The Index -|-

Kpleeb was on the ridge again, but this time he had Thoka’s new detector device. When he had returned from the large rock the Ganix called ‘The Fist,’ Thoka had been pacing back and forth in front of her workshop with Zara playing nearby in the sand. Thoka muttered to herself and examined her detector for hours. A few days later, here he was, on the ridge watching Uuiit’s village again.

Thoka had redesigned her device from scratch. Now it was curved around his arm starting at his elbow. The clockwise curve wrapped his arm twice like a thin, pale snake. The end was anchored on the back of his hand by a bracelet. Protruding away and slightly upward were two curved horns that did not quite touch

Kpleeb had no idea how these things worked. He had spent some time off and on for months trying to “see” or “feel” the forces that he knew Thoka could touch. It did not matter how he held his hands, his mouth, his feet. He had even tried to stand on his head once, when nobody was looking of course. If he did not know better, he would swear that the forces were just a myth. But- he did know better. Thoka had proven their existence over and over.

With an exaggerated sigh, Kpleeb returned his focus to Uuiit’s village. Below, the grid of huts occupied a clearing. Inside that grid, Uuiit’s unique dwelling – the one with the raised porch – registered on the detector. When he moved his arm side to side, panning over the building, the detector bumps turned a pale green color. At the building, it was solid red.

“I’m picking up a big red from Uuiit’s house,” Kpleeb said.

“Mmm,” said Xit.

Kpleeb had found out that the Ganix warriors had a strange quirk around Thoka’s abilities. They did not gawk, and they did not run away. It seemed to him as if they were caught in the middle between terrified and awestruck. They were a stoic group, and their respect for their Pale One seemed to run deep.

Kpleeb scanned the area outside of the village and found that there were several large red-zones. The lak store house was one of them, but there was another one further into the jungle that he could not see.

“How far to walk there?” Kpleeb pointed toward the spot on the other side of Uuiit’s village.

Xit squinted and looked at the sky for a moment. “One day. We go?”

Kpleeb pondered. He looked back toward home. Everything was quiet on all fronts. “I think we should go. We will have to stop when it gets dark.” He paused and pointed with his knuckle. “Down this way?”

Xit lowered his chin. “Big cliff. This way better.” He looked along the ridge further to their left.

“Alright, lead on then.” Kpleeb stood. They had not seen Uuiit, but there was a good chance that he was there. Thoka had told him about the angled shape that flung itself through the distant sky and into the clouds. He had been incredulous at first and a bit disbelieving, but he trusted Thoka. After considerable discussion, they were not sure if what she had seen was a message being sent or some kind of large bird. The perspective seemed very distant, which would mean it was large. They considered that it might be a false image, smaller, or perhaps an illusion.

Xit disappeared over a large rock ahead of him, and Kpleeb moved quickly to catch up. There was a winding path that navigated leftward and down through the rocks into the tree covered hillside. The trees there were evergreen and sparsely scattered among the stones. The ground was covered in a brown bed of needles that made it easy to walk silently. with minimal underbrush they made good time and soon it was dusk.

“When do we camp?” asked Kpleeb. His stomach grumbled, but he had seen very few animals and the party only carried a small meal for each of them.

“Soon,” said Xit.

Xip behind them spoke up. “River ahead.”

Kpleeb saw Xit nod.

“River camp.”

“Thank the great spirit tahr,” muttered Kpleeb. He kept moving, but imagined a nice, flaky fish roasting over a fire. The weather was still warming, and all of the snow was gone, but it would still be chilly overnight. The idea of a fire and food was tremendously appetizing. Soon enough, the sun was low in the sky and mostly covered by distant trees. Kpleeb heard the sound of rushing water. When they crested a small rise, he saw the gleaming thread of sunfire shimmering on the river.

The river wound from their right to the left before turning to angle away from them. It was a wide and placid river, and they were very close already. In a handful of long moments Xit spoke.

“Camp here.” He knelt next to a pile of stones that Kpleeb recognized as an old fire pit.

“You know this place?” Kpleeb looked around the area and saw that there were other signs of a previous camp.

Xit grunted and began to light a fire from the coal he had extracted from his leather bag. Xip dropped a small pile of sticks next to the stones and left again, presumably to collect more.

“I’ll go fish,” said Kpleeb quietly. Had had only caught a few fish since he and Thoka had found themselves in this place, whatever this place was. He had spent a little more time working out a special spear made of yellow stone. The spear had five thin barbs, and when it was thrust, the four outer barbs extended momentarily. The few times he had used it, the fish always seemed to be caught by surprise.

This night, he caught two fish, and it was only because the light shone perpendicularly across the river and illuminated the top hands-breadth of water with a greenish light that reflected off the fish’s scales. he arrived back at the fire just as the final rays of sun disappeared. He felt as proud as ever until he saw that Xip held three rabbits.

Beginning to feel sour, he scoffed. “Kill the whole family, did you, Xip?”

Xip nodded silently and resumed skinning the animals.

That night, Kpleeb, Xit, and Xip ate like kings, and when they were done, they packaged the remaining meat inside leather wrappings for the following day. The night was quiet and the fire crackled comfortably. Soon Kpleeb was asleep.

The next morning, they ate while moving, and soon enough when the sun was high in the sky, they approached the far side of the village. Once Xit had confirmed that they had successfully skirted the village itself, Kpleeb had regularly checked his detector for the most direct route. The bumps on the detector lit up brightly, which Thoka had explained meant that the detected object was large.

Xit raised his hand and crouched low. “Close now.” He pointed at a spot in the trees.

Kpleeb could see nothing there, but he swept the detector in the direction and it lit up nicely. “Well, okay. Let’s have a look.” Kpleeb tiptoed forward and brushed aside a section of the wall of wide, green leaves. Behind it was a clearing surrounded by a low, wooden fence. In the center was the angle.

Xit and Xip appeared silently behind Kpleeb and stared at it.

“Xit see before,” said Xit.

The angle was an uncertain color. Kpleeb would have said that it was grey at first, but the daylight bounced off of its surface in strange ways. He raised his arm with the detector and slowly swept from right to left. The red bump stayed lit, but brightened at the center. The angle was a tall as he was and as wide as six or more cavemen laying foot to head. Its edges were sharp, yet blurred and rounded to the eye.

Kpleeb stepped out into the clearing after looking in all forward directions for a sign of any living thing that might want him to stay away from this place. He walked around the large device slowly and examined it from every perspective. Finally, out of curiosity, he reached out his arm, the arm that the detector was mounted on. He wanted to put a finger on it, but as his finger came within a hand’s span, he felt a fuzzy sensation in his fingertips.

He pulled his hand back quickly. The tingling sensation reminded him too much of his time in the caves.with Thoka. It seemed so long ago that they were imprisoned there. He had been so angsty, and frustrated.

He tested his internal temperature. Am I less angry at the gods now? He felt like maybe he was, but then another idea occurred to him. Maybe I am just busier now. Being cooped up in the caves had given him so much time to think, and everything there was so fresh and new to him. The truth is, the gods gave me some useful things, but it was still terribly wrong to take me away from my family. Okay, so I left in anger, but I would have gone back. The gods took Thoka as well. She is the smartest cavewoman and was probably going to be a leader in her tribe someday.

Kpleeb brought himself back to the present. The gods, or entities as Thoka called them, had done evil towards them. They would pay for that eventually.

“I think we need to go back and maybe bring Thoka here, and someone who can watch.” He began to pace out the measurements of the angle. On the side they had entered, it was eight paces wide. He raised his hand and took note that it was maybe a hand’s span taller at the edge than his own shoulder, but that it angled upward towards its center.

“Maybe an extra arm’s length,” he muttered to himself. On the other side, the angle was acute and measured the same eight paces, but the other side was different. It was split in two in an asymmetrical indention, and there was no middle edge. The first of the edges was three paces and the second was around five. There was a tri-cluster of large bumps near the mid-point of the larger edge. The bottom was angled inward and lower just like the top, and Kpleeb stooped to look under the edge.

“What in the pit of the damned?”

The angle’s undercarriage came to a dull point and touched the dirt. Aside from a few finger-lengths of surface, no other part of it was supported. There were a few tri-clusters underneath, and when he checked, there were matching tri-clusters on the top.

“Interesting. We definitely need to get back,” Kpleeb said to Xit. “Thoka will want to see this.”

Xit and Xip turned immediately and led the way back. Kpleeb followed and remained in thought as they traveled.

The Index -|-

She awoke with a start. Someone had spoken. Staring into the darkness, her senses focused. There was a breeze outside, gusting and insistent. The fronds that covered the roof above her shook slightly, but not in a scary way. The hut was not drafty. There was a cough in the distance, probably a pale warrior sitting around the fire with his mates.

Thoka closed her eyes and sighed deeply. She drew her breaths slowly and calmed herself. The darkness slipped in from the edges and in a moment, she was asleep again.

The air shimmered with heat. She squinted in the bright sun and raised her right hand to shade her eyes. Trees in the distance fluttered gently, and she blinked to see if it was merely the dancing air. The leaves moved in a pulsating pattern now, and then the branches began to move as well. Rising above the tops was a triangle, low and flat. Its edges were blurred and uncertain. The shape quickly receded in a wash of sunny rays, and Thoka heard a voice.

“Mama.”

Thoka’s eyes opened suddenly, and she turned her head. Nestled next to her torso was Zara. She was sitting up and staring at Thoka. The heat from Zara’s body radiated fiercely, and Thoka began to rub her back gently.

“Why are you awake, Zara?”

“Hungry, mama.” Zara raised her hand toward Thoka. Her fat little fingers waggled beggingly.

Thoka reached out her hands and scooped Zara up to rest on her lap. She offered her a drink from her breast and Zara took it and began to suckle noisily. Thoka heard voices outside and gestured at the door. The hanging reeds slid aside with almost no exertion of the invisible forces. She saw there Kpleeb across the village center talking to Xit. She touched her necklace and then angled her wrist just so and whispered.

“Kpleeb, can we talk when you’re done?”

Outside, many paces away across the village, Kpleeb’s head jerked slightly toward their hut. She had spoken to him this way once before, and he was not used to it, yet. After a few more moments with Xit, he turned and headed toward their hut.

“How do you do that?” he asked.

Thoka tossed her long, pale hair back over her shoulder and smiled at him playfully. “It’s magic!”

“It’s the invisible forces,” Kpleeb said with a deadpan face. Apparently, he was not amused.

“Okay, sure, but can you see them?”

He shrugged. “No. Can you?”

Thoka rolled her eyes at him. “Only in my dreams. I can wield them though.”

“So then, how did you do that?”

Thoka paused to think about the answer. Zara burped loudly and then her butt also rumbled before she went back to eating. She was becoming quite the eater, and for a moment, Thoka realized that she needed to find a solid food source for the growing babe.

“I create a pocket of air next to your ear and another next to my mouth. Then I speak into it quietly. The air reverberates with my voice, and you hear it.”

Kpleeb nodded as if he expected nothing less.

Thoka knew that he was a very smart caveman, and she pondered the reasons why he could not see or use the forces. He isn’t well-versed on the invisible forces. I wonder if something about my dreams or being a girl caused me to be able to know the forces.

“So, the vibrations in that pocket are close and I can hear. So how do you get your voice to that pocket of air?”

“Um, well the two pockets are connected, so that when I speak on this one, the other receives the same effect.”

“So, magic then,” said Kpleeb with a slight grin.

“If magic can be understood, its reactions can be relied on, and only certain people can use it…” Thoka trailed off. “Maybe it is magic. Do you think Uuiit has magic too?”

Kpleeb shrugged. “It is hard to imagine what could possibly happen with a death-white. They did not speak to anyone except the chief. I never heard stories about threats or anger from them. When I was a cave-boy, I remember death-whites being odd, but not magical characters. Maybe they all have magic, or maybe just Uuiit.” He paused and looked out of the door. “If he is a user of the invisible forces, then we are in danger. I need to know just what kind of trouble he will be.”

“Not having seen anyone else who can fiddle with the forces, it’s hard to tell.” Thoka brought Zara up to her shoulder and bounced her a few times before setting Zara on her lap facing the door. I will make a rod that will detect the forces and let you look at Uuiit’s village again. But I will need Jial to monitor Zara while I work. Can you call her?”

Kpleeb bent and tweaked Zara’s cheek. “Got a good drink, huh, sweet thing?”

Zara nodded clumsily. “Dada!” Her bright smile always seemed to cause one of his own to appear. He straightened, patted her head, and left.

Soon after, Jial’s frame darkened the hut door. “Pale One?” she said.

Thoka continued bouncing Zara on her knee. “Can you watch Zara for a little while? I have some work to do.”

“Soon,” Jial said over her shoulder as she turned and left the hut.

For a moment, Thoka was surprised that she had been blown off so easily. Feelings of frustration quickly arose and were followed by a sense of anger. How dare she walk away from me like that? Reason set in shortly after as she remembered her ma. Ma had told Thoka as a teenager that the best leaders were humble and did not expect to be catered to. Thoka almost instantly felt a bit foolish. Jial has other things to do, after all, she is the only healer in the tribe. It’s not fair to expect her to babysit for me.

After a moment, Jial reappeared with a very young cavewoman that Thoka knew as Kora. “Kora watch Zara,” Jial said nodding at Thoka.

“Thank you, Kora. I have some work to do.” Thoka stood and handed Zara over to Kora’s outstretched arms. Zara remained quiet and analyzed Kora’s face. Thoka knew that Zara would be talking to Kora by the time Thoka was done with her task.

Kora smiled at Thoka and then turned her attention to Zara and began to coo at her.

Thoka followed Jial out the door. “Thank you, Jial. I know that you are busy. Can I continue to rely on Kora to help me?”

Jial lifted her chin. “Kora good cavegirl. She honored help Pale One.” She turned without saying another word and walked toward her hut.

No doubt she has someone waiting for her. Thoka put Jial’s brusque attitude aside and approached her own workshop. It was small, but Kpleeb had built a low workbench there for her. It was insulated and quiet, too, which was something she needed in order to work with the stone and the invisible forces.

“Light on,” she said quietly. A globe of white light appeared over the workbench. She sat down cross-legged and began to work. This particular project was one that she had never created. She did know the various pieces and was confident that she could produce what Kpleeb would need. Soon, she became absorbed in the process and lost track of time.

When she was done, the entire morning had passed. Thoka stretched slowly and stood up. She had aimed the new rod cluster at the light globe above her and one of its protrusions had briefly glowed red. She was not sure about the angle of detection, but only a more distant test would reveal that. She turned and stood at the door to the hut and pointed the device at the yellow stone wall that Kpleeb had been erecting on the far side of the village. The tiny protrusion glowed all along the wall, but she new that the wall was huge and so could not be a true test of accuracy.

The wall there was as tall as two cavemen. It spanned the entire side of the village in a large arc. Kpleeb planned to create a complete wall, a fortress that would protect the village from every side, but it took time. The yellow stone grew slowly and Kpleeb kept the growth to the night hours only in order to prevent the secret of the stone hidden from watchful eyes.

Kpleeb was standing near the wall talking to Xer and pointing to various parts of the wall as Thoka approached.

“We will light a fire here soon, in just a handful of moments, Thoka,” said Kpleeb when she approached.

“Not understand fire reason,” Xer said. He nodded at Thoka politely.

“Fire will strengthen the wall, and make it black, too.”

Xer shrugged as if it made no sense.

“Light it,” shouted Kpleeb.

Ganix warriors up and down the wall stepped forward with torches made of tightly-wrapped reeds. Along the wall were thin poles on which were mounted bundles of sticks and reeds. The dry wood caught quickly and everyone stepped back. Where the fire touched the wall, it blackened the yellow stone. Thoka and Kpleeb knew that fire deactivated the stone’s capability of growing or changing. In effect, fire killed whatever force was embedded inside. All that was left was a brittle and tough structure.

When the fire died out, Thoka smiled at Kpleeb. “It looks great. How long for the rest of the wall?”

Kpleeb turned and gazed along the village perimeter for a few moments before answering. “I believe it will take at least a moon-cycle, maybe two.”

“I hope Uuiit does not decide to attack us.” Thoka looked at Xer. “Do you think he will?”

Xer tilted his head, and Thoka recognized the sign of uncertainty. “One moon-cycle. Uuiit no attack,” he said.

“Maybe he is preparing,” said Kpleeb. “Or maybe he is unconcerned. Maybe he is spying on us. It would be wise for us to know.”

“I have a detector rod for you, Kpleeb.” Thoka raised her hand and showed him the device in her palm. It was the size of a pika fruit, but with more rounded edges. “I need to test the accuracy a bit more. Can you go up to the rock and let me tune this?” Thoka pointed at a large stone spire that rose in the distance. The Ganix warriors had dubbed it ‘the fist’ due to its shape.

Kpleeb looked at the wall and at the sun. “I think we have enough sun for this. I will take Xit and Xur and maybe another.” He turned to Xer. “Can you continue to build the wooden structure?”

Xer lifted his chin and then bowed slightly to Thoka and trotted off.

Thoka stood next to Kpleeb and pointed the device at her workshop. “When this bump turns red, that is a sign that it has detected a concentration of invisible forces.”

Kpleeb watched as Thoka moved the device in a panning motion. “I see,” he said. “Is it always on?”

“Yes. Now go. Maybe you can be back by dark.” Thoka handed him a bracelet and then kissed him on the cheek. “I need to see how Zara is doing. I will aim the detector at the fist every few minutes. Just go to the fist, stay there for a few long moments and then come back.”

Kpleeb slid the bracelet onto his arm and went to find Xit.

Thoka watched him walk away, and minutes later she was sitting on a large log near their hut with Zara on her lap. Kora had quietly handed Zara over and bowed. She appeared to be shaken, but she did not speak of the reason.

“Zara, do you like Kora?”

Zara awkwardly turned her head toward Thoka. “Yes,” she said as she bustled out the door.

“Did you talk to her?” Thoka’s hand gently strokes Zara’s hair. Her birth hair had fallen out and was growing again. This time it was pure white.

Zara smiled, her pudgy, baby cheeks bunching up. “I asked her questions.”

Thoka nodded. That explains it. Kora is probably freaked out. “That’s okay Zara. Kora will become accustomed. She is a good girl.” She picked up the detector and aimed it back and forth at the land between the fist and the village. The bump lit up a time or two, and Thoka was happy to see that it was working. Kpleeb did not appear to be even halfway to the fist yet.

“Mama, why is Kora not the same as us?”

Thoka pondered the answers and potential lies that she could tell, but she knew that Zara was special and very smart. There was no way to prevent her from hurting feelings if care was not taken. Thoka also did not think it would be wise to hold her daughter back. They were a new generation of cavepeople, and the world would have to mold around them.

“We are special, Zara.” She paused and then continued what she assumed would be one of many lessons that only she could pass on to her child. “We are caretakers of Kora, Jial, and all of their people. We must treat them with respect. Do you understand?”

Zara was silent. She stared at the device in Thoka’s hand. “Can I hold it?”

Thoka was surprised, but held it in front of Zara. “I will hold it do that we don’t drop it.”

Zara reached out and touched the device. She traced some of the raised lines and rods with her finger. “Pretty,” she said quietly.

Thoka frowned. The device was basically shades of yellow except for a blackened handle. It was interesting maybe, but not pretty. “Why do you think it’s pretty, Zara?”

“Colors move, mama.” The fat little finger traced to the hub where all of the lines intersected opposite of the handle. The bump turned red.

Thoka adjusted the device toward the fist again, and the red disappeared.

“What colors, Zara?” Thoka certainly knew that there was a flow of forces there, after all, she had designed and built the device.

“Jiep, gjeel, wuuop, and aaint.” Zara punctuated with her fingers in a spreading gesture.

Thoka sighed. Maybe she can actually see what I only interpret. I guess I need to get a color chart and teach her the names of colors. Thoka leaned back and watched Zara play with her device. There is so MUCH to do.

Thoka heard a somewhat frantic voice outside. “Pale One!” She sighed again and carefully climbed to her feet. Zara dangled from her arms still holding the device. She swept aside the hanging reeds and looked out over the village. Kora stood there pointing.

There in the distance, beyond the far ridge a shimmering angle rose. It was so distant that it was merely an angled blur. Thoka took the device out of Zara’s hands and aimed it.  The protrusion was red as it passed the partial village wall. It blinked off, and then came on again as she pointed it directly at the fading dot.

Red appeared again briefly as it passed over the distant fading object.

“Uuiit,” said Kora under her breath.

Thoka looked at Kora and then back toward the ridge, but the object was gone.