"Get out you devil!" shouted one of the women as she threw a pot of water at Okuagu. Okuagu already being used to such kind of treatment, simply carried the meager plate of food left for him. Okuagu there after proceeded to his mother's hut where he met her threshing some grain. "Mother please eat this" he said as he dropped the food near her. His mother smiled and then picking up the food laughed "my son you shouldn't collect all food given to you by those hags". Okuagu's mother then threw the food into some bushes nearby. That night Okuagu began to call for his only best friend, a local hound who he simply called "Black". "Black! Black! Where are you?".He eventually heard some low whining sounds emanating from the bushes opposite his mother's hut. And to his greatest surprise there, near some half eaten remains from the food that his mother had thrown earlier lay Black struggling with his last moments of life. Okuagu closed the hound's eyes and after some light crying buried his once loyal friend beside a tree where him and the dog normally hunted for squirrels. "so mother was right, ha I guess I have to be more careful around those women.
Okuagu was not surprised about the attempt on his life, after all it wasn't the first and by the looks of things it certainly wouldn't be the last. Being the son of the chief of the village and his last concubine. Okuagu as expected was treated as utter filth among the other wives and concubines of the chief. And among the sons he was seen as a rival that wasn't to be associated with. Many of the chief's sons had died mysteriously due to the harsh competitions among the brothers as all of them wanted to be the heir to the chief. Okuagu had dodged death several times though he wasn't considered competition by many of his brothers. The first son Amuma whose name meant lightning was true to his name and had survived all attempts on his life and also eliminated many threats to his position as the rightful heir to the throne. Okuagu after burying his "best friend" left to hunt some game in the adjacent forest. Among most hunters Okuagu could brag about being the best among the best due to the fact that his five major senses were on par with that of a beast. Strangely enough this was not the only feature that he possessed that gave him an edge in the forest, he also had a strange gift of detecting the presence of beasts before they approached: both predator and prey. His first prey was a small antelope that had strayed from its herd. Summoning all his strength he threw his spear and fortunately it met its mark on the heart of the antelope. He quickly retrieved the spear and hoisted the antelope over his shoulder. As he made his way back towards the village, he sensed something was wrong for right in front of him was a dead man with chunks of flesh missing from his body. Soon enough he caught a scent of decay so strong it was like he was standing in a sea of corpses.And then from the bushes a massive long limbed creature with maggots oozing out of its body lunged at him. Okuagu immediately dodged to the left and after hurling the antelope at the monstrosity took to his heels. "That seemed to buy me some time'' Okuagu thought as he climbed a tree before he hid behind its dense foliage. The creature soon ran past under the tree obviously in pursuit of him. Okuagu gave a sigh of relief and after making sure that the coast was clear, climbed down and running as fast as his legs could carry him entered the village. Okuagu then after much calming done narrated his experience to his mother. "How did it look?" asked his mother as she examined his body for any wounds and injury. "well it was about three feet taller than me with long dangling limbs and maggots oozing out of it" said Okuagu "thank the gods your still alive" remarked his mother. "So what is it? "asked Okuagu "It's probably a skin walker" replied his mother "creatures that eat living organisms and wear the skins of their prey" she added as she ruffled his hair.