The Index -|-

Thoka stood silently as Kilow and Bre approached. The women appeared to be generally strong. Their bodies were toned and there was very little fat there. Kilow, though clearly the older of the women, was very fit and carried herself with a subdued confidence.

Thoka looked toward the village and saw Molk striding about. His calls to action were heard only faintly. Occasionally, he would help drag a pale warrior into the pile near the very center of the circle – where Kpleeb had once been tied up.

These are the best leaders the tribe has. Molk is muscle only, but he sways opinions through sheer size and force of will.

Kilow stood and stared thoughtfully at Thoka. Her mannerisms were calm and patient. She did not speak.

Bre was very still and held her breath. Her hands were clasped together at her belly button. Thoka could tell by the whiteness of her fingers that Bre was nervous and held herself in check. She would not speak before Kilow.

Thoka looked down at Kpleeb. He sluiced water with both hands up and over his head. Over and over, the water ran down his body and stained the pool at the edge of the river red with his blood. He shivered. Though springtime had come, the water was still very cold. It came from the canyon and beyond that, the distant mountains where snow and ice still appeared at the frosty peak.

Thoka waited. She knew that her power lie in remaining unknown. Kilow and Bre would be wary of her as long as her intentions and actions were uncertain. While she waited, she examined every detail of the river, village, and the cavepeople. The huts were rudimentary clay and stick huts with roofs of fronds and leaves from trees that grew nearby. Each one had a low door with a beaded curtain. The huts circled the village center where the pole that Kpleeb had been bound to was located. Beyond the village was a jungle or trees, and brush that had been naturally cleared away as the villagers had gathered firewood and building materials. Overall, Thoka was impressed. The village appeared to be old, yet it was a step up from dwelling inside caves. The huts, the pole, and the river all pointed toward intelligence and planning over time.

Maybe this Kilow is a good leader after all.

“We talk,” Kilow stated, still looking calmly at Thoka. She held out a tiny, wooden bowl with a semi-gelatinous substance in it. “Salve.” A distant rumble of thunder echoed from the direction of the canyon, and the breeze shifted.

Thoka stared back without emotion. “We need food.” She looked at Kpleeb, who stood carefully. “Kpleeb must be taken care of.”

“I bring,” said Bre breathlessly. She trotted off immediately.

There was a distant rumble of thunder. Thoka ignored Bre and reached out to take the small bowl. It smelled pungent. Pink and gooey, it coated the tip of her finger. She touched her tongue with it. The taste was sharp, and her tongue tingled slightly.

Acidic, with an astringent quality. It was made at least partially out of berry, distilled spirits, and a strange kind of fat.

Thoka rubbed her finger and thumb together and felt the slick grease spread and coat her skin. It felt cool where it touched. She placed her thumb-ring over the bowl, and focused. The invisible forces swam in a sedate circular pattern under and through it the ring. The salve turned a mottled green and blue. Vapors emitted endlessly from the surface and rose toward the sky as smoke would rise from a fire. Thoka turned the bowl slowly, examining it from various angles, and saw that the vapors were affected by the gusting breeze.

“Thank you,” she said finally and raised her eyes to meet those of Kilow.

Kilow waved toward the village. “Come. Sit. Talk.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and began walking toward the group of cavepeople that now gathered there around the dead and wounded.

Kpleeb started to move, but Thoka placed her hand on his shoulder. “Wait, Kpleeb. How do you feel?” She dipped her index finger into the salve again. “Show me your head.”

Kpleeb complied. “I hurt all over, but I will be alright. Is that salve safe? Will it wash off in the rain?”

“The salve is fine. Don’t worry about it” She swiped some of it onto a long cut on the crown of his head, and he winced. “This will clean the wound and keep them from getting infected.” Thoka continued to work on the numerous cuts and bruises that were peppered all over Kpleeb’s body. “Let me do the talking when we sit with them.”

Kpleeb nodded silently.

After a few moments, Kpleeb and Thoka arrived at the circle again. Kilow and Bre were waiting there. Bre held in her hands a small, wooden board on which rested a fruit that had been sliced into thin, bright-green sections. There was also a rough piece of flatbread and a hunk of roasted meat.

Thoka took the tray and turned toward Kpleeb. “Sit and eat. I need you healthy.” She gestured toward a waiting rock.

Kpleeb sat and began to eat with a groan and a sigh.

“Let us talk,” said Thoka nodding toward Kilow. Carefully, she sat on the rock next to Kpleeb.

I cherish you, little one, but you are becoming heavy. The patted her belly gently. Soon you will greet your parents. As was common, the baby moved, and Thoka smiled gratefully.

“Why here?” said Kilow. She sat carefully on a log that was a pace from Thoka. Bre sat next to Kilow without asking.

“Kpleeb and I come from a great distance. We will build a new tribe nearby, and want to trade with you.” Thoka nodded to Kilow and looked around the village. “We help you, and you help us. An alliance between your tribe and ours.”

Kilow shrugged noncommittally. “Where tribe?” She looked around. “You alone.”

Thoka smiled coldly. “Kpleeb, our child, and I are enough for now, but we will bring many into the tribe in time. Maybe even you.”

“What trade?” said Kilow ignoring the statement.

“We want scouts, knowledge of the area, food, and counsel. For trade, we can give you protection and expand your reach.” Thoka looked at the nearby pile of dead warriors. “Without me, you would all be dead. The strange warriors would consume everything you have and then move on.”

Kilow shrugged again as if she had no concern for the life of her people, but Thoka knew that it was false. Kilow was clearly a leader who had spent decades building the tribe’s strength and infrastructure. She was sure to have a vast knowledge of the area as well as any competing tribes. The relationship with Kilow, Bre, and even Molk would likely be critical to her success.

Thoka leaned forward as the wind picked up and a few spattering drops of rain fell around them. “You are strong, but the strange warriors are an exception. They are a new phenomenon, are they not? Their kind will not be beaten by Molk, no matter how many of him you have.”

Kilow showed her first emotion with a slight, mouth-twisting grimace. “I grateful. We survive alone. Many, many sun-cycles. You, not need.”

The rain began in earnest, and Thoka enjoyed the feel of it on her skin for a moment. She raised her chin to the sky and closed her eyes The wind picked up, and she knew that it would be cold soon, especially since the sun was now hidden by dark clouds. After a moment, she raised her hands and twisted her bracelet nonchalantly. Immediately, the rain was blocked above her. It scattered instead on a silvery arc that extended a pace in all directions. The remaining water ran sideways and then downward to pool in the dirt at her feet. Thoka lowered her face and look at Kilow. The rain and wind buffeted Kilow’s hair, yet she was proud and did not stir.

“I know that you are strong. I wish not for alliances with weaklings or fools. I do not come to steal your people or take your land.” Thoka spread her hands, and the bubble that protected her expanded to include Kilow and Bre. “I have need, and my friendship can ensure your future.” Thoka stood abruptly and the bubble vanished. The rain began to pelt her, but she ignored it and walked to the group of strange warriors that remained alive. All five of the warriors were guarded by Molk who watched her warily as she approached.

The first warrior was a little man like the rest. He looked up at her stoically with faint green eyes, as if he saw the coming of his own death and yet was unconcerned. Drops of rain ran down his cheeks and smeared the white paint. Beneath it were angular tattoos painted in a muddy black. Molk poked the warrior’s wounded arm harshly with a stick, and the warrior blinked but did not utter a sound.

“Join my tribe.” Thoka said looking at each of them. “I give you a moment to decide” She gestured to Molk and shook her finger at the warriors. “Bring them food and drink.”

Molk sputtered and then wound himself up for a grander display of cavemanhood-osity-ness. His barrel chest heaved with the pressures of inflated lungs and a not-so-righteous anger, and just as he was about to explode, Thoka turned back to face him.

“Have one of your warriors see to it,” she said with a low hiss. She raised her finger from two paces away and pointed it at Molk’s forehead. “But make sure it is done.”

Molk’s eyes grew slightly, and he swallowed his complaint. He turned and barked at one of the cavewomen. “Bring food. Water!” He turned toward one of the pale warriors and growled at him.

Thoka turned to look at Kpleeb. He had finished eating and was talking to Kilow and Bre. She approached.

“…you know me,” Kpleeb was saying. “We want trade and alliance, and Thoka and I are worthy of your attention.”

He turned to put a hand on Thoka’s shoulder. His fingers moved in a slight arc on her neck, and Thoka was reminded of many tender moments.

“We do not insist, and we will leave this place and take with us our help and friendship if you choose it. However, the great spirit tahr will smile on all of us if we work together.

Thoka nodded her agreement. “I wish to stay in your village tonight, if you agree. We would be under your protection, and tomorrow talk about specifics.”

Kilow nodded slowly and then looked at Bre. “Hut of Wilp, dead now.” She looked at Kpleeb and Thoka with a thoughtful expression and pointed at Bre. “We talk and Molk. Tomorrow decide.”

“Thank you,” Thoka said bowing slightly as she had seen her Ma do to important guests back home at the Wet Mountain. “I want to speak again with the strange warriors. Will you come?”

Kilow nodded, and they all followed Thoka to the grouping of white-painted men. Molk stood nearby and glared at the warriors. A scrawny cavewoman had given each a tuber and a shallow bowl of water. The warriors held the tuber, but did not eat. Though they were bound to each other in a circle, they appeared to be tense and ready to leap and escape into the jungle at any moment.

Molk shifted his hostile countenance toward Thoka as they approached.

He may be afraid of me, but not enough. He bears watching. Thoka settled her cold eyes on Molk for a moment before turning to the bound warriors.

“I gave you time to choose and food and water. By these actions I demonstrate that I can be trusted.” She held out her hands. “Now is the time to choose. You may join my tribe, swear to follow where I lead, and obey my commands. If you choose my tribe, you may return to your tribe to gather your women and children. If you choose to not join me, I will allow you to leave, but we will be enemies the next time we meet.” Thoka paused and looked carefully at each painted face.

Their facial expressions were utterly impassive, but their eyes looked at her with what she thought were various expressions of interest, curiosity, and in one instance, perhaps anger. Not one of them spoken or shifted uncomfortably as if to indicate that they, personally, might be feeling the need to speak. Thoka grew impatient.

“Make a choice,” she said quietly. “You must choose now if you will stay and become one of my own or leave as an enemy.” She looked at the first warrior in front of her and then pointed at him. “Choose!” She paused.

The warrior’s mouth opened slightly and then closed. He looked to the warrior that was bound at his right arm before looking back at Thoka.

“I join you,” he said. His face had not changed.

There was a twitch from the shoulders of the third warrior. Thoka ignored it and moved to the next caveman.

The warrior spoke without prompting. “I join.”

The next warrior shook his head and put his shoulders back. “I enemy.” His eyes spit fire at her, but there was no emotion on his face.

The remaining two warriors joined her tribe.

“Unbind them,” Thoka said to Molk.

Molk looked angrily at Kilow who shrugged. “They not my tribe.”

“Pale warriors captured! Not release! They kill many. I kill. I kill!” He reared back and punched one of the pale faces with a swift and brutal blow.

“Stop!” Thoka roared. She raised her hands and set her feet toward Molk.

He turned toward Thoka in anger, but Kilow stepped between them. Kpleeb took a step from Thoka’s side and stood beside Kilow with his hands raised in a fighting stance.

“Release. Obey.” Kilow said. Her voice was stern.

Molk knelt down next to the bound group and roughly began to yank away the rough cords that bound them. When he was done, he stood and they remained seated in the mud. Molk’s jaw worked and his face was red with pent up frustration.

“Stand and go,” said Thoka. “You are my tribe. Return here with your women and children. Tell the others that this village shall not be attacked.”

The warrior who had refused to join did not wait. He quickly disappeared into the trees. The others held their hands at shoulder level with palms upward and fingers facing forward. In unison their hands folded at the wrist to cover their pectoral muscles, and their heads nodded slightly. Without a sound, they too leapt into the jungle.

Molk stalked away followed by the small group of warriors that remained.

“Thank you, Kilow,” Thoka said nodding at her. “I do not want to hurt Molk.”

“Molk, stubborn but brave. I talk.” Kilow turned to follow the warriors and then spoke to Bre. “Bring Thoka to hut of Wilp.”

###

It was dark, and Thoka rested, reclining on a thick, straw mat inside the hut they had been assigned to for the night. Next to her, a thin tripod of yellow stone stood, and from the tip a small diamond emitted a dim light.

Kpleeb knelt behind her and rubbed her shoulders. His hands felt great, and she found that her mood had begun to mellow significantly.

“I missed you, Kpleeb.”

Kpleeb grunted quietly and continued to knead her shoulders and neck. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Those warriors are dangerous. Molk is dangerous too.”

Thoka nodded and laid her head back into Kpleeb’s lap. She was still tense. Kpleeb’s fingers began to slowly rub her temples.

There is much to do and so many obstacles and dangers. The strange warriors must fear me, but their fighting and teamwork is useful. I hope they reciprocate the respect I have given them. I believe they will. She felt the baby kick. And you, little one. You come soon. I will need help with you.

Thoka sighed audibly. “We must have a tribe. We must trust someone, but we must also be on our toes to watch for the untrustworthy. I need help to bring this baby, our baby, into the world. We need help building a tribe, bringing food and materials.”

Kpleeb murmured something quietly and nodded. At least, she felt that maybe he did. Her eyes were closed and she was… asleep.

The Index -|-

Bre looked up from Kpleeb’s bloody and matted hair to gaze at the cavewoman who had arrived with such an immense show of force. Though the fighting had stopped, there were groans of pain and labored breathing from many of the warriors that lay on the packed ground. Turning, she saw that there were a fair number of pale warriors that certainly must have been dead. Several of the dead were bent and broken in unnatural ways and were covered with blood and chunks of dirt.

He warned us, she thought. Did she save us from the pale warriors, or just save Kpleeb from everyone else?

Kpleeb’s wife looked coldly down on Bre and Kpleeb. Her eyes flickered with a fiery temper, and Bre felt strong contempt roll off of her in waves. Her white hair was tied back into a yaktail and fastened with some kind of cord that Bre did not recognize. The cavewoman’s facial features were very pale – though not as white as the pale warriors – and the shape of her face was different than Bre was used to seeing. The most shocking to Bre was the obvious signs of pregnancy. She knew from experience that the baby must be due within the next moon cycle, maybe sooner. Regardless of her condition, Kpleeb’s wife had a demeanor that exuded strength and lacked any interest in playing games.

“I’m back, Kpleeb. Time to wake up.” The woman reached out with her foot and kicked Kpleeb lightly.

The lilt in the woman’s voice was strange, but Bre noticed that she spoke the same fluid language that Kpleeb spoke. They both used extra words throughout their phrases, and most of them were new to Bre. Over the past few handfuls of sun cycles, Bre had learned a few words from Kpleeb. It was clear to her now that the extra words were a means of providing distinction and detail that was lacking in the general communication of her own tribe. The difference fascinated Bre, and she intended to learn all that she could.

These two are different in some way; intelligent yet still caveman and cavewoman. I must gain their knowledge if I can.

Kpleeb stirred.

###

Kpleeb inhaled slowly and then began coughing violently. His ribs stung with a sharp pain. He opened his eyes, but the image before him was very blurry and bright, and he shut them immediately. He reached out a shaky hand and felt the side of his head. His fingers came away sticky, which explained why his brain felt as if it were trapped inside the drum of a mystic, tundra-shaman.

After a few moments of effort, he was able to shove aside the shooting twinges of pain and stop the wracking cough. Kpleeb breathed heavily and opened his eyes again gingerly. The light bloomed in a fuzzy halo that ebbed and flowed in his eyesight. After a few seconds he blinked a few times more and saw Thoka.

Oh, thank the great spirit tahr!

“Thoka!” Kpleeb mumbled. His jaw felt sluggish. He held his arms up toward her. Her belly had grown since the last time he saw her, and her face stared down at him severely. His extended arms were weak, and began to sag.

Thoka’s face was stony, but Kpleeb saw a crack in her expression. It was momentary, and it passed as she bent toward him.

“Get up, Kpleeb.” Her hand was outstretched.

He grasped her hand. She is so strong.

“We must talk,” Thoka said brusquely. She pointed toward one of the huts as if to command him.

Kpleeb turned his head, saw Bre kneeling next to him, and experienced a short moment of vertigo.

Bre stood and pointed toward the huts. “Talk.,” she said looking at Thoka.

Chief Kilow stepped up and echoed Bre’s intent.

“First, I’ll talk with Kpleeb,” said Thoka. “You wait here.” She pulled him to a standing position.

Kpleeb staggered toward the hut that Thoka had pointed out and leaned on her arm.

“How did you get here?” He asked. “I knew you would come find me.” He turned slightly and look at her face.

She is even more beautiful than I remembered.

Thoka stopped just past the shade of the low and narrow doorway. “Do you need to sit?” she asked.

Kpleeb grimaced at the various pains that broke through his fog. His ribs stung as did his arms, legs, and back. What hurt the most was his head, and he reached up gain to feel the wound.

“I’ll heal, Thoka. I can bathe in the river and then see what cuts must be attended to.”

“You certainly like spending time in the river, don’t you?” Thoka’s face was pinched as she spit her words. “Spending time with Bre.”

“What?! No, why?” Kpleeb could not believe what he was hearing.

“She certainly like parading around in front of you… naked too.” Thoka huffed. “I’m back now and you’ll have to keep your eyes to yourself.”

Kpleeb raised his hands as if to ward off her accusations. “All of the cavewomen wear only a loincloth here just like they did when I grew up on the canyon river. Kilow, all the rest. Why are you worried about Bre? Kpleeb started to feel ranty. “It’s not as if she is the best-looking cavewoman around. Have you seen Molk’s girl, Hilok?” He trailed off as he realized his mistake.

“Yes, Hilok is buxom – and tall,” said Thoka, “but you spent a lot of time with Bre… and you seemed to enjoy it.” Thoka waved an index finger in Kpleeb’s face like a snake waiting to strike.

He scoffed loudly. “Oh, please! She was assigned by Chief Kilow to watch me. She is training to be the next chief. Anyway, there are a few dozen women walking around here, bathing, and doing whatever else cavewomen do every day.” Kpleeb softened his voice. “I know that it may not have looked okay from a distance, but I was and still am your caveman. I’m loyal. What did you want to talk about anyways, just this?”

Thoka’s eyes burned at him for a quick moment and then she dropped her gaze. After a moment she slowly looked up at him again.

“I forgive you…” she paused. “I have much to tell you- and to show you. And the baby, she comes soon.”

Kpleeb reached out a hand and cupped Thoka’s clean, white cheek. “I forgive you too, and yes, there is much to share. We must talk before we speak to Chief Kilow and Bre.“ Kpleeb looked out into the village circle and saw that Bre and the chief had followed and were standing a dozen paces away from the hut.

“I need to bathe and assess these wounds. Let’s go to the river to talk where we cannot be heard.”

Thoka looked at the waiting cavewomen and nodded. “Your healing is most important.” She turned, wrapped her arm around him, and began to lead him outside.

Chief Kilow stepped forward, but Thoka spoke before she could open her mouth. “We will talk after my husband is bathed and his wounds are tended to.

The chief nodded. “I bring salve.” She turned away quickly. Bre paused as if unsure and then trotted after Kilow.

“We don’t have much time,” Kpleeb said with a wince as he walked slowly. “We must work with this tribe. They have knowledge of this place, and they have warriors and gatherers. We can teach them and they can be our tribe.”

Thoka nodded thoughtfully. “Do you want to find our home?”

“I told them that we were with the wet canyon tribe.”

Thoka’s looked sideways at him. “Why?”

“I don’t know where we are. What if the river canyon or the wet mountains are close and it causes problems for us here?” Kpleeb looked up at the very distant white peak across the river.

“That is not the wet mountains. Trust me,” said Thoka. “I don’t know where we are either, but it’s not something we should worry about.” She stepped into the water at the edge of the river. “Listen, I have to tell you about what I have learned.”

Kpleeb knelt down gingerly and began to splash water onto his head. The chill hurt at first and accentuated his burgeoning headache. He shivered but continued because he knew that he needed to clean up and heal.

Thoka’s spoke again when he started to clean the rest of his body. “I used my time finding ways to rescue you. It seemed like a long time, but I now know that we can dominate this tribe and any other that we find. They can serve us, Kpleeb.”

Kpleeb grunted. “How can we dominate them? With your invisible forces?”

“Yes. I am strong and very, very smart. With your skills and mine together… well there is no limit to how far we can go.” She turned and watched Kilow and Bre approaching from a distance. “We can work with them, if that’s what you want to call it, but in the end, we need helpers.”

“To live?”

“No, we need helpers so that we can find the entities that kidnapped from our homes and locked us in those caves.” She looked down at Kpleeb and put her hand on her swollen belly. “And they changed us. They must pay for what they’ve done.”

Kpleeb was quiet as he washed. Bre and Chief Kilow arrived and stood looking at Thoka. Thoka stared back at them as if she could read their future.

There was a long moment with only the muted babbling of the river echoing their thoughts.

Kpleeb looked up at Thoka and then at Chief Kilow and Bre. It seemed to him as a test of wills played out in an arena of stubbornness.

Curse the gods who brought us here. Thoka is right. We must bring vengeance onto their lands.

The Index -|-

Thoka settled back on her throne. The seat cupped her back and sides comfortably, and the small platform the throne rested on swayed gently with her movement – just like a boat on calm water. In the distance, Kpleeb and the villagers ran in various directions as the strange natives pressed the battle closer and closer to the village center. They seemed to disorganized.

These new warriors reminded her of the enigmatic and rarely seen death whites back home on the slopes of wet mountain. These were shorter, but they had a similar facial style that intrigued her. She had seen a few of them up close and determined that their faces were painted to match each of the other warriors. They were painted in such a way to make them appear uniformly white and angular. Above each eye was another eye, open and painted in blue. She remembered how blue the eyes of the death whites were, and wondered if there was any relation. Even after much observation, she was not sure if the paint was a religious symbol or something else entirely.

She was, however, certain that these warriors were fierce and formidable enemies. Over the course of the last few weeks, she had watched them as they destroyed a village on the tundra past the upper-canyon. Every person, cavewomen and children included, had been slaughtered. They were utterly ruthless, but the worst part was that the warriors took only the shiniest objects, no matter how small. Food, bodies, and other items were left where they fell. It made no sense to her, but she thought that finding their home village would help her understand them much better.

After that battle, they had scattered into the trees with such skill that she lost their trail. She had wanted to follow them home today, wherever that was, but they had begun to attack Kilow’s village. Now, things had spun out of control, and it appeared that the entire village would soon be overrun. The strange warriors were efficient and beastly in their tactics, and despite Molk’s size and his large group of trained warriors, it was clear to her that they could not stand in the path of the horde.

Thoka clenched her fist and adjusted the various bracelets that adorned her wrists, elbows, and knees. She rotated her eyepiece and stared at the village.

I can’t let Kpleeb die… but it wouldn’t hurt him to think that he might be in real danger. A part of her deep inside felt guilty for risking his life for such a petty thing. She sighed to herself and pressed an actuator-rod to the side with her foot. Her throne wobbled, jolted forward and began to pick up speed. As she neared the tree line that surrounded the village, the cries of battle grew louder. Through the chaos she heard Kpleeb cry out.

Thoka swept aside the trees in front of her with a gesture. She felt the tug of her bracelets as the invisible forces aligned with the environment and pressured it to move. The trees ahead of her cracked and swayed. As the largest tree fell in front of her, she caught a glimpse of Kpleeb covered in blood, falling. Anger swept over her, and she lashed out.

With a flick of her wrist, she swatted the warrior that had struck Kpleeb in the head. The warrior’s body was violently tossed aside like a ragdoll. Though she was still many paces away from the battle, Thoka heard a sickening crunch as the body landed at the base of a nearby tree. Some of the warriors had been swept aside by her attack, and many, but not all, of the white warriors turned to face her. There was no apparent fear behind the horde of unblinking, blue eyes that stared at her.

Thoka bared her teeth ferociously and touched the stone necklace that hung around her neck. For a split second, there was a thrum of deep notes that crackled through the air around her. Her ears popped, and she grasped her pregnant belly with her left arm.

“Aaargh!” she growled emphatically. It would be a feeble noise in most circumstances, but the necklace amplified her voice through the body of her throne. Nearby shrubberies shook with the deafening snarl that emanated from her person. Kpleeb did not stir, but all of the village cavechildren flung themselves to the ground and covered their ears. The painted warriors stood unflinching, but she smiled as the remainder of them turned to face her.

I have your attention now.

The throne was still moving steadily toward the village. Thoka had tested its speed and maneuverability, but knew that a speedy attack required speedy defenses as well. She was not feeling incredibly quick at the moment.

No offense, little one. I will regain my reflexes when you are born.

She patted her belly and watched the strange warriors spread out before her. Thoka waited for their first moves, and tensed when she reached the range of their spears. The warriors waited, but she saw several bounce on the balls of their feet. Soon, she was close enough for even the scrawniest caveperson to hit her with a spear.

It was then that they launched in unison.

Thoka sucked in a deep breath as the spears left the hands of the white warriors. Time slowed, and she raised her left hand. Around her wrist was a curvaceous and intricate bracelet that wrapped twice and then extended into her palm. The section that wrapped her wrist was lined with tiny rods. She swung her wrist downward sharply, and the spears were scattered and splintered as if they had encountered a glass wall.

She retaliated with the right hand, and the ground at the feet of the warriors burst upward with a thunderous roar. Thoka clenched her fist tightly and brought it downward. All of the warriors in the center were thrown down and pummeled with clods of dirt and rocks. Through the dust, she saw Molk swinging wildly at nearby warriors. A few that were near the edges scrambled to their feet and began to attack Molk. One or two began to drag pale bodies away through the haze.

She struck again with a downward twist of her fingers, and the figures who fled were flatted against the ground. She did not wait to see if they stopped moving but instead turned toward Molk. He had clearly been badly injured during the extended battle and was no longer holding his own. His huge arms faltered, and the warriors pressed in. Molk and Kpleeb would be overrun at any moment.

Thoka stood carefully and leaned forward in concern. Though she could wield the invisible forces, she could not do so with any particular finesse. All of her time has been spent creating and testing rods and other devices to use the knowledge she had gained. Almost none of the time had been dedicated to practice.

Molk fought only one step in front of Kpleeb’s body, and Thoka felt renewed dismay as the warriors pressed him with terrible fury. Those nearest her slowly approaching throne grouped up and rushed with spears while a smaller group tried to flank her. Thoka saw Kpleeb stir as the women named Bre bent over him.

He is alive. I have to end this battle now!

She struck hard with her fist and shattered the group of warriors that rushed at her. There was a high-pitched cry of pain from one of them. She had never heard one of them acknowledge pain, but saw that the warrior’s elbow bent backward an impossible angle. Blood flowed from the torn skin and bone. Only three of the five warriors attempted to rise, albeit slowly.

Thoka screamed loudly in a piercing shriek and then lashed out with a powerful sideways swat. The warriors and Molk were hurled to the side, and Thoka saw that Bre was also pummeled and fell over and away from Kpleeb. Molk lay motionless face down a few meters from where he once fought.

Just then, Thoka felt her throne dip as weight was applied to it from behind her. She threw her hands up and ducked. A springy, wooden spear pierced the air where her head had been, and she saw the warrior topple over and back onto the ground as her blocking movement shoved him away. With another shrill yell, she spun and crushed the warrior before he could rise. There was a gooey pop as his ribs caved in. The other two warriors circled her as if daring her to defeat them.

They never seem to give up, Thoka sighed internally, but I’ll make them fear me.

She stood, and stepped onto the ground. Her pregnant belly was awkward, and she exaggerated her steps purposefully. The two warriors split up to remain on opposite sides of Thoka, and she rotated with them in her peripheral sight. She reached up and touched her necklace, deactivating her amplifier before speaking.

“Come,” she said simply, looking first at one warrior and then the other.

Without a sound they rushed in simultaneously with spears held low and ready for an upward thrust.

Thoka drew on the well of invisible forces that were always around her and judged the timing carefully. She then stepped back. The warriors tried to adjust, but her at first indiscernible grip held them on course. Their spear tips crossed paths and continued. The pale warriors watched, wide eyed as each impaled the other. Their faces paired in a twin rictus of pain and shock.

Thoka smiled viciously and slammed their faces together with one immense blow. Blood spattered heavily on her arms, belly, and legs. The bodies slumped almost silently to the ground.

Silent until the end, Thoka thought as she turned toward the group of villagers.

With a brutal efficiency, Thoka crushed each warrior as they came. None who were uninjured fled, and she killed or injured every warrior that attacked. When she finally stood over Kpleeb and Bre, he was still breathing, and Thoka felt satisfied at the fear that exuded from Bre. She turned her head and saw that Molk was slowly sitting up. In the background, behind Bre, Chief Kilow murmured over a few terrified cavechildren.

She reached out with a bare foot and nudged Kpleeb’s body roughly. “I’m back, Kpleeb,” said Thoka in a steely voice. “Time to wake up.”

The Index -|-

Kpleeb rested in the hut and thought about his conversations with Chief Kilow and Bre.

Chief Kilow seemed grateful, and Bre appeared to accept the idea of trading food for knowledge. What can we teach her? Math maybe.

He remembered his math lessons in the caves. Thoka had always been so much smarter than him, especially at math. As he looked back now, he realized that despite the significance of his changes, Thoka had always outpaced him.

I could only count to eight! He grimaced with personal embarrassment and tried to re-center his thoughts.

Maybe I should speak to the smartest caveperson in this village in order to determine a baseline. It might help know what to teach them.

“Kpleeb!” The cry came from outside.

Kpleeb stood and went to the door of the hut. A hand swept the reeds away from the door, and he saw Bre’s face peering in.

“Aytsik gone,” Bre said as Kpleeb followed her outside and around the huts.

“What’s an Eyetseek?”

“Pale warrior.”

They approached the spot where Kpleeb had knocked out the pale warrior. Molk was there with Chief Kilow and a few of Molk’s warriors. The Aytsik was gone. Molk turned abruptly toward Kpleeb and raised a huge fist.

“Where Aytsik?!” he bellowed.

“Molk, calm,” said Chief Kilow. “Kpleeb smash Aytsik, then in hut with Kilow.”

“True,” said Bre. “Aytsik always gone.” She nodded assertively at Molk. “Kpleeb protect cavechildren. I see.”

Molk scoffed and looked at Kpleeb. “Puny caveman.” His biceps flexed in a momentary challenge of Kpleeb’s cavemanhood.

Kpleeb looked around. He could see the scuffs in the dirt where he had fought the pale warrior, but there was no blood or any other sign that there had been a body there. He looked in all directions to find an escape path. On one side were the huts that surrounded the village center, and on the other side was the jungle.

It would be easy to hide in there… But how did he awake and escape so quickly? Kpleeb felt pretty certain that the pale warrior had been unconscious when they had gone to the hut. He sighed audibly and shrugged.

“He must have awakened while we were talking.”

“Aytsik come back,” stated Molk. “Must eat, heal.” He wiped blood off a cut on his arm.

“I can help you,” said Kpleeb. “Let me fight with you.”

Chief Kilow nodded. “Women get water and food. Come sit, talk.” She waved at Molk who was still sputtering over Kpleeb’s offer to fight.

Kpleeb followed Chief Kilow as she led the way to a circle of thick logs set around fire pit. He had seen the cavepeople converse here many times, but had never been invited to participate. When Molk, Bre, Kilow, and a handful of other cavemen and cavewomen had seated themselves on the logs, shallow, clay bowls of water were handed out. That was followed up by tubers, and a spicy, fibrous vegetable that made Kpleeb drink more water.

“Molk,” said Chief Kilow, “need more warrior. Aytsik strong.”

Molk grumbled loudly around a mouthful. “Aytsik more strong today.”

It sounded like a statement of fact to Kpleeb. “Are the Aytsik not usually so strong?”

Molk stared at him with contempt. “Aytsik strong. Molk crush.” He bounced his peck muscles and slapped the warrior beside him on the back.

Chief Kilow nodded toward Kpleeb. “Kpleeb right. Aytsik strong today. Molk lose many warrior. Molk need favor of Qui.”

“Qui not help,” muttered Molk. He lifted a bowl and sloshed water into his wide mouth. “Warriors watch for Aytsik.”

Kpleeb ate and drank quietly, and for the moment, he felt like he was partially accepted. Molk seemingly only spoke when he wanted to brag or put someone else down. He watched as Molk ate and Bre and Chief Kilow conversed together quietly.

After a few moments, a warrior ran up. He was limping. “Molk, Aytsik attack now.” The young man pointed toward the canyon and paused to take a drink out of a waiting bowl.

Everyone seated jumped to their feet, and the warriors hefted their spears. Kpleeb looked at Bre and Chief Kilow, but Bre motioned downward with her palm, and so he remained silent. In a moment all of the warriors had run toward the fight.

“Kpleeb, fight with us. Come,” said Chief Kilow. She gestured with her hand, and he followed her. She reached a hut and grabbed three clubs as long as Kpleeb’s arm. Handing one of them to Kpleeb, she nodded curtly. “Need Qui. Big fight today.”

Bre took one of the clubs and nodded gravely at Kpleeb. “Protect cavechildren.”

“I will fight. You lead the way.” Kpleeb felt the weight of the club in his hand. It had a bulbous knot on the very end that would do some nasty damage if directed to the right spot of flesh. He turned and saw the battle drawing closer to the village as Molk and his warriors were slowly forced back. A pale figure came out of the trees behind the hut to his right.

Kpleeb ran after the figure and found that it was very quick. He saw it a dozen steps ahead of him bounding over branches, rocks, and other obstacles before it veered around the corner of a hut. Kpleeb knew that the village center was around that corner. That was where the cavechildren and women were gathered. He sprinted around the next corner and saw the group of women with clubs facing the pale figure.

The Aytsik slowed and stalked sideways around the shifting group of women and children.

Kpleeb quietly tried to remain behind the pale figure and out of its sight. As though to help him, several of the women began to howl at the warrior and bang their various clubs and sticks on the ground at their feet.

The Aytsik laughed and twitched its long, springy spear once, twice, and then the third time, the spear stuck in the leg of one of the cavewomen.

She cried out in pain, and the other cavewomen jumped forward in unison and began clubbing the Aytsik from every angle.

Kpleeb ran forward and swung his club where he could. Several of his strikes landed, and soon, the Aytsik turned and ran toward the trees. Kpleeb followed as fast as he could run, but the pale warrior parkoured over everything and soon disappeared into the jungle. Though he searched for a few minutes, he saw no sign that anyone had passed by. It seemed strange to him that someone who had been so severely beaten could move with that speed and agility.

Finally, he gave up and returned to the village. There he discovered that the fighting had breached the line of huts that created the inner boundary of the village. Molk and a handful of his warriors were fighting viciously between the cavechildren and a horde of Aytsik. Kpleeb ran to the frontlines and began to swing his club in a wide figure-eight. He began breathing hard almost immediately.

Molk grunted nearby and guffawed loudly when he saw Kpleeb. His club crushed a pale warrior’s ribcage, but as the figure faded back into the ranks, another one took its place. Molk kept swinging with gusto.

“Fight, weakling!” yelled Molk at Kpleeb. “No die!”

Kpleeb remained silent as he breathed heavily through clenched teeth. He swung time after time, and his arm muscles burned with the effort. Spears penetrated his personal space over and over. Some of them nicked and scratched him. Blood ran down his legs in thin lines. Soon he stepped back to avoid a sharp stick and stepped on a foot. He glanced behind him quickly and saw Bre there with a club, and behind her the cavechildren huddled.

“Look!” Bre yelled. She raised her arm and lashed out with her club. She swatted a spear out of the air next to Kpleeb’s head.

Kpleeb flinched involuntarily and turned back toward the fray. The situation had become worse that he imagined. They were down to very few cavepeople and a few cavechildren. Hope was almost completely gone, but the Aytsik kept coming. He could see no end to their pale figures. The looks on their faces were almost deadpan as they moved in and jabbed incessantly at the villagers.

A warrior next to Kpleeb cried out with a piercing scream and fell to the ground. Blood pulsed out of a wound in his neck and Kpleeb stared down at him in horror. He had never personally experienced a battle where there was real and lasting death so close. Bre stepped into the gap and swung her club down onto the head of an Aytsik warrior. The figure fell backward and was pulled away by grasping pale hands.

Molk grunted as he was speared in the arm. He grasped the spear and ripped it from his flesh and then proceeded to punch the spear’s original owner in the face with its butt several times. As before, the figure bloodied and fell back into waiting pale hands.

Kpleeb feared for his life.

His breath rose and fell with his chest and his arms. His club struck out in a steady rhythm. His feet became entirely bloody, and his hearing was muted with the sound of rushing blood and adrenaline.

A sound rose in the distance. It was a deep thrumming that was felt through the soles of the feet of those who fought in the village center. It was subtle at first, and Kpleeb did not notice.

The pale warriors noticed quickly, but their actions did not slow. It was just a momentary distraction if anything, they seemed to want to finish the task of conquering the village before moving on to other things.

There was a crash from beyond the village and the trees shook. Birds burst out of the trees in a sudden gale of winged panic. There was a crash as tree fell in the distance followed by a strange screech that pierced Kpleeb’s ears. The new sensations scared him and bile rose in his throat. His bloody hand slipped and the long club he wielded dropped to his feet.

A spear whipped forward and slapped the side of Kpleeb’s head. His vision swam and darkened.

He slumped and fell.