The Index -|-
Xir padded silently toward Zara. “All Ganix warriors here,” he said quietly. His white-painted face was impassive, but his eyes smiled at her
“Thank you, Xir,” Zara said looking up at the warrior. He was tall for a caveman, and he absolutely towered over Zara’s tiny frame.
Around Zara a large group of warriors stood quietly. They did not fidget or shift as children would, nor did they stand at attention as soldiers might. They merely stood, straight-backed and strong. Their arms were generally crossed or hung straight down, but either way, the left hands held two spears. Some of the especially large warriors held three spears in their left hand, but among the Ganix it was considered a sign of arrogance.
From the moment Zara had stepped out of her Mama’s womb, she had grown in the shade of these stoic warriors. Because of this, she was not intimidated by the expressionless, white-painted faces. She knew all of them by name and though they never smiled, they treated her like a favored daughter. Being the daughter of the Pale One, she was special to them, and they respected and cared for her as they would their own children.
Today, Zara intended to provide for them out of the abundance of her skill and power as she knew they deserved. She motioned to Xir with her hand, and he pulled a reed blanket away from the bulky pile of sticks in front of her.
The Ganix warriors looked but did not exclaim.
Laid in a bundle were dozens of spears. The point on each spear was shiny-grey and flecked with shards of green stone that glittered in the sunlight. The point was angular, two diamonds connected at the sharp ends. The tip of the spear was held by an overlapping diamond shape below it. Centered on this diamond was an oval of yellow stone. Below the two diamonds, the base wrapped around a flexible wooden shaft, and out of the base protruded two barbs made of the same material.
Zara bent and grasped a spear which she lifted to show to the warriors.
“This is a new spear that I made for you,” she explained handing the first one to Xir. “This spear will prove to be strong against the Xi.”
Xir nodded and held the spear by its leather-wrapped shaft. He twirled it with his right hand and seemed to weigh its effectiveness.
Another warrior nearby watched Xir and then held up his left hand that held three spears. “Have spear,” he grunted and pointed a knuckle at Zara’s spear. “This better?”
Zara nodded and did not take offense. The Ganix were nothing if not honest. They wanted lethality and usefulness above all else, and if they were to learn another weapon, she knew that she would have to provide something worth their while.
She grasped another spear and walked through the circle of cavemen warriors and faced the side of the slope ahead of her. The fir trees waited calmly without a sound. With the spear in both hands, left hand further back, Zara slid her right thumb onto what felt like a knot under the leather that wrapped the spear’s shaft. She took a deep breath and stared at an old, dead fir tree at least forty paces in front of her.
Then Zara tightened her grip and gently pressed the knot.
There was an immediate, high-pitched crackling roar that lasted for a split second. The spear recoiled in her hand, and the dead tree ahead of her cracked in two with the top falling backward as if it had been rammed by a meat-yak bull. What remained of the tree trunk burst into flame.
Zara nodded with satisfaction and turned toward the Ganix warriors. Her nose wrinkled as she smelled the tell-tale faint odor that permeated the air around her. “It works,” she said.
The large warrior with three spears in his left hand lifted his chin and grunted. “Yes.”
“Every warrior must take a lightning spear,” Zara said. “The Xi destroyed our village and livestock and killed some of us with only three ships and the Pale One fighting against them. They will have notified their brothers, and eventually their brothers will return to finish the task. We must be ready to defeat them.”
Just then Kpleeb jogged up to the group and stopped, panting from his exercise. He looked around at the group and at the burning tree.
“Well,” he said after an extra moment of breathing, “it looks like you’ve got things under control.” He grinned and knelt to give Zara a side hug. “That crackle is loud! I heard it from inside the cave!”
Zara could not help but be thrilled that her Da was proud of her. She reached up and tugged from her ears little balls of yak’s wool. “It is quite loud, and I have an idea to make it a bit quieter, but we need the warriors to be training on these quickly!”
Xir stepped toward the tree and then looked back at her stoically. “I try?”
Zara helped him feel for the knot under the leather. “Don’t press that until you’ve aimed and are ready to destroy your target!” She put her hand on his forearm and turned to face the rest of the warriors. They had all stepped forward to watch. “If you strike any living being with this lightning spear, including a caveman, they will die. Do you understand?”
There was a silent chorus of bobbing heads.
“Alright, Xir,” Zara said, “tighten your hands and press the knot. Be prepared for the spear to jump in your hand.” She put her palms over her ears.
Xir slowly tightened his grip until Zara saw that his knuckles were white and his forearm muscles bulged with the effort. His thumb twitched, he flinched, and the resounding crackle-whine shook the nearby foliage. A small tree far up the slope quivered and a nearby flock of birds fluttered noisily away from the warriors.
“No work,” Xir said.
Zara shook her head and put the yak’s wool balls in her ears before taking the spear from Xir. With a quick motion she aimed and fired at the middle of the burning tree, and the tree exploded into flaming shards of dead wood that rained down around it. She switched her aim at a boulder near the tree, and the boulder exploded as well. After that, she fired one more time at the ground in front of the burning stump, and the ground erupted in a shower of dirt, twigs, and rocks.
“It works,” she said with a smile at Xir. She handed the lightning spear back. “You can see the power of this weapon. With practice you will all be able to defend against the Xi and their flying lutu.” As Zara looked around at the group of warriors, she saw each of them retrieve and heft their new spear with a considering eye and what might be a new respect. They were quite ferocious and deadly warriors, but their fighting was limited to the range of their small hand-spears. She hoped this weapon would increase their effectiveness.
Xir lifted his chin. “Ganix practice. Ganix win.”
“I believe you,” said Zara patting Zir’s arm. She turned and picked up one of the spears and then addressed the group. “Follow me.” she said. She walked down the hill to the left. She knew the way well, and there was a trail that wound down through the rocks and trees into a very small canyon. In the center of the canyon, in one of the stone walls was a small cave. She stopped there and the warriors stood behind her eyeing the hole warily.
Zara spoke again. “You know the tundra-wasps live here and just how dangerous they are. When you can shoot down five tundra-wasps with the lightning spear, only then will you be ready to fight the Xi.”
The warriors gripped their new spear and looked at her.
[They are amazing fighters, and I have to prove to them that I can do it as well.]
Zara picked up a stone the size of her small fist. “Move back at least twenty paces,” she said.
The warriors complied without question.
Zara flung the stone into the hole and then held her lightning spear at the ready.
There was no sound for a moment. Two moments even, but after a bit, a noise began to rise from the cave.
“Do not move,” Zara called over her shoulder.
After another moment, a half-dozen tundra-wasps burst from the cave opening. They were as big as Zara’s forearm, sleek and fast. They hovered, buzzing angrily near the entrance as if daring any intruder to show its face.
Zara had done all of her homework. It was dangerous enough with a handful, but the whole colony would easily kill any small group of cavepeople. She already knew that during the day time there were only a handful of guards at the tundra-wasp nest. The rest of the enormous wasps were out foraging and usually returned at dusk.
With an anxious sigh and silent prayer that her plan would work, Zara threw another rock at the group of hovering wasps. They responded by immediately attacking. With incredible speed, they covered the ten paces between the cave and her position within two seconds.
Zara was ready. Her lightning spear whine-roared in a quick chattering succession, and she rolled to her right before swiveling to meet the second pass. Three wasps lay twitching on the ground behind her, and three more dove toward her like sideways hail in a fierce, winter hailstorm.
Her lightning spear barked again twice, and then once again. The last tundra-wasp tumbled to her feet with its legs still kicking. Zara scanned the mouth of the cave one last time to make sure that no other tundra-wasps were around. As far as she could see, there was no additional danger, so she waved the warriors over.
Xir arrived first and appraised her with serious eyes. “Dangerous,” he said.
Zara looked down at the still twitching wasps. One of their stingers still vibrated and oozed a drop of white poison from it’s tip. It was said that a single sting from a tundra-wasp would leave a permanent scar and sometimes required amputation of limbs.
She nodded. “These are nothing compared to the Xi. We must be ready.”
Xir lifted his chin and began to speak to the other warriors.
From the slope near the mouth of the canyon, Kpleeb watched the scene before him.
[She will be a great leader. They already trust her, and she appears able to fight and to design great weapons. But will she really bring the fight to the Xi or merely defend?]
