiles!

Page Eleven:

These saurians were too small to be dangerous.
The son of Crao easily pushed them back into the swamp.

In the darkness on the side of the forest still rose the lamentations.
They know the swamps better than Rahan!
Why are they not chasing him anymore?

This island was only a precarious refuge and Rahan hesitated.
To abandon it was to take the risk of getting bogged down again in the mud.

But to stay there until dawn was to find himself surrounded on all sides by the "Skull of Fire" hunters!

All these grouped "Skulls" indicated that down there, on the mainland, the hunters had gathered and conferred.

Page Twelve:

If Rahan falls into their hands, his skull will one day swing from the top of a bamboo!

As the men divided to circle the marshes, the son of the fierce ages hesitated no more.
He abandoned the island.

A moment later, he probed the mud with his bamboo, and sought the firmest ground before taking a step.

Sometimes he sank to his knees, and sometimes he sank to his thighs.

And had to employ all his energy to free himself.
Rahan has never crossed such dangerous territory!

Page Thirteen:

The luminescent skulls, in the distance, proved that the hunters skirted the shore and did not abandon their human game!

The son of Crao suddenly saw a fissure in the bank.
This constriction separated this swamp from another area, which he could not see.

He also caught a glimpse of the tree trunk which formed a bridge over this constriction.
The hunters threw it there to cross the fault!!

Rahan is saved, if he gets to this tree before the "Skull-of-fire" men!

Redoubling his efforts, he soon arrived under the trunk.
He grabbed onto dry land with a single bound.

Page Fourteen:

But the slime that stuck to his legs prevented him from making such a leap.
He looked at the branches and.

His face lit up.
The son of Crao, who knew how to take advantage of everything, brandished his bamboo.
If the bamboo does not split, Rahan is safe!

Wedging the handle and the blade of the ivory knife in a fork formed by a branch.

And while the dull lamentations approached, he tore himself from the mud, and climbed towards the bridge tree.

He was beginning to hoist himself up when two "Skulls-of-fire" sprang from the darkness!
The hunters carrying them rushed towards the trunk!

Page Fifteen:

But these men only lasted a few steps on the tree whose roots Rahan vigorously shook.
Vlouf!

Ha-ha-ha!
When you get out of there, Rahan will be far away! And up high!
The son of Crao was already climbing an almost vertical mound.

His cutlass, stuck in the bamboo, facilitated this hard ascent.
And he launched as a challenge his cry of victory.
Ra-ha-ha!

When a rock broke loose under the ivory blade!
Oh!

It struck him violently in the forehead and he let go, falling into the void towards the swamps!

Page Sixteen:

Unconscious, he rested on the mud which had cushioned his fall.
The moon lit up his body.

His body slowly became stuck in the mud.
The hunters he had pitched into the swamp emerged from it not far from him.

They caught sight of him, and terror paralyzed them for a moment.
Then they began to howl, alerting the horde.

On the two banks connected by the bridge tree, men came running.

The most audacious jumped on the mud and approached Rahan, still unconscious.
The lamentations of the "Skulls-of-fire" hunters had given way to shouts of joy.

Page Seventeen:

When the son of the fierce ages awoke, the sun blazed in the sky.
He was lying on a long flat rock.
His "Weapon" was near him.

All around the rock were piles of necklaces and furs.
You deserve these gifts, you who come back from the "Territory of Shadows"!

Every time the big moon appears, we celebrate our deaths.
We wander all night.

Around the swamps, praying for them to return from the "Territory of Shadows"!
When.
When we saw you, we knew that our pleas were finally heard!
For the first time a man had returned from the kingdom of the dead!

But why did you run away from us?
Our horde only wanted to celebrate your resurrection!
Rahan now understood the laments of his pursuers.

Page Eighteen:

They thought Rahan had torn himself out of "Shadow territory"!
And Rahan fled all night from hunters who only wanted to celebrate!!

The son of Crao could have lied, taking advantage of the credulity of these men.
He did not.
Rahan is just a hunter like you!

Rahan had strayed into your territory and he was never in that of the shadows!
A murmur of disappointment rose from the horde.

Rahan believes "Those-Who-walk-standing" never return from the "Territory of Shadows"!

The chief stopped the gesture of a man who raised his spear.
No! You don't kill a hunter who tells the truth!

Page Nineteen:

Rahan could have fooled the horde.
We would have adored him as we adore the sun-god!
But Rahan preferred the truth to the lie!

He will now be our brother!
The chief's last words were those that the son of Crao liked to hear.

The surface of the marshes in the distance was dazzling in the sun.
Will Rahan stay with us?
Game is abundant, and our horde lives happily.

Rahan observed the knife stuck in the bamboo.
The idea of a new weapon was already born in his inventive spirit.
Rahan will stay for a few days!

Then he will go in search of other clans, other hordes!
Rahan wants to learn it all!
To know everything about "Those-who-walk-upright"!

Page Twenty:

The son of Crao lived among these men as many days as a hand has fingers.
He spent them cutting a long, flat flint.

From this flint bound in a split bamboo, he gave birth to a new weapon.
Lighter than the club, more effective than the axe.

On the morning of his departure, he offered it to the leader of the marsh horde.
May she help you hunt, Craziik!
But let her never hit "Those-who-walk-upright"!

When he disappeared under the lights of the east, doubt returned to some hunters.
Perhaps it was death that taught him to make this weapon that mows down game?

The representation of death, which men later imagined, did it not originate on that night of fierce times when a primitive horde believed that Rahan had returned from the "Territory of Shadows"?
Who Knows!?

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