The Human Hybrid Odyssey: Forever Changed

By Aaron McDonald and Kimathi Witt

The Elders founded the village, representing a microcosm from an earlier way of life. A way of life that some might describe as paradise, and others might use the word remote. Overall, it was a homestead for an extended and large family.

The people of the village share an uncanny ability that makes them a scary force to reckon with. However, the peace was shattered after forty years of living a fairytale life in a land cut off from the others. They faced a new threat from an old adversary; many of them had no idea existed. The choice is fight or flight, or both.

Heroes will rise to the occasion, and heroes will fall to the consequences of their efforts. The concept of paradise evaporates as fear overtakes the land.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798350941647

Book preview

The Human Hybrid Odyssey

Forever Changed

McDonald Witt Jatta

Copyright © 2023 by McDonald Witt Jatta Ltd.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact [include publisher/author contact info].

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Book Cover by K. Jatta

Illustrations by K. Jatta

1st edition 2023

Contents

1.Village Life

2.Back at the village

3.A light in the Western Sky

4.A Journey to the East

5.Getting Back Home

6.The Story of the Wolves

7.Wepwawet: The Ruler of wolves

8.The Delegation Returns

9.On Guard

10.A Food Run

11.Confronting Their Fears

12.The Battle for Their Lives

13.Mourning The Dead

14.Forever Changed

15.A Long Walk

16.Nosoo Finds Clues

17.Onward

18.The Gate of M'Nayama

19.Encounter the Elk

20.Here They Come

Chapter 1

Village Life

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Konni and Ey’lona were leisurely walking in the fields during the mid-morning hours. This is probably the best time to take a healthy walk in the fresh morning air. Hours before the day's high heat takes hold, and the ground beneath their feet gets too hot to walk barefooted.

The grass is almost perfect and reminiscent of a soft, plush carpet three inches deep. Walking through it is almost like walking on the clouds, with a hint of morning dew that hasn’t entirely dried. Combine that with the sunny skies, with just a few white puffy clouds, and it is as perfect a day as one could hope for.

A leisurely walk in this part of the village territory is a rare treat. The everyday life in the village is a busy one, but it is also a bit mundane as every day seems to be an exact carbon copy of the last. From when the sun comes up to the time the sun goes down, everyone of working age has to perform. The village is quite large, yet very organized. The inhabitants of the village are not ordinary. They are extra ordinary.

The young couple was accompanied by their three-year-old son, Jvonn, the youngest in the village. He, too, is enjoying this lovely morning and its beauty, but just walking along is not his style. He is running, rolling, and hopping through the grass. He laughed and played tag with the grownups, who just slightly seemed to participate in his game, just enough to keep him laughing.

Occasionally, one of them will run after him and snatch him up into a bear hug to let him know they are paying him some attention. Then, place him back down to run around some more.

I spend many nights wondering what the future may hold for our son, Ey’lona says.

what do you mean by that? asks Konni. He will grow to be a great hunter like his father and his grandfather, he says.

Ey'lona replies, I know that is the future you see for him, but that is such a narrow vision.

When I was born, my parents raised me to be a hunter, which is what I trained to be. After their deaths, my grandfather ensured I stayed on that path, which worked out for me. Why wouldn't it work out for Jvonn? said Konni.

Hunting is a noble profession, but it has become the only profession around here, said Ey'lona. You and I both were born in the village, and we know the many instances of yearning for more. Although we were both raised and trained to be hunters, that life was not as fulfilling as it is professed to be. The two of us always had each other, and we would steal away from the village every chance we got to explore each other and the outskirts of our land. We have always kept each other busy and entertained since childhood."

She continued, Jvonn is the youngest of the tribe. There are no potential mates for him in the village. The older females are four and five years older than he, and they are all taken. There have been no other births since his, and no new births are expected. Our son will not have a wife if he stays in the village.

I didn't think of it that way, said Konni. I will need some time to consider what this will mean for his future.

It was then that Jvonn saw the butterfly. Like any child his age, his attention was diverted because he wanted to catch the butterfly. He scampered through the grass, arms outstretched, reaching as he ran behind the fleeing butterfly. The little insect would weave in different directions to avoid capture while maintaining a safe distance from the child. It was as if the butterfly was taunting the boy, but the boy had a one-track mind to catch this flying insect, and the longer it took, the more he wanted it.

After a short chase, the butterfly had grown tired of playing with the boy and decided to fly away, and he started to create more distance between himself and the boy. The boy was running as fast as his two feet would take him, but he was losing ground. It was at this point that the boy began transforming from a boy into a lion cub. And now his running speed was drastically increased just before he leaped up and swiped the butterfly out of mid-air, smacking it into the grass with enough force to stun it. Then, with one lick, he swallowed the insect whole.

Konni and Ey’lona, without missing a beat, look at each other, and Ey’lona says, He has gotten better with the switch. He did that one with little effort. Jvonn is their only child, the second generation of fully hybrid children, and the youngest in the village.

Konni nods and adds, He’s going to be a great hunter, for sure. He turns to Jvonn and says, Back to human, now. The cub morphs back into the three-year-old seamlessly and continues his romp in the grass.

The young family are Bevange, meaning they are hybrids. In this era, many people are hybrids but not of the same species, and some are only half hybrid. This family belongs to the Imbube Tribe of lion hybrids. Although they can morph into full lions, a few of the others can only partially change, so they look half lion and half human.

The walk continues, and the discussion continues about Jvonn’s future. Both of them agree that growing up in the village does not benefit Jvonn, but if staying in the village may not be the best for him, what are the alternatives?

They see what appears to be smoke in the distance, exceptionally far off, but from this far off, it could be a dust storm or something. They do not concern themselves because, at this distance, it is not a concern. Whatever that disturbance is, at best guess, a hundred miles out or more. They agree that it will die down long before it gets this far.

Jvonn, come. Let's go home, said Konni. Then, the three turn around and head back to the village.

***

Meanwhile, miles away from the village, off in the prairie, the village hunters were stalking a large herd of deer and elk. In their lion form, the hunters sat very still in the bush as the unsuspecting herd grazed. Keeping low, they spread out to form a sort of semi-circle at a distance so as not to give away their presence.

The lions jumped out, and the deer began to run. They all tried to run in the same direction, and it was the wrong choice because the lions had already cut off that escape route. When they realized what was happening, the lions were taking some down.

Out of a herd of seventy or so deer, the lions took down twenty before the others could run for it. A significant part of the hunting plan is not to kill too many prey. This allows the deer to reproduce and grow their numbers for future hunts. Also, superstition has it that there is a giant elk (or deer) somewhere in the woods who will come for you if you kill too many of his herd. Many of the hunters laugh at the legend, but they still respect the idea.

The lions held tight to the captured prey as they continued to put up a fight. Once the fight was out of their hands, the hunters in human form moved in to take control of the deer, and the lions began to morph back into human form as well.

The hunters' ages range from ten to thirty years old.