The First Priestess: Part 4

Panther’s Toy

All of the fires in the village were doused, and most of the families were asleep. The jungle seemed nosier at night, as thousands of animals and insects chirped, whistled, or howled.

Sunflower overheard Red Spear telling her mother about what he saw in the mountain, and it had inflamed her imagination. The images of burning, wilting flowers haunted her mind, and she laid awake beside her parents.

The God Whisperer had told the village children about the gods of fire, earth, rivers, and the animals: jaguar, dragon, shark, bird, and cyclops. The gods strained to hold the planet in balance with the spirit world, and they needed to be nourished by sacrificial offerings, otherwise their hunger would grow, and the gods would be forced to hunt people to regain their strength. God Whisperer said that as a young woman she had visited the spirit world in the form of a harpy. Meanwhile, the gods often visited in the forms of the most powerful animals, except when they were starving, for then the gods would force their way onto the planet in their true forms: enormous beasts with a thousand mouths, each with a thousand teeth, bifurcated tongues, flaming eyes, and an appetite for a thousand men.

Sunflower shivered and pulled her mother’s arm around her.

Hours were passing slowly. The whole village was fast asleep, and the jungle animals were still relentlessly chirping.

Another hour passed, and Sunflower felt a pressure in her bladder. She needed to pee.

Sunflower lifted her mother’s arm and wiggled past her parents’ legs. Standing Deer faintly felt her daughter’s movements, but she was familiar with her daughter’s needs during the night and slipped back asleep. Sunflower stood up at the foot of their reed mat and left the hut.

There was no moon in the sky, only a splash of stars revealing the Milky Way. The God Whisperer had taught the children that the spirit world resided in the stars, but Sunflower wondered where they went during the day, and then she looked toward the mountain. If the sky’s gift was a star, a piece of the spirit world, why didn’t it fall at night? She found herself unwilling to take another step. How did the monster gods travel to their planet to feast anyway?

Sunflower was frozen. Her lip began to tremble, and her imagination turned the outline of every tree into a giant stalking god. Ferns became claws, and the clicking of insects made it impossible to hear footsteps.

Suddenly, Sunflower felt the pressure in her bladder give, and warm pee trickled down her leg. She yelped and squeezed her stomach to try and make the pee stop. The monsters were suddenly gone, and Sunflower ran around the hut toward the jungle where she squatted over a patch of grass. The wetness on her leg embarrassed her, and she caught a tear escaping her eye.

“No,” she whispered defiantly, and wiped her cheek. The gods won’t eat me, she thought. She finished and went towards the jungle, where she tore off a palm leaf and wiped her leg.

“You won’t eat us!” she muttered loudly.

The wind brushed the trees and plants, and Sunflower stared up at the stars. There are so many though, she thought.

Then a dark stranger approached from the jungle. Sunflower didn’t see him, but she felt his presence: a massive, breathing creature, standing on four legs and as silent as a ghost. She slowly turned her head and became frozen. Between the palm leaves were a pair of yellow eyes, and beneath them a single glowing, pink eye. It looked like a monster from one of Sunflower’s nightmares. She didn’t notice that her knees were quivering, and a crushing dread kept her from screaming.

The chiseled obsidian head of a panther came forward. Its massive paws crushed grass, and the sheen of its coat made it look like living smoke. Grasped in its fangs, the panther held a golden disc, and in the disc was a red-violet gem shaped like a diamond. The gem pulsated like a dying heart.

Sunflower helplessly locked eyes with the panther and thought to herself, the Jaguar God has painted himself with night.

The panther was making a sound like a hungry tummy constantly rumbling. Then a moment passed, a moment that seemed to age Sunflower, and she realized that the black Jaguar God hadn’t killed and eaten her.

Sunflower forced her legs to take a step back. The god took a large step forward, and Sunflower let out a small yelp. She stepped back again, and the god leaped around her and forced her back toward the jungle. She panicked and breathed quickly. A mouse seems to know when it’s being toyed with.

The Power’s control over the basic life form was waning. On a higher life form, it could control maybe an arm or a leg for a short amount of time, but holding onto the curious panther for the entire trip down the mountain had strained its abilities.

“Can you see me?” the Power cried in silence.

The panther pounced forward, and Sunflower fell down. She scooted backwards quickly, but the panther followed, and its front claws dug into the earth near her feet.

“Beast, behave!” the Power ordered, and the panther leaned forward and brought the golden disk closer to Sunflower’s face. Her tiny heart was beating quickly, and she turned away.

The Power’s control would break soon. “Look this way!” it cried, and the panther gave a low growl. The large predator was nearly on top of her.

Sunflower whimpered and glanced at the jewel. Its pinkish glow gleamed in her eyes, and she felt drowsiness settle over her. Sunflower fought against the hypnosis and raised her hand.

“Yes,” the Power said.

Her fingers touched the panther’s cold nose, and traced over one of its massive fangs and touched the golden disc.

Then the panther gave a sudden, anguished cry and reared up. The disc had disappeared, and Sunflower tried to roll away as the beast’s claws came down and shredded the ground. It coiled and spun, splattering blood over the hut, and clawed at a man.

“Sunflower! Sunflower!” called Standing Deer. She ran into the danger and pulled her daughter away from the panther.

Red Spear had stuck his spear into the big cat’s back, and he pulled back to strike again. The panther roared. This time the tip slipped between the creature’s ribs, and it snapped the spear in half. The three of them watched as the big cat swayed, and Red Spear reached for another spear, but there was no need. The panther gave a harsh growl, whimpered, and collapsed with a heavy thud. Its breathing was out of control, and Red Spear gave the creature a merciful end.

Standing Deer cradled Sunflower. A moment ago, her mother’s heart froze when she heard the panther’s growl and realized that her baby was missing. Tears flowed down Standing Deer’s face, and she saw the panther’s blood on her hands.

Then she noticed the deep, inch wide gashes on Sunflower’s arm, chest, and face. Blood was quickly filling Standing Deer’s lap. Sunflower’s eyes were shiny, and she wasn’t breathing.

Standing Deer shook frightfully. “Red Spear!” she yelled. “Our daughter!”

Red Spear dropped his weapon. He saw the blood, felt a knot tie in heart, and knew that his daughter would die tonight. Yet, he picked up Sunflower from her mother’s lap and cried, “Help! Help!” He ran with her through the village, past the huts, desperate to wake up as many people as he could.

Standing Deer couldn’t stop herself from shaking, and the smell of all the blood made her scream. The animals of the jungle became silent, and the valley echoed.