Niigani braces herself, hoping her belly would stop grumbling at the fear that the crazed Jiiga'e would find her.
Time ceases to move as Niigani is forced to hear the crunch of bones and tearing of flesh. Jeko's body, putrid and decomposing while Jiiga'e continued to feast on him.
It's been three days since Niigani last ate. The thought of food and water, being so far away and cannibalism being right below her, is beginning to set in as a 'not so bad' idea.
Niigani quickly shook the idea out of her mind. "I will do no such thing." She told herself.
But with every starving mind, the ominous thought lingered.
Once Jiiga'e had his fill of devouring Jeko, he finally let the exhaustion set in as he laid his head to rest. Niigani grabbed a handful of dirt from the wall and threw it at him, but he didn't budge in his deep slumber.
"This is my chance. Kill or be killed." She slowly descended down from the ledge and tiptoed over to Jeko's corpse. Quickly and swiftly, Niigani dug around for the largest and sharpest bone she could find, while paying close attention to the sleeping Jiiga'e.
Suddenly a whiff of fresh blood and liver struck Niigani's nose. She took in a deep inhale of the mouth watering scent.
"NO!" Niigani's mind shouted at her. Stick to the plan.
Niigani quickly moved soundlessly to the sleeping Jiiga'e, raising the sharp bone like a weapon, high above and behind her head. In one forceful and clean swoop, she rammed the sharp end down deep into the back of Jiiga'e's neck. The crackling sound of bone hitting bone was eerily similar to Jiiga'e chewing on Jeko's bones from earlier.
Jiiga'e let out a raspy screech, blood immediately gushing out from his wolfly snout. He turns around and nips Niigani in her left arm, but that doesn't stop her. She continues to stab Jiiga'e repeatedly, blood covering every inch of her face, hand and arms while screaming, "DIE ALREADY!"
Like a maniac, she couldn't control herself anymore. She continued to stab Jiiga'e long after he was already dead.
It wasn't until the fourth day, when the sun came up to greet her in her hole, that she finally realized the extent of her overkill.
There was blood everywhere, from both Jiiga'e and Niiganii.
Her left arm was bleeding from the puncture wound of Jiiga'e's bite and her right palm was sliced open by the bone she was using as a weapon. At one point the bloody weapon became too slippery to yield and she had slipped, slicing her own hand.
Starving and lacking sleep, Niigani feebly paced herself back towards the ledge.
"Oh great gods, please give me at least a little rain to quench my thirst." She cried, but the bright sun just kept beaming heat down onto her.
During that afternoon, Niigani began fevering. She tried to transform back into her wolf form, but with no energy left she could only transfigure so much. The chill in that damp dark place made her body shiver. All she could think about was how hungry she was and how she needed to stay alive.
Her mind keeps blacking in and out as she tries to fight the fever, hunger, thirst and pain; that was when the delirium began. One of her delusions was so strong she was convinced there was a table of food laid out for her to feast on. She ate and ate, filling up her empty belly, but when she came to, she noticed that it was too late that she was already consuming the liver from Jeko's corpse. The same liver that made her mouth drool before.
She drops the liver out of her hands, spits out the contents in her mouth onto the ground, and jumps back, "No, no, no, no! This is a cruel joke. Gods are you toying with me? NO!"
She tries her hardest to transform into her wolf form, but all she could get was an elongated nose with the right half of her body covered in fur. The paws were like human hands with claws like a wolf.
Niigani came up with the great idea that if she buried herself, then she would be able to cage her body as delirium sets in. As she dug the dirt creating a small hole, she noticed that the dirt became muddy.
"Water!" Niigani was so happy. She continued to dig deeper and deeper to get to the source, water began to pool beneath her feet. She scoops up the water to drink, despite the mouthful of mud. "Yes, water"
She scoops the cool water over head, showering herself with it, hoping to cleanse the blood off of her. But when she opened her eyes and looked at her hands, the blood was still there.
She glances down to the hole she was digging, and sees a hole into Jiiga'e's belly, filled with blood and fragmented pieces of guts and organs, all cut up and mashed into the inside of his belly like a bowl of soup. Niigani turns her face to the side and vomits.
Bits and pieces of intestine, liver, heart and kidney empties out of her mouth and onto the floor. Blood, more blood everywhere.
"Aren't you tired of the blood that you pool into your hands? Don't you fear anything?" a voice from the past echoed in Niigani's ear.
"I fear NOTHING!" Niigani shouted. "NOTHING!"
"Then you should fear the gods and the path they have paved for you…" the voice began to repeat over and over.
"Then you should fear the gods and the path they have paved for you…"
"Then you should fear the gods and the path they have paved for you…"
"Then you should fear the gods and the path they have paved for you…"
"Then you should fear the gods and the path they have paved for you…"
"Then you should fear the gods and the path they have paved for you…"
*
In the split second that my eyes were closed, I was able to force my sight to open. For the first time ever, I summoned all the spirits of the departed that were attached to Niiganii.
One by one, I studied their ghastly faces and it all said one thing, they've all waited for the fall of Niigani for too long. The rage in their eyes flickered loudly from their pending wait for Niigani's fate.
From what I could see, there were about a hundred of them swarming all around the whole camp. It didn't take long before all of their voices began to clutter my mind, declaring their wrongful death and how Niiganii should be executed. They gave me suggestions of torture, but I told them, Ma'iingan are not about that, however, one voice stood out above all of the voices.
"Let the gods decide her fate." it said.
I searched for the owner of the voice and when I found her, she glided towards me. We studied one another for a little bit and then she said, "Alpha of the Ma'iingan. I are blessed this lifetime for you are no ordinary Alpha. This time, the Ma'iingan are blessed to have Vio, herself, in the flesh to lead us."
"You flatter me, spirit. What is your name?" I asked her.
"I have a bone to pick with Niigani for many many years." the spirit continued, "As a vengeful earthbound spirit, our names are the first thing we forget. All I can remember is how Niigani had murdered me."
"How were you murdered?"
"My Wawa, she was too young, too little to understand death. I dared not communicate with her, for she is too vulnerable." The spirit pauses and begins to show me a vision.
~~~~~~
Green leaves tumbles from the tree branches, deep within the forest. Creepers dangled quietly on the vines creating a serene view of tranquility. The spirit was confronting with Niigani.
"Niigani, how can you sacrifice an unborn life for your own gain? That is black magic, that is NOT a gift of sight from our ancestors!"
Niigani tilts her head, "and what proof do you have against me, Alpha?"
"I saw you. The pure soul of that child is here with us. They told me! That's enough proof for me. I'm asking you why you would do such a thing?!? You are my best friend. I have never ever seen you do anything immoral. Niigani, what is going on?"
"I did what I had to do!" Niigani's voice roared loudly with envy and rage. "I needed to attain something! ANYTHING! Just so I can stay out of your shadow."
"My shadow? You are my friend, Niigani. You shouldn't have to feel~"
"It was always about you, Alpha. You and your humble attitude towards life. Your kindness. The good you give to all without ever asking for anything in return, with hopes that they pay it forward. YOU! You were the very thing that casted a shadow on me and my life. For years, I couldn't do anything that wasn't already done better by you." Niigani spits in disgust. "Why did the gods choose such a weak minded soul like you to lead, instead of a strong willed leader who will make the Ma'iingan more than what they are? Someone who could really lead us? Someone like me? It could have been me!" The jealous rage fumed from Niigani and the boom of her voice set the spirit back.
Shock befalls the spirit as she searches for the right words to say to her best friend.
But nothing she said was going change what Niigani had done. Instead, the spirit just says to Niigani, "What have you done? How many have you sacrificed for your own selfish gain? Niigani, it will come back three times hard, inflicting karma on you and all the ones you love. We have to make things right. I will request a meeting. We will make things right again. We can fix this, Niigani."
"You will do no such thing! You will hold your tongue and you will do as I say." Niigani tries to take control of the situation.
"I am alpha. I am supposed to protect my people." The spirit gazes beyond Niigani and around her. She can see all the departed souls latching onto Niigani. "Oh, Niigani, I thought that the many deaths last year was due to a plague or some kind of illness. But it was you. All along it was you, killing your own kind." the spirit began to cry.
"You see? Weak, you are so weak! It should have been ME!" Niigani transforms into her wolf form and lunges at the spirit.
"Niigani, NO!"
"I will be the new alpha. You will die here!" Niigani shouted. "Why aren't you fighting back, coward?" Niigani clenched her jaw deep into the spirit.
"Niigani, aren't you tired of the blood that you pool into your hands? Don't you fear anything?"
"I fear nothing!"
"Then you should fear the gods and the path they have paved for you. Heed my warning, Niigani. You have lost your bound-partners. You have already lost all three of your daughters. You will lose that baby in your belly too. But many years from now, you will gain a child that will one day hand you your doom. You will encounter someone who will be bigger, better, and stronger than you will ever be all your lifetime. And you will lose all the power you have gained from these blood sacrifices you've made to tinge your soul. All the blood on your hands would have been for nothing."
With one final blow, Niigani clenched down as hard as she could, crushing the spirit's spine. Blood spewed out from the spirits'body, dripping into a large pool on the ground. Niigani waits for the lifeless body to stop spasming before invoking spirits of the dark to bind the soul of her fresh kill for more power.
*
A dark fog covers my vision and I am brought back to my body.
"I know you. You are Aawenaw." I said out loud. Everyone present gasped at the name of the previous Alpha that had gone missing more than a hundred years ago.
"Aawenaw, yes, that is my name. I remember it now. Yes, I am Aawenaw." the spirit said with a smile on her face.
*
Later that day, I requested an audience with all of Ma'iingan at centerpoint camp.
"Ma'iingan, Aawenaw's spirit along with many others are trapped here, earthbound, and forgotten. Their energy and life source were consumed and their powers stolen by Niigani. They asked us to do many things to seal Niigani's fate." Sereen announces. The camp remained noiseless; you could hear the crickets chirping. "but I say… we've seen too much bloodshed these recent moons. Ma'iingan is not the kind to inflict pain on others, let alone their own kind."
"What do you plan to do with Niigani?" Wawa asked from the crowd.
"I don't plan anything. She already has an illness that cannot be cured. She will die a slow painful death. That is already her fate."
"Will you just set her free then? If she is sick, what if she infects us?" a man from the crowd asked.
"I understand your concerns. I have spoken to Aawenaw. She suggests letting the gods continue Niigani's fate. We will bring her back to the hole in which she was found. From there, it will be up to the gods to prolong her suffering or end her misery."
"But she is sick. Who will bring her back if she is contagious." another man asked from the crowd.
"My troops and I will escort Niigani back." Ansel bowed to me and the crowd. "We are Zaa. Land diseases do not harm us. We are the strongest of the skin changers. We will escort her, if you'd let us, Alpha."
I shake my head in disagreement. "Father, you were once human. I cannot let you risk your life again. I will bring her back and I won't be alone. Xui and her soldiers will accompany me. We'll inject her with a whiza- sting. Two of the hornet's sting is enough to render sleep. Then we will transport her in a contained box. We let the gods do their work. But father, it has to be me that will bring her to her final destination. It is karma. We will risk no one."
*
The following two days were torturous, knowing that as soon as we arrived at our destinations it would be Niiganii's final destination.
When we finally lowered Niigani's box, we left her next to the pile of bones decomposing and half buried in the mud by the recent rain. Judging from the display of the scattered bones around the putrid mush of rotting flesh, it was most likely Jiiga'e's bones.
The box containing Niigani was strategically made to prevent exposure of any sorts.
Once the box was settled and the coast was clear, Xui tugged on a rope that held the latch on the box's lock, unlocking it. The door to the box popped open slightly and then slowly we all backed up and walked away.
The many souls awaiting Niigani's doom all stood around and watched. Aawenaw whispered her thanks to me and I bowed to show her my respects.
"Alpha Sereen, Vio in flesh and blood. You will bring great things to the Ma'iingan. For your kindness and your help in our retribution, I will give you something in return." Aawenaw's said, "A life for a life and a sacrifice will have to be made. Two paths will cross, one will lead you to death. Choose wisely."
As we all strided away, Aawenaw's words became, not a 'thank you' but a very serious warning for me. I acted as though it were no bother, but deep inside, it haunted me.
I could not sleep at all during the three day trip back to Ma'iingan Camp, nor did I feel at ease. Aawenaw's warning was a sign, a precaution of what is to come.