Rahan. Episode Ninety-Four. By Roger Lecureux. The Lost knife. A Puke (TM) Comic.

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

Rahan.

Episode Ninety-Four.

By Roger Lecureux. Drawn by Andre Cheret. Colors by Gabriel Deshayes.

The Lost knife.

The ivory knife made a final turn and stopped, its blade pointed towards the high mountain range.
Hum! You could have pointed out an easier trail!
But if you think that Rahan will retreat before the great mountains, you are wrong!
On the way!

When he had no specific goal, the son of Crao entrusted his destiny to his weapon.
It was a kind of game from which he never shied away.
Up there, it is the "White-Skinned Kingdom"!
Game is rare there.

But Rahan has enough meat.
He will not have to hunt.
And the skins of the “Fronts of wood” will protect him from the cold!

Ra-ha-ha!
A few days earlier he had had to face two elk that an inexplicable anger had launched against him.
Page Two.

He no longer regretted this fight that they had imposed on him, because the flesh and skins of the “Fronts of wood” would soon be of great help to him.

From his childhood spent at the foot of the blue mountain, the son of Crao had retained the habit of difficult climbs and knew how to avoid uncertain support.

And take advantage of the slightest projections to climb a little higher, always a little higher. As the hours passed, the climb became more perilous.

But, from overhang to overhang, it slowly approaches the summit. And suddenly.

No, "Hooked beak”, no! Rahan means you no harm!
He.

Disturbed, an eagle swooped down on the intruder who was violating its kingdom!
Rahan had already drawn his weapon.

Ra-ha-ha!
The ivory blade severed the formidable claws that were going to slash his face!

Page Three.

Rahan could not let his eyes go out, "Hooked beak."
He could not!
The mutilated bird of prey, fleeing with its wings, disappeared under the clouds.

The son of Crao reached a plateau.
Here the last fir trees stood, and the first patches of snow sparkled.

The “White-Skinned Territory” stretched up to the crest.
Magnificent and dazzling landscape.
A very sharp wind bit Rahan's flesh.

Who undertook to make boots for himself, like the hunters who live on the hard water lakes.

A gust of incredible violence pins him to the ground, dragging the skin enveloping the elk's neighborhood towards the ravine.
Oh!

He only had time to grab one of the vines tied to this skin.
But it opened.
His meat was lost!

Page Four.

The skin swollen by the wind rose above him, like a heavy and gigantic butterfly!
Come back! Come back! Rahan needs you!

Had the son of Crao just discovered the "flying kite"?
Maybe.
He had to fight with the wind to recover the skin.

Rahan is out of meat!
But he will perhaps meet a young “Baloua.”
He had just noticed, on a patch of snow, the very particular features of the great mountain bear.

The wind was light and, taking advantage of the lull, he resumed his ascent.
The slopes were gentler but he advanced cautiously.

Because the snow was so soft that he could have gotten stuck in it!
The “White-Skinned Territory” is as dangerous as it is beautiful!

And the “Hooked beaks” follow Rahan!
Maybe they want revenge!
For a moment, eagles have been soaring high in the sky.

Page Five.

Contrary to their habit of hunting alone, the raptors had gathered in large numbers, as if for a general attack.

The disturbing cloud circled vertically over the man, no doubt watching for the opportunity to attack.

If Rahan reaches this loophole, he will no longer have anything to fear from the “Hooked Beaks!”
A narrow fault indeed offered refuge.
But she was still far away.

And the birds of prey, sensing his intentions, suddenly attacked!
Rahan knows how to defend his life “Hooked beaks!”

For a brief moment, the son of Crao kept the cloud at bay.
His pole broke necks and dislocated wings.
Ra-ha-ha!

But attacked on all sides, harassed by terrible pecks, he tried to retreat towards the fault.

Page Six.

Unable to probe the snow, he could not detect the crevasse!

No support allowed him to tear himself away from this icy gangue which inexorably sucked him in.
The raptors, surprised, had regained height.

For a moment the son of Crao imagined the horrible death that awaited him.
Burial.
Choking.
No! No! Rahan wants to live!

An that was the miracle.
His pole, traversing the crevasse, saved him from getting fatally stuck!

Ra-ha-ha!
But it was just a surprise!
The swarm returned wildly to the attack!

Rahan may have repelled this new assault.
But the pole suddenly broke!
Crack!

Page Seven.

The son of Crao sure he was lost.
His fingers clenched in vain in the soft snow that engulfed him.

Rahan is dead, “Hooked beaks!”
But you will not shred his remains!

He caught a glimpse of the summit of this mountain that he had braved, the sun that he had loved so much.
Goodbye, Sun!

And it was over.
The snow closed around him like a thick shroud and he sank into the darkness of the "Territory of Shadows."

How strange was this territory!
He floated there for a long time in the middle of reddish vapors.
Crao-the-father was waiting for him, at the entrance to a cave.

From which a deep song rose.
The song of the dead who welcomed him among them.
A light wind pushed him into the cave.
Page Eight.

Here were gathered all the hunters he had known, all those who had left the territory of the living, a fantastic horde over which death itself reigned!

You are now one of us, Rahan!

No!
Rahan was torn from his nightmare by his own cry.
The hand gripping his shoulder was not the frozen hand of death, but the strong, warm hand of a hunter!

What.
What.
Rahan is not in the “Territory of Shadows”!?
It was a close call, Brother!
When we saw the snow swallowing you up, we came running.

Page Nine.

We chased the “Hooked Beaks” and managed to free you!
You stayed under the snow for a only few moments but you had lost consciousness.

Our women's prayer for you to quickly come to your senses has been answered!
Rahan explained to himself this song that he had believed was coming from beyond!

The crevasse where you are stuck is not deeper than this spear.
You have a lot of luck! Yes, you are luckier than Tago!

Since the women's prayers did not extinguish the fire consuming Tago's body!
An old man was prostrate in the darkness.
His limbs were trembling and sweat was beading on his face.

Tago is our chief, the “fever” has not been eating at him for very long!
While climbing the mountain Rahan saw the plants that cure this ailment!

He will go and cut their roots and.
Oh!
The son of Crao felt as if his heart had stopped beating and the clan did not understand his emotion.

The Knife!
He suddenly realized that he no longer had a weapon.
His precious ivory cutlass had remained in the crevasse, buried in the snow!
Page Ten.

Rahan will never find his cutlass! Never! Never!
Finding the weapon buried under several meters of snow was indeed impossible!

The wind having leveled the snow.
He could no longer even locate the place where he had gotten stuck!
We did not worry about your weapon, brother, we could not know.

Rahan smiled sadly.
No, these men could not know what role the wonderful ivory cutlass had played in his life.

It was a sleepless night. The women sang for Tago the chief.
I will go with you to find the roots that heal!
No Rahan will go alone!

But everything looks the same in our territory!
You will not find our cave!
Yes! The wind and this skin will help Rahan find it!

The day returned, inspired by his discovery the day before, the son of Crao made a skin kite.
Even from a great distance, Rahan will see this skin.
And he will know where the cave is!

Shortly after, probing the snow before each step, he descended towards the area where, halfway up the mountain, the vegetation ended.

Page Eleven.

The memory of the ivory knife always obsessed him.
You were completely for Rahan, very sure.
You sometimes led him into territories he would have preferred to avoid. But you never betrayed him!

Rah-ha-ha!
All the confrontations, all the fights from which he emerged victorious thanks to the ivory weapon came back to his mind.

Rahan will make another knife.
But he will never forget you!
He will never forget your blade, so soft and strong!

The kite was nothing more than a tiny dot.
Without this marker it would have been impossible to locate the location of the cave.

With the first trees the landscape changed.
The smell of resin was mixed with that of Gentian, this plant whose virtues Rahan knew.
The “Bitter wood” is not easily torn out!
Stars of yellow flowers, the tufts of Gentian that he discovered were magnificent.

Page Twelve.

He had to free the long fibrous roots with a spear.
Tago is saved!
The “Bitter Wood” and the “Hot Evil” will leave him.

He was about to cut a piece of root when the wind brought him another smell.
Without even turning around he knew that a “Baloua” was approaching.

There were three bears!
Back “Balouas!” Otherwise!

The son of Crao knew his threat was useless.
Bears of this particularly formidable species never backed down!

The nearest "Baloua" was only a few steps away.
It looked huge when it stood up, all claws extended.
Rahan jumped back and tangled himself in Gentian's roots.
Argh!

As the bear fell on him he instinctively raised his spear.
The roar of the beast and the crack of the shaft merged.
Crack!

His lance broken, he could no longer face the other “Balouas”.
All he could do was flee.
No! Rahan will not flee without taking the “Bitter Wood.”

Page Thirteen.

A nearby tree had just given him an idea, he rushed there, tying a second noose at the other end of his vine lasso. The bears trotted heavily behind him.

A moment later a knot tightened around the first one's throat.
Now it is your brother's turn!
Passing the lasso over a low branch.

Rahan faced the second bear. And.
Ha-ha-ha! Enjoy yourselves, “Balouas!”
By the time you gnaw this vine, Rahan will be gone!

While the bears were turning and returning around the tree without being able to free themselves, he recovered the point of his spear and cut a gentian root.

The wind, which had erased his tracks, had died down and the kite, up there, had disappeared!
How would he find the cave?

His worry was short-lived because a gust suddenly swept across the snowy expanse.
And the “Skin Butterfly” Reappeared for a brief moment!
Ra-ha-ha!

Page Fourteen.

This was enough for the son of Crao to locate the cave.
Shortly after, cries came to him, like "Those-who-walk-upright" when they are busy at a hard task.

And the emotion brought tears to his eyes.
Oh! A whole season would not be enough for Rahan to dig such a pit!

Men, women, children. The whole clan was there, in the crevasse, working to clear the snow!
The long and wide trench was already so deep that the children could no longer be seen.

And the playful clamor of one of them suddenly broke out.
Here it is!
Tahir has found the weapon of the fiery-haired hunter!

Page Fifteen.

Rahan cannot find the words to express his joy.
He hopes that the "Bitter Wood" will cure Tago!

All night long, Tago the chef chewed the gentian.
At dawn, his limbs shook less.
The “Fever” is retreating.
Tago is saved!
Why would not the clan go to the other side of the mountain with Rahan?

Our territory is here, Rahan!
The fathers of our fathers lived there, our sons' sons will live there too!
But we will take you to the top!

So it was done.
A few days later Rahan left those of the white-skinned country.
Rahan will not forget your welcome brothers!

The sun gilded the clouds that rolled in the valley.
The son of Crao rejoices at the idea of discovering, under the clouds, unknown territories.

This time he did not have to face men. Nor perfidious sorcerer.
Nor a vain leader.
Nor hostile hunters.
This could happen even in these fierce times!
Happy, he descended towards the clouds which opened before him.

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