Rahan. Episode 120. By Roger Lecureux. The Men without Skin. 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.

Episode One Hundred and Twenty.

By Roger Lecureux, drawn by Andre Cheret.

The Men without Skin.

Wrested from his sleep by the distant, muffled song, the son of Crao distinguished the long line which, stretching out under the round moon, disappeared behind a hill.
Oh! Rahan must be dreaming!
"Those-who-walk-upright" never hunt at night!

Rahan's eyes and ears cannot lie!
These were carrying game and their song was indeed a hunting song!

It was only at dawn that he had the head of this mystery.
By discovering a clan prostrated on the edge of a waterfall.

Rahan is happy to find brothers but why are you so upset!?

Page Two.

Because tonight the "Demons without skin" came!
They once again took away our entire hunt!
The “Demons without skin”?

Yes.
These evil spirits take on a human appearance to strike us poor hunters! Every time.
The round moon returns.
They arise and demand that we give them our hunt to feed those who have gone to the "Territory of shadows"!

And may this cavern be filled with game again in the next round moon!
Otherwise, your clan will be annihilated!

Rahan does not believe in spirits or demons!
And those in the "Shadow Realm" no longer need food!
Why do you not resist these looters who deceive you!?

You are a fool "Hair of Fire"?
How can you resist beings that can live without their skin!?
Rahan was confused.

Page Three.

The hunters told of the terror of their tormentors.
Horrible beings whose bodies were completely dismembered, revealing raw flesh and entrails!

Hum. And where do these "Skinless Beings" come from?
Without doubt from the “territory of the shadows”!
They come through this forest, where no one dares to risk going.

Rahan caught a glimpse of them last night! He will find their tracks!
He will prove to you that these "Skinless Men" are not spirits!

By the path of the "Four-hands," where he showed himself so agile, the son of Crao gave chase.
He would sometimes stop to examine the tracks or.

To cool off.
"Men-without-skin"!
It is impossible! Rahan cannot believe it!

Page Four.

Too late, Rahan noticed the crunching of the grass behind him.
Give me your weapon!
Oh!

The being was hideous, his flayed body was nothing but bloody muscles and bluish veins.
Rahan understands better now the terror of the hunters!

And the son of the fierce ages mastered the terror that was gaining ground in him.
If you want Rahan's knife, You will have to take it from him!
You are going to die!
The skinless man was unaware that he was charging the most agile of hunters.

But he was going to learn!
Argh!
Ra-ha-ha!

As soon as he touched the water, Rahan dove after him.
Rahan wants to know your secret, "Skinless"!

Page Five.

The murky water closed over the two men clinging to each other.
You have no skin. But your muscles are strong!

The being showed an unusual energy and dragged Rahan towards the depths.
But he was used to aquatic combats.

He reversed the situation, bringing his suffocating opponent to the surface.
Oh! He. He is losing his blood! Rahan did not hurt him though!

Maybe it is because he has no skin!?
He pulled the half-conscious being onto the bank. And suddenly.

Oh! That is not blood!
That. That is just a camouflage!
Under the effect of water, the paint with which the body was coated slowly diluted, revealing a brown skin underneath.
A skin like that of all hunters!

Page Six.

The son of Crao had not recovered from his stupor on the ground.
Vlang!
Argh!

You flee, but Rahan will find you!
He will pierce to the end the secret of the so-called "Skinless" men!
The man disappeared into the forest.

But his trail, marked here and there with reddish traces, was easy to follow.
Stupid hunters who think they are dealing with spirits!

The trail had led him to a vast quarry whose earth glowed red at sunset.
A large hut stood there, such as the son of the fierce ages had never seen.
Oh!

This one was blue, a blue as deep as the blue of the endless river.
A greenish smoke rose from it.
Rahan must surprise whoever lives in this strange hut before he is surprised.

Page Seven.

Rahan burst into the hut. And.
Two blue-skinned old men were busy around a stone hearth.

No one has the right to enter this sanctuary!
We will kill you!
The reaction of these puny and helpless old men made the son of Crao smile.

How wrong he was! A cloud of scarlet powder suddenly blinded him.
Knock him out, Tanoua!
The fire, the fire Let us throw him into the fire!

Pull him, Tanoua! Harder! Harder!
Rahan hates hitting “Those-who-walk-upright", especially those of your age!

But he cannot let himself be thrown on the pyre!
Glong!

Page Eight.

Probably the sorcerers of the "Men-without-skin"!
They are the ones who prepare the colors with which they coat their bodies!

The jars were full of scarlet, ochre, blue, and green powders.
It is with the earth from the quarry that they make these beautiful colors!

Rahan could also transform into a "Skinless Man"!
That would allow him to approach them without being noticed!

He coated his body with lead and cobalt oxide.
The son of Crao picked up the trail again, which he lost at nightfall.
No matter now, since Rahan hears them!

The same song he had heard the day before guided him to a large clearing in the heart of the forest.
There he saw the extraordinary spectacle of the "skinless men" celebrating.

Page Nine.

They sang and danced around the women cutting the meat, and under the fires the motley bodies looked even more hideous.

Rahan wants to know what they are planning!
Taking advantage of this hubbub, the son of the fierce ages slipped between the huts.
Painted like these men, he had every chance of passing unnoticed but.

He suddenly froze.
Oh! The hunter of the pond.

The man he had manhandled at the edge of the pond was visibly relating his misadventure to the sorcerer.
The latter demanded silence with a cry.
Listen, everyone!

An unknown hunter, today discovered our secret!
If he divulges it, we will lose our ascendancy over the other clans!

We will no longer be feared as "Spirits"!
We will be left out, and we will no longer be able to go and collect the share of the dead!

Page Ten.

We must find this hunter before he reveals our secret!
We must kill him as soon as possible!

We will recognize him then, as Kraos says he wears long hair!
Oh!

Rahan's blood ran cold!
He only then realized that all the "Skinless Men" had shaved heads!
Rahan is stupid for not noticing this sooner!

If Rahan does not run away soon, his hair will give him away!
The men armed themselves in haste and regrouped.
He has to hide them. But how?
Oh! Rahan knows!

Rahan was slipping away into the forest, when.
Put it down!
We must first worry about this "Fire-Haired" hunter!

Page Eleven.

Come on! Let go of those skins and come!
Rahan was going to be unmasked. He had no choice.

Ra-ha-ha! Vlang!
The “man-without-skin” collapsed without a cry, without a gasp!

Alert! Alert! The hunter-with-the-fire-hair" is among us!

A volley of arrows chopped down the foliage.
At night the path of the "Four-hands" is impassable! They will surround Rahan!

The light of the torches rose to the high branches where the fugitive was climbing.
Other arrows flew away.

And suddenly.
A hit! We have hit him!
Rahan had just swayed and was falling into the void.
Falling.

Page Twelve.

Tumbling.
Tumbling.
He grabbed a vine.
Above the thick undergrowth.
Phew! Rahan is out of their sight!

And while the "Skinless Men" were probing the thickets in search of the corpse.

The son of Crao was quickly safe.

He found the "Blue" hut, pale under the round moon.
Rahan has nothing to fear anymore! No need to make these two old men suffer any longer!

A moment later.
And remember, Rahan is not your enemy!
We will remember that you spared us!

Page thirteen.

His return to the cavern of the clan, at dawn, was greeted with dread.
A "Skinless Demon"! The "Skinless Demons" are back!
Do not run away, brothers!
Rahan will explain everything to you!

Look!
"Skinless Spirits” never existed!
They are just men who paint their bodies with colored earth!

Thanks to this trick they terrorize the other clans and can crush them without risk!
The shock of the waterfall clan gave way to anger.

These "False Spirits" have deceived us for too long!
We will kill them! We will really skin them!
Why kill! Rahan knows another way!

In the days that followed, the son of the fierce ages went several times to the great forest.

Do you think we will succeed, Rahan?
Yes, brother!
When these looters see that they no longer hold the secret they will lose their arrogance!

Page Fourteen.

It was one morning that the alert was given, contrary to their habit, the "Men-without-skin" attacked at full speed!
But, as the vociferous groups were descending the hill.

Suddenly they froze.
The clan of the waterfall, calm and desolate, stood against them!
And all the men of this clan had painted themselves red and blue!

The secret! They have discovered the secret! And if they no longer have fear, they will crush us.
Because they are more accustomed to hunting and fighting than we are!

The "Skinless Men" retreated hastily towards the forest!
You were right, Rahan!
They will not come back! Their only weapon was fear!

Without this weapon, they will no longer be able to impose their law!
When they are hungry, they will have to hunt themselves!

Page Fifteen.

Rahan thought of the two old men who had given him the colors.
Our life is spent grinding, mixing, kneading these earths to obtain these magic powders!
We have always wished that our people would make better use of them!

A better use! Memories came back to the son of Crao, who saw caves decorated with images.
Shortly after, in front of the dazzled clan, he spread colors on the wall. a bison was taking shape.

How beautiful! If the gods of the hunt are watching you, perhaps they will be more favorable to us?

Other men soon imitated him, and beneath their fingers buffalo and deer were born.
And the fresco stretched to the depths of the cavern.

A wonderful fresco which, seen many years later, would be a moving testimony to the emerging art of "Those-who-walk-upright."

A testimony of those fierce times when Rahan, the son of Crao, had lived.