It had been a few minutes since Tuatu had left the group's company. Before leaving the forest, they intended to prepare to enter the village, lavishing strength and glory to lift the spirits of the villagers already worn out by their relatives' losses to Tuatu. Everyone wants to escape, take a path towards the coast, far away from that cursed forest.
But it wasn't enough to bring the villagers their victory, they needed to enter in impressive fashion. The chief ordered the men to find trunks of the black diamond. The braúna with its black wood was highly valued by the napacroros, it was a sign of virility and conquest.
In less than an hour, the warriors made black brauna trunks available, at the tip of which a crimson fire head was lit. They whitened their hands with sticky powder. They held the torches whose incandescent light seemed to make the men who wielded them omnipotent gods, and so they entered the village announcing victory.
They danced and sang. The rhythm with which they moved their arms made the contrast between the white of the hand, the black of the braúna and the crimson of the flames seem to have their own movements, breaking the pitch black of the night. They were received with reverence and enthusiasm. The god Tuatu had been defeated! The village was saved.
A few years later, when the baby panther became an adult, the wizard handed him the green ember-colored poncho.
– Only you know my identity, old wizard?
– Yes, that was the wish of your parents Tuatu and brother, the two violet moons. May you remain anonymous among men.
The panther man took the sorcerer's life.
– Now Tuatu's will has been fulfilled.
Every six hundred years, on the days covered by the nights of Tuatu when the two moons manifested themselves, the panther-man would put on the mystical poncho molded by the bile of the moons on the chosen human and take him to the depths of the underground of the forgotten forest, already transmuted into a panther.
Millennia have passed. The year 1500 arrived and Brazil's indigenous cultures were massacred by Europeans in a dispute over territory. But some resisted. Around the year 1610, close to an old village that was located in the vicinity where the village of the sorcerer Caarô existed millennia ago, there was a village formed by Dutch immigrants called Gehucht by everyone, next to a shy indigenous community called Napacroro.
The Dutch village grew up around a river full of curves and tributaries. Each house had its own windmill. Each mill had its specialty, one was used to grind grain, another to move saws, another to manufacture fabric or squeeze oil or even make beer. Each family specialized in a professional activity. Small, strong-smelling wooden bridges joined the residences. There were few houses that did not have a mill, like those of the fishermen, which were nothing more than wooden huts.
Those lands were part of the Kingdom of Portugal now, but the Dutch settled there five generations ago, therefore, well before the Portuguese arrived on the continent.
Now that the Portuguese dominated, they refused to be a colony of that empire. They kept the Portuguese away with the force of their arms. There had already been a war there in Gehucht, many years ago. But now, these were times of calm.
Those Europeans hadn't bothered them for a long time. They had settled further south along the coast. Before that, however, they made their forays into the Dutch village. The Portuguese king believed that those lands belonged to him and intended to expel the Dutch or accept their surrender as long as they submitted to the Portuguese crown. But due to the crushing defeat, the Portuguese forgot that region and concentrated further south.
A future attack by the Portuguese was to be expected, but it had been so long since any European soldiers had been seen that Gehucht had already forgotten the armed disputes of other times.
There, in those Dutch lands, as they wanted, now, in a deceptive political tranquility, Indians and Dutch mixed. In Gehucht a mixed culture predominated. Dutch religious beliefs mixed with Indian culture. Among the people, syncretism and religious prejudice predominated.
The small society was divided into families. Each one had its own function and the richest of all was the landlord family. Despite having different functions, they all had one thing in common. There wasn't a family that didn't have mixed Indian blood.
Once a week everyone stopped working. The houses were open to visitors. Each house displayed their products from their hard work during the week. All homes were visited and purchases for each person's weekly supply were made.
One afternoon, in those "Dutch" lands, a horse-drawn carriage was crossing an old bridge. The weather-worn wood creaked. The driver followed slowly.
The ancient road they passed connected a region rich in waterfalls with Gehucht. Groups constantly leave Vilar to have fun at the waterfalls. The carriage was Vilar's only one and was only used for this purpose.
– These old boards won't hold up. The carriage is very heavy, gentlemen, we must return. – Said the worried driver.
– Move on Rutger, these old boards will outlast Gehucht's mills. – Said one of the men to the driver.
Grudgingly, Rutger followed, but his fears were realized. The ropes broke and the rotten planks gave way to the weight of the carriage. There was no time to react. Everything collapsed. Seven meters below, a river of turbulent waters received the unwanted weight.
After the impact, only one man was left who fought against the currents to survive, but the waters were merciless and treacherous and there was no way to escape that trap of rocks and furious water. The man exhausted his strength and then fainted.
Something appeared from the bush, jumped into the water and pulled the man out of the currents. Stretched out on the ground, on the bank, under licks, the man returns to consciousness. He sees a silver, feline face that looked worried. He reacts by trying to push away the claws of death. He coughs, leans over and finally sits up. He stays there for a while while the silver panther surrounds him. He noticed that she had a violet stripe behind one ear.
The animal moves away to return some time later bringing food that it had collected from the wreckage of the carriage. The man gives him a surprised but grateful look. After eating, he regains his strength. In the company of the silver panther he probes the wreckage left on the shore. He finds no one alive. He collected what he could for his survival. He bent down and thanked the panther by stroking his soft silver skin.
– I owe you my life. How strange... There never were panthers in this region. Except in the legends. But even legends don't talk about silver panthers.
After receiving the animal's caress, he stood up. The panther noticed that the man was in good spirits and recovered, and motioned for him to follow her. The man followed her.