Married to a man-eater

MARRIED TO A MAN-EATER!!

“Is it her?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“She is a little tiny for someone with such a great destiny. Wouldn’t you agree?” He laughs side-splittingly. 

By a hair's breadth, I could hear some indistinct voices. Trying to listen in closely, a sound of a man’s feet approaching took me a little by surprise. I had little to no time at all to prepare, hence in a tick of a clock, a bucket full of ice-cold water emptied on my bare skin on a chilly winter morning, got me screaming on the top of my voice. Mind you, up to this moment, I did feel a little cold but I had no idea that I was stripped naked.  

Away from my icy cold body, I watched the man’s back as he walked away from me, into a crowd of people who were at a distance, going about with their chores, everyone ignoring me as if I wasn’t even there. In the middle of these multitudes of people, there was burning fire that everyone was barely paying attention to. Was I the only cold one there who would kill to get close to that fire? Damn right I was. I was after all the only one who had just showered with an icing cold water. 

Realizing my wriggling my arms and moving my body all over the place wasn’t going to help, I allowed myself to land on my side on the ground, like a dead person, I laid still and thought of the last memory I had of my parents. 

It was a day before the hunters invaded my home, killing my parents and taking me hostage; we were seated happily around the fire place, my father reading me a story from one of his old books, as he usually did every night. 

My dad had come home one day from the fields, he was acting abnormally scared; I was playing outside with one of my friends, but seeing him that frightened, I followed him into the house where he had turned everything upside down, I knew I was the only person he could talk to, but I also knew that if he wasn’t ready to spill, trying to make him was just as difficult as trying to make him give up on whatever he was looking for. But I had to ask. 

“A book. An old book!” he replied still not looking at me. “It was left to my father by his father, and his father before him” 

Not sure what to do at that moment, I stayed by the door stalk still, staring intensely at my father who was nervously throwing things around, getting frustrated every second that he didn’t find that book. Away from a box filled with a pile of books – 

“Found it!” how I missed that smile. 

My father had the most beautiful smile that could light up the entire village. When he turned to me wearing that smile on his face, I knew just how important that book must be to him. In a protest, he walked towards me, waving the book on my face as he inevitably gave me the summary of the book that I didn’t ask for. That was the first day my father started reading to me, 10 days before they were killed and I was taken in by a group of savages. 

“Legend has it that preying and feasting on human flesh can turn a man immortal” He started, “The ‘hunters’ are therefore more animals than they are humans; they can live for a thousand years, therefore making them the most dangerous species on earth. They are fast, their hearing and seeing capacity is 10 times more than a normal person.” 

As my father turned to the next page, his big brown glittering eyes caught sight of me, slowly I snuck closer to him, gently squeezing my tiny body under his arms. He looked at my mom, together they exchanged a terrified look before my father bowed his head again and continued reading.

“With their abilities and immortality, the hunters have adapted to the harsh weather conditions, and thus, nothing can get them down. They neither get cold or get a rush during the hot days; they can simply withstand anything you bring towards them. It is known that the hunters travel in pairs. Normally, they don’t stay for more than ten years in one village.”

Truthfully, this book started to sound a little too real to be just a book. I knew my father would never make such a ruckus about reading me a book I hated, unless it was really important. So, at this point, I had no choice but to sit and listen to the rest of the book if I ever wanted to know what motivated my father to decide to read that one to me. 

“Hunters are basically humans, there is nothing that you can pinpoint to differentiate them from a normal human, which is what makes them even more petrifying. At some instances, people fail to know of their presence because they will be living amongst them as part of them. There are however different species of hunters. These ones that live amongst the people are the least harmful ones, they call them the ‘vegetarians.’ And then there is this other group, the one you should tremble at the mention of their name, the ‘carnivores,’ these ones are straight up cannibals. They don’t hide who they are, they don’t hide behind families and deceive people into believing that they are humans, they live in caves, brand themselves in scary tattoos, and fill their caves with paintings made with human blood. They hunt, they kill…….”

At this point, my father’s breaking off wasn’t normal. My mother and I watched him as he stood up and hastily started walking towards the door. I had never seen my father more frightened in my entire life; which made me wonder, could the hunters be real?

Slowly, my father opened the door, only to laugh out pathetically. It was only a dog. He probably felt cold and squeezed himself on the door, making that sound that crippled my father, making him turn away from his book for the first time in three hours. This was the longest he had ever read to me, it’s as if today he was trying to finish reading the entire book, which was very impossible seeing that there were still too many pages to go. 

He locked the door and walked back into the house, giving me an opportunity to ask, as it turns out, I had just too many questions. 

“Dad, how do you kill a hunter?” 

I fired the first question and eagerly waited for his response. Like a mute person, he just stood there and stared into space. Without saying a word, he grabbed more firewood and started adding it in the fire.

“Dad!”

“We are done reading for today. We should all get ready for bed.” Totally ignoring me. 

I knew my father; he didn’t really want to go to bed. He was avoiding. It’s either he didn’t have the answer to the question, or it was too scary that he didn’t want to say it out loud with his mouth. Or worse, it was too disappointing he’d rather keep it to himself. But he knew I wasn’t going to let it go before he answered.

“Dad! How do you kill a hunter?”

“You don’t.”

He said with a very low, concerned voice. Something did not feel right. My father was not the type to give up like that. It’s almost felt like he was dismissing me.

“Then we are basically screwed. Are the hunters real?” I kept pushing.

His head bowed down; he spoke in a very low, petrified voice:

“My child, do not always believe what you are told, stand firm, be brave. The dark days are coming, and you are going to have to apply every skill I taught you, fight for your people. Without you and your powers, the entire human race is doomed.”

Now that’s the story I hated the most. Ever since I was born, my parents have raised me to become a warrior, training me day in and day out. I have always been told that my people depended on me, that dark days would come when I would have to defend the human race with the powers given to me by our gods. I never knew what to believe.

“They will come for you, and they will do anything in their power to stop you from eradicating their reign. Remember, use your brain before strength and always, you will conquer.”

“Still, you didn’t answer me. Are the hunters real?” I needed to hear him say it.  

My father turned to look at me with his eyes wide open before he stood up and started for the door, unfortunately he was stopped by a spear driven through his heart by a man who just threw himself in through the door. Followed by his crew. 

“Get the girl!” 

He yelled. In a breathtaking speed, a man got in, grabbed me and out of the house like he was never there in the first place. I had never seen something that fast before. That was the last I saw my parents and my home, the next I woke up I was in this weird zone, surrounded by this hideous people.

Lost in my dream and once again emotional over the death of parents and the brutality of their killers, a man grabbed me from where I was lying down helplessly and took me on his shoulders to.......who knows where? Probably to kill me, but that didn’t matter at that moment. The sadness would probably kill me before he gets the chance.

In what looks like the throne room, they threw me to the ground in front a man seated on the throne, their king I presume. 

“The legend of the hunters?” reading out loud from the book he has in his hands, my father’s book.

To my surprise, these fellas didn’t get bothered at all about my nudity. I mean, why would they care? A meal is probably the only thing I’m good for. Or maybe not:

“Tell me, what could a pretty little thing like you know about saving a nation?” he continued. 

Staring at me intensely in deep thought, his attention got shifted from me by a burst in through the door. A strong built, giant, with green eyes like a cat, fierce looking man walked towards us aggressively yelling at the man on the throne. 

“what do you think you are doing here Manganga? And why is this poor girl naked?”

“She is the weapon of the humans. She is the only thing standing between us and immortality, without her, we get to live forever. The girl must die.” He defended himself.

“I get to decide that. I am the leader here not you.” Getting comfortable on his throne, “Somebody please get this young girl some clothes.”

And that’s how I got to survive the night in the hunters’ territory. Well, barely. Just like that, the king bought me some time to make a plan. 

“Use your brain before your strength.” 

In the dark cave beneath the castle, my father’s words kept playing in my head like a constant heartbeat, until I got distracted by a sudden burst in through the door. Manganga and two other men tried to sabotage the king’s plan, and kill me on their own, but at that instant, wrath overwhelmed me. 

Standing there in front my attackers foaming with rage, my nails grew out of my skin creating a shape of those of a wolf, fur covered all of my skin and I grew a wolf’s teeth, in just a blink of an eye, I stood stained with blood in front the torn up bodies of what was once known as the immortal creatures. I never knew the extent of my powers until that instant. Like a lost puppy, I shrunk myself at the corner till morning. 

After the past night terror, I never wanted to see that sight of me again, so to avoid that unpleasant history from repeating itself, I formulated a clear plan that involved no one else getting hurt. A peaceful and harmonious plan that would unite all our people as one. 

Standing before the king the following morning, I stood firm and negotiated the freedom of my people from fear of living everyday wondering when they will get eaten. Many people call what I did on day cowardness, I call it, ‘bravery’. 

“And what is this great plan that I’m told you have to stop the war?” he started.

“I might be small and, in your eyes, insignificant, but I know a good person when I see one. From what I understand, you are one of the original hunters. You understand how it feels to be immortal, to be feeble and constantly living in fear, unlike me and most of your people who were born with powers they didn’t even ask for, you understand where everything you got comes from. It wasn’t sweet, it was sour and you had to sweat for it, which is probably why you don’t want this war?”

“What makes you think you know where I come from? You have no idea how it was like. Your people, they abandoned us. We were kids, the elderly, the pregnant and the sick, we couldn’t keep up and no one thought to stay behind and protect us, they only took what was useful to them and left the useless behind. You don’t know how it was like watching my people dying from starvation and not being able to help. My own grandfather sacrificed himself so.......so we could eat. Have you ever had to eat your own grandfather?

At this point, I began to understand a whole lot more than I have ever understood before. My father was right, don’t always believe what you are told. My whole life, I have been taught to hate and trained to fight the hunters, no one ever wanted to talk about how they were created in the first place. All we were taught as children, is how to fear and hate the hunters. 

“I am sorry.” In a low, embarrassed voice I apologized on my knees for the deeds of my ancestors.

“What do you propose?”

In a trembling voice, proposed my ideas and carefully laid out my conditions.

“I understand the terror of what you have all gone through, but I think it’s time to make things right, let’s leave the past behind us and unite our nations as one.”

I didn’t bother to look around at the people, but from the cold breeze I got, I could feel that everyone was frowning at the sound of my proposal. 

“You will continue to lead the hunters; I will lead my people and make sure they don’t harm yours. All you have to do is to control your people, nobody is allowed to hunt humans for food, we will offer our dead for your meals. But from now on, every child born of the hunters is to be raised as a human, no more hunters are to be created, the only ones who will continue living and using their powers to protect both our people from the outside enemy are those who are already matured. Accept my proposal, and let’s both safe our people from war. You know what I’m capable off, I never want to have to use my powers again.”

The king gaped at me for a moment in deep thought, looked at his people who were anxiously staring back at him, and then he looked back at me ready to respond. 

“Okay.”

Okay? Yes, that’s right, he just said to me okay. I don’t know what I was expecting to hear but that seemed a little to easy. I couldn’t help but think there was something more. 

“But I have a few ideas of my own.” And there it is. “To ensure the peace you are talking about is really effective, our people have to inter-marry, starting with you. You as the leader of your people have to marry me as the leader of my people. An immortal born from both immortal beings will grow to become the leader of both nations combined. In that way, my people as equally as yours will be forced to pay allegiance to him, because he will carry both their blood.”

You got to be kidding me. No, I will just stick with war, here I was trying to do the right thing, and what do I get, stuck for eternity with a 500+ year old human eater? 

“Is that the only way” I asked.

“Yes.” Arrogantly. 

Then war it is. Or maybe not. Maybe the idea isn’t so bad after all, I mean, it is peace we are after.