Necropolis (Book One of Book One), Penn Fawn [e book reader android .TXT] 📗

“Now you’ve got a community very concerned that you may have incurred the wrath of this guy they call Nyeusi, and heaven alone knows what that could mean.

“If it were up to me, I say we press on to find the gold, and God willing, that most fabled jewel, wherever that might be, since our welcome here may already be as good as spent.”

Ali looked at Asfar and Sodom.

“So, is that what this is? You’re planning a mutiny?” said Ali.

“No one is planning anything, Ali, but one has to first think about his safety,” Asfar said.

“When you agreed to do this, you all knew it was not going to be a cup of tea,” Ali said.

“What happened to those men out there today could have also happened to me, Ali. I’m all for not being sidetracked by things like exotic skins or ivory. If I must go on, well, then the gold is where it’s at for me,” Daniel said.

“Well . . . all right then,” said Ali.

“What does that mean?” Asfar asked.

“You want to move on? I’m good for moving on as well. You’ll get no resistance coming from me.”

“What does that mean?” Asfar asked. “Are you going to stay here and leave us be?”

“So, you did make up your minds to leave without me!” Ali said.

“No. Not really, but we do think we’ve been here long enough already, Ali,” Sodom replied. “Whoever wants to stay and wait for word coming back from those leading the charge, let them wait. I want to be with the lead pack.”

“To that, you can include me,” said Asfar.

“Also me,” said Penal.

Ali looked at Daniel. “And, also me,” he said, albeit half-heartedly.

“What you mean is you want to lead the pack,” Ali said, directing his attention to Sodom. “You speak of gold, but I would bet that privately, you hope to acquire the Necropolis for yourself.”

“Ali, the truth is most of our men are scared after all the talk they heard from the villagers about Nyeusi and the Shetani. So, after what happened today, good luck getting them to go out on any adventures for skins or ivory,” Sodom said. “There’s your mutiny.”

“Aside from that, most of them here are just happy to be free,” Asfar added. “They don’t give a damn about going any further or chasing any gold or ivory. They explicitly said this to me. How’s that for a mutiny?”

Ali listened.

“Today or tomorrow, we come across gold, and half of them won’t even care to return home with us,” Sodom added.

“So, they’d rather stay here?” Ali asked.

“They’d rather stay here,” he echoed.

“You can’t put a price on what it means to be free,” Penal interjected.

“But they would be free back home,” Ali said.

“Yes, but only on the condition they bring what the king wants back to him,” Penal replied. “Their take is they’re already free here, so having got this far, they’ll take their chances trying to make it right where they are now. Forget all that stuff about gold or getting back on a ship.”

“I see,” said Ali.

“When you think of it that way, I can’t really say that I blame them,” Sodom said. “The only difference with me is I’d prefer to move on with what we really came here for.”

Ali thought about this. “Very well then,” he said, becoming pensive.

“What are you thinking?” Asfar asked.

“I’m thinking if we’re to be moving on, we need to find out more about this Nyeusi, and I don’t mean from village chatter and hearsay. We need to speak to the most reputable sources we can find here about him and where they think the gold might be,” Ali replied.

“You’ve perhaps heard it a thousand times already. It’s supposed to be in some forbidden and ungodly city. A place of no return, they say,” Penal said.

“Nonsense,” Ali replied. “If it’s a place of no return, evidently someone must have returned from there to tell them about it. Right? I mean, how else would they know? Either that or they have no idea what they are talking about.”

“Whatever, Ali,” Penal added.

“It’s not whatever. But . . . well . . . we’ll sure find out, won’t we?” said Ali.

“Whose words do you think we can trust?” Daniel asked. “There is no such thing as a map detailing the way to Sanctuary. All knowledge here is laid down from an oral tradition.”

“So, we ought to seek out the most learned and knowledgeable among them,” Ali replied. “That means one or more of those who officially greeted us when we first arrived here.”

“The elders,” Asfar said.

“Precisely,” Ali replied.

“Well, let’s try to schedule a meeting then, and also find out who among our men wants to continue along on this journey,” Sodom said.

Chapter III – Nabii

A TOTAL OF FIVE OTHER men were at the very least interested in hearing more about what pursuing the journey entailed. They agreed to convene with Ali, Daniel, Sodom, Asfar, and Penal, who arranged to speak to a village elder named Nabii.

They said a decision to continue the journey was contingent upon what they learned after having a word with he who was supposed to be one of the most knowledgeable and reputable men of the tribe.

“So, who exactly is this Nyeusi?” Ali asked him.

“He is the dark one,” the village elder replied. “The leader of his tribe.”

“I see,” Ali said. “And, tell me, do you not feel the least bit angered when he feeds people to his cats?” Ali asked, shooting a glance in the direction of Daniel.

“I don’t know that angered is the correct word,” Nabii replied.

“Hm,” uttered Ali. “I’m not sure what you mean, but what he did yesterday, isn’t that something which makes you feel . . . Mm, I don’t know, like say perhaps you ought to have him pay for that uncommon act of cruelty and wickedness?”

Nabii laughed.

Two other elders, one of each was at his side, laughed as well.

“Did I say something funny?” Ali