Rahan. Episode Eighty-Six. By Roger Lecureux. The Stones that Burn. A Puke (TM) Comic.

Index:
https://rumble.com/v3486cm-rahan-index-of-episodes-by-roger-lecureux..html

Source of Rahan Comics:
Philippe Ropers.
https://vk.com/topic-203785966_47424128

Rahan.
The son of the ferocious ages.

Episode Eighty-Six.

By Roger Lecureux, drawn by Andre Cheret.

The Stones that Burn.

You are now a slave like everyone else!
If you provide us with a lot of “Burning Stones” you will live!
But if you try to escape, it is death for you!

The son of Crao had been captured that very morning.

All around the strange quarry, archers watched over the slaves who were breaking black rocks.
Escape seemed impossible.
“Stones that burn”!
It is impossible!
Rahan has never seen this!
Yet it is true.
The “Karwa” Burns and heats better than wood!

Page Two.

To Work! To Work!
As soon as a man showed signs of fatigue, the guards came running.

Why do you allow yourself to be treated like animals!
I understand your indignation, brother.
But you will soon understand in your turn.

That we can do nothing against those of Jaipur!
All those who protest are.
Thrown into the big fire of “Karwa”!

While slaves crushed the black rocks, others took them to a village.
And so it was until nightfall.
A guard blew a horn.

And it will all start again at dawn!
At dawn Rahan will be far away.

Page Three.

Dizzy with fatigue, the slaves quickly fell asleep.
But here and there, the sentries remained vigilant.

None of them, however, noticed the son of Crao, who could be as silent as a shadow.

A few arrow distance from the square, he discovered the village of the tormentors.
Rahan will not flee this territory without his knife!

The weapon that had been confiscated from him had been offered to the chief of the clan.
And Jaipur is without doubt sleeping next to this strange thing!

A long earthen embankment led to a very high stone hut.
But was it the hut?
The closer he got to it, the more Rahan doubted it.

Page Four.

The roar of an underground fire reached him.
He suddenly understood.
The burning stones!
It is in this thing that they burn the “Karwa”!

A pleasant warmth emanated from the gigantic oven and spread throughout the sleeping village. Intrigued, the son of Crao went up to its mouth.

The incandescence of the blaze was almost unbearable.

Blinded, he turned his head away, when.
Alert! Alert!
The fiery-haired hunter has fled the quarry! Look!

The man rushed forward, his spear held high.
Rahan, still dazzled, had the impression that a fiery being was charging at him.

Page Five.

He threw himself aside at the last minute, avoiding the spear.
Ra-ha-ha!
Carried away by his momentum, the man could not avoid the furnace!
It was horrible.

Rahan regained his vision.
He saw the hunters bursting out of the huts and besieging the embankment.
This time he was lost!
No, do not kill him now!

He will be sacrificed to the round moon!
This man wore the ivory knife on his belt.
It was Jaipur.

The son of the fierce ages was brought back to the quarry.
They will no longer give Rahan another opportunity to escape!

Page Six.

From now on, in fact, he would be closely monitored.
When the full moon returns, in two days, they will throw you into their cursed fire!

A day, then another night passed.
Rahan was obsessed with the idea of the horrible death that awaited him.

No! Rahan will not die like this!
He will destroy their “Crater of stones”!
The discovery of a sulfur pocket.

Reminded him how he had unwittingly discovered, one day, a fearsome explosive.

The Sulfur.
The Powder.
The Saltpeter.
Unbeknownst to the guards, he was able to make a bamboo that thundered.

Page Seven.

Which he hid in the “Burning Stones” that were brought to the village.
The second day ended.

And the moon, round and pale, appeared.
The time has come for you, “Fire Hair”, to join the territory of shadows!
I will deliver you to “Karwa” myself!

The good spirits are with Rahan!
They will destroy your "Stone Crater"!

Men came and went, supplying the large furnace with coal.
And nothing happened!
Perhaps the “Thundering Bamboo” remains in the quarry?

The ruse of Rahan has not succeeded!
With his spear, Jaipur pushed him down the embankment, towards the mouth of the furnace.

Page Eight.

Ha-ha-ha!
Did you not say that the spirits would come to your aid?
They are slow to show up!

The oven was only a few steps away.

Taught by experience Rahan looked away from the incandescent mass.

We sacrifice to you this hunter, oh round moon!
Bring us, in exchange, more and more “Burning Stones.”

The pressure of the spear grew stronger in the back of the son of the fierce ages.
Is the Bamboo that thunders there!?
Two containers of “Karwa” had been forgotten.

With hope in his heart, Rahan jumped and threw them into the fire.

Page Nine.

Waroom!
A fantastic explosion shook the stone edifice, throwing the men to the ground.

He was right! The spirits are with him!
Run away! Run away!
The son of Crao easily recovered his knife of ivory.

Ha! The spirits are changing the “Karwa” into water!
A sort of molten paste spread from the open furnace!

And Rahan was as aghast as the others.
Why does fire flow? For what reason?
He could not know how much iron ore had been mixed, involuntarily, with the coal.

Jaipur and his people panicked and fled the village.
A moment later, the guards from the quarry imitated them.

Page Ten.

And the slaves set off towards the village.
We are free thanks to Rahan!
He destroyed the "Stone Crater”!

It was only at dawn that we could touch the cooled metal.
The son of Crao felt this unknown material. When.

Oh?
The liquid metal had filled an indentation.
And this iron foot already gave Rahan an idea.

The fire paste takes the shape of the holes it flows into!
We are going to rebuild the "Crater of the stones” brothers!
But you will no longer be slaves.

A few days later, the large reconstructed furnace was back in operation.
Jaipur and his people, intrigued, observed from a height.

Page Eleven.

The son of Crao wanted to do an experiment.
He plunged his knife completely into a lump of clay and delicately extracted it.

Go ahead brothers!
Let some “fire paste” come out!
A flow of molten metal was released through the slot provided.

It spread over the mound, seeping into the imprint of the knife.

If we succeed.
“Those-who-walk-upright” will be able to make, with the paste of fire, whatever objects they desire!

He shattered the clay. Shortly after, clamors arose.
Rahan is the greatest sorcerer!
He transformed the "Karwa" into a weapon!

Page Twelve.

The iron knife had neither the finesse nor the polish of its ivory one.
But it already constituted a very formidable weapon.

And when Rahan had rubbed it for a long time on the granite it became smoother and took on a shiny appearance.

And Suddenly.
Only wizards can perform such miracles!
We will be your slaves from now on!

Rahan does not want slaves, Jaipur!
He likes that “Those-who-walk-upright” live as brothers!
He would like you all to extract the “Karwa” from the quarry!
May you enjoy the warmth of the stone crater together!

From the approvals that arose, the son of Crao knew that his wishes would be fulfilled.
Happy, he felt the arm born from rock and fire.
The unknown material was heavy and hard.
Men, one day, would give it the name “Iron”!