After Lucy and her party landed on the beach, they waited near the rowboat for Kiki's return. Lucy hoped the tribe didn't catch the bird too. Rescuing two individuals might become a challenging problem.

With relief, it didn't take Kiki long to return. She flew toward the beach and landed toward Lucy.

"Did you find him?" Lucy asked.

Kiki shivered her wings as the cool wind breezed over her. “Squawk! I couldn’t find him, but I found the cannibal village.”

“Where?”

Kiki pointed her feather finger toward the volcano. “Near the volcano in the east. Squawk! I only peeked so I wouldn’t get caught. There are huts, shadows, smoke, and drums. I think they are having a party there.”

Lucy rubbed her chin until a quest notification popped up.

Quest Updated! The Island of Cannibals Your friend, Charles, escaped from Walton, but now the Black Dog tribe captured him. They will eat him if you don’t rescue him in 10 minutes. Do you accept this quest? Aye, or nay?

Lucy’s heart dropped, but she immediately accepted the quest. “The tribe has him now! We only have ten minutes to save his life!”

Kiki looked confused. “How do you know? Squawk!”

“Trust me, where else would he be here? If they are setting up a morning feast, he has to be their main course!” Lucy sucked in her breath to calm herself down. “Thank you, Kiki. You may return to the ship. Keep an eye on the flare if I shoot it.”

“Squawk! Good luck!” Kiki flapped her wings and took off, following the ocean breeze to the ship.

Lucy faced the jungle. “Let’s go.”

*****

Through the jungle, the trees blocked the sunlight, letting the gloom cover the greenish environment. Moss grew on each tree above the short grassy ground. A strong mucky stench engulfed the minty air.

It didn’t take long for Lucy, Ivy, Tashina, and Byron to locate the village when the drumming music caught their ears. Since no other creatures chirped in the jungle, music played pretty clearly.

As they marched through the brush, the drums grew louder and louder while feral chanting voices sang along to the beats. Barks, howls, and snarls echoed, which Lucy couldn’t understand. Unlike the drums she heard on Blackmane, the cannibals’ music sounded more feral than civilized, crawling through her skin.

On a hill, Lucy and her party took cover behind a thick log. They peeked over and spotted the entire village.

It wasn’t big as Lucy thought. About ten domed huts across the muddy ground in the wide clearing. Black smoke flowed behind the huts, filling the atmosphere with charcoal and odd scents in the cool air. Whatever they were cooking, Lucy doesn’t want to find out. Skull totem posts towered in the pathways beneath bones hanging on strings connected to each dirty hut.

Most of the bones looked to be canine. If nobody else came to the island, did the Black Dogs eat one of their tribal members and collected their bones? What a horrible life to live with cannibals.

You discovered the Black Dog village! If you care about your life, run away immediately! The cannibals will show no mercy to outsiders. Their pack might look small, but the rest of their tribe lives in underground tunnels with more unspeakable horrors. If you have a quest to complete, good luck. Slay the cannibals before they swarm you and your crew.

Since Lucy already accepted the quest, there was no turning back now. If the tribe is weak, she could wipe them all out.

Toward the open center in the village, black-furred dogs danced around a wooden stick pile with a log on top. Others sat on the muddy ground, beating their drums in random rhythms.

All of them were naked, wearing canine skulls on their heads and bone armor on their skinny bodies. Green tribal markings glowed on their naked flesh beneath their bony gear. They looked like dancing skeletons, howling and snarling like demons. Maybe Bone Dogs was a better name for them.

“Mi duh like dem muzik,” Tashina whispered with a chuckle. “Mussi a ritual before dem start dem feast.”

“Can you see their levels, captain?” Ivy asked.

Lucy blinked her eyes, but nothing happened. “I can’t tell. We have to look closer in their village.”

“Highly risky,” Byron mentioned.

The black dogs suddenly stopped and pounded their chests as they howled at the sky. Two female dogs, wearing only bone necklaces and skull masks, strolled into a hut. They dragged out a struggling male gray wolf, who only wore pants.

Lucy beamed her eyes at the captive until she gasped. “Charles!”