“Oh my God, cuteness wrapped in cute.”
The beast was small; humans said it looked like a pony and a bat got busy and they described the colors they saw. It was ebony except for a flowing white tail. Black bat wings, red eyes with multiple black streaks in the retina. The mane was a surprise to humans. It wasn’t fur. A fin went from wither to elongated nose, becoming smaller as it traveled the face.
“It looks like a dragon baby.”
Doom stopped her from getting close. “That’s no baby. It may be an herbivore but it can still kill. Look at its feet.”
“Whoa. I’ve never seen two claws on a pony hoof before. That’s badass.”
The creature moved off. The bulwark made it antsy. “They taste pretty badass, too.”
Clarity glanced at him. “You eat those adorable little things? I think I’d cry watching one killed.”
“No part of them is wasted. And you will never see one killed. My men hunt and skin everything in the forest. Blood attracts too many carnivores. With winter coming we need to catch and butcher as many animals as we can. Winter can be dangerous. The hybrids have learned to make wraps for clothes. They can utilize fire. We stay underground until the thaw. Just because they have a quota doesn’t mean they won’t try for humans when pickings are slim.”
“Your choice?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you stay underground because you need to, want to, or because the hybrids dictate to you?”
“We have furs to wear for warmth but the snow is too high. You sound angry with me. You left the village; I should be pissed with you.”
“You plan on using me as a sacrifice. What part of that should I be grateful for?”
“I’m saving my people. We don’t all have that interesting weapon.”
She glared at him. “Your people are dead already unless you do something. When those creatures breed they become smarter if what you say is true. I don’t know how yet, but I plan on finding out. They’re after something, and I think it’s something big. Did it occur to you they might want space flight?”
“That’s not possible. You mentioned that before.”
“It’s possible all right.”
Doom shifted his feet. “How could they learn about something we don’t even know of?”
Clarity seemed stumped for a moment. “Doom, space flight is when you create a vessel and send people or animals into the skies overhead. These vessels can go to different planets.”
“Can you make a vessel to take us away?”
“It would take me years.”
Doom’s heart fell. For a moment, he wondered if he could keep her safe for years. “How many years?”
“I don’t know. I’d need help. Materials. The point is I know how. Humans crave knowledge. If the hybrids learn from humans they might want smarter humans. Are you going to be the one who gives them the knowledge to make it happen? When they can go anywhere in the universe they want, you become moot.”
“If they leave then my people will be free.”
“No, your people will be a nesting ground. They won’t need you. They’ll find their own humans and bring them here to your nice little village. You won’t need it when you’re dead. The humans can be kept as prisoners and fed like dogs. They no longer need your people except to fill a quota. Once they fill their own quota, they’ll cut loose the middleman. This planet will be theirs.”
Doom was devastated. What if she was right? All along had they been aiding in a means toward their death? Why was this human so different from the others? Then he realized no other human had guessed the hybrids’ intentions. Clarity had been quick to figure it out. She poked a finger into his chest.
“I know space flight. In fact I know a lot of things. If the hybrids get a hold of me, it could be game over. I’ve been learning about sinkholes. What if these hybrids discover the holes might be able to gain access to Earth? When I left, there were signs of people suddenly showing up, after being gone for two years.”
Doom had a sudden thought. She came out here to look for a way home. If she left, she would tell Earth what was happening to their people. Humans would double their precautions. Doom’s people didn’t steal humans, but they counted on them for life. If she returned home, her people would arm themselves, all of them, every last one of them. If Clarity could come through the hole with her purse maybe others would. Maybe their weapons would make Clarity’s look like children’s toys. What if they used their weapons on his people instead of the hybrids?
“You must never leave my village.” His tone was urgent.
“You have a choice. Fight these hybrids or die. Today, tomorrow, next week it will happen. Do you really want these hybrids to get a hold of me? I got past your sentry. Hell, I bribed Muffin. You said I’m the first. What other talents would you like me to pass on to these creatures you’re so scared of? Because at the risk of sounding full of myself, I’m smart as hell.”
She was right. The idea of a secret child might be their salvation. “Give me a baby.”
Clarity scoffed at him. “In this world? No way. I don’t even like children.”
That was a surprise. “How can you not like children?”
“Simple. They’re barf machines, poop terminators, and they throw tantrums. Gee, what’s not to love?”
Something in her stance made him wonder if she was lying. Her shoulders were tense. Her jaw clamped shut. She appeared sad. Doom glanced around. She would be afraid to have a child here. So was he. His planet was a scary place to be. His father gave his life for Doom. An idea whacked him soundly: his father must have been terrified to leave Doom alone. What would he do if he had to give his own life for his child? Who would take care of his child if he were gone?
“I’m sorry,” Doom said. “That wasn’t fair. I take care of my people; I don’t have time for children of my own. It’s a stupid…”
“Dream?”
“I don’t dream. Dreaming is for fools.”
“You and I have different ideas about dreaming and what makes us fools.”
They strolled together for a moment before Doom took her hand and led her away in a different direction. Not everything on his planet was deadly, for some reason he wanted to show her. He shooed Muffin toward home then groaned, realizing he’d never get that name out of his mind now.
Muffin. Crap.
What’s worse, the beast seemed hesitant. Was every female on the planet now going to challenge him?
“Go on, beast. You have a job to do.”
With a low growl, Muffin ambled away with a last look at Clarity.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Not far.”
The beach was empty when they parted the foliage and entered the clearing. As they walked along the sand he could hear it singing. Clarity was smiling. She was beautiful and the corners of his lips tugged for a second wanting to return the smile. You never smile at someone who will be gone soon.
“I’ve heard of singing sand. This is stunning.” She stood still and cocked her head to the side.
She leaned to pick up a striking blue stone, but Doom stopped her. “No don’t. The rock is deceptive. They wash up on shore once in a while. A victim touches it and the numbing agent freezes them, they fall and are unable to escape. When the tide comes in, they’re easy prey for the creature who uses it. Unless another gets them before that. Either way, it isn’t a pleasant way to go. The freezing lasts for hours, and you can feel everything done to you. You can’t fight back, scream, cry, nothing.”
As he spoke, another blue rock was tossed onto the shoreline. Doom pulled her away from the water’s edge. In the distance, he could see a massive head surface for a second. Huge eyes gazed at them. Doom considered these creatures the sloths of the seas.
“That thing is creepy smart. Amazing, fishing on dry land. That would be a weapon of choice. Why not throw these gems at the hybrids?”
“You can’t pick them up.”
She star
ed open-mouthed at him. “Use something to pick them up.”
“Like what?”
“Good God you are in the Jurassic period. Why not leather? A sack. My purse.”
“When the rock touches something, it turns to liquid and seeps into its victim. Depending on the size of the rock, it immobilizes quickly. A mammoth could be stopped by a few. You would only need to touch this small one to be in trouble. A man my size would need to touch two at least, perhaps three. A perfect weapon, but untouchable.”
“It’s touching the sand. We need something to scoop it up from beneath it and put sand in my purse, now there’s a nasty thought.”
Doom stared hard at her. Scoop up the sand to put it in sand. “Then we need to throw it in sand.”
“That’s not a problem. A catapult is the least of your worries.”
“Cat-a-pult?”
“A device you use to throw objects a farther distance.”
“Why would anyone throw a cat? Felines are vicious when pissed.”
She leveled an undetermined gaze at him. Her teeth worried her bottom lip for a moment. Doom could almost smell the ideas forming. “I wonder if I could make glass here. Glass is made from sand. If I can get my hands on the right materials.”
“Glass?”
“Glass is a substance made from components and heat…”
Doom knew he was standing there looking stupid, he felt stupid. “Um.”
“Come on, we have work to do, I’m starving and these stupid booties are drowning my toes.”
Clarity gripped his hand and pulled him toward the village.
Chapter Six
Clarity sat munching on a hand-sized juicy piece of meat, cut in interesting slices. Hacked, it looked hacked; it was unlike anything she ever tasted. She was surprised it was so flavorful. Clarity loved seasonings, and she knew these flavors weren’t in her world. The meal before her was made up of two types of bannock; the one bread was flat and hard but tasty. The other rounded and roll shaped, no doubt cooked in animal fat, served with berries with honey. A salad of greens she wasn’t certain of had a drizzling of dressing. Three pancakes that tasted surprisingly like potato were silver-dollar-sized and smothered in the most wonderful butter she’d ever eaten. A cream sauce for dipping lay between her and Doom.
“This is good.”
“We can cook,” he drawled.
The cold fruity drink she sipped had bits of floating vegetation, flowers she was certain. Her next bite of meat yielded a hint of the slightly sweet pink flower as well as salt and black pepper. Anything could be growing on the planet if dinosaurs walked the earth with humans. Any extinct plant or flower on Earth could be thriving here. She was anxious to discover more of her new world. Doom watched her while he put pieces of fruit into his mouth and chewed mechanically, honey dripped over his fingers.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I’m wondering about a lot of things. What meat is this?”
“Dinosaur. If you want specifics, I’m guessing a carnivore. We can use ourselves as bait when we hunt the meat eaters. They’re cocky and not as cautious when they think they’re hunting us. The herbivores are sweeter tasting and most are huge, so we need many hunters to bring one down. I’m certain Menace took a group to hunt a woolly rhino. Dangerous beasts but exciting to bait. This was a recent kill and cooked over an open flame so it’s not as tender. Tonight, after it’s been boiled for a few hours, it will fall off the bone. We make a bread substance to drop in a stew and another bread to dip in it. The other humans said the one bread is much like dumplings.”
“Do you grow this stuff? The vegetables.”
“Growing anything would attract animals. Why would we bring attention to ourselves?”
Good point.
“Then you forage?”
“These certain vegetables grow not far from our village. They mostly attract herbivores. Some are nasty, some dumb as dirt, and others who think a human might make an interesting new toy. A hunting party goes out with women and keeps a close eye out. We collect what we can and dry what we’re able. Herbivores move fast, we need to move faster. Do you like the meat?”
Clarity took a bite of the chunk in her hand, charbroiled on the outside, pink on the inside. “Doesn’t exactly taste like chicken. It’s heavier with a gamey taste, not too strong, different. Your planet evolved over time to create new species as did ours. Your planet seems to have avoided every disaster Earth battled through. Why? It’s like some creepy experiment of what ifs. Without the extreme heat you shouldn’t have needed to make your way onto land and develop legs, but you did. Or maybe some elements stayed the same except for huge disasters. Maybe humans were just meant to be. The meteor, the ice age, and volcanic eruptions shaped the earth, I wonder if your planet is one big continent. I wonder if you have icebergs. You don’t have dogs but you have the cave bear wolf mix. So humans would have sought out aid from animals regardless. Do you have any history?”
“Just what our parents tell us. Long ago there were different types of humans such as myself but different. They died out until only us and the hybrids remained. Our past suggests groups of females once roamed alone as did males. During our long years of wandering, we discovered deep caves where only the bones of either sex were found. I guess after a while our kind discovered males and females together; working as a team we survive longer. It came as a surprise when I found the destroyed hybrid offspring.”
“You say there are other tribes, do you all speak the same language?”
“What other language would we speak?”
“Do you read or write?”
“What’s read or write?”
“My people create symbols. Wait a second.” Clarity went to her purse and rummaged through. She pulled out a book and handed it to him. Doom was reluctant to take it at first and eyed it warily until she shoved it into his hand. “It won’t kill you I promise.” With caution he opened it and scrunched his eyebrows.
“What are those funny marks? It looks like small birds danced over the material.”
“They’re letters on paper that make up words that we read.”
“We make pictures of strong events. Pictures are better; our pictures last forever. Pa-p-er? This paper would fade, I’m guessing. This doesn’t look waterproof, and it will rip. It’s exposed, not covered by a cave. The imagery is boring. What would entice you to take a second glance at this?”
Put like that, he had a point. Clarity tried to look at it from his perspective. No doubt he’d never seen paper before. The material was flimsy and the marks were scribbles as far as he was concerned. He wasn’t exactly clueless, or stupid, he and his people never needed to develop written words. They were too busy trying to stay alive.
“These hybrids. How long have they been around?”
“They’ve hunted us and we hunted them for as long as our history goes back. Thousands of years ago. Before we outnumbered them. My ancestors and the Neanderthal tried to cohabitate, they seemed the sturdier of any other human species. Our ideas were different, but we never hunted one another. We never hunted any species we felt was like us. Then one day a hybrid was in our midst. A dinosaur, so it was thought. It was killed, but wasn’t eaten. Then more hybrids came and my people noticed the difference, the human quality cocooned in a killing machine. My people finally cut into one. At one time, they had a weakness; their skin wasn’t as hard. They didn’t hunt in groups so they may have been outcasts to start. It was then our ancestors discovered the human skeleton within. They’ve adapted and grown stronger over time. These beasts learned quickly that there was safety in numbers, preferably their own kind.”
“I wonder if when each new species evolved they used them to procreate, and after each encounter learned.” Clarity was speculating. “When the Neanderthal came, they became a single thriving species. My mind is working at a million miles an hour trying to wrap my head around the theory. You’re a large man, the people in your village are huge, but Neanderthal bones
are exceptionally big and strong. I wonder if the hybrids evolved enough to know your bone structure wouldn’t support theirs. But neither would humans.”
“Maybe they’re just eating the humans.”
“Then why not find them all year?”
“I don’t know.”
“Didn’t they hunt your people all year?”
“In the beginning. Then certain times.”
“When they needed to breed. Maybe these hybrids aren’t eating humans at all. Or maybe they are. It’s all so frustrating. Why didn’t any other human think about this? Question this?”
“We never told them. We fed them and kept them safe. Humans are not allowed to leave the village. The others accepted this. They were too afraid of the dinosaurs. You can’t tell any human we find what will happen, they will be terrified.”
“I’m going to scream it from the rooftops. If we all put our heads together maybe we can figure out how to beat these hybrids. You need to find more people. More humans. Let’s get this party started.”
Doom sat open-mouthed. “Party?”
Clarity smiled at his confusion. “I’m guessing you’ve never partied in your life. Too bad, I bet you could be a real badass. Oh wait, you send people to their death, so that makes you more an asshole than a badass.”
“I save my people.”
“And now I’m saving mine.” Clarity glared at him until he stood up and left. “I’m a bigger badass. And, apparently, I do eat dinosaurs for breakfast.” Clarity ripped back into the meat, smiling.
****
Clarity busied herself with her thoughts during the day. She paced, sat, mulled over ideas, studied the vastness and thickness of furs and skins, and was surprised when Doom finally made an appearance. She could tell he was miffed; she hardly gave him a second thought when he left. Her mind filled with evasive maneuvers. She vowed not a single Earth human would be sacrificed and told Doom as much. She’d lead a rebellion against him and his people if she had to. They could be with her or against her, but she wouldn’t go without a fight. Either way the sacrificing was at an end.
Clarity's Doom (Ancient Origins Book 1) Page 9
