It is said that in days of old, there existed a tribe of humans that made a pact with an ancient god by drinking his blood and eating his flesh, making them immortal. The Adamai, as they were called, meant, first of their tribe.  Their god had only three commandments, first to return after exactly seven years in the rising of the Rutting Moon which falls in November, second to sacrifice three male rabbits upon the rocks, and third and most important, to not expose the blood of the god to anything that was dead.

The first leader of that tribe, Weaha, broke the third commandment and created an abomination that spread throughout the land. In his efforts to stop the abominations, he created a new race of human far more deadly that the previous abominations. They were called the Lakisamai, the Fallen Tribe of Isa, or more commonly ,the Blue Demons.

The Lakisamai can be traced back to two individuals, Bahru and Koni, who were bitten by Isa, the first Blue Demon. They along with Kesa the Red Witch, fled into the wilderness pursued by the Adamai who sought to destroy them.

Bahru ran past the bare trees to the safety of the river as his skin burned with flames, his family in hot pursuit. He wondered what he had done to deserve death, as he plunged beneath the murky, cold waters that relieved the burning pain that seared his flesh. Surprisingly, he noticed that he didn’t need to take a breath and heard the cries of his former comrades as they called out his name. He sank to the bottom of the river and covered himself in mud. the rays of the sun could still reach the bottom and it still gave him pain.

That night as darkness fell, Bahru rose from the river, wrinkled like a blue grape. His skin had returned to a pale blue color, as he slunk back to the campsite of his previous family, just beyond the flames to observe the tribe crying in mourning. He overheard his cousin Tiroh telling his uncle Iwano that Weaha had gone in search of Koni, Kesa and Bahru. He was relieved to learn that his uncle Koni had escaped and ran back through the woods towards the river.

Bahru, who was driven by hunger, tracked down a deer, drained it of blood, and left the carcass to rot. Still driven by hunger, he followed the scent of a bison. As he got closer to a herd of them, he detected the smell of something more familiar. Sitting alone on a tree stump was Kesa, the red witch. He watched her prick her finger, observing the blood drip onto the dead wood, as little sprouts emerged along the edges of the blood splatters.

Kesa heard the cracking of a branch and said, “Who is there? Show yourself.”

Bahru emerged from the darkness and walked up to her covered in the blood of his last kill. “Kesa, why are you out here alone in the forest at night? Are you not afraid of wild beasts?” he said speaking in a low voice.

“Bahru, is that you? I thought they had killed you,” she said straining her eyes to see.

“Fortunate for me, they didn’t. I don’t understand why Weaha, my best friend should want my death. I did nothing to deserve this,” Bahru said walking towards her.

“He fears that you will become evil like Isa. I do not fear you like the rest of them do.”

“Maybe you should. My hunger is great and I can smell your blood from here,” he said sniffing her like a animal.

“Do it Bahru. I have nothing to live for. Take me if you wish,” she said presenting her arm to be bitten.

He was about to bite her when he remembered that when Aghan bit Okki, he reacted painfully to the blood. “You have taken Weaha’s blood haven’t you, Kesa?” he said backing away.

“Yes, but if I knew it would keep me from becoming like you, I wouldn’t have done it. Take me with you Bahru. I’m looking for Koni. He ran to the river.”

“You are too slow, Kesa. When I find Koni, we will come back for you,” he said running off into the darkness.

Bahru ran quickly through the forest towards the river. On his way, he saw Weaha being pursued by another beast who appeared to be like a large beaver staggering upright on two legs. He decided not to kill it, but instead to allow it to follow Weaha.

Once Bahru reached the river he called out, “Koni, Koni, it is I, Bahru.” But there was no answer. Bahru sniffed the air and caught the scent of someone familiar. He followed the scent further downstream and found Koni slurping the blood from a freshly killed Bison. His chest and arms were glistening with blood in the moonlight.

“Koni, its me Bahru,” he said walking out of the darkness. “Weaha is searching for us right now. We must go east towards the Apsion mountains where we can find shelter and the silver  that we need to sustain us in the caves.”

“Who else is left?” Koni said looking around.

“Just me, and Kesa.”

“Kesa? But she is not like us,” said Koni.

“No, but she wants to go with us, and she is your wife.”

“I suppose she could be useful to us in the daylight,” Koni said smiling.

Later that night, the three traveled by the protection of darkness, each man taking turns walking with Kesa while the other searched for fresh blood. During the day, Kesa stood guard while the two men slept under leaves or the hollows of dead trees. It took two nights to reach the foothills of the Apsion Mountains.

Bahru sat upon a fallen tree and sniffed the air. “I crave the metal that Weaha carried in his pouch. I could smell it when he first entered my tent,” he said taking in long breaths.

“We are getting closer,” said Koni licking the rocks.

“Kesa, did Weaha tell you where he found the white metal?” said Koni.

“No, no, I had no idea where they had found the metal. I watched him as he mixed the metal with his blood, water and salt,” she said pricking her finger on a thorn, watching the blood drip upon a dead bug. Suddenly it sprang back to life, then she smashed it dead.

Bahru leaned into the wind and caught a new scent. “Come follow me. I think I smell it,” he said darting up the hill.

“Wait for me!” cried Kesa. “I can’t see in the dark like you.”

Bahru led them up the side of a mountain. Koni held Kesa’s hand as he pulled her up the steep hill. Once they got near the top, Bahru said, “I’ve found the remains of some sort of campfire. I smell the silver very strongly in the ashes,” he said licking a piece of the slag.

Kesa examined the two crude ovens closely. “This must be how they made the silver.”

Koni sniffed at the side of the rock wall. The entrance to a cave is somewhere nearby. I smell the moldy Earth.” Soon Koni called out, “I’ve found it.”

Both men squeezed inside and ran to the walls licking at the rocks, while Kesa gathered wood for a fire. A while later, after Kesa sat huddled before a blazing fire, the two men emerged from the cave looking at Kesa lustfully.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” she said looking at them curiously.

“Yes, the silver satisfies my hunger,” said Bahru.

“Me too,” said Koni eyeing Kesa with desire. “Now I feel a different type of hunger.”

Koni walked over and sat behind Kesa and began to fondle her breasts. Kesa turned and kissed Koni as he began to undress her. Bahru stood and watched as the two of them began to have intercourse in the dirt. Once Koni had finished, Kesa asked Bahru to join her. Bahru looked over at Koni and he nodded his head yes. The two rolled around like beasts in heat. After sex, the two men ran into the woods looking for blood. Koni returned just before morning with the body of a freshly killed deer.

During the day, Kesa experimented with her blood. After cooking and consuming some of the flesh, she pricked her finger once again and let the blood drip into the exposed flesh of the dead animal. She tied the legs together and bound the deer securely to a tree then sat and waited. It was nearly dark when she noticed a twitch. Soon the deer struggled to free itself. Its sunken, glazed over eyes darted wildly. It let out loud screams that she had never before encountered. She placed her hand close to its mouth and it tried desperately to bite her, snapping at the air. “Hungry, aren’t you?” she said with a devious smile.

After the sun went down, Koni and Bahru emerged from the cave and stared at the reanimated deer trying desperately to free itself from being tied to the tree.

“What’s happening, Kesa? Did my bite cause this deer to return?” Koni said in amazement.

“No, I gave my blood to this deer. I wanted to see for myself how it works on other animals. Bring me the bodies of the other creatures you kill. I want to know how this works,” she said poking the deer with a stick.

Later that night the two men returned with various dead animals- birds and a snake- and placed them before Kesa’s fire. Kesa looked up at Koni and said, “I want to see whose blood is stronger.” First she securely tied up all the animals so they couldn’t escape, then she instructed Koni to prick his finger and let it drip into the open wounds of each of the animals. She waited patiently, but none of the animals came back to life. Then she pricked her own finger and let the blood drip into their dead flesh. A while later every animal that received her blood came back to life, but only the ones with fur tried to attack her.

“It looks like my blood is more powerful than yours,” she said laughing. Bring me some of those rocks inside the cave. I want to see if they can kill these beasts.” Bahru came back with a handful of the dark rocks. She crushed them into a fine powder. She then sprinkled some of the rock dust into the wound of the deer first. It screamed and howled in pain and soon dropped limp and started to stink of decay. Next she did the same to the bird and the snake, but nothing happened. They both lived and only tried to escape. She tried it with the other furry beasts and they each died like the deer.

The men stared in amazement. “You have the power over life and death Kesa. You are like Weaha,” said Koni.

Over the next few days heavy snows fell, Kesa stayed active in the cave and made various pots and kept her blood in some of them.  She also tried to recreate the process by which Tiroh made silver by copying the types of ovens she discovered once she reached the opening to the cave.  

Kesa couldn’t uncover the formula to make silver. It angered her that she lacked such a skill.

After the third day, she used her blood to reanimate the body of a dead beaver, but it did not come back, and remained dead.

Bahru laughed when the beaver did not return. “Your blood is no longer powerful Kesa.”

Kesa groaned, pouted and let out a scream. She pulled at her hair, “Aghhh.”

“Maybe you can become like us now,” said Koni as he tried to comfort her.

She cocked her head and wondered if it could be true. “Bite me Koni. Take my blood. I want to become like you,” she said exposing her neck.

Koni bit into her neck and began to drink, but pushed her away. He vomited up the blood and felt weak. “You still taste bad,” he roared.

The wound on her neck began to heal. “I don’t understand,” she said hanging her head. She then took a bit of the dried blood from the pot and placed it in the wound of the beaver and it returned to life.

Two moons had passed and Kesa missed her monthly bleeding. She felt her belly and wondered if there might be a baby growing inside. She sat down before the fire and made a broth of medicine mushroom. She drank the bitter concoction and found herself  sitting on a steep hillside. She noticed Koni and Bahru, sleeping on the sand. They didn’t seem to notice her as she walked beside them.  She wandered in a dark, foggy land where bright yellow streaks ran from horizon to horizon. “I am in the land the dead,” she whispered as she watched ghostly images of beasts following trails that glowed a golden color. They passed through her like a cloud.

She followed the trails for a long distance. Once she came upon meadow where strange thorny bushes walked with the heads of snails. She passed by strange looking structures that didn’t seem natural. Some made of flat pieces of wood and others of stone. She found a pale woman with dark hair standing upon a flat surface with stone trees.

“Who are you? Do you know where I can find the Great Hunter?” said Kesa.

“I am Cassandra. I don’t know of the Great Hunter, but Ethereals pass through these parts as well as the dead,” she said in a strange language that Kesa was able to understand. “Come sit on this surface. I have a tool that I can use to read your future.” she said taking Kesa’s hand.

Kesa lay down upon the cold stone surface as Cassandra brought forth a shiny reflecting stone. Kesa looked into it and jumped back in horror. “Who is that woman in the stone?” she cried out.

“It is your reflection Kesa, just like you see in the water, only better.  Look as I hold it towards the sky. What do you see?”

“I see the moon,” said Kesa excited.

“The moon can show me many things such as your future.” Cassandra handed a Kesa a container of a bitter broth and told her to drink it and lie down. “I see that you live among the blue demons, the abomination created by the corrupted ethereal blood.

“Yes, you are right. I do live among them. One of them is my husband,” said Kesa smiling.

“You carry pure ethereal blood in your veins, yet the baby that grows in your womb is mixture of both. You will become the mother of a great race of human that will take over the world. They are compelled towards destruction. You alone are presented with a choice. Do you wish to bring this upon the world?” said Cassandra looking concerned.

“What do you think I should do?” said Kesa.

“It is not up to me to make that choice. You are the one playing the game.”

“I plan to keep it then,” said Kesa laughing.

“That is your choice. Go forth Kesa and do as you must,” Cassandra said putting away the reflecting stone.

Kesa willed herself back, and lay upon the sandy floor of the cave thrashing wildly and vomiting up the broth. She sat up wiping her face and said, “I will be the mother of gods.”

As the snows melted and life returned to the forest, Kesa’s belly grew big and round. The men were excited to see Kesa pregnant. They wondered if it would be born to be like them or Kesa.

On the night of the Fruiting Moon, Bahru had abducted a young woman from a tribe passing through the mountains. They did not bite her, but kept her gagged and brought her back to the cave. “Look Kesa, I have brought someone to help you in childbirth,” said Bahru. He took off the gag from her mouth and she started to scream. Koni placed his hand over her mouth and growled showing his sharp teeth. The woman cowered on the floor of the cave.

“Where did you find her? Is she bitten?” said Kesa, rubbing her swollen belly.

“Her tribe was passing through the mountains and camped near the edge of a stream. I slipped in unnoticed and carried her away, and no, she is not bitten,” he said eyeing her curiously rubbing his crotch.

The next morning, the girl tried to talk to Kesa after the men retreated deep inside the cave. “Uli cos noti. Uli cos noti,” she repeated, but Kesa did not understand the language. The girl pleaded and cried. Kesa motioned her near and held her in her arms.

That night, the two men ran out of the cave into the darkness searching for their next meal. In the wee hours just before dawn, the two men returned. Bahru slung a freshly killed deer down upon the floor of the cave. They were both covered in blood and their bellies big and swollen like the pregnant Kesa. Bahru flexed his muscles and growled. He looked upon the fair young girl and his erection grew. He sat beside the fire and motioned the girl towards him. She reluctantly obeyed and sat down beside him. Koni lay down beside Kesa and felt her belly.

Bahru looked into the young woman’s eyes and felt her breasts. He pulled her closer. His long white hair fell across her face as he kissed her neck.  He reached down and removed her clothing. His erection strained against his loin pelt. He then climbed on top and entered her. She whimpered and then let out a moan. Suddenly he began to pump wildly. Koni laid next to Kesa and masturbated as he watched. Bahru grunted and let out a roar as he rolled off of her.

The next morning the young woman known as Matrati, woke feeling sick. She was hot with fever. She moaned in pain. She got up and stumbled to the wall of the cave and started to lick the rocks. Within minutes she fell to the ground convulsing. Kesa watched as she fell quiet and didn’t move again. Kesa tried to get up to help, but her huge belly made it very uncomfortable to move. She crawled over to where the young woman lay and found that she was dead.

That evening Bahru and Koni emerged from deep within the cave.

“What happened to her?” said Bahru.

“I think she died. Did you bite her?” asked Kesa.

“No, I just gave her my seed,” said Bahru.

Koni looked at her and said, “She’s waking up.”

The woman slowly rose to her feet. Her skin had become a pale blue like theirs. She looked at Bahru and hissed like a cat. She ran to the walls and began to lick it and then took pieces of the rock and crunched it with her teeth.

“I think she is like us,” Bahru said smiling.

“It’s not fair. I wanted to be like you,” said Kesa crying.

Koni sat down beside his wife and said, “You are having my child Kesa. You should be happy he said rubbing her belly.

The woman finished licking the walls and ran outside screaming. “Should you go after her?” asked Kesa.

“She will be back. She needs the silver and a place to hide from the sun,” said Bahru shaking his head.

The next morning Bahru and Koni sat on the far side of the main chamber as the woman crawled back inside the cave covered in blood. Her belly swollen big, she lay next to Kesa and fell into a deep sleep. Koni leaned over to Bahru and said, “Perhaps we can kidnap more of her tribe. They will be looking for her. We can make our tribe bigger.”

“But we can’t let ourselves be seen. We must make it look like wild animals have killed and eaten them,” said Bahru. “Tonight we will take two more from their tribe and they will become like us.”

That night the two men searched for the tribe they had encountered the night before. Koni sniffed the ground looking for a scent.

“They’ve been this way recently. I think they are still looking for the woman,” said Koni eyeing the trails.

The men ran like wolves through the dark trails. Their eyes could see much better at night now that they were a new creature. Bahru spotted a fire glowing off in the distance. “We will wait until one of them leaves the safety of the fire and you will grab him, then in the confusion, I will enter the camp and grab another from their tent. By the time they organize a search party, we will be long gone,” said Bahru eyeing the camp.

Koni waited just beyond the lights of their fires. A young man stood and walked into the woods to piss. As he was relieving himself, Koni crept up behind him and covered his mouth with his hand and ran with him back into the woods and waited. leaving nothing but a steaming puddle of whizz.  teehee.

The tribe got curious when the man didn’t return and called out, “Ecton, Ecton!” Three men left the campsite with spears off towards the spot where they last saw the man. There was whispering and chaos now spreading through the campsite.

Bahru took the opportunity and burst into one of the tents and found a woman sleeping with two younger girls. He snatched up the oldest girl as she slept and ran off into the woods covering her mouth.  

The men returned to the cave shortly before dawn, dragged their captives inside the narrow opening, and slung them to the floor of the cave.

“Look what we brought back,” said Koni to Kesa lying next to the sleeping woman. “We have more people to start a new tribe,” he said, grinning.

“Did you bite them?” said Kesa eyeing them up and down.

“Not yet, I didn’t want them to slow us down,” said Bahru licking his lips “We can feast on them here.”

“Let me have the girl first,” said Kesa sitting up in bed. “You can have the man.”

Kesa struggled to her feet and walked over to the trembling girl gently taking her hand. The young man tried get up and stop Kesa, but he was shoved back into the dirt as Bahru growled at him.

Kesa led the girl over to a clay jar and sat her down. Kesa took out a cutting tool and sliced open a small section of the girls arm. She screamed in pain as Kesa opened the lip and took out a pinch of the dried blood and sprinkled it on the wound. Kesa sat and observed as the wound healed over. “Ahh, the blood still has power,” she said laughing. “You can have her now.”

Koni sunk his teeth deep into the man draining him almost to the point of death. Bahru grabbed the frightened girl and did the same, but he vomited up the blood. “What did you do to her Kesa?”  

“I gave her the blood of Weaha. Now she can have a baby like mine,” said Kesa grinning.

Bahru smiled and stripped the girl of her clothes and raped her on the floor of the cave. She screamed and cried, but no one came to her rescue.

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One night during the Moon of Fire, Kesa lay screaming on the floor of the cave. Her belly was massive, larger than a normal sized pregnancy. Her water had broken and the baby was too large to exit.

“Get it out of me!” she screamed, kicking her feet in the sand.

Lula, the young woman last abducted, held Kesa’s hand, as the other woman named Matrati, rubbed Kesa’s belly and hissed.

“You want it out now?” said Matrati fingering Kesa’s gaping vagina and the baby’s head that was clearly visible.

“Yes, do what you must!” Kesa screamed.

Matrati took her long clawed index finger and ripped open Kesa’s vagina and the large baby shot out with blood and gore. Kesa screamed in pain, but the wound knitted itself back together. Kesa marveled at the size of the baby. It was twice the size of any baby she had ever seen and had red hair just like herself and pale skin like the father.

Kesa picked up the huge baby boy and put it to her breast. It latched on to one of her nipples “Take it easy. There is plenty of milk, my son.”

Matrati felt her own swollen belly, “Will I have a child as big as your baby, Kesa? I have only been pregnant for two moons and yet look how big I am.

“Perhaps it will be bigger,” Kesa laughed. “Then I will have my chance to cut you open,” she said running her index finger across her belly in one swift motion.

Matrati heard a rustling in the woods, and turned. “The men returned she said, walking towards the entrance.

Koni, then Ecton and finally Bahru crawled in the cave covered in fresh blood. Bahru drug behind him a live wounded deer that was kicking and thrashing about. “Matrati, I’ve brought you a live deer,” he said tossing the poor creature before her feet. She pounced upon it and ripped open its throat lapping at the blood.

Koni sniffed the room and said, “Something is different.”

“You are right Koni. You now have a son,” she said holding the baby up for him to see.

Koni picked up the baby and held it in his arms. “My son will be a huge and fierce hunter. Men will come to fear him. His name shall be Lugo,” which meant “giant boy” in their language.

The following month, called the Moon of Harvest, Matrati was nearly as big and swollen as Kesa. She had only been pregnant for three moons, yet on one day of the crescent moon, she circled the cave anxious like an animal.

“Come and lay beside me Matrati. It will not be dark for a few hours,” said Bahru laying in the sand.

“Something isn’t right. It feels like I’m being ripped apart on the inside,” she said feeling her belly. She fell backwards kicking her legs wildly. “Ahh, help me!” Bahru jumped up and ran to her side. She gripped his arm tightly. “Do something!”she screamed.

The other two women heard the noise and rushed inside the cave. “What is wrong Matrati? Your baby isn’t ripe yet. Your baby has six more moons of growing yet to do,” Kesa said with a smirk.

“No! Its coming out now, you fool!” she said thrashing on the sand.

Koni and Ecton rose from deep within the cave.

“Whats going on here? Are we being attacked?” said Koni.

Ecton ran up beside Matrati and said, “Are you okay, cousin?”

She began thrashing again and Bahru held her down. “Its coming out! Its coming out!” he yelled.  Her stomach moved as if snakes were just beneath the skin. Suddenly there was a ripping sound and gurgling. A bright red series of parallel lines formed across her taut stomach. It ripped open and blood gushed out along with her intestines. A bloody blue baby boy crawled its way out hissing with sharp white teeth biting at her flesh.

“Get that thing away from me,” she growled.

Bahru reached down and picked up the squirming blue baby. Its eyes still closed as it snapped at the air with its sharp, pointy teeth. “This is my son. You are his mother,” he said holding the baby for her to see.

“If you put that thing anywhere near me, I will rip its head off,” she hissed. “Look what it did to me.”

“Give me the child,” said Kesa. “I’ll take good care of it.” She took the child and wrapped it tightly in deer pelts. “We shall find blood for it to drink.”

________________________________________________________________

Five seasons had past since Bahru had encountered Ecton’s tribe called the Wasuti. They were a wandering tribe that crossed over the mountain passes every few years on their way to the great waters. During those five seasons, Kesa bore Koni four children, three boys and one girl, all pale with red hair. The oldest son Lugo was as tall as Kesa as he approached his fifth season. Though her children were born with pale skin, they did not shun the sun as did their father, nor did they drink only blood, but they did have a taste for raw meat and they ate a lot. They also possessed a double row of teeth.

The other woman who took Weaha’s blood, Lula, did not like living with this tribe. She bore Bahru two daughters and a son. They were big children like Kesa’s kids with pale skin and double rows of teeth, but their hair was dark like their mother’s. She longed for the day she could escape.

Matrati only produced that one child that Kesa named, Taku, which meant little mole. The child grew crooked and lean with snow white hair, blue skin and grey blue eyes. It seemed more animal than human as it hissed and spat in the corner of the cave. The only person it would get near to was Kesa who treated it like a pet. Matrati never acknowledged the child as hers and refused to have sex with any of the men for fear of producing another one.

One night during the Moon of Flowers, the three men returned from the hunt with the body of a young buffalo and a deer and slung the corpses upon the floor of the cave. The children dug into the carcass of the deer and buffalo calf, ripping and tearing at the flesh with their sharp teeth like wolves.

“I saw my tribe tonight camped near the river,” said Ecton holding a live wounded rabbit. He tossed it towards a tiny crawl space where Taku was hiding. He snatched up the rabbit and ripped it apart with grunts and snarls.

Save some of the meat for us said Kesa. Lula and I would enjoy our meat cooked over a fire.”

“What did they look like, Ecton? Did you see my mother or my sisters?” said Lula curiously.

“Yes, they all look older. Your sisters are all grown up now. I saw my father as well. I looked, but didn’t see my mother or my brother. They could have been in the tents. I wonder what they would think of me now? I’m a big strong hunter of the wild night,” said Ecton flexing his arms. I could defeat any man in my tribe now,” he said bragging.

Matrati crawled in the door covered in blood as well. “I too saw the tribe. I sat in a tree and watched them for the longest time. My husband now has a new wife. I should kill them both,” she snarled.

The next morning Kesa, Lula and the children ventured outside the cave to gather wild onions, tubers and fresh greens. Lula looked down over the hillside towards the river and saw smoke rising in the distance. It must be her tribe, she thought. She slowly crept farther and farther away from Kesa and the children. Suddenly, she took her chance and bolted down the side of the mountain towards the river below.

She ran barefoot over rocks and brambles. She fell a few times and finally that afternoon, she reached the river. She followed the smoke and came upon the encampment of her old tribe. She saw some of the young children and waved. When they saw her they went screaming towards the elders. Soon men and women appeared holding spears.

“Who are you spirit?” said the leader of the tribe.

“I am no spirit. I am Lula and have returned,” she said holding up her hands.

“Lula is dead. She was taken away by wild beasts,” he called back.

“I am not dead. I was abducted by demons, as was Matrati, and Ecton.”

The old leader step closer and examined her. He looked into her eyes and said, “Where is my daughter Matrati and Ecton now?”

“They are up in the mountains asleep,” she said.

“Why didn’t they escape with you? We must go after them!” he cried.

“No, it is too late for them, Johosa. They have become demons themselves. They now seek to drain the blood of the living. We must gather up the tribe and move far from here before dark. The demons can not travel in the daylight.

Back at the cave, Kesa called out for Lula, but there was no answer. She clenched her fists in rage and ran inside the cave to tell those who slept in the dark. She crawled inside the cave followed by the giant children and called out to the men.

“What has happened said Koni rising from the darkness.

“Lula has escaped. She must have returned to her tribe!” she said fuming.

Suddenly a dim light let up the cave walls and grew brighter.

“Kesa, you are glowing. I can not look upon you,” said Koni retreating behind a boulder.

She looked at her hands and saw beads of golden light forming on her skin. “What magic is this?” she cried. Crawling bugs, snakes, bats, and cave crickets swarmed towards her in a frenzy. “Get away from me!” she said swatting at the air. Everyone else cowered further into the darkness. As her anger grew, she felt herself changing. She bolted about the cave kicking and leaping wildly on four legs.

“Kesa what are you doing?” Koni said hiding behind a boulder. Bahru rushed forward and tackled the deer to the ground and held it still. Suddenly the deer began to glow and Bahru screamed as his flesh started to age rapidly. He let go and crawled back into the darkness as the deer transformed back into Kesa.

Kesa sat besides the fire rocking back and forth. She tried to calm herself down and called for the others to join her, but they were afraid.

Koni crept forward and said, “Kesa, you have great magic. You transformed into a deer before my eyes. I never saw anything like this before.”

Kesa stood up and grinned, “I have powers greater than the rest of you,” she said shaking her fists looking up towards the roof of the cave. I will be the greatest shaman ever. Now lets go bring Lula back and make the rest of the tribe like us!”