Rahan. Episode 155. By Roger Lecureux. The Shadow that Thinks. A Puke(TM) Comic.

Translated by the Son of the Puke Ages.
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 Fifty-Five.

By Roger Lecureux, drawn by Andre Cheret.

The Shadow that Thinks.

For the son of Crao, it all began with this frugal meal of mushrooms that tasted so good that he immediately felt nauseous.

Rahan has nothing to fear from the "Boak"!
Rahan is now only the shadow of a shadow.

Rahan has poisoned himself!
He will join the "Territory of Shadows"
Assailed by visions of hunting and death, he collapsed, his limbs paralyzed.

Rahan is now just a shadow, but he can still think!
Rahan is a shadow that thinks!

If his body was petrified, as in death, his brain still lived!
But he was right.
He was nothing more than a "Thinking Shadow."

Page Two.

Abandoned by his body, he remained strangely lucid. He divined the glow of the setting sun.

Who reminded him of the tragic night when the blue mountain had become angry.
That night when the deluge of fire and ashes had decimated his entire clan.

That night when Crao, dying, bequeathed him the "Necklace of the Brave" which had always been passed down from father to son.
Each claw symbolizes a virtue, Rahan. Wisdom. Loyalty. Courage. Tenacity. And generosity!

You must remain faithful to these virtues throughout your life, my son.
Rahan swears it father!

Page Three.

In dazzling visions, he relived his adventurous childhood.

He saw himself stealing from the chief of the river clan this famous ivory knife, with which he would never part.

Rahan's claw is as deadly as your fangs, "Gorak"!

The son of Crao was returning from distant emotions.
His discovery of fire.
His first fights with the "Goraks", those wild beasts under whose claws his real parents had succumbed.

But Rahan will never fight again!
He is nothing more than a lifeless shadow that sinks into the night!

Page Four.

Rahan cannot even move a finger! He who was agile like a "Four-hands"!
The coolness of the night did not calm his fever.

Contrasting with the darkness, dazzling visions punctuated his thoughts.
Such was this marvelous kingdom of the "Four-hands" where he moved with such ease.

Then he relived clashes in the depths of the "Treeless Territory."
He had barely chased the fearsome "Blue-skins" from his thoughts.

Page Five.

Than they were replaced by the "Two-tooths" with their terrifying charges!

Why do these visions of battles keep coming one after the other?
Why his memories of confrontations with terrible creatures like the "HBirds with hornes"?

The moon now illuminated his inert body.

After losing his body, Rahan is losing his mind.

Page Six.

If "Long Manes" came from this side, Rahan would be lost!
The cloud sometimes hid the moon.

This thought reminded him of those lions whose companions he had, through patience, become.
Ra-ha-ha!
Go ahead! Rahan needs your help!

But this friendship with the "Long-Manes" only lasted the time of the "Season of Green Leaves."
His solitary hunting life had soon recommenced.

Page Seven.

In many battles, he had often known fear and dread!
He had often fled from terrible creatures like this "Water Monster" that haunted the "Treeless Territory".

Rahan was just a simple hunter, sometimes bold, sometimes fearful.
But he was!
Now he is nothing more than a "Thinking Shadow"!

Page Eight.

As the first rays of dawn shimmered on the horizon, Rahan's thoughts raced without logic.

It was nothing more than a series of challenges, confrontations, or escapes.

Challenge these monsters from another age!

Flee from these creatures of the "Mud-that-devours."

Clashes with these "Balouas" from the "White-skinned country"!

Attack!
Attack!

N'Gohak says that the "Varank" devours its weight in food every day, watch out!

Page Nine.

Hisses of "Goraks", roars of "Long-Manes", trumpets of "Two-Teeth" underlined his thoughts.

He called upon less noisy memories, such as those of the "Mountains-above-the-Clouds."
But it was in vain!

Back, “Hooked Beak!” Back!
How many clans, how many hordes had he encountered in his adventurous life?

To how many territories had his knife, to which he had entrusted his destiny, led him?

He could not have said it, he who was nothing more than a being petrified under the fires of the sun.

The sun is coming back!
If Rahan has not yet joined the "Kingdom of the dead", he has already left that of the living!

Page Ten.

Rahan will leave the great horde of men forever!

His thoughts drew him towards all those clans to which he had brought his knowledge.

He thought back to those vain leaders he had fought, to those hypocritical sorcerers he had unmasked.

He had, certainly, faced "Those-Who-Walk-Upright" many times, but he felt a great pride.
That of never having stolen a man's life!

Do you admit defeat? Do you admit being vanquished?
Ouch! I, I admit defeat!

Zlang!
Ha-ha-ha!

Page Eleven.

He thought about all the clans he had met.

Both to the clan of fish-men whose leader he had ridiculed, and to the clan of tormentors who had forbidden him its territory.

He knew how cruel clans could sometimes be!
Oh!

How many times had he been captured, tortured!?

He saw himself again, tortured by the Sun Worshippers.

It was the glow of the setting sun through his eyelids that had brought back this distant memory.

A new night is coming.
And Rahan still cannot move!
He is going to join you in the "Shadow Kingdom", Crao!

Page Twelve.

No!
Rahan will live!
He will tear himself away from this force that paralyzes him, as he has torn himself away from so many traps!

This thought gave a new course to the torrent of his thoughts.

He saw himself again, delivered to the fiery arrows of the sun.

He relived the horrible torture to which the "Spider-Men" had subjected him.

He remembered how the fishermen of "Blue-skins" had made him a living bait.

Page thirteen.

But Rahan had never remained captive in his traps for long!

Men had often facilitated his escapes, some of which had been fantastic.
Ra-ha-ha!

He had always regained his freedom and found the wonderful kingdom of the "Four-Hands."
The waves of clouds masked and unmasked the moon.

How long has Rahan been lying here?
How long has he been nothing more than a "Thinking Shadow"?

Page Fourteen.

The fire goes out in Rahan's body!
But he still cannot move!
Is this how you reach the "Territory-of-Shadows"?

The fever was slowly leaving his paralyzed body. Was he going to be discovered like this?
How he had sometimes discovered "Little Men"!

And as he himself had been discovered by Crao who had nicknamed him Ra-Han, the son of the brave.
Aie! Argh!

A question had often bothered him, had kept him awake many a night.
Why did he not, Rahan, have a son?
A child of his own.

A child to whom he would deliver all his secrets, all his knowledge!
A child to whom he would one day bequeath the "Necklace of the Brave" and the ivory knife.

Page Fifteen.

He could have found a partner who would have given him this son a long time ago!

But he had never been able to resist his destiny which pushed him from clan to clan to teach some what he had learned from others.

He had never wanted to impose his perilous life as a wandering hunter on a companion!

An adventurous life in the course of which his extraordinary observation had allowed him.

Innumerable discoveries.
This object will be that of equality and justice!
Ah-ah-ah!

But Rahan will leave for the shadows without having left his secrets to a son!

Page Sixteen.

For not having been able to give himself a son, Rahan will take his knowledge with him into death!

He thought back now to those who could have become a companion.

He thought back to the intrepid Lahaa whom he had saved from a "Horn-Nose."
Lay down on the ground and do not move, Lahaa! Rahan is coming!

The time has come for us to part!
I will never forget you, Rahan!

He thought back to Onai, with whom he had wandered for a season in the "Cursed Marshes."
And who had been unable to bear this perilous life.

Page Seventeen.

He also thought of all those little men whom he had always protected like a father protects his sons.

Rahan will also one day have a son.
His son!

And he remembered the oath he had made to himself.

Rahan must have screamed because the "Shadows" that surrounded him were retreating into their realm of darkness!
He felt his muscles quiver and realized that, this time again, he would not cross the border of the "Territory of the Dead."

Rahan will be alive!
He feels life returning to his body!

Page Eighteen.

The effects of the paralyzing poison dissipated.
After two days and three nights, he finally regained the use of his limbs.

He half-opened his eyes, but the sun blinded him.
"Calm down!"
An inner voice whispered to him, "you who were only a thinking shadow, do not demand everything, right away, from your body!"

What a strange dream!
Rahan must learn a lesson from it.
He must pass on his knowledge!
He moved one arm, then the other, then a leg.

He felt dizzy when he stood up.
Then his vision slowly returned.
Rahan must find a mate. Have a child.

A companion. A child. A companion. A child. A companion.

He repeated these words with emotion as if he were using them for the first time!
Who knows?
This curious adventure perhaps initiated a turning point in the life of Rahan, the son of Crao.