If James had been counting the days, or rather the nights, he would have known exactly why his skin had become irritated, his body overheated and his mouth more and more parched, no matter how much water he drank. He would have known why his teeth seemed to ache and his senses were enhanced to an unusual degree.
Tonight the moon was in her prime; full, luminescent and glowing over the land in a milky white array. None of this was at the forefront of his consciousness, mind you. It was the amplification of his body's metamorphosis, ever since his chance encounter with that wolf, so long ago. The canine spirit always dwelt within him, but under a waxing moon, his hunger became insatiable. It was for this reason that he heard Akuba rise, heard the sound of her feet muted against an earthen floor, as she prepared to leave their hut.
He'd finally had a comforting dream of Amma, in a time and place before London had cast a shadow over her. In his vision, she was young, unencumbered and most importantly, free. She took his hand and ran with him through a forest of pine and moss til they reached a wide expanse of beach, the sand so silky between his toes that his first impulse was to lie down and let his entire body sink into its embrace. Just at the grains of sand were set to caress his skin, he was jostled back to Yasi and the blue-black night that curled around them
James could barely make out Akuba's form in the utter dark. On any other night, he may not have heard the soft rustle of her robe as she wrapped it around herself, tying it in place. Several hours earlier he'd unwrapped that robe effortlessly like an early Christmas present (what month was it again? Here in the quiet expanse of Ashantiland, it truly didn't matter anymore). He let himself smile, remembering the contortions of her face as he savored every inch of her body. A flower blossoming.
James lay on his pallet, eyes almost closed, waiting for her to leave. To his surprise, she hesitated in the entranceway, turning her head back towards him and spoke.
"I wouldn't follow if I were you. But if you must…bring a weapon." Her voice was soft, low and pointed. Her inflection daring him to rise. Instead he lay still, focusing only on the expanse and retreat of his breath.
She stretched her lithe limbs, releasing a nervous breath from her lungs. Then she stepped out into the rich night air.
A slight breeze stirred around the village, but not loud enough to mask the certainty that others were joining her outside, to head off somewhere into the night. James waited a few more moments, blushing at the way she'd "caught" him. Any man would have been curious. She had to know that.
He got up, wrapped his own robe about him, gathered a soft water sac made from animal skin and a curved dagger he'd made weeks earlier and left in the direction he'd last heard their voices.
Akuba took a deep bountiful breath of fragrant night air and willed her nervous stomach to settle itself. Of course James would follow. He was far too curious and attuned to her not to gather himself up and whisk away out of their hut to see what they were up to.
What were they doing exactly? Definitely searching for a little girl; possibly fending off an evil entity as well. Her own peculiarities meant that she was well versed in what other beings roamed the land.
Prah warned them about creatures that sometimes searched in the heavy darkness for blood and flesh; fearful humans upon which to feast. In the weeks after her husband's death, when she'd wandered the plains and jungles alone, she had come into contact with a few of them. Some merely phantoms passing through a field, their emanations no more than a whiff of smoke or mist. Others thoroughly solid, able to be touched; frightening, gruesome, creatures with steely teeth and claws meant to mangle muscles and tendons. All having the need to subsume a body down to a wilted carcass before moving on to their next victim.
She'd been most fortunate to observe from afar, safely hidden between tree and vine. But one creature, hanging upside down on a tree limb like a man-sized bat sharply opened its eyes as she made her way on to who-knows-where. It appeared momentarily disoriented between slumber and consciousness but then immediately locked eyes with hers, glaring at her intently. She had returned its gaze, anchored in the root of her own monstrosity. Seeing all that she was, it chose to find another target, curling itself upright to fly off into the night on dark, spiky wings.
Akuba walked to the edge of Yasi where Gameli, Kofi and Assai were waiting with weapons and tools in hand; Gameli at the ready with his spear, Kofi carrying only his axe and Addai with his bows and arrow slung on his back.
"We don't even know what we'll find out there," Kofi doubtfully offered up.
"No we don't, but we have to try", Gameli suggested.
Assai, chewing calmly on a small piece of miswak, looked back and forth from his two friends to Akuba, who had grown very silent and very still. Of course he had thoughts, but instead of blurting them out he cracked his knuckles and waited for her to speak.
"Too much time has passed since they found Abina. And I can smell the same stench now as before the girls were taken. Something is out there. Trust me."
Akuba smirked to herself. They weren't accustomed to taking instructions from a woman. They only listened to her because of Prah and her secret. If there were no little girl involved, she could do this on her own, as she had many times before. There was no time now for worries, only action.
Akuba, daughter of Mawusi and Coblah was most definitely a woman; made of blood and bone and sweat and flesh. But she was very much something else as well. Prah knew this. The chief knew this. Kofi, Addai and Gameli knew this. It was the reason her grandmother was desperate to arrange a marriage for her, the reason Mawusi, her mother, didn't fight when her father demanded she leave their home early on, the reason she kept her emotional self guarded from almost everyone she knew. It was also the reason the men of the tribe, as much as they desired to couple with her, kept their veritable distance.
There was never a time in her childhood when she was unaware of her differences. It was her natural inclination to face them internally. As much as the people of her village spoke of the mystical world, they were much more hesitant to embrace it face-to-face.
Before she became a tall, lithe and muscular young woman, she was a lanky, upshoot of a girl, who preferred to pick herbs and flowers instead of gathering well water and milking goats. Her otherself, the part her mother Mawusi was ashamed to acknowledge, stirred often, especially around the lunar cycle. There were times when her mouth became parched and dry. After accidentally killing some of their livestock, Mawusi learned to take over milking the goats at that time of the month. For fear of what else could happen.
Akuba could taste the oncoming rains of the wet season; hence why Mawusi's garden was always bountiful with all types of fruits and vegetables. Akuba could also hear the trekking of the beasts of the savannah passing through the night. Once, she was able to warn the others when a curious young lion sauntered through their village during twilight.
Her otherself and all that it entailed, was the reason her father Coblah, rarely touched her. Hugs and pats of assurance or acknowledgment of deeds well done were never to be hers. He treated Akuba almost like a stranger, casting his eyes angrily away from her when she looked to him for comfort. He would never allow her to hold, coddle or play with her younger siblings for too long.
When Coblah demanded that she be sent to live with Mawusi's mother, Akuba stoically waited until she was loaded on a mule-driven cart before breaking down in tears. She didn't know why she was different or what she could do to cure her "spells". It was her patient Nana who tenderly gave her answers to her predicament and suggestions as how best to adapt to her "condition".
That seemed like another life now. She had only met one other person like herself so far and her survival skills ensured that she never truly needed camaraderie in this respect.
In the menacing dark, James opened his other set of eyes to everything around him. It had been quite a while since he'd tapped deeply into this part of himself. The blackness of the night became more of a muted gray. He could make out the trees and the dirt paths much easier than usual. He smelled the remnants of feast fires burned out several hours prior, the pungent dung of the cattle just beyond the village and the faint fragrance of Persian roses scattered to and fro in the bush.
Walking briskly through brush and trees and tangled vines, he was unsure if he he'd gone in the right direction until he heard Akuba and company murmuring a hundred yards ahead. They were speaking softly in Twi, so he translated as speedily as he could inside his head. Something about the search for Frema's daughter and possibly something else traveling of its own volition. He kept a decent pace, not wanting to alert them to the fact that he was following their movements. He would ascertain the rest once they came to a standstill.
Through dense jungle they traversed, seemingly without tiring. James was invigorated, because they seemed to be going somewhere he'd never been. The deep, rich smell of Earth and tree and vine wrapped itself deliciously around him and he had the sudden urge to strip off all of his clothes.
Wasn't this the impulse every modern, civilized man was fighting? The battle between restraint and release? Wasn't this the tension that tethered him dangerously to Zilpha? Of course his blood surged when he watched her curtsy to Horace and the staff. Hours prior she would have wrapped her long, lithe limbs around him and cried out wantonly to the sky for mercy. Even his deviance as a Company cadet had been a defiance against any sort of order or normality.
James took quick swigs of water from the soft pouch he carried and wound his way through the jungle, noticing the elevation was gently increasing. A few moments during this trek, he could see Akuba stop, turning her head slightly to the side. She knew he was there. No matter now, he wasn't turning around.
They finally came to a plateau and James realized where they were. Akuba and the men stopped on the eastern edge of the lake. Lake Bosumtwe, sacred to all Ashanti, sat below them, large and tranquil as ever. But now he noticed a faint white glow pulsing just below the surface of the waters. Addai once told him the ancestors left a trace of their coming in the deep. He wondered briefly what it could be.
"Come join us James," she said loudly. Gameli and Kofi were shocked to see him appear from the dense brush. But Addai simply smiled as he came forth, the sweat on his skin giving him a sheen in the moonlight.
"Welcome brother," Addai said, offering out an arm for him to grasp, as he approached.
"You thought you'd adventure without me?" James asked directly. They smiled and smirked nervously in response.
Almost five miles in diameter, Bosumtwe was an imposing site. Especially on a night like this. The greenish-blue waters shone murkily at the moment. All seemed to be still. Undisturbed.
"Can you smell it now? There must be something nearby." Akuba muttered to all of them.
A temperate breeze blew around their heads, carrying the pungent odor closer and the men nodded silently. Addai and Gameli immediately covered their noses. James' breathing slowed down and the tiny hairs on the back of his neck and shoulders stood at alert. A sliver of electric current sliced down his spine.
