WHISPERS IN THE DARK

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of The Young Riders, I merely use them for fun, no profit involved.

- Prologue -

The Ivory Coast, Africa, 1756

Ntaka watched in horror how the white men dragged his family away from the village, screaming and wailing in vain against their attackers. The anger steamed in him as he prepared himself for the attack. When he'd returned to the village after his hunt and he'd found his family missing he'd looked up the Bone man for advice. Nobody went there in normal cases since seeing the man was to expose your family and yourself to evil. But now he had no choice. White men had captured his family and Ntaka needed the old evil man's help to get them back. It had been a long time since the last time the white men came to his village but he remembered the stories of these men, who were taking family members, women and children alike, with them never to return. Nobody knew where they went or where the white men came from, but the stories told of horrors across the wastewater from which nobody returned. Some claimed the white men used them to feed the monsters of the waters so they would let them travel on the water. Maybe even the monsters of the sea built the ships that they traveled on. He'd seen them once, huge boats with big trees growing on them. Certainly no creation of man, he pondered as he watched the men dragging his people along the shore. He clasped the amulet the Bone man had given him, ensuring him that it would protect him against the white man's weapons.

Ntaka was scared of the Bone man, as he'd every reason to be – there were tales of how he'd put a hex on people that he didn't like and then the people lost their minds and became slaves or worse. Some walked up to the mountain never to be heard of again. He'd seen men falling sick and die after the Bone man simply had pointed at them. His powers were not to be taken lightly. The oldest in the village claimed that Bone man was more than 300 years old and had came walking from the east to their village, where he'd settled himself in a cave on the mountain. He didn't look like them, so maybe it was true that he came from somewhere else. But he was old when he came and he'd been living at the mountain as long as Ntaka remembered. He didn't seemed to age, and this in itself was enough to convince the villagers that he was a sorcerer or a witch, and most certainly evil. Ntaka knew this, yet he'd walked up there hoping that the Bone man could help him. He'd been scared but even more scared of losing his family.

The Bone man had welcomed him, said he'd been expecting him. The man's grin had sent chills down his spine, but he had not dared to do anything but sit down and listen. The Bone man had told him what he needed to do to save his family and get his revenge on the white men.

"If you fail," the Bone man had continued, "you shouldn't worry. My powers will get your revenge anyway." Ntaka had wished he could ask the man what he meant by it, but dared not. He wasn't interest in failing, all he wanted was his family back. But to oppose the Bone man would mean a horrible death and therefore he was now squatting in the edge of the forest ready to act in accordance to the Bone man's instructions. Suddenly Ntaka felt himself go numb as he heard the Bone man's voice in his head: "Attack them now – kill them." Unable to resist the order Ntaka started running down the shore.

"Get them moving, I want to be out of here before dark!" The man on the horse called out to the men on the shore who were pushing the slaves forward.

"Doin' our best Mr. Allistair, sir," the leader said grinning at the man before he turned to his companion. "He should try it himself, the bastard," he whispered to him as a loud yell could be heard from the edge of the forest. "What the hell?" the man called out and turned only to see a black man emerge from the shadows, spear in hand. Forced as if carried by an invisible hand the man continued his attack oblivious of the bullets around him.

"Kill im! Kill im, you stupid bastards!" The panic in Allistair's voice was clear and his men fervently tried to reload their guns. But with their guns it took some time and before they could fire again they man was close to them and he threw his spear with deadly accuracy at the man that had responded to Mr. Allistair. The spear went straight into his chest and the man fell to the ground with the spear protruding from his chest as it slowly moved from the force behind the throw.

The attacker, Ntaka, continued his assault using a large knife and the men that met him ran in fear of the crazy look in his eyes. His family, recognizing him, called out in fear for him when he seemed to come to his senses and quickly moved along the line until he reached them. Ntaka cut the ropes that bound them when a bullet hit him. The man who'd fired looked in horror as Ntaka turned around with something that sounded more like an animal's growl than a human voice, seemingly unhurt. The rifleman watched into Ntaka's eyes and when he saw the yellow gaze and the hatred behind it he froze in terror. Unable to move he saw the knife enter into his body and then being withdrawn and with it most of his intestines. Apparently unharmed Ntaka continued his deadly assault as more bullets found their way into his body, but none were able to stop him. The screams of the slave traders echoed towards the hills that surrounded the shore as more and more of them fell for the Ntaka's knife. Suddenly Ntaka froze and begun clawing at something around his neck. Nobody moved as Ntaka screamed out in agony and desperately tried to get something off his body.

The slave traders watched in horror how the man fell to his knees in what seemed to be the throws of death, when suddenly his eyes went blank and the man fell face forward onto the beach. Smoke formed around the body when panic broke out among the slaves and they started to run for the hills. Allistair suddenly saw his fortune disappear and out of fear and anger he ordered his men to fire at the running people. The slave traders followed his orders and soon shots were heard over the coast. None of the slaves survived.

"Let's get out of here!" Allistair yelled, frightened over the development. Whatever had happened on the beach, he wanted to forget it as soon as possible. He could get slaves somewhere else. He ordered his men to leave.

One of his men, a young boy, walked slowly past the body of the man that had attacked them. Unable to contain his curiosity he looked around to see if anybody noticed him. When nobody seemed to notice, he turned the body over only to immediately back away. The man's eyes had lost all their color and were nothing more than a white hood beneath the eyelids. Sick to his stomach, he turned away and ran after the other. Another man, older and whose eyes had seen more of the world stopped and looked at what had made the young boy run. What he saw made him pull a face, but then something caught his eyes. Next to the man lay an amulet, a well-done piece carved in wood with ivory details. It was delicate piece, well made, and would probably fetch a good price in one of the ports. Driven by greed the man picked it up and put it in his pocket.

From the hills the Bone man watched the events on the shore with a malicious smile.

"Told you so," he chuckled, "told you you'd be together with your family, Ntaka, and now you are." He continued to watch as one of the white men stopped by the body and placed something in his pocket. The grin broadened on the old witch.

"I believe that we'll be making a journey, you and I Baruk", he whispered to himself. "That's might be interesting. Maybe we can find ourselves another soul to help us in our search of revenge." He chuckled. It would take time, he knew that, but time was something he had enough of – more than enough.

Well hidden in the pocket of the sailor an old wood amulet started to shine with a soft red light as a cold breeze carried the words of the old man across the beach.