Hounds of Mercy

By Michael Hoffman

Brave Tsavo, the first African lion hound, never dies. A nature god blesses him with reincarnation, and he lives again and again as an angel of mercy for the people he loves. Follow his heroic journey from the Dark Continent to the 9/11 disaster site and the Battle of Gettysburg. Watch him outwit a famous psychiatrist and cross the genetic line between man and animal to heal his old master's broken heart. Magical realism makes anything possible in these unusual, irresistible stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644713129

Book preview

In the Beginning

Mother Nature experimented with many kinds of people before she chose homo sapiens like you and me as her evolutionary favorite. While she put the finishing touches on our genetics, she told Shango, the spirit of immortality and hunting, to find a wolf, jackal, or wild dog to be a brave companion for us. Other nature spirits, like Ebit-Tibi of the soil and Eshu of the water listened eagerly when Shango told fantastic stories of how dogs would learn to read people’s thoughts and eventually be called man’s best friend.

Shango considered great northern wolves too intimidating and jackals too skittish. Wild dogs never left their packs, and foxes were just too small. Shango got discouraged, and on the day he planned to ask Mother Nature for help, a complete surprise event solved his problem. What happened that day lay shrouded in mystery for ages and eventually became Mother Nature’s first hound dog legend. When asked to tell the story, Shango always says…

The hound I sought appeared like magic on hot dark night in Africa. Since that night, he has died and been reborn countless times. He lives to serve people with acts of magical healing. He has performed so many marvelous feats in so many places and in so many ages that I can’t decide which amazes me most. Every single one of his stories fills me with joy. I should probably write a book! However, since you have asked, let me tell you about the first time we met…

Shango’s Magic Mark

Way back on the endless grassy plains of Africa, Thunder reigned as king of the elephants. He stood taller than the others and from a distance looked as majestic as a great grey mountain. Even kings have problems, though. He paced back and forth every day watching lions prowl through the brush, hungry for the plump baby elephants waddling between their mothers’ legs in the mud. Sometimes the lions snapped their fierce jaws at the mother elephants’ trunks when they tried to protect their little ones.

Nothing could keep the lions away. Something had to be done

Thunder knew exactly where to find help. He lifted his trunk high into the air and trumpeted a summons to his friend Tsavo, the king of the brave brown dogs. Tsavo and his mates were loyal friends, and they had tangled with lions many times before.

The dogs soon arrived, with Tsavo at their head, waiting on the edge of the elephant herd as the sun set upon the brush lands, and the last lion stalked away. When the coast was clear, the elephant king called the dogs in closer, and together they made a plan: the dogs would crouch unseen between the legs of the bull elephants the next day, and when the lions rushed in to attack, the dogs would explode out in fierce surprise and challenge the lions’ might and manes. Thunder sweetened the deal with a reward; he promised to let the dogs sleep in the cool shade between the bull elephants’ legs any time they wanted to escape the heat of the sun. Tsavo gladly agreed. It was a very good deal for the brave brown dogs.

The next morning dawned with a hot wind that carried the irresistible scent of baby elephants into the lions’ sensitive noses. One pride of lions after another caught the scent until dozens of the great tawny beasts were slinking shoulder-to-shoulder through the brush, forming a circle of teeth, claws, and growls around the elephants. The baby elephants huddled close to their mothers, while the brave brown dogs peered out silently from between the bull elephants’ legs.

As the lions crept ever closer, Tsavo whispered to Thunder, You have nothing to fear, my fine elephant brother. This is the day the lions stop bullying elephants once and for all. I promise!

I trust you, too, Tsavo, the elephant king whispered back. When I can see the lions’ eyes glinting, and their dark manes hovering in the thick brush, I will wiggle my ears, and then you—

Before Thunder could finish speaking, Maluku the tawny lion king leapt out of the brush with his thick black mane bristling. Thunder trumpeted and wiggled his ears, and the whole pack of big brown dogs rushed in a furious wave from their hiding places between the bull elephants’ legs.

The onslaught stopped Maluku in his tracks. For the first time in his long ferocious life, he was facing a worthy foe. The biggest meanest dogs the lion had ever seen attacked on all sides with cunning ferocity. They growled and snapped like a wave of angry brown danger, batting Maluku’s face with their heavy paws. They tore holes in his haunches and shoulders then leapt away to escape his massive paws. Maluku spun in narrowing circles but couldn’t escape. More and more dogs rushed out from beneath the elephants and trapped the other lions in a prison of fearless teeth.

The brave brown dogs were smart. They knew a six-hundred-pound lion like Maluku could easily kill any dog but was helpless when four or more attacked in unison, diving in and leaping back in a constant furious ballet. Tsavo and his mates continued their lethal dance until the exhausted Maluku could take no more. He bellowed a deep-throated growl of retreat, warning the other lions to flee. The dogs watched as the torn and bloody lions disappeared one by one, limping back into the brush.

When the last lion had vanished and every baby elephant had been counted safe, Thunder surprised the dogs with a special reward.

Come, my loyal friends! he said. You are hot, thirsty, dirty, and tired. Let us wash your wounds and give you the comfort and rest you have earned.

Tsavo stepped forward and settled onto the ground beneath Thunder’s legs. Warm healing water flowing from Thunder’s trunk washed away every trace of the battle’s dirt and grime as it swept gently from Tsavo’s head to tail. Thunder’s gentle touch warmed and released every painful knot of tension. Tsavo growled low in his throat in contentment and soon drifted into a well-deserved deep sleep, wrapped in a dream of kindness. The other elephants tended to each and every dog, rubbing and cleaning and sheltering them until every brave brown dog was clean and fast asleep. All that long African night, the dogs dreamed exactly the same dream of Tsavo proclaiming their victory and honoring their new elephant friends.

Our courage will be legend. We will protect all our friends, and we will always show our loyalty to those who need us. That’s what makes us brave brown dogs.

Thunder’s heart swelled with gratitude as he watched the exhausted hounds slumber. He knew