Dagger Brothers

Smack!  

I slapped a nasty horsefly against my leg just before I stepped into the quagmire of horrific odor.  I stumbled forward and caught myself before I fell head first into the smelly bog.  I paused and breathed through my nose.  I reached down and picked up a piece of alligator hide. Woof had spotted it and asked me to retrieve it. I turned around and sloshed back to the massive Siberian husky. I tossed it in front of Woof.

“We have been stomping around in circles for two hours.  Can we take a break now? I'm getting hungry.”

Woof sniffed the reptile sample. “Will, it has been three hours. We are getting closer.  Its scent is on these scales.”

“I'm surprised we have not seen a seventy foot reptile. There is nowhere to go.” I looked at my pocket watch. "We have to be back by one p.m."  I walked over to a massive water oak and opened up my backpack. 

“It is very cunning and a master of camouflage.  It could be hiding right next to you and you wouldn’t know it. Stay alert, Sir Will.”

“Yes sir.”

“Do you remember the Ooger hand signs for greetings?”

“Yes.” I paused and reached into the bag. “Why not a verbal greeting?”

“Oogers only speak out of necessity and extreme importance.”

 I pulled out an apple and a plate-sized biscuit. “You want to split the cookie? I know you don’t like fruit.” 

“You realize that is a dog biscuit specifically made for me by the dwarf. It is not a …” Woof growled. 

I broke it in half and tossed it in the air to my companion. “I love sweet and savory combinations.” I crunched into it. “I am not going to turn into a dog, am I?” 

Woof snagged the treat midair.  In two bites, he finished it. “Who knows? Would be an improvement.”

“Ha ha, very funny. You know, 'Cookie' was my nickname as a kid. I hated it.”

“Will, wait here and finish your snack.  I am going to scout ahead.  Lean against the tree, but don’t sit down.  Many unaware visitors to the Wamp have not returned because the sleepy heat lulled them to their doom.”

“Thanks for the pep talk. Where is the Wamp Monster? With all our noise and nothing.  A living dinosaur doesn’t just disappear.”

“It’s unsettling.” Woof scanned the area. “No worries, see you in a few.”

He bound away deeper into the marshlands.               

“No worries.” I grumbled and bit my apple.  

The Wamp had some charm and mystique for a cesspool with strange outlandish biting creatures.  I finished the delicious fruit and broke off a small bite of the biscuit.  I nonchalantly tossed it in the air and caught it in my mouth.  I broke it again.   

I saw some movement in the tall grasses in front of me, but I remained by the tree.  I removed my hunting knife from the leg strap with my left hand.  I threw the biscuit piece into the grass and waited.  I expected to see a rabbit or squirrel, but did not have to wait long.  

A large mud-covered hand with black nails appeared out of the grasses and then vanished.  The weeds crunched and then were silent.  I slowly lifted the knife to my lap and snapped off another morsel.  I flipped it in the air ten feet away.  It disappeared before it reached the mud. The grass loudly crunched again.

I stood to my feet with the hunting knife against my chest with the blade facing down.  I extended my right palm with the remaining cookie bite.  I felt two invisible large fingers slightly nudge my palm before the snack disappeared. I heard the crackle of the treat and the grinding of teeth directly in front of me. 

I pounded my left hand against my chest three times and paused.  I repeated the gesture in silence and then dropped my hand to my side.  

A purple behemoth with draping black hair materialized before me. The ooger’s menacing eyes glared at me.  He flared his nostrils, while its large muscular left hand grasped a massive reptile tooth, shaped like a knife. The ooger held it against its bare muddy chest.  

 I wanted to scream and run away, but remained motionless.  

The plum giant beat its chest three times and lowered its weapon, but did not release it. 

I hit my chest once and then pointed to my backpack. The creature did not move.  I retrieved a whole biscuit.  I hit my chest twice and extended the food to the beast.  He willingly accepted the gift, sniffed it, and bit off half in one bite.  The ooger banged its chest once with his free hand and finished the cookie. 

I repeated the sign toward the bag and produced an apple.  It accepted the fruit with an unnerving smile.

Unexpectedly, the ooger lifted its left hand and extended the large reptile tooth toward me. I accepted the gift. I thanked him. 

The massive hunter looked at my weapon still at my side.  I raised my hand and extended the hunting knife handle first. The ooger accepted it and thanked me.  

It then pounded its chest three times and reached out its right arm.

I did the same and put my arm next to his, but did not touch.  

The beast’s hand suddenly engulfed my forearm. It could have snapped my arm like a twig, but did not. It simply waited. 

I did not know what to do.  I then slapped my hand upon the ooger’s.  It smiled and then released me. 

It stepped back from me, stretched his muscular frame, and towered to his full eight foot frame.   

Woof appeared behind me and whispered. “You are now his dagger brother.”

"Cool." I softly replied, "Dagger brother."

"This ooger is a male and high ranking according to his earrings."

"How did he get here?"

"I am not sure, but he has been following us for the past hour."

"What? When were you going to tell me?"

"I just did." Woof laughed. "If he wanted to kill you, he could have done it. He was curious."

I examined the razor-sharp tooth blade. The Ooger hand carved an intricate handle at the tooth roots. "This is from the Wamp Monster."

Woof sniffed the knife and growled. "No mistake. I will never forget her scent."

The ooger skillfully displayed his talents with the hunting knife and had not noticed Woof. He flipped it in the air from hand to hand and shadow boxed with the weapon. He stabbed into the ground with incredible speed. He impaled a 14-feet boa constrictor through the head.

The reptile head and body thrashed momentarily, but then stopped moving.  As he lifted the carcass into the air, the serpent's speckled green body coiled automatically around his purple bicep and forearm. 

He heard the growl and turned around.  He gave a slight bow to Woof and pounded his chest three times with the right hand.  The giant then walked away into the swamp.  He halted, gazed at me, and hoisted the boa into the air with a grunt.  He stepped on a grassy path which appeared before them.

"Does he want us to follow him?"

"Yes.  To honor his new dagger brother with a meal. Hurry or we will lose the trail."

Woof jumped on the path, while I grabbed my backpack and then followed my loincloth covered brother into the unknown. We kept our distance from each other.  We walked a mile on the muddy trail until we reached a small cluster of mangroves. It was the ooger's camp. He had dried hides of various reptiles and mammals in the tree branches. Small alligator skins and deer pelts were stretched out and drying near a smoldering fire. He had two female geese alive in a small pen with their wings clipped. 

The ooger ignored all this and went straight to what appeared to be a mangrove tree.  He pulled at the trunk and opened a door into a circular inner dwelling.  A cookfire slowly burned in the center.  He gestured for me and Woof to follow.  

We stepped from the sunny camp into the camouflaged and dark interior. While my eyes had to adjust to the dim room, Woof jogged over to the campfire and sat on a rabbit pelt rug. 

Our host placed a log on the fire and went to a makeshift table. I recognized five gold necklaces shimmering from the firelight and hanging above the giant’s sleeping area.  Before I sat down next to my canine friend, I pointed to the far left corner.  Woof turned his head and spotted the head of the Wamp Queen on a large wooden pike. Many of its enormous teeth had been removed.

The purple hulk chopped off the head of the boa with his new hunting knife and placed it inside a hand-woven grass basket. He removed a small damascus style blade from his loincloth and located the anal cavity of the serpent. He skillfully carved a line from it anus toward the front of the body. He skinned it within minutes and removed the internal organs. The ooger rolled up the patterned skin and set it aside in the basket. He had two round clay bowls on the table. One filled with water on the table and the other filled with ground up leaves, berries, nuts, and grasses.  He placed the raw snake meat into the water and rinsed it out, removing the last of the blood. The culinary colossus then carefully positioned it in the second bowl and mixed the natural seasonings to completely cover the meat. 

During this preparation time, I noticed the colorful titan had two black ram-like horns on the sides of his great head. His long dark hair had covered them before.

The ooger picked up the basket and water bowl in one hand and pointed to me. He then pointed to the door.  I understood and gathered the items from my host. 

Once outside, I dumped the blood water past the closest trees, buried the serpent head and guts, and unraveled the snake skin near the smoldering fire.  I remembered helping my father on camp outs near Bee Cave.  I loved hiking and hunting, but had not done it since I joined the Legion.  I scanned the camp and realized why the ooger had chosen this location.  A fresh-water spring bubbled in the northeast corner. 

I went to the spring and used the water to clean up the basket and bowl.  I filled the bowl with water and sipped it; cool and refreshing.  I drank heartily and then refilled it. Savory aromas wafted from the tent.  I admired my new brother’s survival skills and ingenuity.  I returned to the dwelling with the fresh water and set it on the table.  

The mammoth chef had the seasoned serpent turning on a spit over the indoor campfire.  He also attempted to collect the snake grease in a slender clay pot as the meat slowly rotated, sizzled, and cooked. 

I had eaten a rotisserie snake, but nothing this big and mouth-watering.  I reclined next to Woof and watched the savory meat drip its fat into the fire causing surges of flames to lick upwards.  I reached into my bag and produced two more apples and offered them to our host.  He accepted the gift and signaled me to spin the spit.  I slid over and helped with the meal.

The giant sat on a deer rug closer to Woof and pounded his chest three times. Woof stared at the ooger. The creature did elaborate sign language, which my friend interpreted for me.

 “My name is Vuthbert, second son of King Guthbert, friend and ally of the Malacharians. It is my honor to meet King Wolfgang, the third.  My father has been looking for you for 50 seasons. I was only a child when your disappearance occurred during the Hunt. When he could no longer search for you, he charged me with locating you. I searched for where you vanished in vain for several years.”

 “I was going to stop my search when five seasons ago, I saw a vision of a beautiful female human hovering over the spot of departure.  A death beetle bit her and the vision vanished.  Then only a sunrise ago, while in this world, I saw another image of her.  She was holding a strange knife at a closed doorway.  I must find her. She is my mystery.” 

 Vuthbert stopped and walked over to his sleep area. He removed a flattened animal skin from under his feather pillow.  He had sketched a picture of the woman.  He displayed it to Woof and then handed it to me. The intricate and warm details of the woman’s face were impressive and beautiful. 

I commented to Woof, “I don't know her, but she is lovely.  It looks like Emmy.”

Woof replied, “Similar; possibly related.  However, it could not be her. It has only been a week since she left us.”

“How did he arrive here?” I asked as I rotated our dinner. 

Woof barked my question.

Vuthbert sadly tapped his chest three times.  I gave the portrait back. The ooger returned it with reverence. He sat back down and continued his story.  

Woof spoke for the giant, “It is not known. I remember nothing, only her.  I was covered in white sheets and three leather straps. I had a gold necklace with a stone. I destroyed several man-spiders and collected their chains. They were pursuing me for their Master.”

Woof asked a question. He explained it to me. “I asked him about the Wamp Monster.”

Vuthbert responded with signs. “The water dragon attacked me three days ago as I searched the ground for berries and food. It was formidable and treacherous. It saw me as a threat and tried to hunt me down. I climbed into the trees and waited until dawn. With only an iron rock, my small blade, and sticks, I dug a deep pit and attached sharpened spears at the bottom.  I covered the trap with leaves and weak branches. I ran into the swamp and splashed around vigorously.”  

Vuthbert’s gregarious signing had me enthralled.

“The green dragon charged after me with great speed and wrath. I ran from the monster and passed my trap.  The monster fell into the pit and impaled itself.  I jumped twice on its back and smashed out its eyes with my rock.  I grabbed the dragon’s upper jaw and pulled with all my might until it broke.  I jumped twice more on the hard scales causing the spears to pierce through the weaker underside. Blood gushed from various spear holes. It struggled for several minutes and moved no more. I had vanquished the water dragon. I ripped out its biggest tooth and used it to cut off its head. I have mounted my enemy’s head.  I have created a breastplate and some gauntlets, so far, with the dragon’s thick hide.” The behemoth walked over to the great alligator and displayed his trophy and armaments. 

I stopped spinning the serpent.

“He killed the Wamp Monster with his bare hands.”  

Woof said, “And a rock.”

“And a rock.” I whispered.

The dragon killer grunted at me to keep rotating the meat. 

I jumped and restarted the spit as the flames started to engulf the snake.

 The host went back to his table and chopped up the apples and wild onions and placed them in another basket filled with fresh dandelion leaves.  He mixed it all together with his hands. When my brother finished, he brought the bowl to me.  He then removed the roasted game and placed it sizzling on his table. With precise slashes, he carved the dinner into six equal portions. He placed three sections in three clay pots and set them before his hungry guests.  He pounded his chest three times, pointed at me, and then the yurt’s ceiling.  

“Vuthbert wants you to give thanks to the Great One before we feast.”

 I pounded my chest twice and did the sign for thanks.

The ooger signed back to Woof. 

“Vuthbert wants to hear your words to the Great One.” 

 I asked, “Why? I thought he was deaf.”

“On the contrary, oogers hear extremely well.  He has never heard a human before today.  He wants to learn your language. They simply prefer sign language.”

I thought for a moment and prayed. 

“Thank you, the Good and Great One, for this wonderful bounty. Bless us with your power and strength and wisdom to serve you and bless others. Thank you, Great One, for Bert and his victory over the water dragon. May your Good and Great name be lifted to the heavens forever.  Amen.”  

Woof interpreted the prayer for their new companion. 

Vuthbert smiled and replied in a deep baritone.

“Bert.  A-Men.” 

He signed something new to Woof.  The purple host picked up the serpent and gorged on it.   

Woof giggled and bit into the savory dinner. 

I nibbled some of the all natural salad before I sliced off a chuck of the steaming meat. The slice of fire-roasted reptile melted in my mouth, while the greens cleansed my palate for the next bite. 

“Wow.” I exclaimed. 

Bert repeated, “Wuh-ow. WOW.”

I grinned and kept eating the delicious meal. 

“Woof, what made you laugh at the start of the meal?”

Woof replied, “Vuthbert said ‘Brother Cookie knows how to speak well to the Great One.’”

“Who is Brother Cookie?” I devoured another amazing bite.

“You are.” Woof answered and finished his meal.

“Me? No! Wait, I thought I was his dagger brother. Not….”

Vuthbert did the sign for a biscuit and pointed at me.

 “Cookie.  Bert. Wow.  Amen.”

“Not again.” I moaned and rubbed my temples, “Great, just great.”

My dagger brother said, “Nut Again.  Great, Jut. Great.”