Everyone has a journey; a journey of discovery, discovery of self and new horizons, new ideas and new worlds. Everyone has a path to take, a road to walk. No one knows what lies ahead; stumbling blocks or stepping stones, a bush full of thorns or a shade for rest.
You might not understand it and you might not know where it will lead, but you just keep going. After all it is predestined and there is no turning back. But one thing is for sure, all journeys come to an end and once you get to your destination, everything finally makes sense.
Chapter 1
The Encounter
My journey began in the forest. Through some hand of fate I wound up there. The full moon lit up the dark sky and illuminated my path as I wandered through the forest. My body ached as I walked. I had no idea of where I was or what I was doing there. The Rubik's cube that brought me there was gone.
I had always been a lover of nature. I loved wildlife. There was always this warm feeling I got whenever I was in the wild; a feeling of comfort as though I were at home. I loved to wrestle with beasts and sing with birds. There was this oneness I felt with nature. There was nowhere else I felt happier. It was this passion that made me an explorer and a wildlife expert. I made wildlife documentaries.
I was filming a documentary with my crew in a forest when my life took an unexpected turn. About two weeks into my stay in the forest I came across a Rubik's cube. But this one was different. It was larger and made of silver. It had an elaborate design made up of several inscriptions and patterns all over it. I unconsciously began twisting the cube as I examined it, admiring its aesthetic appeal. As I did so, I was forming a pattern on the cube. Suddenly, and rather quickly, a bright light emerged from the cube and engulfed me. In a flash I was gone. I blanked out.
By the time I gained consciousness it was night and there was no one in sight. I felt as though I had been turned inside out and back again. I felt weird. I knew something strange had happened to me. It took me a while before I could get to my feet and back to my senses. Walking slowly, I paused to replay everything that happened in my head. "The cube!" I thought. It must have been the cube! I searched all around where I was. Alas! The cube was gone. I was perplexed.
Though I panicked, nature got the best of me as I soon got tired and sleepy. As I wandered through the forest, searching for a place to spend the night, I saw a creature lurking in the dark. A cold shiver ran through my spine. I could see its silhouette as it drew nearer towards my direction. I reached for my pen knife as I hid behind a tree. A few feet away, the creature slumped. Curious, I walked slowly and cautiously towards it with a firm grip on my knife. When I got to where it lay, I bent to see what it was. I focused my flashlight on it. Behold! A strange creature lay seemingly dead. It had a tail and it was covered in fur. It had a face similar to that of a lion or other big cats and it had dreadlocks. It had the physique of a man, though it was much larger and it walked on two feet. It wore a piece of cloth around its waist. I was thunderstruck. Was I on earth, or had the cube taken me somewhere else?
The creature had several stab wounds, some of them fatal. It seemed whatever had attacked it wanted it dead. Blood soaked its fur as it lay lifeless. I didn't know what to feel. I was lost and seeing strange creatures. Maybe I was dreaming. I gave myself a tap on the head. "Wake up!" I said to myself.
My spirit almost departed from my body as to my greatest shock, the creature opened its eyes and stared at me. Its big brown eyes opened wide as though in terror of something. It tried to say something as it pointed behind me. As I turned back I received a blow which sent me to the ground some feet away. I got a grip of myself, picking up my torch which fell nearby. I moved the flashlight to see what hit me. Another strange creature stood some feet away. It was just like the other one only this one had wings and didn't have a tail. It was slightly smaller than the other one though it was still much bigger than a human. This creature also did not keep dreadlocks. Instead it had long flowing hair. It wore gold bracelets on both wrists and it put on ear rings and a necklace also made of gold. It wore sandals and a black tunic which made provision for its very large pair of wings, similar in appearance to that of a dragon, to move conveniently. The wings were retractable such that one might not even notice them unless they were spread out.
I could see its large sharp canine as it snarled. Maybe I wasn't dreaming. I shuddered at the thought that this might be real. I trembled in fear as it gazed at me. I could not move. I just stood there trembling. I felt goose bumps all around and my white skin quickly turned red. I could feel my sweat drench my clothes as I wondered what to do next.
The creature spread its wings and flew towards me, its arms outstretched and its claws shooting out, ready for the kill. The other seemingly lifeless creature came to my rescue as he dived and knocked the other creature down. They both struggled on the ground while I took to my heels. I didn't know where I was going, but I kept running, working my way through the labyrinth of trees all around. 'Anywhere is better than here!' I thought.
Both creatures continued to fight. The injured creature was already weak so it didn't take long before the winged creature overpowered it. The winged creature brought it to its knees and snapped its neck. Blood gushed out as it pulled out the other creature's vertebral column from its lifeless body along with its head. It roared as it raised the other creature's head in victory.
The creature soon stopped roaring and began to sniff around. It was searching for me. It picked up its sword, which had fallen down during the fight, and followed my scent in a bid to track me down. It was much faster than I was so it didn't take time before it got to where I was. I had noticed it coming so I climbed a very tall tree. All was quiet as the creature walked slowly around where I was, trying to find me. I could hear the leaves move as a gentle wind blew past. But that was not as loud as the sound of my heart pounding. My heartbeat was so heavy and so fast; I thought my heart would burst out of my chest. I tightened my grip on the bough I lay on, my gaze fixed on the creature that sought to annihilate me.
The creature used its sword to clear the bushes as it searched for me. After a while, it gave up. It was about leaving that place when it heard something move in a nearby bush. With swift precision it hurled it's blade to the source of the noise in the bush. It was disappointed when it carried its sword only to see the split skull of a snake stuck to it. It waved the blade to fling off the snake. It was about to move on when suddenly, my pen knife slipped from my pocket and fell to the ground. The creature's ears pricked up as it heard something drop from above. It turned and walked towards where it heard the noise. It picked up the penknife and examined it. My heart skipped a beat when it looked up to where I was.
Maybe I would have fainted out of
shock, but the ferocious roar of the creature kept me wide awake and literally on my toes as I got up and stretched my arms behind me, clinging to the tree trunk. The creature flew up to get me. My survival instinct immediately took over. I suddenly summoned courage. I was not ready to die that night, most certainly not at the hands of this creature. I began to move down from the tree, jumping and sliding from branch to branch. The creature kept growling as it followed me down. The creature could not fly towards me because the tree's long branches obstructed it, so it cut them down to get to me.
I missed a branch and I fell to the ground with a thud. I moaned in pain as I tried to regain my senses; my vision blurred for a while and my consciousness distorted. I lay on the ground, trying to summon the strength to get up while the creature walked slowly towards me. It knew it had me. It gave a slight grin. As I moved my hands across the ground in a bid to recover from the fall, I felt a small stake and grabbed just before the creature grabbed me by the neck raised me up. Its hands were just like a man's except for the fact that they were covered in fur and it had claws. My eyes and my entire face rapidly turned red as the creature threatened to squeeze my neck till it snapped.
The creature examined me in amazement. It obviously had never seen anything like me. The feeling was mutual. I immediately stabbed the creature on the neck with the stake. The creature threw me down as it howled in pain. It held its neck and moved about in discomfort, flapping its wings in pain as blood trickled down the fingers it placed over the stab wound. The creature removed the stake from its neck and growled. The creature picked up a rock as I ran and hurled it towards me. The rock hit my head and knocked me unconscious.