It has taken Saluu all night to descend Magu's rocky surface.
Almost half way down ,he turns eastward , towards a flat grassy plateau on the other side of the mountain .It was covered with lush trees and green vegetation.
The old man reaches the edge of some trees and without looking down or missing his footing, he crosses over a man made wooden bridge and disappears into a thicket on the other side .
Finally he breaks out into a clearing that leads straight to his raffia hut.
Already, the dawning of the day had begun and the few livestock he owned were already rearing up from slumber. And as if on cue, the rooster in saluu's small barn began to crow, ushering in a new day.
The old man entered his hut and gently placed the serpent down on his raffia bed in the far corner of the room. It was limp and cold to the touch.
It was obvious;The snake was dying.
The whole ordeal had taken a toll on it's body.
Saluu looks around the room, searching for the gourd of fresh water he had normally placed beside a pile of old blankets. He needed to quench his thirst fast. His recent adventure had totally drained him.Finding it the gourd, he raised it to his lips, but before Saluu could take a swig at it,..he heard the an eerie voice; precise and piercing in his head.
Saluuuu!
Saluu swung his whole body almost three hundred and sixty degrees towards the bed were he had set the serpent down barely a minute ago .
He stumbled over to the raffia bed ,staring intently at the serpent which had rolled on its back.
With foamy spit and blood running down it's open mouth and it's forked tongue hanging out to one side,..he realized it was dead.
Then he heard it very faintly ; the scratching of claws against a the thick mud walls ,and the beating of membranous leathery wings against a non existing wind.
And the smell! , Awww!. It was as if death itself had stepped into the room.
A dark form darted across the room at lightning speed across the old man's line of vision .
There !...deep within the innermost corner of his hut ,a dark shadowy form .
Saluu's beady eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at the incredible image before him.
It had arms and legs but chose to hover in its misty form above the ground. There was greenish smoke inhaling and exhaling in and out of its nostrils .
Saluu could see a hideous face forming within the shadow . It had a horns like a ram's on either side of it's head, eyes that-glowed like hot coals. And it's jaws were lined with razor sharp teeth , grinning wickedly at him .
Trembling , the old man knelt down and bowed low , his head touching the ground.
It was the Master! .
"Jinthu ethjab !" . Said the old man, hailing the chief demon in the old tongue.
"Welcome back to your lands which you once ruled with wisd..."
" Silence you old goat"! , the demon roared .
You drank the ' Elixir of life' to keep you from dying after I was imprisoned ....
By now, Saluu was trembling ,..as dirty sweat ran down his wrinkled face in succession.
"And it took you two hundred years to find a way to set me free ?" ,..
continued the demon,grimacing at the kneeling figure before it.
"You filth ! . And to welcome me back , you brought me to this disgusting place .
The demon looked around his dirty surroundings , with its glowing eyes resting once again on the quivering human before him.
Where are my shrines , my place of worship by the grooves that bore my name and housed my statues". demanded ethjab.
" Everything was destroyed ,Master," saluu's replied , cautiously lifting his head up to gaze in amazement at the demon.
He had never seen his true form outside of a body before.
During the fetish rituals ,the Masters and Mistresses had always been summoned and provided with human hosts to inhabit.
"The Christians ,lead by that woman, broke down all the Shrines and Places of worship of the old gods". Said Saluu.
"Comfort Marcella", the demon bellowed out, recalling all that happened between the two of them so long ago.
"Every moment of my captivity ,I thought of nothing but how to make her suffer for what she did to Me".
"Does she have any descendants" ? Continued the demon .
"O yes master". replied Saluu. " A grandson . His name is Jacob. He heads the old community church in town .His disciples are not many but..."
"Silence you fool"!.
" The boy is near the wooden bridge as we speak". the demon shrieked.
I hope everything you need for my entrance into his body is ready?...and for GOD's sake ! ,clean up your house,it's so filthy ,"
Then looking down at his high priest in disgust ethjab shouted "and you also stink, do you not bathe"!
With that, Saluu stood up immediately ,and started cleaning up his hut , rolling his beady eyes and cursing under his breath.... "For 'GOD's sake' ,how funny .The same God he disobeyed ,..hai!..and he's calling 'me' dirty ,..he smells worse tha.."
I heard that you wretch.." growled ethjab. "And if you say one more word, I will tear your very heart out of your...."
Suddenly there was a knock.
...........................................................
Zebu was exhausted.He stood up from the flat rock he had been sitting on and continued towards Saluu's hut . He had been climbing the mountain all night just in the hope of getting his money back from the old crooner.
The first time he had journeyed to Saluu's hut, he had gotten lost .
Worn out then as he was now, he had decided to return back to the farm.
Along the way back ,he had met goat herders who lead their animals up the mountain seeking greener pastures.
They knew the way but were not willing to follow him there .
He later found out why.
The old man's surroundings were so unkept and inside the hut wasn't any better.It had smelled so bad in there .
Finally he arrived at Saluu's place,out of breath and totally drained of strength.
But heavens ,this time around , the smell was worse!
The boy felt like removing his nose from his face . Holy cow, the stench !
Then he heard voices. Two people talking,..the second voice sounded deep and eerie.
Cold sweat ran down his back and for a minute , he paused in front of the bamboo door .
Something was wrong here.
A silent voice in his head had been warning him all day to discontinue his journey.
Now, after arriving at his destination ,...he wished he had listened to that voice.
But his money!... how would he pay the farmer back.
There was no going back now.
Zebu leaned closer to the door of the hut and knocked on the bamboo door.
In an instant the door was flung open ,as if the old man had been expecting him.
Without so much as a greeting the old man ushered the boy in and firmly closed the door.
Inside, the air was foul and humid but surprisingly ,a lot cleaner than the last time he was there .
Six big candles lighted the big room but the place still felt dark and dreary, as if it was harboring something sinister within itself.
The old man wasted no time in sitting the lad down on one of the soft cushions on the floor and at the same time, placing a large bowl of mangoes and African cheeries with a small gourd filled with water in front of him.
"Surely You must be tired my boy", grinned Saluu , his beady eyes checking the boy out.
" And I know why you have come back",...Saluu said as he placed some burning incense around the room to mask the demon's odour .
"but first eat,..drink !,".....and Saluu himself reached out and took a cherry and ate it, ..dousing the lad's suspicion .
Zebu was surprised at the friendly reception he was being given by the old man .
He had to be on his guard , but he was indeed famished and was already salivating at the sight of the fruits.
Surely there was no harm in eating just one ...zebu thought to himself
A few minutes later ,zebu was down to the last fruit in the bowl and was totally relaxed in Saluu's abode. Even the awful smell seemed to have abated,... and instead he perceived the smell of burning incense all around him.
"You haven't drank anything my boy,..or do you prefer some local wine" ,the old one said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Zebu then remembered the water in the gourd and thought to himself, ..surely he has poisoned the water so as not to pay back my money. let me ask for the wine instead,at least , he won't be able to poison that while I'm watching.
" The wine will do just fine , baba" , replied zebu , his eyes intently following the old man as he reached behind a large wooden box by the corner of the room, and produced a plastic container with palm-wine in it.
Saluu handed him a calabash gourd and poured some palm-wine into it.
Zebu looked at him suspiciously but , 'the smell of the wine was so good'.
He brought the calabash to his lips and took a long sip.
It was delicious !
Zebu gulped down the wine and thanked the old man for his hospitality .
He had not expected his host's kind gesture ,and though it threw him off balance , he still hadn't forgotten about his mission.
But the old man had read his thoughts, and without saying a word ,Saluu produced a small brown bag . It was full of gold and he handed it over to Zebu .
The boy's greedy eyes were instantly fixed on the bag as it was passed to him.
He quickly shook it, hearing heavy jingling sounds of the precious metal .
Many people didn't have gold coins anymore,unlike in the olden days.
Paper money was used more as a mode of payment, and gold coins were now sold to the Daura caravan that passed the mountain areas every five months , who payed good money for the gold they bought.
Zebu was excited.
This was his ticket out of this GOD forsaken town.
"Won't you open it and check out the gold's quality" said Saluu. "Go on ,bite it between your teeth".
Everyone knew that you had to bite a gold coin to detect if other metals had been mixed with it . If it was not pure then a teeth mark would be indented unto the coin.
Zebu's hands were shaking as he poured the gold on the small table next to the large box .They were so shiny , glittering in the candle light. He grabbed one coin and stuck it inbetween his teeth, biting down hard on it .
The lad looked at it and notice there were no teeth marks . it was pure gold!
Zebu grinned from ear to ear , not believing his luck . Thank GOD he didn't listen to that stupid voice that told him to go back. He would have completely missed out on this!.
If only he had glanced up and seen the evil and satisfactory look on Saluu's face .But Zebu was too pre-occupied with what was in front of him.
"Thank you so much baba"! said Zebu, Placing all the coins back in the bag . Saluu eyes followed him as he retreated towards the door, opening it and allowing the first rays of sunlight to penetrate into his abode , smiling to the lad as Zebu bade him farewell .
Zebu was but a few yards away,when he started feeling a bit tired and dizzy. Moving sluggishly along the path that led to the dense thicket .
And then the hallucinations started.
It was as if the morning sun was about to fall from the sky .The trees looked as if they were singing , even the chickens seemed to be dancing to an imaginary song . Zebu too swayed rhythmically from side to side .
The old man leaned against the bamboo door ,all the while , observing his visitor, laughing and clapping as the boy started dancing to a concocted music only he could hear in his head .
And at that moment Zebu knew he had been drugged , but like a puppet in the hands of a string master,he could do nothing to save himself but to dance to his master's tune.
In his final thoughts before he lost his senses , he realized what the old man had done .
'He must have poisoned him ! but Saluu had eaten the fruits with him and he had watched him closely when he brought out the palm wine without putting anything in it ,but what cou....'
'The coins'. 'The wizard of a man must have rubbed something on them'.
Suddenly he remembered the somewhat chalky bitter taste that had flooded his mouth when he placed the coin between his teeth.
No! he couldn't die like this .
Zebu willed his mind to will his body from dancing .With silent tears running down his cheeks , he sluggishly looked back towards the hut .Sighted a shrunken image who just stood there , grinning at him.
Saluu smiled wickedly as Zebu feel down on his knees, and as if pushed , leaned forward , and fell flat on his face .
..............To be continued..............
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