Standing in the mouth of the cave, as if having just arrived from somewhere inside, stood a man, naked, and tall.
No, not a man, though he looked almost like one.
He was reptilian, nude, skin covered in patterned greens and glistening textures, my height, or bigger; he stood straight and perfectly still, his eyes focused unblinkingly on mine and mine alone.
“Hello,” he said.
* * *
THE SERPENT MAN
* * *
“YOU ARE NOT FROM PANGEA,” the newcomer noted, staring directly at me.
I said nothing. Nova moved closer to me, and put an arm around my waist.
“You are not from here,” the reptile man said, “are you?”
“No,” I admitted, and Nova glanced at me. “No, I’m not.”
“He’s from Pasadena,” she said.
He scowled, apparently not recognizing the name, and slowly nodded.
“We have not had one from outside Pangea since… well… there is no longer any real measurement of time, here, so it’s difficult to say. Before the end of recorded history.”
“You mean the beginning of recorded history,” I corrected.
He stared a moment, then slowly shook his head.
“No, I don’t.”
We stared a moment longer, he and I, in unmoving silence. Something twitched behind him, and for the first time I noticed his tail. And small wings.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Someone who wishes to assist you,” he said, holding a hand out in front of him. He turned his palm up, and a red ball appeared there that I hadn’t been aware of before. “There is information contained inside this that will help you defeat the… defeat the Grigori.”
I stood for a while, just staring at the reptile man, then turned my attention to the thing in his hand. It was metallic, about the size of an orange, and entirely smooth. From where I stood it looked like nothing more than a glass sphere; a Christmas tree decoration.
“But… you’re a Grigori. Aren’t you? A male?”
He nodded. Nova gasped, and moved further behind me.
“We won’t need help defeating the… your people,” I said, confidently. “We have their reproduction manual, and will simply hunt and kill the rest.”
The reptile man shook his head.
“They have knowledge you don’t,” the new arrival said. “They control Pangea in more ways than simply with those devices in your heads, and in your hand. You need this.”
He again offered the red ball. I looked at Nova, who returned my stare with equal amounts caution and concern. Neither of us knew whether or not to take his offering. To trust this being.
“I assume it’s not dangerous,” I said. “You’ve been watching us for a while, and could have killed us at any time before now, I’m guessing.”
His only reply was a slight smile.
“It’s not dangerous,” he said, simply. “Take it now. Consume its knowledge at any time that is comfortable for you. We offer it only as an aid. Things did not go as planned, and need to be corrected. I think you might be the one to do the correcting.”
“What are you…” I began, but he cut me off.
“It’s your choice whether to take our assistance, or not. But as long as you do not consume it, the Grigori will have an advantage. They will know things that you do not. Things that can kill you.”
Nova looked at me, and decided for us. She stepped forward and cautiously took the sphere, then returned to my side. The reptile man stayed where he was. Curious, she and I examined the sphere very carefully. It seemed to have no buttons, or seams, or any other distinguishing marks.
“How do we…?” I said to our supposed benefactor.
But he was gone.
“What do we do?” Nova asked.
“Take it with us,” I said. “We’ll decide later. Besides, I don’t know how to use it, do you?”
“He said ‘consume’ it. Does that mean eat it?”
“I can’t imagine it does. How would we eat it? And anyway, we need to get going. Is there anything you want to take?”
Nova looked around the little camp, and shook her head.
“Only memories,” she said, smiling.
I returned her smile, took her hand and guided her toward the river, both of us paying more attention to the sphere, and the still empty cave than where we were going. We each had both feet in the creek that flowed beside our camp before we saw the Angara hunters on the other side, each of them astride a dinosaur.
“Oh, shit,” I whispered.
“You!” The tallest of them said in obvious surprise.
“Kiga?” I said, amazed, pulling Nova’s hand and moving her back toward camp, out of the creek, and away from the Angara. I smiled at the big panther man, and tried to be charming. “I didn’t think you went hunting anymore.”
“You know him?” Nova asked, shocked.
“I do,” I said.
“So many slaves escaped in the carnage when the enraged Nyame crashed through that wall,” Kiga said, smiling at me, “they had little choice but to send me. I always had a feeling that you were smarter than you pretended to be. And yet, somehow I still liked you. Had I known it was you I was trailing, I would have stayed home.”
“You can always go back and pretend we never saw one another,” I said, smiling as broadly as him.
He shrugged, and laughed.
“They’ll only send someone else. Someone who will probably kill you. You made the Grigori very angry, and worse, you made them frightened. I’ve never seen them like they are now, the way you left them. They’re enraged, and terrified at the same time, taking it out on the other slaves—and the Angara—forcing us to search endlessly for this book that you took.”
“With any luck, it’s been burned by now.”
He sighed. “Then it will be bad for us for a very long time.”
“Escape them. Start over. If you all rise up…”
“There’s no escaping them while they have these,” he said, holding out his own GPS and urging his mount forward.
“Maybe before they do I’ll find some way to get the thing that tracks me out of my head,” I told him. “And whoever they send will never find me.”
Kiga stopped. He was just the other side of the little stream.
“What are you talking about?”
I held up the tracking device I had stolen, and showed him.
“Where did you get that?” he asked.
“Off a far less friendly Angara,” I answered.
“And far less alive, I’m sure.”
“He wasn’t very nice to me.”
“A mistake I won’t make. What are you talking about—what thing in your head?”
“This tracking device works with something the language thing puts inside our skulls when you capture us. The two pieces talk to each other, telling you where we are.”
Kiga looked at his own device as if the thought had never occurred to him. I supposed it hadn’t.
“Why don’t you sit down and have something to eat,” I said, “and we’ll have ourselves a little talk. A rest break, some food, some laughing, and some understanding. Just to rejuvenate us before we start our journey back.”
Kiga stared at me for a moment, turned to his soldiers, the closest one of which just shrugged, and looked at the still burning fire, sniffing.
“Smells good,” he said.
“Orthopi,” I told him. “And my mate, Nova, is a cook who makes it worth taking the time to focus on a meal.”
Kiga and his men all glanced at one another. The apparent lieutenant shrugged again, and casually dismounted, as the others followed his example. They tied up their dinosaurs, and crossed the stream, taking seats on the soft earth, and a nearby fallen tree, close to the fire.
“So tell me about the thing in your head.” Kiga said.
“These things in our heads,” I corrected, indicating all of us, and moving to take a seat near the fire with Nova. �
��I’m willing to bet they’re in your heads, too.”
* * *
CONVINCING KIGA
* * *
“SO THE MAGIC IN IT,” Kiga said, indicating the silver box in his hand. “Is that it sees—not us—but the implanted bead.”
“Yes,” I said. “As long as those are there, you and I can speak the same language, and the Grigori always know where we are.”
“Can we take the bead out?”
“I don’t know. Would you want to?”
Kiga thought about it, and looked at one of the other Angara, who stared at him, hopefully, but said nothing. So Kiga turned back to me.
“I have an easy life in Emibi,” he said, thinking it through. “Because of my injuries, I am warm and generally safe. Crazed, enraged Nyame aside.”
I laughed, and he smiled, pleased to have amused me.
“You could still be safe in Emibi,” I said. “But do the Grigori have to be there?”
Kiga looked panicked and stood suddenly. The others appeared equally afraid, and glared at me.
Kiga searched around us, examining the skies, moving around the campsite as if waiting nervously for something—something that would come from above. At the center of the clearing he turned and focused on me with fierce intensity.
After a moment, he stared down at the device in his hand.
“What you said has gotten people killed,” Kiga told me. “The Grigori cannot hear us, but they still seem to know things…”
He glared at me intently, thinking it through.
“They seem to know when someone means them harm,” he concluded.
“Even if they understood what I just said,” I told the large Angara, “it was me who said it, and it will take them a long time to reach me. In the meantime, just think about how nice it would be to live in Emibi without Grigori.”
Kiga said nothing.
“And then think about something else you should know,” I said.
I stood myself and walked carefully around so that I was facing Kiga, making sure I stayed more than an arm’s length away.
“Do you have a mate, Kiga?” I asked.
“I did,” he answered, somewhat confused by the question. “But the Grigori took her to serve them in another city.”
“Perhaps,” I said. “Perhaps not. Was your wife…” I hesitated, knowing this could go either well, or very badly, knelt beside him and spoke quietly, kindly. “Kiga, I don’t know how to ask this without upsetting you. Was your wife… pregnant?”
He scowled and bored his eyes into me angrily. The question had again surprised him.
I proceeded to tell him about my experience in the Grigori temple, and the Angara woman I’d seen there. He said nothing—only stood silently, staring at me with a bubbling fury. When I’d finished my tale, explaining that the Grigori would continue taking pregnant women to eat—including Angara women—the other Angara stood and spoke with obvious concern.
“Kiga! My mate is with child!”
Kiga said nothing, and never stopped glaring at me. Even though I’d been careful to put enough space between us, I’d underestimated the older Angara. His hands were around my neck before I could blink. His fingers so strong and brutal, I nearly blacked out instantly. I heard Nova scream, and Kiga snarl.
“You LIE!” he said, unable to face the idea that his wife and child had probably been eaten.
“Do I?” I choked. “You said… yourself! The… human who… helped you. The… Grigori… ate him!”
His grip never loosened, and I began to black out.
“They… like… human… flesh!” I struggled to get out. “But… prefer… unborn… babies…”
I couldn’t finish. My eyes flickered with sparks and stars and I felt I was looking at Kiga through a long, dark tunnel. Nova was on his back, biting his ears, and I was falling. Falling.
Fading.
Black.
GOD, THIS GETTING knocked out shit was getting old.
I opened my eyes and found Nova over me, tears in her eyes, pressing moist skins against my face. I sat up quickly and looked around, saw Kiga sitting on the log facing away from us while another Angara spoke to him frantically. The rest of their group huddled around, listening.
“… if he is telling the truth we cannot do nothing!” said one.
“I will not see what he described happen to my mate! To my child!” said another.
“How can we fight the Grigori?” Kiga yelled, suddenly, silencing them all.
“You won’t have to do it alone,” I said. “I have friends in the Chutanga who will help. And I hope to have friends soon in Sa Fasi…”
“You are about to become king of Sa Fasi,” Nova said.
I stared at her, open-mouthed. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, although the subject had sort of floated around us for a while.
“Yes, Brandon,” Nova said, smiling. “Didn’t you realize? You‘ll be able to order the tribe to do whatever you wish.”
My mouth worked open and closed, but it wasn’t really sinking in.
“Will they follow him?” Kiga asked. He had turned to face us and I saw one of his ears was a ruined, bloody mess. Damn, Nova! That girl must love me. “It’s one thing to take control. It’s another to actually have it.”
“They will!’ Nova said, proudly.
“But to follow me willingly, they’ll need some time to get used to me,” I said. “The point is, Kiga: we can take Emibi, and move one city at a time. I don’t know how far distant the Grigori can communicate but it’s communication is difficult for them, and it’s possible the first city can fall without the others knowing. Possible. And if it is, then each new city will bring more of the races of Pangea to fight by our side without word of the danger being spread. Bust however it works, before long Pangea can be united, and the Grigori will fall.”
“Big words for a naked man living in a garden.”
“Have you got a better offer?” I said.
“I just want to save my mate,” the other Angara said. “Anything more is your war.”
A few other panther men nodded, murmuring agreement.
“No, the rest is yours as well,” I said. “You fight, or they will find you. Maybe not this child, but the next will be eaten along with your mate. Maybe the Grigori won’t care that they’ve been discovered, and just be more open about their dietary interests. This need they have to consume unborn children and mothers borders on the obsessive, for whatever reason. So they’re still going to take your women—at the very least some of your women—and they’re still going to use them for fine dining, because once you’ve tasted the forbidden fruit…”
Kiga said nothing.
“We found a Chutanga woman in the temple, “ I continued, “and you know the Chutanga are supposed to be off-limits. The Grigori know no restrictions. Unless you get rid of them, they will eat your wives!”
“Once word gets out, it will be harder to control the Angara,” Kiga said.
“Harder, but not impossible unless you fight,” I said. “That is your only option. But know this: we can win. Together we are stronger than they are, and we know that not all their magic is really magic.” I held up the device. “It’s mechanical. Technological. It is something that can be stopped, blocked, and conquered.”
The little campsite fell silent for a moment while the Angara considered my words.
“I will fight with you,” one of the Angara said. “I am Garga, and I will fight by your side.”
I smiled, as did Nova. She took my arm, obviously proud.
“Is it possible my mate and child…” Kiga began, but lowered his head, and simply shook it. “I will fight with you, Brandon the Mack. Not that it will do either of us much good.”
“You will do me the most good,” I said, surprising him. “You are liked and respected in Emibi. You can get me to the queen… and if you do, we can take Emibi with a single stroke, then make that city our base from which to make war on the other Grigori cities.”
/> “I HAVE TO GO BACK to Emibi,” I told Nova, “right away, after I get you home. With or without the men of Sa Fasi. I have no idea how long I’ve been gone, or how long before Elia is taken from Milton. I need to help them, before the war, if necessary.”
“Brandon,…”
“I have to, Nova. Milton’s my friend, and he needs to know what they’re planning to do to the woman he loves, and the child he so desperately wants.”
She leaned her head against my chest. I felt her reservation, and reluctance. But eventually she put her arms around me, and hugged me sweetly.
“Then you must go,” she said.
“I’ll take you back to Sa Fasi, first, and then when this is all over,” I told her, pulling her chin up so I could look into her sad eyes, “we’ll come back here, to our little Garden of Eden.”
She smiled.
“I will hunt you down if you don’t.”
I smiled back. “I know you will.”
Nova lost her grin, lowered her head, her eyes hidden from my view. She sniffed, and began to shake her head.
“You are so stupid,” she said, sadly, then threw her arms around me and held tight. “You think you know everything, and you know nothing; you’re going to die, and I’m going to lose you.”
I held her tightly and cooed in her ear.
“Sssssshhh,” I said, softly. “I’m not going to die. Not while I have you to protect me.”
“But I’m not going to be there! You’re leaving me in Sa Fasi!”
“I thought you’d prefer to be home with your family while I made this trip.”
She shook her head against my chest.
“Fine, then,” I said. “Come with me. But not until I can claim you in front of your father, your friends, and Gudra’s brothers.”
“No man claims me,” she said, smiling. “But if you want to accept me in front of everyone, then I’ll let you.”
I laughed, and Kiga moved closer.
“I’ve spoken with Garga and the others,” he said. “A few don’t want to wait to go back to Emibi. Their wives are well through their pregnancies. I’m not sure how much further I can go on, anyway, because of my pain, so I will head back with them.”
The Hollow World: (Pangea, Book 1) Page 28
