Rahan. Episode One hundred and Sixteen. By Roger Lecureux. The Spider Men. A Puke (TM) Comic.

Index:
https://rumble.com/v3486cm-rahan-index-of-episodes-by-roger-lecureux..html

Source of Rahan Comics:
Philippe Ropers.
https://vk.com/topic-203785966_47424128

Rahan.
The son of the ferocious ages.

Episode One hundred and Sixteen.

By Roger Lecureux, drawn by Andre Cheret.

The Spider Men.

The son of Crao, emerging out of the swamp, consulted his ivory knife.
It turned on the stone and suddenly tipped over, pointing towards the foliage.

You want Rahan to continue along the path of the "Four-Hands"!
That is agreed!

But first, Rahan has to drink a little! Oh!
As he approached the source he had glimpsed, he saw a bamboo container hanging from a thin vine.

The hunters who live in this territory have a curious way of drawing water!
Argh!
A snake had suddenly coiled around his ankles.

Page Two.

No! It was not a reptile, but a trap! He was suddenly pulled towards the branches.

And was stopped by the tangle of vines. But these, amazingly, formed a gigantic net.
Only men could have crossed them like this!

Clinging to the vine mesh, it was easy for him to free himself.
Why did the hunters who wanted to capture Rahan not come up?

He climbed onto the net, which stretched from tree to tree like a gigantic spider's web.
Rahan has never seen such a strange thing!

Suddenly.
I wanted to give you a warning, “Fire-Hair”!
You should never have ventured under the territory of “Spider Men”.

Run away! Run away! Maybe it is not too late!
The man leapt onto the vine net with surprising agility.

Page Three.

To avoid a confrontation on this too unstable "Terrain", the son of Crao preferred to slip away into the branches.
But he did not get far.
Oh!
Another net of vines suddenly stretched out in front of him.
And behind, another prevented him from retreating.

Oh! Like a fly in a spider's web!
This skeleton entangled in the mesh was a macabre warning.

Rahan does not want to end up like this!
He does not want to join the shadow territory.
Oh!
A huge net had just been stretched above him.

Why do they not show up, since Rahan is trapped?
He divined, without seeing them, the men hidden in the foliage.
This silence and this waiting irritated him.
Show yourselves!
Spider-men! At least have the courage to approach your fly!

Page Four.

It was almost with relief that he saw, on all sides, men springing out of the foliage.
Kill! Kill the enemy! Kill!

The spider-men moved on the nets with as much ease as on solid ground.
No! Only Ta-Hongta has the right to decide his fate!

And the son of Crao was not able to resist for long opponents that were as agile the "Four Hands."

Mastered by the pack, he was dragged towards a gigantic dead tree where immense nets of vines converged.
Here was the heart of this strange "Territory"!

The tree was hollow. It grew there.
We have captured a man from below Ta-Hongta!
It is up to you to decide whether he should live or die!

This hunter is bold to have risked himself to come to us!
He deserves to live, does he no, Ta-Nuk?!
Near the woman who was there, Rahan recognized the one who had invited him to flee.

Page Five.

He is brave and seems good! Let us give him back his weapon!
You are too generous with this man "From below." Ta-Hongta!

I hope you will not regret it!
The man named Ta-Nuk went away grumbling, hanging on that wooden hook that seemed to be the spider-men's only weapon.

A little later.
Ta-Nuk is the most loyal man in our clan, Rahan but.
Argh!
Ta-Hongta was interrupted by cries of fear.

On one of the large nets, Ta-Nuk was struggling with a puma.
Oh. It is Ta-Nuk! The puma will kill him.

His wooden hook had just been torn off by a terrible claw blow.
He was at the mercy of the beast but no one came to his aid.
Good bye Ta-Hongta!

Rahan will save you Ta-Nuk!
With his knife in his hand, the son of Crao was already diving towards the big net.

Page Six.

He bounced there once, twice, three times.
Oh! Argh!
Before finding a precarious balance.

Argh!
Surprised for a moment, by this man falling from the sky, the beast threw itself on him.
And the most difficult of hand-to-hand combat began.

Handicapped by the net, Rahan understood that he would not have the upper hand.
But he had an idea. He threw himself back.

And suddenly cut several stitches of the vine net.
Attack Puma! Attack!

The cat jumped and fell back on this breach.
Rahan's clamor accompanied the beast's fall towards the swamp.
Ra-ha-ha!

You saved Ta-Nuk! Ta-Nuk thanks you "Fire-Hair."
The son off Crao discerned bitterness in the young hunter's thanks.

Page Seven.

They returned together towards the Ta-Hongta tree.
Why does your clan live in the trees, Ta-Nuk?
Why is Ta-Hongta the only woman in your clan?

Ta-Nuk told the tragic story of his clan.
It had once lived on the banks of a great river.
But one day, while the men were hunting.

A sudden and unexpected flood of the river had devastated everything.
All the women, swept away by the flood, had perished.

All women except one.
Ta-Hongta!
This is horrible Ta-Nuk!

This story reminded Rahan of the tragic night of the blue Mountain, where he too had been the only survivor of the terrible eruption of the volcano!

From then on, the river and even the mainland became cursed for our clan.
We decided to live in the trees like the "Four-Hands"!

Page Eight.

And Ta-Hongta became sacred to us, adored as a goddess would be!
The clan satisfied all of its desires, except one!

Ta-Hongta has no right to marry a man!
The last and only young girl of the clan, she must remain so until her death!

Ta-Nuk's sadness enlightened Rahan.
This young hunter loved Ta-Hongta, without hope!
This clan law is cruel and stupid, Ta-Nuk!

Ta-Hongta must marry the man she loves!
They must, together, have "Little Men"!
It is the law of life!
The only one that can perpetuate the species of "Those-who-walk-upright"!

You are brave and wise, Rahan! You should stay among us.
A hint of jealousy passed through Ta-Nuk's eyes.
Hum!

One man, however, had heard it all.
Rahan wants to break the clan law. We should have killed him.

Page Nine.

An instant later.
The man "From Below" has sacrilegious ideas! He incites Ta-Hongta and Ta-Nuk to disobey the law that we have given ourselves! He must die, even if Ta-Hongta opposes it!

Shortly afterwards, cries of death alerted the son of Crao.
Ours want to massacre Rahan! Run! Run!

They will spare Rahan if they find him unarmed! Here Ta-Nuk! Take!

Spider-men were already bursting in, grabbing at Rahan.
No! Leave him!
This is the first time we disobey, Ta-Hongta. But "Fire-Hair" must die!

A little later.
Those who break the law do not deserve any other death!
Tied up in the center of a net, Rahan wondered. What torture was being inflicted on him?

When the vines vibrated like the threads of a spider's web, he understood.
A monstrous tarantula was slowly approaching him.

No! Rahan does not want to be drained of blood like a fly.
He had just managed to free one of his hands. But the other bonds resisted.

Page Ten.

The tarantula continued to approach, but suddenly, hanging from a vine, his knife descended towards him.

Everything happened very quickly. Grabbing his weapon, he cut his bonds. The monster's hairy legs brushed against him.

When he slipped under the mesh net.
He was now under the abdomen of the beast.

So he struck and struck until the horrible creature stopped moving.
Ra-ha-ha!

Ta-Nuk saved the man below. Ta-Nuk betrayed the clan! He will die too!

The spider-men jumped onto the vine net.

And the Son of Crao quickly cut the mesh.
This is the only way for Rahan to escape them!

Page Eleven.

The net suddenly broke, throwing men into the void, thrown to the opposite side, Rahan was momentarily safe.

You hope to take advantage of the night to escape us, "Fire-Hair."
You could indeed succeed.
But know that if you do not surrender yourself by daybreak, the traitor Ta-Nuk will be put to death in your place!

The son of Crao could have fled.
But there was no question of him abandoning the one who had saved him.

All night long, he silently devoted himself to a patient and mysterious task.

Then, eluding the vigilance of some "Spider-Men" on duty, he slipped towards the tree of Ta-Hongta.

Page Twelve.

Where Ta-Nuk had found temporary refuge.
Run away, Rahan!
Run away! Or they will kill you!

If Rahan flees, it is Ta-Nuk they will kill!
The son of Crao, smiling, struck flints.
Rahan knows they are lurking in the darkness!
He will test their courage!

A human skull floated in the darkness, a skull whose eye sockets were flaming.
Argh!
Suddenly panicked, the spider-men fled the apparition.

Ha-ha-ha! Your clan does not know how to make fire!
Rahan knew it would have this effect!

Page thirteen.

Oh, Rahan! Not only are you good, loyal and brave.
But you are also cunning.
Hum!

Ta-Nuk's jealous growl amused Rahan.
Who suddenly became serious.

Would you agree to abandon your family to live with Ta-Hongta?
This is my only desire!

And you, ta-Hongta. Would you give up your privileges as a "Goddess" to marry Ta-Nuk?
Yes!

So, tomorrow you will be far from here! But you will have to follow Rahan's advice!
At dawn the "spider-men" returned from their fear, besiegated the trees of their "goddess".
"The man below" and Ta-Nuk must die, Ta-Hongta! Deliver them to us!

Rahan and the couple appeared.
It is time! Do not forget we have to avoid the nets! We have to escape only by the vines!

Page Fourteen.

The vines. I will never be able to!
No matter, Ta-Hongta! You will hold on to Rahan.
Let's go!

A huge roar arose as Rahan and Ta-Nuk leapt into the vines.
Argh! Ta-Hongta Betrays Us Too!
Death! Death!

Men threw themselves on the net.
Argh!
But it gave way under their weight, throwing them into the void.

Others, on another net that was also collapsing, remained entangled in its meshes.

On all sides the "webs of vines” were breaking under the spider-men.
They would never catch up with the fugitives again.

But what happened, Rahan?
Rahan will explain to you later.
Who was already far away!
Page Fifteen.

It was only when they were finally safe that the son of Crao decided to take a break.
Nothing will stand in the way of your happiness!

And he explained how, all night long, he had half-cut all the attachments of almost all the vine nets!
You could have run away alone and done all this for us but why?
Because Rahan loves happiness!

You held the power, Ta-Hongta, but you were neither free nor happy! Now you will be!
If there was any spark of jealousy in Ta-Nuk's heart, those words extinguished it.

And now, father, what are you going to do?
Rahan will go where his destiny calls him! Follow yours!

The son of Crao, happy, questioned his ivory cutlass.
It was still turning when the couple, embracing, with a last farewell, disappeared into the forest.