Rahan. Episode Ten. The Flat Beast. by Roger Lecureux.A Puke (TM) Comic.

Rahan.

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Episode Ten.

The Flat Beast.

The Son of Crao had been observing since dawn this clan whose cave he had discovered.
Rahan hasn't eaten for three days!
Will he find the welcome he hopes for?

He waited cautiously for the departure of the hunters to break cover.
"Females-who-walk-upright" are often more generous than their companions.

His appearance was greeted by cries of astonishment.
Who are you man?
What are you doing in horde territory?

Page Two:

I am Rahan, son of Crao, friend to all who walk upright.
Rahan has had no luck hunting and he is hungry.

The women exchanged worried looks.
Two from the hunt have also abandoned our clan.

We only have this meagre quarter of meat left!
If Rahan is hungry, give it to him!

No! Why give the meat of the clan to this "enemy".
Men would punish us for this crime.
And they would be right!

This woman who had just spoken glared at Rahan with hatred.
But her companions did not seem to share her sentiments.

You are bad, Lheita!
You have less heart than a snake!
Chilk is right! Let us give this meat to Rahan.

Page Three:

Rahan thanks his sisters!
When he regains his strength, Rahan will go hunting for their clan!

While chewing the meat, Rahan had taken a few steps into the cave.
This one was wide and deep.

Go no further, Rahan!
Only our hunters have the right!
Is Rahan not a hunter also?

Ignoring Lheita’s order, Rahan took a few more steps.
And stupor nailed him to the spot.
Oh! What is this?

Strange things appeared on the smooth rock.
Rahan recognized the silhouettes of these beasts.
But these Beasts were flat, stuck on the granite.

Page Four:

The son of the Feral Ages was still unaware of many of the beliefs, superstitions and customs of certain hordes.
A flat beast!

And that men were able to represent animals on the rock had never occurred to him.
A flat beast, he exclaimed again!

He muttered the same words, stroking the reddish figures with his fingers.
You must leave, Rahan!
The hunters will return!

Too late! I hear them coming back!
Lheita-the-bad had punctuated these words with a hateful chuckle.

You don't have time to run anymore, Rahan!
Ha-ha-ha-ha!
The horde men appeared and Rahan heard the angry cries of angry hunters.

Page Five:

Rahan will not run away!
Let him hide in the cave waiting for an opportunity to slip away!

We have no right to let our people take their anger out on this man!
All of the women approved, except Lheita.

You betray the clan!
No Lheita!
And we hope you won't betray us!

When the hunters entered the cave, Rahan was lurking at the bottom of it, in the darkness.
They did not kill anything and their rage is great, thought Rahan to himself.

If they discover Rahan, they will take revenge on him!
Away from Rahan, the chief of the clan harshly addressed the women.

Page Six:

The gods forget our clan, women!
They had promised us their help!
Should not we kill the buffalo like this!

The chief had taken his place in front of the wall and, with an arrow drawn, took aim.
At the "Flat Beast"!

The arrow ricocheted on the rock.
I touch the buffalo! A hit!
The gods, give us a new promise!
Zlang!

Rahan held his breath.
He understood better now the meaning of the "Flat Beast”.
A curious belief, he thought.

They think that by striking the "Flat Beast", the god of the hunt will put within range of their arrows an animal of flesh and blood!

Page Seven:

The Clan Chief regained a certain good mood.
Since the hunt will be good tomorrow, give me the last quarter of meat, woman!

Uh, uh, we were too hungry.
We, we, we shared it!
Rahan was surprised.

Chilk is lying! And the others lie too!
They gave the meat to an enemy!

And there the enemy is! At the bottom of the cave!
Rahan fingers twitched on the handle of his ivory knife.

But he abandoned the knife.
No. Rahan does not want to kill "Those who walk upright".

Page Eight:

Brandishing spears or axes, a few men darted about.
They glimpsed Rahan.
Death to the meat thief!
Death!

But if the son of Crao did not want to kill, he intended not to be killed.

A spear snatched from the nearest assailant protected him from a terrifying blow.

And violently knocked the legs of a third man from under him.

But others attacked, against whom Rahan could not resist for long.
A whole clan against a single man!
Would the hunters of this Horde be less courageous than their wives!

Page Nine:

The Melee was as fierce as it was brief.
Rahan's feet repelled his adversaries and his fists struck like clubs.

But grabbed on all sides and quarters, he disappeared under the pack.
Don't kill him!
You do not kill an enemy who fights as well as this one!

An instant later.
Why did you come here looking for that meat, man?
Rahan was hungry.

And Rahan has always believed that "Those-who-walk-upright" were brothers and that they should help each other!

Rahan is crazy! Only the interests of the clan matter!
And Rahan must give our clan back the meat he stole from them!

Page Ten:

The women listened in silence.
Chilk stood out from the group.
Rahan didn't steal.
He asked and we offered him the meat!

Silence Chilk!
If Rahan does not return the meat, you and the other women will pay for your weakness towards a stranger.

Rahan does not need threats to pay his debt!
He will bring you more meat tomorrow than he found here!

You will do well to keep this commitment!
Otherwise, even if the gods of the hunt favor us, the women will be deprived of food for as many days as the fingers of my hands!

Lheita cried out.
Not me! Not me!
I did not want them to help an enemy!
What does it matter!
Since you let them, you will know the same punishment!

Page Eleven:

Lheita had a fierce expression.
She curses the coming of Rahan.
She would like to see his death!

I want to know if the gods will help you keep your commitment.
Herk, the leader of the clan, pushed Rahan towards the wall with the profile of the "Flat Beast”.

Rahan does not believe in hunting gods!

For Rahan the gods of the hunt are cunning, his patience, his endurance, his courage.

And my knife!
The hunters listened to the son of Crao with a sort of dread.

Page Twelve:

Hitting the "Flat Beast" with your arrows will not make you discover the game!
The gods will not forgive you these sacrilegious words!

Rahan has a habit of defying the gods!
That of the sun like that of the great rivers!
That of thunder like that of storms!

Hitting the "Flat Beast" is stupid!
Unless you exercise your skill! Like this!
Rahan seized the spear of a hunter.

And threw it at the dark red drawing.

Klac!
Oh! Oh!
The point of the wood crashed on the rock, at the precise point where the eye of the "Flat Beast" was located.

Page Thirteen:

Or again, like this!
Rahan was now drawing the bow he had snatched from Herk.

Clack!
A new clamor arose when the flint point of the arrow also chipped the granite at the exact location of the eye.

Rahan's remarkable skill earned him the respect of hunters.
Among the clan, Lheita was soon alone in giving him hateful looks.
I will kill him with my own hands, she thought to herself!

At daybreak the men set out.
Rahan had to hunt alone, to the side.

And do not forget your commitment, Rahan!
If you come back without game, the women will be punished!
Naturally they will be too, If you do not come back!

Page Fourteen:

Yes, Rahan could very well have not returned to this fierce clan.
He could have fled, and left this territory forever.

But such thoughts did not occur to the mind of the son of Crao!
The women helped Rahan.
Rahan will help them!

If nature still had many secrets for him, then the hunt had more.

He knew by a broken twig, to recognize the passage of the most cunning game.
Ah, Luck is with Rahan!

For the first time in three long days he had spotted tracks.
Those of two wild boars.

Page Fifteen:

Completely absorbed in his thoughts, he felt nothing of the danger hovering over him.
I will kill him! As soon as he gets up I will kill him!

Lheita had followed the "Enemy".
She caught an occasional glimpse of him, as he crawled between the thick grasses.

When he suddenly sat up, she drew her bow.
But she didn't have time to shoot her arrow when Rahan disappeared again.

Because he had dived on the wild boar, which he had just flushed out.
The ivory blade struck.

His clamor for victory mingled with the sound of the great male boar charging at him.

Page Sixteen:

Rahan knew how to parry these onslaughts.
He remained motionless, ready to strike.

Leaving a fraction of a second before rolling sideways to avoid the formidable tusks that would rip him open.

The boar continued its course.
But the ivory knife had already done its work.

Its side open, the beast entered into this agony that the son of Crao could not bear.

He was finishing the boar when Lheita released the sinew of her bow.

Page Seventeen:

Rahan perceived the mewing of the arrow and instinctively let himself fall.

Protected by the shield of flesh, he glimpsed the woman who was looking for a second arrow.
Lheita!

He leapt so fast his hand grabbed the bow before it was bent.
Herk will not appreciate this way of acting, Lheita!

Maybe he would even kill you for wanting to strike down a loyal hunter?
Who knows?
Yes, He would kill me.

Lheita was pail.
She was afraid.
Lheita will not die. If she accepts Rahan's way!
Snap!

Page Eighteen:

The sun was shining high in the sky when Rahan returned to the cave.
Herk and his hunters were already back.

Ha-ha-ha! Crao's son didn't show himself to be a better hunter than us!
This is the price he pays for defying the gods!

Herk speaks too soon!
Rahan and Lheita have hunted together.
And see what they bring back!

Down below, coming out of the woods and groaning under the strain, Keita was hauling a heavy load.

A tempest of screams shook the clan.
The “Sanghia”! Rahan has killed the great Boar!
No! It was Lheita-the-huntress who killed the "Sangha"!

Page Nineteen:

Rahan was not helping Lheita, who was struggling.
Was that not the just punishment?
Never has a woman killed a “Sanghia”! Lheita could not.

Here is the proof Herk!
The son of Crao pointed to the arrow stuck in the beast's neck.
That arrow that Lheita had aimed at him.

But Herk noticed the open flank of the wild boar.
And this injury?
Uh, Rahan had to finish the Boar.

Perhaps Herk was not fooled, but he did not show it.
His men were already happily butchering the beast.

Rahan pays his debt.
Is that not so Herk? Is this not so Lheita?
Lheita nodded.
By not denouncing her to the chief, Rahan was paying more than his debt.

Page Twenty:

But she only understood the purpose of this strange "Enemy" when he bade farewell to the clan, two days later.
The territory of the grand sun calls Rahan!
Farewell, brothers!

Rahan does not believe in the power of the Flat Beast.
Yet he knew how to flush out the “Sanghia”!
And the arrow of a woman could strike it down!

Rahan hopes that men's eyes have been opened, and that his brothers will have less contempt for their companions! Farewell!

The son of the fierce ages went towards the crests which the sun set on fire.
Never had he felt so light.
Never had he leapt so cheerfully.

If Rahan was happy, it was because he thought he had awakened the intelligence of the hunters, his brothers, and also served the "Females-who-walked-upright", his sisters, well.

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