Phalanges

On the beach, more than a dozen natives began chattering excitedly. Xiunan couldn't understand a word of what they were saying, but he could guess it had something to do with the battle that had just taken place.

After a while, the natives dispersed. They continued along the beach rather than venturing into the dense forest. Xiunan followed them from within the woods, keeping his distance as he watched those bronze-skinned figures from afar.

He moved with utmost caution, staying far enough from the beach to avoid detection. For nearly six miles he trailed them, unseen. The natives seemed to be foraging along the shore.

Time slipped by until, at last, they headed into the forest, apparently returning toward their tribe. Xiunan stayed close behind, careful not to make a sound. In truth, he wasn't afraid of being discovered; if he truly wished to escape, none of them could stop him.

They pressed on, passing through a thick stretch of woodland and emerging onto open plains. Xiunan didn't dare cross directly, but waited until the natives' shadows were nearly out of sight before hurrying after them, trailing at the rear of the group.

Crossing the small plain, two peaks rose before him. Between them yawned a wide valley.

Within the valley, the native tribe appeared in full view.

Every house was built of wood, thatched with grasses to shield against sun and rain. Around the perimeter stood a fence, entwined with green climbing vines. Inside the enclosure, livestock wandered about, clucking and calling.

The group of native hunters shouldered two massive wild boars into the village, immediately drawing a crowd. Their faces shone with excitement as they spoke in their incomprehensible tongue. Suddenly, an elder adorned with a necklace of bones stepped forward from the crowd, and all paid their respects.

His face bore the most red and white stripes, nearly as many as two or three ordinary men combined.

The hunters carrying the boars halted at once. The elder examined their catch, then raised his hands high and shouted something. Instantly, two young boys in the crowd leapt for joy, their parents beaming with pride.

Surrounded by villagers, the entire party set off toward the left-hand mountain peak, the elder leading, followed by the four hunters carrying the boars.

Bringing up the rear were the two nervous boys.

"It looks like they're heading for the mountain?"

From a distance, Xiunan made his decision. He circled around, climbing rapidly up the steeper side to reach the summit first.

By the time Xiunan arrived, a ritual was already underway on a clearing. Hidden in the trees, he watched without alerting any of the participants.

Not far ahead, a circular stone altar occupied the center of a flat area. Five ring-shaped grooves formed concentric circles at its heart. Between two of the grooves, countless runes were inscribed, tiny as flies and mosquitoes.

Most of these runes were blurred and erased, with only a few remaining barely legible.

The elder stood in a corner, directing the four strongmen to drag the wild boars to the altar. He raised his hand, and the bone pendant at his back released a surge of power. Instantly, a gigantic raptor emerged from his frail body, its wings stretching over three meters wide.

The monstrous bird beat its wings and landed atop the two boars, digging its talons into their heads and pinning them to the ground with brutal force, the earth thudding beneath the impact.

The four strongmen quickly withdrew. The elder beckoned, and the two nervous boys stepped forward. After a stern admonition, the old man waved his hand.

The raptor’s iron talons gripped the boars’ necks and, with a powerful twist, severed their heads in a spray of blood that gushed like a fountain.

A thick, metallic scent filled the air.

Yet the blood did not splatter wildly; it flowed as if guided by some unseen force, tracing the altar in circular motion. As the blood touched the tadpole-shaped runes on the ground, they began to flicker and glow.

They greedily absorbed the boars’ blood.

Before long, the two massive wild boar kings had been utterly drained. Even their muscles seemed to wither, their bodies shrinking to half their original size.

A surge of invisible energy enveloped the entire altar, and the two boys were lifted into the air by some unseen force.

Astonished, they stared at their feet, until the movement at the altar’s center seized their attention. From the very heart of the concentric rings, a pillar slowly rose, growing upward. At its pinnacle sat a single, snow-white phalange.

Outside the altar, the elder and the four hunters immediately knelt, chanting and bowing in utmost reverence.

Suddenly, two streams of light shot from the phalange, striking the boys square in the chest. Before Xiunan’s eyes, a miraculous transformation occurred: the backs of the two native boys began to tear open, their skin and flesh splitting inch by inch.

Drops of scalding blood slid from midair.

Amidst the red flesh, something white seemed to be growing outward. Was it bone?

Indeed, a white bone ring forced its way from the wound, turning as the boys screamed in agony.

The ring spun faster and faster.

Suddenly, one boy shrieked, blood pouring from every orifice, his body twisting along with the ring’s rotation until he was contorted into a grotesque ball. The ring on his back exploded into fragments.

The other boy was luckier. Though his face twisted in pain and his body curled like a shrimp, he gritted his teeth and endured. The white bone ring on his back gradually slowed, eventually locking in place, embedded deep within his flesh.

Only then did the elder rise, casting a regretful glance at the lump of flesh on the ground before looking expectantly at the surviving boy. The tribe had gained another warrior!

“Ha ha ha, abba abba abba abba…”

The elder laughed as he pointed at the boy and spoke to the hunters, but as he turned, his smile froze.

Where was the Sacred Bone?!!

The four hunters’ faces twisted in fury and shock.

A piercing screech split the air as five gigantic raptors took flight, their thunderous cries echoing across half the mountainside. Countless beasts froze where they stood, joints creaking ominously.

In that instant, time itself seemed to halt.

At the foot of the mountain, a blurred figure sprinted away like a raging storm. Xiunan heard the cacophony of enraged bird calls behind him and quickened his pace, his form streaking away in a blur of shadow.

Clutched in his hand was a snow-white phalange.