Chronicles of Akhani - 10 - Dinner Guests
A feeling of panic overwhelmed Zhorovna as she witnessed Akhani lay waste to the Doiketians in their camp. It wasn’t the fact that he killed them with such ease. No, Zhorovna already suspected that Akhani was skilled in combat. What chilled Zhorova to the bone was the fact that Akhani enjoyed it. Nah, he reveled in it.
The exorcism didn’t take, Zhorovna though. My eyes deceived me when the smoke exited his body. It was all a ruse. That spirit is still inside him. I must find a way to draw it out.
As Zhorovna pondered these things, Akhani had turned to her and waved for her to come join him in the camp. Zhorovna did not want to rouse suspicion, so she complied, but, all the same, she could not stay silent.
“Why did you do that? Why did you kill all of them?” The pity in her voice as she said these words was viscous enough to stick even to the coldest of hearts.
“Because Achinos must be cleansed of their infestation,” Akhani said showing that her words had no effect.
A howl came rolling over the dunes into their camp. Shortly thereafter, another howl came in response not far from their camp. Akhani carried on dragging the bodies of the Doiketians into a far corner of their camp, but Zhorovna stopped dead in her tracks.
“Did you hear that?” Zhorovna asked in a hushed voice.
Akhani did not reply, but instead had started gathering some of the firewood and placed it near where he had laid the Doiketians. He appeared to be getting ready to burn the bodies, but, for as yet unknown reasons, he did not place the bodies within the tinder.
Zhorovna froze. A head. No, two heads. No, scratch that, six heads appeared over the edge of the dunes. Six wolves. Fur bristled. Eyes glowing red. The wolves snarled as they revealed their long, white fangs.
“Akhani! Wolves!” Zhorovna said in a panicked, but still hushed, voice.
Akhani, proceeded to light the kindling and build a roaring flame. In fact, it was as though he was completely unaware of anything that was happening about him. Zhorovna could not tell if he had heard her or not, so she made her way over to him.
Pulling at Akhani’s clothes, Zhorovna whispered, “Wolves. There are wolves entering the camp!”
The wolves now were mere paces away from the duo. Zhorovna’s heart was pounding in her chest. The slowness of the steady, cautious steps of the wolves only made Zhorovna all the more anxious. At seeing them sit, then slowly crouched down onto their stomachs. They made no further moves, and never once let their eyes stray from Zhorovna.
Zhorovna was too preoccupied with the wolves to witness what strange behavior that Akhani was performing. By the time that she turned once more to Akhani, she let out a blood curdling scream.
Akhani had placed the Doiketians on spits over the fire.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?” Zhorovna screamed in horror.
“Even vermin have their use,” Akhani replied in a dry, monotone voice.
Zhorovna was unable to speak. Behind her was a pack of wolves, and in front was her friend roasting the bodies of the slain. Internally, she screamed in terror and cried to the gods, but externally she was paralyzed.
By the time the flesh was fully cooked, Zhorovna was utterly exhausted. The adrenaline coursing through her blood had run its course, and there was nothing left. All she could do was finally slump to the ground and accept whatever would come.
“Dinner’s ready,” Akhani said, turning around and addressing the wolves directly. “Go. We will eat over there,” he said gesturing to their normal camp fire area.
To Zhorovna’s surprise, the wolves rose to their feet and walked straight to where they were directed. Akhani followed behind them holding a plank with heaps of cooked Doiketian flesh on top.
“I heard Syverenians enjoy eating flesh,” Akhani said with a wink.
Zhorovna’s stomach turned as she remained seated and thought, How could he eat human flesh? I know he’s not human, but it is unheard of to feast on another sentient being.
“Zhorovna, come. I cannot allow my companion to remain an outcast,” Akhani said in a strange tone.
Zhorovna reluctantly rose to her feet, found her way to her usual blanket, and sat down immediately without looking at any other members of the company. To her surprise, Akhani slid a plate of preserved antelope meat in front of her. Looking up, she noticed that he, too, was eating antelope meat.
“The Doiketian flesh is for the wolves, not us. We have an agreement that they get an easy meal if I ever kill a Doiketian. In return return, they offer protection. They are typically my eyes and ears when it comes to Doiketians in the desert,” Akhani said in a calm, matter of fact voice. “I hope you didn’t think I would really eat human flesh.”
Zhorovna blushed and Akhani’s face turned to immediate remorse. Akhani had not expected Zhorovna to misread the situation to that degree. He had not expected her to suspect him of such a heinous act. But, at the same time, he realized that it was his actions that lead her to that belief.
Zhorovna was so distracted by her own embarrassment that she failed to notice that a black vapor wafted from the wolves as they consumed the human flesh.
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