The Fruitless Quest

It was that time of the year when the scorching sun beat down relentlessly causing everyone to lazily sit under the trees. Towards the the center of the village there was a big oak tree which offered the most suitable shade, its shape was like of an umbrella and had a sitting capacity of about 120 people. Unless it was a village gathering it always contained about 15 people who normally sit for a chat. Amongst them you would never miss Darkman, his character was magnetizing with a high voice that you would not miss a word he says. His role was to tell stories and lies which kept the crowd giggling all the time. He once came with low mood and majority followed suit.

One particular day he came up with a particular topic, that he can cut a lions tail while it's still alive and dry it to use as his spear handle. Though he thought it was a normal topic like the rest he nomarlly comes with, this one aroused the energy within the spectators. The conversation became disorganized as the voices went up with others in favor of the lion while others believed Darkman. Those who believed him remembered a story of him outrunning a lion bare footed and yet he was carrying a gazelle carcas. Whether this story was true or not no one knows, but now they had a chance to witness him provoking one and outrunning it.

Though his quest was not hunting, but the hunting rules were applied in this situation. The crowd agreed that they will wait until the lions raid their Kraals. When that time comes a hunting team will dispatch to track the lion with Darkman as a bait. Few months passed and one morning their prayers were answered. It was a rare report, the lion had eaten a dog. Though it was a weird thing, no one dwelled on it as they were eager to see Darkman's performance. A team was dispatched tracking the lion for almost half a day. When the spoors were denoting half an hour, the team halted. Now this is the time when everyone remembers life is precious. Some may remember they did not bid farewell to their loved ones. This time Kali voiced his question, "Is the dog so important that we should be doing this?". Are you implying that we are a bunch of loosers who can spend the whole day for something which is not important. And why would you wait until this time to ask such a question? Though sounded like a question his cousin aswered him with a calm tone, his face relaxed while he continued chewing the grass tip he just picked.

Darkman's emotions were unreadable but you could see his eyes estimating the distance from the unseen beast. He knew it was his time, and he was cursing the day he came up with the story. It was too dangerous to pursue the beast when it's cloudy yet also dangerous to let the sun go down before they could kill it. The bait continued alone to pursue the beast with the intention to provoke it and lead it to the warriors. After a distance less than two hundred meters, he spotted some few short trees scattered, he knew the beast was resting under one of them. His advantage was the tall grass which covered the area but it was also advantageous to the lion. He moved swiftly with precise steps not to alert the animal.

When the beast was within his visibility, there was another warning sound coming from behind. This made him halt his move but he knew he was not to look back. This left him with dilemma as this sound alerted the one infron of him. He realized he ran into a trap of the pride of Maranti. Every family knows of this pride as the stories were normally shared in the evening by the fire. It is well known of its hunting tactics with experience built and perfected over the years. This pride consisted of like 12 aggressive lions which normally breaks and regroups according to their liking.

This was it! With or without a tail he has to outrun them. The first thrash to the side sent the sand backwards to a distance of two meters denoting a speed similar to a sports car. The dust was sent into the atmosphere as the chase started. From a distance the team saw the commotion and knew it was was time to act. This came as a surprise on both parties as non expected numbers. It was one on one situation which forced the warriors to retreat to nearby trees.