Into The Dark
Chapter 4:
A Curse Unleashed
I am not Walter Disney, nor am I related to Disney in any way. The characters Simba, Nala, Mufasa, Sarabi, Kiara, Kovu, Zira, Vitani, Nuka, Sarafina, Zazu, Scar, Rafiki, Timon, Pumbaa, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed belong to Disney. Mohatu and Thembi belong to other people. All characters in this story, not mentioned here are my own creations. Into The Dark, chapter 4: 'A Curse Unleashed' is property of Troy Wong, and is not to be resold or posted on any other site without my permission.
It would be time for the majordomo bird, Zazu's surprise birthday party in just a few days. Mufasa was one step away from begging me to attend. But I did not think that Zazu would like me to be there. It was more than that, really- I knew it. However, Mufasa was not just my best friend. He was the King, and so, I could not argue with him.
Besides that, I still had to train my new apprentice, Orrin, to succeed me and assist me. And also, I had to keep the Evil Ones at bay- not that there was any way to do that. But I had to try. That is what Barkara always told me. Ah yes. I also had to get my new staff blessed by the Inner Circle. But that was the least of my worries.
That was four things to do. But soon, that number would turn to five. I later received a vision of the swift capture of Bruno- the strongest, warmest-hearted rhinoceros I would ever know.
xxx
"Grip your staff firmly like this, Orrin." instructed Rafiki, clasping his own staff as he was teaching his apprentice to do so. Orrin copied his stance and actions, and did it well. "Let go with your left hand. Hold it in your right. Bring it behind you so that you are ready to attack."
Rafiki was about to do just that when a heavy sigh from Orrin interrupted him. "What is it?" asked the shaman suddenly, letting go of his defensive pose, and pretending that he didn't know what the answer was going to be.
"It's just that…" the boy hesitated.
"Yes?"
"Well, we've done this sixty-nine times, and-"
"Sixty-eight!" corrected Rafiki, voice loud and strong.
"Master, I don't mean any disrespect, but I think that after so many posing lessons, I'm ready to fight you. You can't seriously tell me that I'm not." he explained.
"Ah, yes…" sighed Rafiki. "Come, Orrin." he said, waving for his crimson streaked student to come closer. Orrin's stance broke. He took a step forward.
Rafiki held his staff out to him. "Look at this, Orrin. What do you see?"
Orrin stared at it for a moment, keeping well away from the weapon, almost afraid to touch it. His brow creased as he tried to think of something. Then it hit him. "It's clean. Unused. Looks like it's only a few days old."
"Correct!" exclaimed Rafiki in with a hint of ecstasy. He took a leap closer to Orrin. "It not only looks a few days old, but it is a few days old." he said, holding the object up closer to his pupil's face so that it was easier for them both to see it.
"But… Why? What happened to-?"
"My old staff, Orrin?' asked Rafiki, calming down as the shadows grew long and dark across his face. It was lost in one of my…" He hesitated as the bitter memory of Varapena's capture stung him once again. "In one of my later missions. I had to make a new one. This one." He glanced down at his staff. "Your teachers back at the forest of the Inner Circle must have told you something about staffs, yes?"
Orrin nodded. Without Rafiki asking him to, he began to explain. "To the oblivious eye, a shaman's staff appears to be nothing more than a pole with decorations attached to it. But that's rarely the case. With a staff, a magic wielder's powers can double. They also become a lot more dangerous and painful to face in close combat."
"You are correct." ensured the master. "But what must be done to the staff before it can be used in combat?"
"It must be blessed by every member of the Inner Circle…" Rafiki nodded and half-smiled. Orrin continued. "If an unblessed staff is used in combat of any kind, whether friendly or not, it brings uncanny bad luck to the owner of the staff, as well as grave misfortunes."
"So it seems that you have done your homework, my boy. You see now why I have been avoiding combat lessons with you?"
"Yes. I apologize for my impatience." he replied ashamedly.
"No, do not be ashamed!" cried the shaman, lightly waving off the apology.
"But master, why don't you just go cross-country to the forest, and get it blessed? I can stay here and take care of the Tree." suggested Orrin.
"No… I have much more important matters to tend to in this land. Besides, I can fight without my staff. These arms are stronger than they look, you know!" Rafiki chuckled. Orrin forced a smile.
"Couldn't I take it back for you? I made it here with no one but a small bird. I can surely reach the forest safely. It's only a reverse journey."
"No." answered the wise old mandrill firmly. "It would take you at least two days to get back. And now that the curfew is in place, it would be against the royal law to go."
"But couldn't you just wave off the law in this case? You're the shaman of the land. Doesn't that grant you a few favours?"
"Orrin, you are a rebel." He smiled. "Even if I could, I would not allow you to go back by yourself… That curfew came to pass for a very good reason…"
"What do you mean?" he asked, confused. "We've been going around telling the herds that this curfew is only here because a simple experiment, being carried out by the royals."
"… But do not tell them why. And avoid making things up. We do not want confusion. We do not want suspicion."
"Ah, Orrin, This is far more than an experiment." Orrin's eyes grew wide with puzzled worry. "These lands are no longer safe at night. A force has entered this kingdom- a very, very evil one. And a powerful one. It preys on us. I do not know why. But more importantly, I do not know how to stop them…" Rafiki trailed off.
"What is this force?" asked the boy.
"I will not lie to you. Not even against my better judgment. I am sure that you have been told of the 'Evil Ones', yes?"
xxx
One rhinoceros grazed alone, silently on the savannah grass. The sun was high in the sky, and the ground had been scorched so mercilessly that day that there was no moisture anywhere, except for that contained in the small, short blades of grass. In less than a second, day turned to night. But that did not bother the creature. He just continued to munch away lazily at the foliage around him.
But then, a ringing.
An unseen darkness.
Lights, everywhere.
The rhinoceros attacked the floating lights, but his efforts were futile. Suddenly, things were flying through the air. Moving too fast for anyone to know how big they were, or how they were shaped. All their victim knew was that they were completely alien in appearance.
And just as suddenly as the objects started to fly through the air, the rhinoceros was on the ground, unconscious, and breathing weakly. Then, he was gone with the lights, without a trace.
Rafiki woke in the middle of the night. He stretched, still comfortably sprawled out on the floor of his tree. Orrin was snoring lightly, deep in his sleep nearby, on his own bed of comfortable dry leaves.
"Another vision… Another victim…" breathed the shaman to himself. He got up and headed over to one of the branches of his tree, where a medium sized fruit husk hung, concave side facing upwards. He reached to take it down. Inside the bowl was chilled rainwater. Rafiki used this to wash his face.
When he turned around, Orrin was standing behind him, awake as ever. He had known Rafiki long enough to know that his master was most vulnerable when refreshing himself. Strange and trivial, yes, but useful for sneaking up on him like he had just done. He had also known Rafiki for long enough to know that he would only wash his face in the middle of the night if he had just had a disturbing vision.
"Another dream, master?" asked Orrin in a low voice.
"Yes." he replied. "The Evil Ones. They're taking another person away from me."
Orrin sighed in frustration. "They should leave your friends alone! Why do they only prey on those that you love? Are they out to destroy you?"
Rafiki raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that? I have not told you anything of that matter."
The boy stuttered in answering. "Well… Um… I may have-"
"You have seen it in the Dream Pool?" He gave his student a surprised look. "It seems that children aren't as obedient as they used to be." Rafiki smiled, eventually. "It is good that you have learnt to use the Dream Pool for yourself. That nearly makes up for all this time we've spent on posing."
"I just couldn't sleep one night, so I went down there where you always went, wondering what was so great about the small circle of trees. I saw the pool, and when I looked into it, these pictures started to come to life. I was amazing… And frightening."
"So, you saw the lioness and I that night? The lights?" Orrin nodded. "So now you know the true terror of the Evil Ones."
"Yes, master. Now I know why that curfew was ordered."
"Now, do you want to know what I have seen of you?" questioned Rafiki mischievously, walking past Orrin to get his staff.
Orrin cringed at the thought of Rafiki seeing every single unsavory thing he had done after his arrival in the Pridelands. "No thanks." he quickly replied, realising that Rafiki was waiting for an answer.
"Good!" exclaimed the shaman, snatching his staff from its resting place. "To be honest, I do not want to tell them…" There was an awkward moment of silence. "Well, alright! Stay up here. Do not come down, whatever you happen to hear… I will be back up before morning. Now, take care!"
"Alright." replied Orrin, still trying to swallow that previous uncomfortable moment. Rafiki took a running jump off the side of the tree that the empty fruit shell had been hanging from. Then, he was gone.
xxx
Into the crystal clear water he looked, waving his hands just over the surface of the mirror. Small ripples began to appear on the surface of the pond almost immediately. Slowly, it started to form an image.
But it was not the image that Rafiki had been expecting. Instead of the pool turning white, it turned black, like the evening sky. Instead of a shining shape came a tawny mass, and instead of the face of his deceased master, Barkara, came the face of a lioness.
It was Vara.
A gasp escaped Rafiki's mouth. Then he was taken by the pool. He saw things from a different point of view. He saw the last things that Varapena had seen.
xxx
That was the first time I had ever seen something from another person's point of view through the Dream Pool. From then on, I understood why she was so terrified when I finally found her. Those images haunt and puzzle me to this day…
It all started back at Pride Rock. It was evening, according to Varapena's eyes. She was with a group of her friends, which included Sarabi. I do not know what they were doing. My best guess would be that they were engaged in discussion, but of this I cannot be sure, for the magic of the Dream Pool concentrates more on vision than it does on hearing.
Then, time seemed to skip an hour. Now, Vara was crouched low in the grass, stalking a lone wildebeest. Its horns were considerably large, along with its entire body and its hooves were large and broad. It was strange for a wildebeest to be by itself. At first, I thought that perhaps the herd was nearby, and it was purely by coincidence that it was by itself. But I would later learn that my idea was far from the truth.
Vara took a step forward, and like it had been waiting forever to make pointless the last half hour of the lioness' tracking, it broke. These small noises were shouted messages to herd animals. The wildebeest lifted its head, revealing the horrified look on its face, and ran off.
Several times, this process was repeated, until the leader of the hunting party, the Queen herself, decided to call it a day, and leave for Pride Rock. Despite my warnings, Vara decided to venture off on her own, for reasons that I am still unsure of. Maybe she was aiming to hunt down that wildebeest or any item of meat on her own, to repay for her clumsiness. But as I have said, I do not know.
She walked on, looking from side to side, ahead of her, and turning towards the slightest noise in a flash. She walked for hours. She walked until it was midnight. And then, it happened.
A blood chilling chorus of hyena howls erupted from behind the Northern Border. They filled the air, never ending. With this came the same lifeless sound that Varapena and I had heard when the lights had taken her. No doubt, the Evil Ones were coming for her.
Out of nowhere, two circles of light appeared. They were right in front of her- right in front of me. The orbs moved closer and closer. With a scream, Vara ran away from them. She ran, and ran, all the time, the dominating, mystery, lifeless sound of the Evil Ones' attack rising over the call of the hyenas.
When the grass turned to sand, the soil turned to hardened dirt, and the howls disappeared, Vara found a large rock wall to hide behind. She ducked into its shadow, and tried hard to hide her panting. For one moment, she thought she was safe.
But she was never safe.
Shooting out of the dark of the night, two more circles appeared in front of Vara. She shrieked in terror, and ran as things started to fly through the air, like the splinters of a log becoming airborne when the timber is snapped.
It chased her. For most of the time, it was directly behind her. And all of the time she was screaming. She could feel its hot breath brushing against her back. It was constantly exhaling on her. The warmth made her sweat even more than she already was. The lights revealed the path ahead of her so well… It felt like at any moment, the glow would consume us.
Something flew past her head. She barely caught a glance of it before she stepped onto emptiness, and fell, tumbling down a gap in the earth. Her body was beaten relentlessly by the bumpy rocks of the incline. Then the pain stopped. She had reached safe ground.
More dread awaited her just a metre away. When she turned her frightened gaze to her right, she saw a rotting body- a lion. Its ears had been bitten off. Its stomach was open, and its intestines and insides laid messily scattered across the floor. The skin around its chest had disappeared; leaving exposed its ribcage and everything inside. The body lay in a pool of blood, and a countless swarm of flies circled it.
But most repulsive of all was the fact that its face had been torn away, leaving on a gaping, bloody opening in its wake. I have seen so many disturbing things in my time. But that was definitely amongst the top five of those things.
She stood there, disgusted at the corpse for a second. Then she gagged, choking, coughing, until the green broth of her last meal came pouring out of her mouth. And after she had just managed to regain her composure, she ran off into the distance, where she found me.
The vision ended. And there I was, cold and alone in my circle of trees. Through the gaps in the foliage shone lights, pure as the water of the Dream Pool, casting shadows across the floor. With this came the deathly sound of the Evil Ones.
xxx
Thrown back into reality like a brick through a wall of glass, was Rafiki. And there he sat as the drone of the Evil Ones surrounded him. Their eerie white lights flooded through gaps between trees like water, and wherever the place that could not be illuminated lay shadows like the giant black legs of a hideous spider. The breath of the evil outside the circle seeped in and circled the target.
Rafiki could smell it. The odor was unmistakable to one such as him. And from this, he knew that the hunter was just a few steps away from him.
But how long had it been there? One minute? One hour? Who knew? And who knew how long Rafiki had been sitting there, still as a lonely stone in the middle of the savannah? Maybe its eyesight was poor. Maybe the only thing that told it that prey was nearby was its victims' movements.
If so, Rafiki was safe. From what he had heard, the Evil Ones could not stand natural light. All he had to do was keep still until dawn came. Then they would disappear and let him go.
No. Like lightning it was upon him. It stood there, to the left of him. Inching towards him, through the trunks and bushes that brushed against its feet. Like a three dimensional shadow. Like darkness, personified. Like an overwhelming stench.
Now the unpleasant aroma of malevolence was everywhere. It was like trying to breathe in water. Any magic wielder of any rank or power could detect the horrible stink easily- they would know how thick the air was. It was almost painful to inhale it.
And when the wise old mandrill took the first breath in the true presence of iniquity, he knew that there was no way that he would be able to survive until morning. The shadow was doing nothing, now. It was just standing there, watching him. But he knew that at any moment, it could strike.
Ever so slowly, Rafiki reached for his staff. His fingers hugged the hilt of the weapon, and his arm brought it towards him. Breathing in low, flat breaths, he got to his feet. The shadow seemed to recoil a little in fear.
Rafiki took one step backwards. Then another. Two more and he would be outside the circle. He took one more step.
Then it lunged at him. It circled him, swirling around him like a cyclone, or a whirlpool of water- surrounding him, cutting of his escape routes. He fought the urge to fight with his staff for a short moment, but he knew that it would be better to be cursed with mere bad luck than to die right there, at that moment.
He swung it around gracefully so that his left hand could grip it. Then, when it was being firmly held in all ten of his fingers, he forced it outwards. The shadow appeared in front of him, fused into the wand. Rafiki pulled his weapon out of the mass of darkness, and struck it again and again.
Where he made contact, appeared holes like huge puncture wounds. But the remaining shadow would just flood in and fill the gap. It was impossible. He did not even know what he was fighting.
The shadow forced him back, back, out of the circle, into clear ground. His tree was nearby. If he could just reach the base of it, he could leap up the smooth timber walls to safety. Then, he would have time to make a spell to destroy the specter.
But Orrin was up there. He was probably sleeping. Rafiki did not know if that shadow could climb, or if it was cursed to stay on the ground. He could not risk bringing danger to his apprentice. He had to fight it to the death if the Pridelands was ever going to have a shaman again.
He was so much into the fray that he did not realise that he was losing until he fell and hit the ground. Then came a screeching sound. Unbearable as the stench of evil, it was so high pitched, and so loud that the whole kingdom heard it. Everywhere, animals were stirring from their sleeps just to collapse to the ground, ears ringing, head throbbing in agonising pain.
The shade exploded and expanded into a towering giant. It stood over Rafiki, screeching, screeching, screeching, until he could bear no more. Then, it rocketed towards him, shrinking down into a spiked ribbon, like something out of a nightmare.
The shaman shut his eyes and held his arms up to brace himself for the impact. But nothing happened. When he lifted his eyelids, all he saw was a quivering mass on the ground that resembled a puddle. It was black, like that spirit that had attacked him. Then it vanished into thin air. And standing behind him, was Orrin, staff in hand, posed just as he had been taught to do.
And in his left hand, he held firmly Rafiki's Seeing Stone. Smooth, shining and black in appearance, it dispelled illusions, and revealed the truth to any deceived eyes. Surely he was the one that was got rid of the shadow. But the seeing Stone was not for banishing spirits. How could he have done that? Unless…
Without a word, Orrin helped Rafiki up, and handed his master his staff, which had been dropped to the ground.
"Are you alright?" asked Orrin, even though he knew the answer.
"Yes, I am. Thank you for helping me…" Rafiki paused and eyed the stone in Orrin's hand more carefully. Yes, there was no doubt that it was the Seeing Stone. "What are you doing with my Seeing Stone, Orrin?"
The boy looked down into his hand. He had nearly forgotten that he had taken the orb with him when he jumped down to his teacher's aid. "I saw you fighting… Fighting the air. I wondered what you were doing at first, but then I realized it. It was an illusion. I remembered what you told me about the Seeing Stone, how it destroys hallucinations. So I took it down here. I didn't even know how to use it… But it looks like it works automatically."
Rafiki nodded, impressed by his student's quick thinking. "Yes, it does. It is a good thing that you know when to defy my orders, and when to obey them… But one thing puzzles me." Orrin's eyes became glazed with curiosity. "Tricks of the eye do not just happen like that. They can only be caused by certain spells only taught by the shamans of the Inner Circle."
Orrin stepped back in panic- fear that Rafiki would blame it upon him. But the shaman's lips just twisted into a smile when he observed his pupil's reaction.
"No, I am sure that you did not cast the spell." he said, reassuringly. "I have not taught you. It is against the law of the Inner Circle, to teach young ones, such as yourself, spells of that manner. I know a boy who found himself in a lot of trouble for creating illusions as a prank… He was exiled from his home."
"Could it be the Evil Ones?"
"No. They are just…" Rafiki's brow creased into a frown as he searched for a word to describe them. "Evil. They cannot cast spells like that. It must have been someone else. Someone such as us..."
Orrin raised an eyebrow. "You mean… A magic wielder? But what sort of shaman would commit such a crime, especially against you?"
"Someone who wants me to be cursed with bad luck." answered Rafiki.
"Huh?"
"I was forced to use my staff. I thought that those images I saw were real. You know that if the staff has not been blessed, it cannot be used in combat without bringing bad luck and misfortune to its owner."
"What happens now? Do you know how to get rid of the curse?"
"Hmm. Yes. There is a potion… Or, as most people call it, a soup. There are some very strange ingredients that are required for this. I will need your help, for I do not dare to even take a step towards you. This bad luck is not exaggerated one bit."