Lani paused just outside the clearing where the spirit-walker's hut sat. She was afraid. The desperation that had driven her this far, through hours of walking and searching for this place, seemed to be vanishing with the morning dew... leaving only uneasiness and dread.

She didn't know what it was that caused such dread. Certainly nothing that she could see. Degba's hut, like all the others she had ever seen, was constructed of simple wood. True, it was slightly larger than most... but was that the reason she feared this place? Perhaps it was the animals. The goats and chickens roamed free; there were no pens or fences to contain them. Yet despite their freedom they never ventured from the clearing. They wandered aimlessly in front of the spirit-walker's hut... as if completely unaware that there was a world outside the clearing. And despite spirit-walker's distance from the safety of any village... the predators of the forrest never touched his flock. She could find no tracks nearby. No animals came here except for the ones that belonged.

Respect for the powers of the spirit-walker Lani mused. Even the animals know he is not to be crossed. Fortunately, I am not here to cross him.

Lani sighed and gathered her courage. She stepped into the clearing, and almost stepped right back out again. The very feel of the place assaulted her in a way should could not describe. The very world itself seemed to change the second she entered the clearing. It was as if she'd just stepped into a completely foreign land just be traveling a few feet. The air carried traces of flowers and fresh incense to her nose. A breeze that wasn't there before bristled the hairs of her dark brown skin. The sun seemed both brighter AND darker at the same time... as if the color of the light had shifted somehow.

And then there were the insects. Huge swarms of gnats and flies and mosquitoes buzzed around the hut in thick clouds that looked like smoke. Funny how she didn't see them before.

No wonder the animals fear this place, Lani wondered. She also wondered if she shouldn't fear this place more than she did... fear it enough to keep her away from it. After all, Degba was thahu... he was taboo... unclean. He had broken the taboos of the mighty spirit-walkers by consorting with the Forbidden.... those dark spirits that were not to be worshiped or even named for fear of losing one's soul... or worse Degba could know and do things that the other spirit-walkers could not, but the cost to him, and those who sought his help, was great. Or at least that is what the elders said. In truth, Lani knew the that the elders were both afraid and envious of Degba's power... otherwise they would have driven him away long ago. But now that she was here herself, Lani wondered how much truth there was to their warnings.

Lani approached the wooden hut. The animals... even the insects... parted before her as if she were their master. She stopped outside the entrance, which stood open before her. Inside was darkness... the doorway was shrouded in shadows that should not have been there given the placement of the sun.

"Hello?" she said. Her voice was timid and respectful. "Degba? Spirit-walker?"

"Come child." replied a voice from inside the darkness. It was an old man's voice, with nothing special or unusual about it. A very deceptive voice.

Lani hesitated. Did she really want to do this?

"I... I mean no disrespect," she said.

"I said come," Degba repeated.

Lani entered the spirit-walker's home. Perhaps she was expecting a change... an assault on her senses like the one she'd experienced when she entered the clearing. But the only thing that changed was her own eyes as they adjusted to the dim light inside the hut. Degba was there, sitting in the center of the dirt floor in front of a large bowl. Lani couldn't tell if there was food in the bowl or... something else. She could see nothing of the interior of the hut... all was cloaked in darkness and shadow except for Degba himself. And some of the shadows around the edges of the room seemed to move.

"My belongings are for my eyes alone," said Degba. The spirit-walker was a old man... his once-black hair was now a carpet of grey peppered with specks of the original darkness. He was thin, as were most men were in Lani's village... but he lacked the layer of hard muscles that he would've acquired from hunting and working with the other men. Instead, he had a certain intensity in his gaze that made Lani shiver when he looked at her. He waved her in, and the movement of his arm was so smooth and fluid that it was like water... not like flesh and blood.

"I am Lani, of the village-"

"I know of you," he said. "And I know why you come."

Lani didn't know what to say. If Degba knew why she was here, did she even HAVE to say anything?

"I..." she started.

"Are without a child, even on your sixth year of marriage," said Degba.

"Yes. The healer says that I am barren... that my womb will bear no fruit. My husband... he loves me, but-"

"A man without sons is not a man," said Degba. "He can lead the hunt for food, but no man without a son can lead warriors into battle. He has been shamed... made less than a man."

"He is man enough!" Lani said. "He leads the hunt, and is a brave warrior! It is ME... he is without a legacy because of ME."

"And you want to know what I can do about it. Yes?"

"If you can do nothing for me.. at least tell me why the gods have cursed me so."

"Cursed? With what comes now, your infertility will be a blessing."

"I don't understand. My husband, Mo'kel... the other men speak badly of him... say that he is less than a man for he has no sons. The other women say that I am thahu... that I have cursed him and stolen his manhood. They whisper-"

"You care for the cackling of old hens? You value the mutterings of a foolish village that shall soon be no more?"

"No more? I... I still don't understand?"

"Ask the Elders."

"The elders are not here!" Lani snapped. She instantly lowered her head and apologized. "I am sorry, spirit-walker. I meant no disrespect."

"You most certainly did. That is the fire within you... the fire that most women let die, but that YOU still possess. A pity you will not pass it on."

"It is not right to speak to you in such a way-"

"Right. Wrong. Taboo. None of that matters now. Not with what comes."

"What is coming, Degba? You speak around this thing instead of speaking OF it."

"Six seasons ago your village raided the lands of another-"

"The Hakata," said Lani. "They steal our food and kidnap the women. Our men drove them away."

"But I warned the elders to leave them be. The spirits gave me visions... visions of what would come if the Hakata were driven from this land."

"But they were jackals and thieves!"

"Better jackals than tigers," said Degba. "Now our fate is sealed. Even now, men come... in boats from far away."

"The Hakata?"

"The Hakata are no more. Destroyed by this same evil which now returns. In destroying that which we drove away, the evil learned of us. They were not satisfied with the Hakata... now they come for us. By the time the sun sets tomorrow, your village will be no more."

"But what is this evil that comes? If it is men-"

"Indeed it is men who come... but not men like us. It is men whose skin is white like the color of death. Men who bring power and weapons. Men who breathe fire from their fingertips."

"Our warriors-"

"Will be slaughtered or taken. As will all the cackling women who whisper of you and your husband. As will you, if you go back to your village tonight. So you see... your infertility means nothing."

"You... you cannot be... this is not true! My husband-"

"Will be slaughtered. This I have seen. The evil will come to your village in the morning, and soon it... and your husband... will be no more."

"You lie! My husband hunts with the others now... they will not return for days!"

"They will see the evil and return to warn the elders. They will return tonight...and die in the morning."

"Why do you TOY with me!"

"I merely tell you what was shown to me. But I have seen other things... things which you may want to know."

"Tell me."

"The village's fate is sealed... but not yours. You have a choice..."

"What choice?"

"Flee this land now... travel far and you will find another village. There you will be safe and live your life for many years. You will die there years from now... an elder."

"Mo'kel and I-"

"No. You and you alone. Your husband's fate cannot be changed. You will live alone in this far village. Eventually you will gain respect... but you will never bear any man's child."

"No..."

"But there is another fate which you may choose. A fate in which your life will be short and terrible... you will see many horrors done to your people, and many more will be done to you against your will. You will live and die in pain... but yet you will bear and raise Mo'kel's child."

"How is this to be?"

"The warriors return early. Be with your husband, not once... but TWICE tonight. Tell him nothing of what I have told you. The rest is beyond your reach... out of your hands."

"But is there something that you can do?"

"My place in this is already decided. To change it now... to contest the will of the Forbidden... is to invite worse evil upon all. I have seen what will happen. And so will you... if you chose to return to the village."

"I cannot flee. I cannot leave my husband. I cannot leave the village."

"Then return now. And tell no one."

Lani didn't move. All she had come for was a poultice or some kind of spell to make her fertile... not this. She didn't know what to do or say, so she and the spirit-walker stared at each other for a long time. Lani tried to discern the truth of Degba's words... but all Degba's eyes held was darkness.

"What you are saying... is it true?" Lani asked finally.

"I have no time for games and silly questions," said Degba. "To believe me or not... that is up to you. I can say or do no more."

"But-"

"Leave now."

Lani lowered her head and walked out of the hut.


---


"Mo'kel!!"

Mo'kel heard someone shouting his name... and so every other creature in the forest. Birds jumped from their branches and scattered, and the great deer that Mo'kel was trying to sneak up on raised its head and leapt toward safety.

"DAMN!" Mo'kel cursed. He raised his spear and threw it as hard as he could. "UNNGH!" he grunted.

THUK!

The deer cried out as the spear pierced its side. It went down and continued to cry and struggle, with the spear protruding from its flank like a fifth limb. Mo'kel hated that it wasn't a clean kill, but with some fool shouting in the wood, it was the best he could do. The other hunters leapt from their hiding places and completed the kill. Mo'kel looked for the one that had spoiled his hunt. They would feel his wrath this day... how DARE someone disrespect him so...

"Who-"

"Mo'kel!! EVERYONE! Come HERE NOW!"

Mo'kel recognized the voice. It was no fool... it was Gish, the second leader of the hunt after Mo'kel. The normally stoic young warrior continued screaming at the top of his lungs as Mo'kel and the others sprinted toward his voice. The found him at the Cliffs... where the forest suddenly dropped away, forming a sheer precipice that overlooked the Great Sea.

Gish stood on the edge, pointing out at the horizon.

"LOOK!"

Mo'kel looked. He squinted. Then he frowned.

"A boat." Mo'kel said. "Very large."

"It comes this way!" Gish said.

Mo'kel didn't know if that were true or not. The boat was just a dot on the horizon. A LARGE dot... but still a dot. It was very difficult to tell if it were moving at all, let alone what direction it was going.

"The Hakata?" said another hunter, Teth.

"No tribes have ships that large," said Mo'kel. "And the Hakata have no ships at all... they fear the Great Sea."

"Who then?"

"I don't know."

The men watched silently for a while... just long enough for Mo'kel to verify that the ship was indeed headed towards them. STRAIGHT towards them. And it was moving very fast... against the wind.

"Bad magic," said Mo'kel. "Something wicked this way comes. We should return to the village and tell the elders."

"But the deer-"

"Leave it. Come... we go now..."

Mo'kel stepped into the woods and headed back towards the village. They all moved silently through the forest, so silent that they didn't even hear each other. But Mo'kel didn't bother to look for the others... he knew they were there without even looking.

---


Lani spent the rest of the day crying. Not crying for her husband or for the village... but crying because she was not wise or blessed enough to know whether Degba had spoken the truth. She was confused, and she cursed herself for not knowing what to do. Should she tell the elders? If she did, they would brand her... literally brand her, with hot irons... as a violator of their taboos. No member of the village, least of all a mere woman, was allowed to speak with Degba. Only the elders were allowed to risk their souls in such a way. She would be an outcast. No one would speak to her then. Her husband would be forced to put her out of his home and take a new wife.

But if the village was destroyed, what did being an outcast matter?

What if this were some kind of cruel trick to get her thrown out of the village? Would Degba do such a thing? She didn't know.

She agonized for the entire day... forsaking her chores. She did not go out to cook her meals or to wash the clothes in the river as she always did. No doubt the other women were speaking of her laziness. Lani didn't care. Why did Degba torture her so? What sort of man tells a woman that her husband will be slaughtered at dawn?

A spirit-walker.... that's what kind. That is what they did... seek visions and guidance from the Other Place where the spirits lived. The elders said that Degba's spirits were evil... so evil that they could not be named for fear of drawing their wrath. Could a man who dealt with such things be trusted?

But what if he WAS telling the truth?

Lani cursed herself even more for being so stupid... as to ignore the taboos and visit Degba. She should never have gone. True, no one had seen her leave... and when she returned they assumed she'd been in the fields. But discovery was not her problem... it was this terrible secret that she had to keep. Degba told her not to tell anyone. She COULDN'T tell anyone without being labeled an outcast. But what if her silence lead to the destruction of the village?

Or what if she told them and it was all some game of the spirit-walker?

Lani opened the door to her hut and peered outside. It was nearing dark. A few passing women glanced at her and walked away whispering. Lani ignored them. She closed the door, lay down on the stuffed pad that was her bed, and tried to will herself to go to sleep.


---


"Lani? Lani, I am home."

Lani opened her eyes and looked up into her husband's face.

"Mo'Kel!" she cried. She sat up and hugged him with all her strength. "Mo'kel... are you all right? How long have I-"

Lani looked past her husband at the hut's door. He had left it open, with his spear leaned against it. She saw the darkness outside. It was night. Mo'kel had come home early... just as Degba predicted. Her happiness at seeing him withered and died.

"What is it, Lani?"

"You... how went the hunt?"

"Poor. We killed a deer, but had to leave it. We saw something... a boat. We came back to tell the elders. They meet now, and will speak with all the warriors later this night."

"What kind of boat?"

"Strange. Large. Moving against the wind. I did not like it, Lani. It bodes ill... that ship brings nothing that is good."

Lani started to tell her husband about Degba... her mouth opened and the words began to rush out, but she caught herself and swallowed them down once more. Instead, they came through her eyes as tears.

"Lani, what's wrong?" said Mo'kel.

"I missed you," she said. She hugged her husband again. Her breasts pressed up against his bare chest as she kissed him.

Mo'kel pulled away.

"What?" said Lani. "You don't desire me?"

"Not with the door wide open, no." Mo'kel pushed the door closed and joined his wife on the bed.

They made long, passionate love. Longer and more passionate than they ever had before. Lani's cries carried through the hut's thin walls and out into the village. Young children in the next hut giggled, and their old mother shut them up with a well-placed smack across the head. When Lani accepted Mo'kel's seed into her, she sighed... reveling in the secret knowledge that it would give her a son.

Instead of falling asleep as he usually did, Mo'kel rose from the bed and got dressed.

"I must see what the elders have decided... if anything."

"This boat," Lani said. "It could be nothing. It could be a tribe coming to make peace..."

"It could be," said Mo'kel. He was attempting to hide the doubt in his voice. He wasn't successful, but at least he loved Lani enough to try. "I shall return," he said.

He left, and closed the door behind him.

Lani waited for him to return. She waited a long time... so long that she could swear that it must be morning already. Still, she waited for him...

Lani grew tired. A strange fatigue descended on her, and after what seemed like days and days of waiting... her eyes closed and Lani slept.

---


"Lani? Lani, I am home."

Lani opened her eyes and looked up into her husband's face.

"Mo'Kel!" she cried. She sat up and hugged him... and then got the strangest feeling that she had done this before. "I waited up for you-"

Lani looked past him at the door. It was closed. For some reason she was expecting it to be open.

"The hunt went poorly," said Mo'kel. "We killed a deer, but had to leave it. We saw something... a boat. We came back to tell the elders. They meet now, and will speak with all the warriors later this night."

"What?" said Lani. A dark uneasiness began to crawl around under her skin.

"It was a strange boat. Large. Moving against the wind. I did not like it, Lani. It bodes ill... that ship brings nothing that is good."

"You... you said these things to me..."

"Yes I did. Just now. Lani, what is wrong... you look ill."

"I... I think I am. I had a dream and-"

Lani pushed the thoughts from her mind. She didn't WANT to know what was going on. Instead, she followed Degba's instructions and pulled Mo'kel into bed with her.

This time when they made love, Lani was struggling to hold back the tears. She didn't know why she was crying... but somehow it seemed appropriate.


---


The ground was shaking.

That was the first thing Lani could sense... her eyes were still closed and her mind was still not awake enough to process the sounds or smells that surrounded her.

But the shaking of the ground,... THAT she could understand.

She opened her eyes. She was not in her hut. Where did all these PEOPLE come from! Dozens of women and children from the village surrounded her, cramped into corners towering over the bed on which she lay. She couldn't even see the walls or the floor through the crowd of women.

"Wha-"

"Shhh!" said a woman. "The attack comes! You would not awaken, so Mo'kel moved you in your sleep! They want us to remain here where we are safe."

"Attack? NO!"

The ground shook once more. There was a loud BOOM, and the walls of the hut protested loudly as they barely managed to hold themselves up. The woman screamed and yelped, but they quickly quieted themselves.

Lani heard shouting from outside. Warriors yelling orders, screaming their battle cries. And the other voices... shouting loudly in words that Lani could not understand. She didn't even recognize them AS words... just sounds.

BOOM!

More screams from the women. Babies began to cry. Outside, a warrior cried out in pain-

"What is going on!" Lani sat up. Some women tried to push her back down, but she slid out of their grasp and elbowed her way through the crowd. Children scattered... or tried to... as she shoved past them. She tried not to step on too many of them.

"No! Do not go outside!"

Too late. Lani grabbed the door and snatched it open just as another explosion shook the ground. She stumbled out into the village and fell face down into a puddle.

Rain? she thought as she wiped the liquid from her face. Her hands came away red. Next to her was the body of a man who's was slit... she'd slipped and fallen into his blood.

There was more screaming, and Lani looked around the village for the first time.

Half the huts were either aflame or had collapsed from the constant explosions. The invaders... the evil ones... were marching into the village from the east.

They were horrid, frightening things. They looked like men, but their skin wasn't brown... it was a pale pinkish white. White was the color of death. Their hair was long and stringy...most of them had brown hair, but some heads were adorned with a sick, yellow color. Lani couldn't tell how many there were... more kept marching out of the woods even as the village's warriors ran to engage them. Some of the evil things had strange metal plates covering their bodies, especially their chests. Almost all of them carried very long knives with double-edge blades that were four or five feet long. Lani had never seen anything like it. Then there were the three men who wore no metal and carried no knives... they wore strange robes that reached all the way to the ground. Each of these three was gesturing and making strange motions with their hands while they shouted words that Lani couldn't understand. One of the finished a gesture with a pointing motion... pointing at one of the huts...

FWOOM!

Fire leapt from his fingertips and engulfed the hut. The dry wood began to burn instantly. The family that had been crouching inside it burst from their ruined home and ran. A different robed man made another gesture. A glowing net appeared in the air and dropped down on top of the fleeing family... trapping them. Then some of the knife-wielders came forward, grabbed the net, and dragged it and its contents away.

A group of the village's warriors ran to intercept them. They halted and raised their spears.

The third robed man made a motion and shouted something-

BOOM!

The ground shook, knocking the warriors off of their feet before they could throw their spears. Instantly, a net appeared over them as well. More of the white men came to drag the ensnared warriors away.

A new volley of screams drew Lani's attention. Women and children were streaming out of a burning hut. The white men were upon them instantly. They grabbed the women and knocked them over the head. Some women continued to fight. The men ripped their clothes off, then slapped them and beat them until they fell... then they kicked them until they stopped moving. One woman refused to go down, and she scratched and clawed at the white man's armor. Angry, the man stepped back and swung his long knife... slicing the woman's chest open. Nearby, the woman's small child ran screaming toward his burning hut... towards the only place he thought he'd ever been safe. Another man caught the tiny boy... picked him up... and threw him to the ground, splitting the child's head open.

Reeling in shock, Lani fell to her knees. Her empty stomach heaved.

"THERE!" someone shouted. "PROTECT THE WOMEN!!"

It was Mo'kel. He was at the lead of a group of fifteen men who ran to rescue the women and children. Some of them were already injured and bloody...how long had this been going on?

A robed man began to gesture in their direction.

"Mo'kel NO!" Lani shouted. She didn't know if her husband heard her or not. Mo'kel raised his spear and threw it just as the ground shook.

BOOM!

Some of the warriors lost their balance and fell... but the robed man lost his life. Mo'kel's spear pierced his chest. The spearhead and about a foot of the shaft burst out through the man's back, forming a tent in his robe. He fell, dead.

FWOOOM!

Another hut burst into flames. More women and children scattered. The remaining two robed men pointed, and more nets rained down upon them. White men came to drag them away.

Mo'kel snatched up another spear from one of the other warriors. He threw it-

THWUCK!

Another of the evil ones died. The robed man pointed at Mo'kel. Mo'kel threw himself to the ground as a stream of fire sprayed from the man's fingers and shot across the village. Even from many yards away, Lani could feel the heat...

Some of the warriors didn't move in time. They screamed... but not for long.

Mo'kel rose, with yet another spear in his hand.

One of the white men pointed a strange object at Lani's husband. He pulled a tiny lever, and what looked like a large dart flew from the object and struck Mo'kel in the shoulder.

"ARRGH!" Mo'kel fell to his knees... then rose again, with the end of the dart sticking out of his shoulder.

Meanwhile, more of the village's warriors charged. Spears rained down on the evil ones. Those spears that struck the armored ones did no damage, but a few of the others died... unfortunately the robed ones were not among them. They pointed at the warriors and shouted-

Half of the warriors fell to the ground... Lani couldn't tell if they were dead or asleep. The other half continued to charge. The robed man made another gesture, and a net appeared in their path. They ran into it, and it wrapped around them like a lover's arms.

The men with the knives were still chasing the women and children. They captured the women and older children... but killed the younger ones. They threw babies to the ground and smashed them open like melons. Lani saw one pregnant woman struggling and crying as a man sliced open her belly and snatched out the baby that grew there.


Near the edge of the village, a group of men caught some fleeing women and began to subdue them. When they realized that none of their fellow invaders were watching them, they ripped the clothes from the women and began to rape them in front of the children.


The men fought back with knives and spears. They killed some of the evil ones, but not enough to save their wives and children. Then they were taken... either ensnared by a net or put to sleep by the robed one's magic.

Mo'kel and his group of warriors... what was left of them... charged the robed men. Once again, the ground shook so violently that they could not help but fall. A net appeared over them. Men with knives came... but Mo'kel and the others kept them at bay with their spears... some were stabbing out through the holes in the net while the others tried to cut their way free.

Someone shouted something... one of the evil ones.

The net burst into flames. The warriors yelled and screamed as the magic seared their skin. Mo'kel, who had been near the edge of the net, managed to escape its fiery embrace. He slipped free... right into the midst of the knife-wielders who had come to take them. Mo'kel swung his spear, but they were too many. Five or six men charged. One caught Mo'kel's spear through the throat... but the rest descended on the warrior. One slashed with his long knife... and Mo'kel's arm fell to the ground.

"AEEIEEEEEEEEE!" the warrior howled as the men cut and hacked at him. He fell, and they sliced him to pieces as his wife watched.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Lani screamed. The men crowded around the body and chopped at it with their knives. Laughing, they threw the bloody pieces at the other warriors who were still burning to death inside the flaming net.

"NOOO!"

FWOOM!

Lani felt the bast of heat behind her... it seared the flesh from her back.

The last large hut... the hut where Lani and the others had been hiding.. began to burn. The door flew open, and woman and children ran for their lives. They streamed around Lani, who was kneeling on the ground in shook.

BOOM!

The ground shook. Someone fell on top of her, and Lani fell forward... hitting her head on the hard ground. She rolled over, and saw the net coming down on top of them...


---


The smell.

When she had woke in the village, the first thing she noticed was the shaking of the ground. This time, it was the smell.

Thick and putrid... sweat and vomit and feces and urine... and blood... all combined into a pungent fog that lay over the top of them like a rug. Lani could almost SEE it.

A few torches burned somewhere. Lani couldn't see them, but she could tell that there was some small amount of light. She could see where she was.

There were hundreds of them... brown bodies chained together in the darkness. They lay on their backs, shoulder to shoulder, shivering and moaning in their own filth. There were multiple rows of them arranged neatly together in the large dark room. One person's feet were resting on the top of Lani's head, and her own feet were touching someone else's hair. The floor was wooden... and it was wet. They were all laying in a half-inch of foul fluid...mostly urine and salt water. It was the source of the scent that assaulted her nose. Two thick chains ran from one wall to the other, covering each row... the metal pressed down painfully on her thighs and her naked breasts. She could hardly breath. She couldn't fell her hands... they were clasped in front of her and secured with a rope so tight that it had cut off her circulation. Her feet were chained to the feet of the people next to her.

The entire room seemed to be moving. It swayed back and forth gently...rhythmically. It made Lani sick. It made the others sick, too... but when their stomachs voided there was nowhere for it to go but onto whoever was laying next to them.

Lani turned her head to the left. There was a man laying there, staring up at the darkness above them.

He was dead.

His chest wasn't moving, and his eyes didn't blink. As she watched, a single fly landed on his left eyeball and began to deposit its eggs. Lani hoped someone would come and move they body before they hatched.

They WOULD move the body, wouldn't they? They wouldn't leave the dead in here... they wouldn't leave the living chained to the rotting corpses of the dead, would they?

Would they?

Lani heard a sound to the right. She turned to look. She could see a man laying there. He was alive, but his mind was gone. He mumbled things over and over ... Lani knew the words, but the sentences didn't make sense. On the other side of him was a woman. Lani couldn't raise her head far enough to see her face... all she saw was a pair of beasts.

No, wait... ONE breast. The other had been cut off. Lani had no idea why. That woman had probably bled to death a long time ago... and if so, Lani considered her lucky.

Lani joined the dead man in looking up at the darkness. She wished she could join him in death.

She knew that they were on a ship. She knew that they were being taken somewhere. For what purpose, she couldn't even begin to imagine. They took the men and women... but not the young children. The children wouldn't have survived the trip.

Or maybe SHE had died, and this was her eternal punishment. For what? For Degba? For breaking the taboo? Had SHE brought this punishment upon them all?

Mo'kel.

She thought about her husband. She saw him being cut to pieces. She heard the men laughing. But this time it didn't stop.... they kept laughing and cutting and laughing...

Lani cried, and her tears rolled down her cheeks and joined the growing lake of filth in which they all lay.

"...Mo'kel..." she whispered.

"...hhhhhhhhh...." came a sound to her left.

Lani turned. It was the corpse. The single fly on its face had been joined by about a dozen more, but the insects scattered as the mouth fell open and the head sloooowwwwly turned towards Lani. The corpse breathed a blast of fetid air into her face... only it wasn't fetid.

It smelled like flowers and incense.

Lani turned away and looked back up into the darkness. She was calm and without fear... why be afraid of madness? She wondered if, now that she'd gone crazy, she would understand what the man on her right was mumbling.

But the man on the LEFT wasn't quite finished.

"...Lani..." the corpse said.

Lani ignored it.

"Lani, wife of Mo'kel... and mother of his son..."

Lani did not move... but now she was listening. She couldn't help BUT listen. Something... something was MAKING her listen.

"You know this voice," said the corpse.

Lani nodded. It was Degba's voice. The body was not that of the spirit-walker... but the VOICE was unmistakably Degba's.

Lani wondered if she was not mad after all? The fear returned... if she weren't mad, that meant that this was REAL!!!

"D-Degba..." she whispered.

"Yes, child."

"Where... where are you?"

"My body lies in pieces on the floor of my hut. The flies feast on my entrails even now. There is no room on a slave ship for an aging spirit-walker."

"But... your power..."

"Is gone, except for what I do now. I gave it away the night I came to you. I left it in the womb that holds your husband's seed. And mine."

"Which... which one?"

"It matters not."

"Why?"

"Your womb was barren. My seed made it fertile, so that your husband's seed could grow. You shall bear a son."

"A... son..."

"A child of power, he shall be. My power. And theirs."

"Theirs?"

"Yes. Theirs."

Somewhere close by, someone moaned loudly. The low groaning was joined by another... and another.

"What is happening?" Lani said.

Someone screamed... a woman. The moaning grew louder. Lani saw movement all around her...

The corpses.

The corpses were moving.

Dozens of dead bodies began to strain at their bonds... not trying to free themselves, but to free the tortured souls that still inhabited them. Their mouths opened, and the wispy essences of the dead rose from beneath their cold dead lips.

Souls.

Souls of the dead floated free of their mortal prisons and began to circle the room. More indistinct shapes moved through the walls... arriving from places that Lani didn't want to know. She could see their faces. Some she recognized from the village.. Lani could see them even in the dark... their immaterial forms glowed with a light of their own. They rose and began to circle Lani like vultures.

"...no..." she cried.

"Yes," said Degba's voice. "Yes. Yes! YES!

One after the other, the souls of the dead descended towards her. Lani tried to scream, but no sound would escape her lips. The first soul touched her... it touched her thighs and moved upwards, towards where Mo'kel's child grew. Lani hissed as something cold entered her... then the spirit floated away. It was followed by another... and another... They all touched her, and entered her, and chilled her to the very bone. And when they floated away, Lani saw that they didn't glow as brightly as they had been before.

For the next few minutes, the souls came to her and deposited a some of themselves inside her womb. Lani felt them violating her body... rubbing themselves against her. She wanted to be sick... she wanted to scream and break from her chains and claw her way through the side of the ship... but all she could do was lay there and let them come... one at a time... touching her...

Lani closed her eyes so that she couldn't see them... so that she couldn't see how many more there would be...

And then they were gone.

Lani opened her eyes. All was quiet. The other slaves continued to moan... but it was obvious that none of them had seen anything.

"...you will bear a son," said Degba. Lani was surprised to hear his voice again. She thought it was over... but he was still there, inhabiting the corpse next to her.

Lani tried to will herself to die, but she could not.

"He will be a man of power," Degba continued. "He shall seek vengeance over those who have done this to us. His hand shall slay them; the souls of your village and many others shall be avenged. And that will be the beginning. For he is destined to walk with the living and the dead, to bend gods and mortals to his will... to wield the power of the Forbidden in ways that no spirit-walker has dared attempt before him. He shall fear no man, and death shall have no hold over him. He shall see the secret faces of destruction and deliverance... and shall not tremble before them. His name shall be feared by the dead that frighten men... for he shall hold them to his will, and scatter them to the wind with the very sound of his voice. All these things, the son of Mo'kel and Lani shall do."

"My son," said Lani. "I shall name him Tebishi... the child of spirits."

"Name him what you will, but when he comes to power, he will be known by the name of all who have wielded power before him... the name that means sorcerer in the language of our ancestors. His name... shall be N'Doki."

[The Beginning]