Rahan. Episode Seventy Two. By Roger Lecureux. The Mud that Devours. A Puke (TM) Comic.

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Rahan.

Episode Seventy Two.

By Roger Lecureux, drawn by Andre Cheret.

The Mud that Devours.

The strong smell of mud that floated over the marsh he had just crossed had hidden from him that of the hunters who lay in ambush.
That was why the son of Crao had no time to react.
Do not resist, "Fire Hair"! This spear will open your heart!

But the faces of these three men surprised him even more than the ambush itself!
Age alone differentiated these faces whose features were identical.
As if each face was a reflection of the two others!

Perhaps the stranger with the “Fire Hair” does not come as an enemy?
Why capture him?
All those who come from beyond the Troubled Waters are enemies! Let me kill him!

You are not wearing the "Sacred Bracelet", Queha! Only Nahor has the right to decide the fate of this man!

Page Two.

Entering the nearby village, Rahan felt like he was living a strange dream.
All the children looked the same!
All the teenagers looked the same!
All adults looked alike!

And all the women looked the same too!
The same features, the same looks, and the same smiles!
In fact, it was impossible to distinguish one from the other!

The son of Crao quickly understood that the members of this strange clan recognized each other by their voices!
Their leader appeared.

And Rahan noticed the heavy vertebra that encircled the man's wrist.
By the "Sacred Bracelet" which gives him all powers, Nahor orders.

The death of the one who came from the “troubled waters”!
He will be delivered at dawn to the “Muds-that-devour”! Nahor has spoken!
Some hunters cheered the brutal verdict.

Page Three.

But others protested.
You are very cruel, Nahor! Why steal the life of a hunter we know nothing about!?

Because Nahor hates those who do not have our face!
And as long as he wears the “sacred bracelet” he must be obeyed!
This is the law of the clan!

Suddenly screams arose!
Gahur!
Gahur just fell into the green water!
He is going to be eaten!

The whole clan rushed towards the pond, uttering cries of anguish, and helplessness.
They do not know how to "Crawl on water"!
If Rahan saves Gahur, maybe he will gain their trust!

Believing that his prisoner had escaped, Nahor wanted to cling to Rahan.
He found himself on the ground.
You will not get far, "Hair of Fire"!
We will find you!

Page Four.

On the shore the masses of women imploring the spirits.
The men, resigned, looked at the child who, a few stones throw away, was going to drown.
Step aside! Step aside!
Rahan will save Gahur!

A clamor of astonishment greeted the plunge of the son of fierce ages.
Down there, the child had just sunk!

And Rahan was already joining him, bringing him back to the surface.
Life has not yet left the little man!

Throw your assegais! Kill him! Kill him!
Hate blinds you, Nahor!
You forget that he wants to save Gahur!

On the shore, men were shouting.
The “Bad” ones of the clan had no doubt.
They will not be able to join Rahan on this island!
The son of Crao swam vigorously towards the island, in the middle of the pond.

Page Five.

He had noticed the large vertebra attached to the child's wrist.
This one was recovering his spirits.
Gahur was playing on a stump in the middle of the green water.
He slipped.

What does this over-sized bracelet mean to you, Gahur?
It means that Gahur, one day, will be the leader of the clan like Nahor is today!

Gahur mentioned the custom of his clan, where every two “Seasons-of-green-leaves,” the one who one day would become the leader was selected.
He was entrusted with a “Sacred Bracelet” which he was never to take off.

Thus live together the future leaders of ten, twelve, fourteen, and sixteen "Springs."
He, Gahur, was the youngest.

And it is Nahor-the-cruel, the oldest, who currently reigns over the clan.
Not all hunters approve of Nahor, but they must respect his law!

Page Six.

From the shore, men were still shouting threats.
Rahan could easily escape them!
But how would Gahur rejoin his people?

The son of fierce ages waited for nightfall.
Hold on to Rahan, Gahur!
Rahan will take you back to your brothers!

Returning to this shore carried great risks.
Yet, with the night, a reassuring calm had settled on this shore.

Perhaps the hunters convinced Nahor to let you live?
Gahur had not expressed this hope that.

Chtok!
Argh!
Ha-ha-ha!
Nahor knew you would come back!
It is the “Mud-that-devours” that is waiting for you!

Page Seven.

The son of Crao was taken into the village, near the totem topped with a "skin of wood" skull.
They had left him his knife.

But the way he was restrained prevented him from grabbing his weapon.
When the sun rises over the green water, the captive will die!
Let everyone return to their huts!

An old man lingered.
You saved little Gahur, and Nahor demands your death!
It is cruel, but we cannot do anything for you!
We cannot violate his law!

When Nahor dies, Ro-A will succeed him.
Ro-A is good.
His law will be better.
Why did you leave Rahan his knife?

Because Nahor hates everything that lives elsewhere. And things made by men!
The old man left grumbling.

Page Eight.

Abandoning the captive to his thoughts.
The marshes shimmered under the moon and Rahan imagined himself getting bogged down in the “Mud that devours.”

The idea of this atrocious death shook him.
No! No!
Rahan must flee! He undoubtedly has allies in this clan.

But how would he know his friends from his enemies among all these hunters who look alike, like the “tears of the sky”!
All his efforts to break his bonds remained in vain.

But suddenly.
The skull of the “wood skin”!
His teeth!
They will cut the vines!

He dragged himself to the bamboo-totem. He shook it with his shoulders.
If the skull falls next to Rahan, the noise will alert the hunters!

Page Nine.

After many shakes, the skull finally wobbled.
Rahan, although hampered, tried to place himself under it’s landing point.

But he did not succeed!
Crash!
A dull noise resounded which seemed louder than an “Angry cry from heaven."
He leaned back.

Because a young hunter came running, identical to all those of his age.
Friend? Enemy?
How to find out!
A future chief! He is going to see the skull!

The hunter was indeed wearing the vertebra on his wrist.
Did you call, “Fire hair”? I am Ro-A.
But I cannot do anything for you!
This is the law of Nahor!

When I am chief, my law will be very different. Yes, different.
Ro-A retreated into his hut.
Rahan was sure he had seen the skull on the ground, but had pretended to ignore it!

Page Ten.

Ro-A is therefore on Rahan's side!
Ah, why do these men all look the same!

Sawing on the crocodile's jaw, the vines gave way one by one.

And the son of Crao, free, leapt towards the forest.
But worrying shimmers stopped him.
Mud!
In the night, Rahan will throw himself into the “Mud that devours”!

As he sought refuge in a tree, he wandered through the marshes which surrounded the village.
Rahan will wait until daylight to flee!

It was a little before daybreak that clamors alerted him.
They were coming up from all sides.
The whole clan is on the hunt! They are tracking Rahan!
Oh!

Howls of terror suddenly covered the clamors.
A lone hunter was sucked into the mud!
It is too horrible! Rahan cannot let him die!
Page Eleven.

The son of fierce ages tore the man from the devouring mud and dragged him onto dry land.
Ra-ha-ha!

And it was only then that he saw the “Sacred Bracelet.”
He had just saved Nahor himself!
Ha-ha-ha! This mistake will ruin you, “Fire hair”!

Crack! Argh!

The leader rushed like a beast.
Rahan, dazed, caught a glimpse of Nahor lifting a huge stone above him to finish him off!

Page Twelve.

The instinct of self-preservation made him suddenly relax his legs.
He avoided the stone.

And still dazed, saw the other man quickly become engulfed in the mud.
Argh!

The wrist with the “Sacred Bracelet” was about to disappear under the mud when hunters appeared. Screams erupted.

Cries of vengeance or cries of deliverance?
Rahan never knew, as he preferred to escape.

Come back “Hair of Fire”! Come back!
Since Nahor is no more, Ro-A becomes our leader!
His law will be just and good! Come back, you who saved Gahor, come back!

Rahan was already too far away to hear.
Jumping the pockets of "Mud-that-devours", he had only one goal.
To flee this strange clan.
Flee this clan where it was impossible to distinguish the "Good" from the "Bad", and the friends from the fiercest enemies.