A Mountain of Fire

by Marius Thue

  He tries to stand, but Neera pulls him back down and makes him sit next to her.

  “What do you think they look like?” she asks while staring up at the stars.

  “Eh …” Thoke lowers his brows. “Like shining lights in the sky?”

  “No, not like that.” Neera pushes him lightly. “You've seen things in the clouds right? Sometimes they can look like faces. Other times they take the shapes of animals, trees, and so on.”

  “Sure.”

  “If you draw lines between the stars, it becomes something too.” Neera grabs Thoke's arm and lifts it.

  Together, they lead their fingers across the night sky, making all kinds of patterns in the stars. They come up with different shapes long into the night, until they both fall asleep beneath the cliff.

  A few days later, something seems to be wrong with Neera. She's sick, can't hold down food, and is always tired. Thoke has grown worried and has put together a hut with some small logs pushed up against a large spruce tree. He's cut the branches down low and has laid them across the logs. The thick pines on the branches will help keep the hut warm.

  The trees won't let much rain enter the hut, so there's no worry of getting wet. Neera sits crouched over on a rock, clearly exhausted. Thoke sits down next to her and strokes her gently on the back.

  “I've built us a hut. You can stay in there until you feel better. I'll deal with gathering food for us,” he says and then kisses her cheek.

  The following days will be quite different from what they're used to. Thoke expands and makes the hut stronger as they stay in the same spot for several moons. As Neera’s belly grows larger, it quickly becomes clear that she's not sick at all. Over the coming days, Thoke builds a more permanent home for them here in the woods. It's just as well. He can feel that they're close to his home now.

  Neera remains by the hut most of the time so she can get her rest. Thoke hunts alone, but with his abilities and the rich abundance of game in these woods, there is no need for help. Thoke never goes far on his hunting trips. He's in constant fear of something happening to Neera while he's away.

  CHAPTER 7

  The following summer they have become three. Still their hut stands, now much larger than last year. Sunshine gleams between the treetops. Shadows form outside the hut, where the family is sleeping. Only the songs of birds can be heard through the forest.

  Suddenly the birds’ chirping is overpowered by the cries of a small child. The little one wakes first, like always.

  “Get him, dear,” Neera is still tired after waking several times in the night. Thoke is sometimes up early as well, but he often finds the need to wake Neera for assistance.

  With a sigh, he steps over to the child, who's wrapped in warm deer furs, and lifts him in his arms. The boy silences for a moment but soon begins to cry again.

  “Calm down, little man.” Thoke tries in vain to soothe him. “Neera, I think the boy needs something I cannot provide,”

  “Alright, hand him over.” Neera still manages a smile. Her eyelids are heavy. She can barely open them. Thoke lays the child in his mother’s arms, and the boy immediately starts searching for milk. Thoke sits down next to them and gives Neera a kiss. Only a few glimmers of light pass through some cracks in the hut, but it is shaping up to be a warm day.

  “I should go find us something to eat today,” Thoke states. Some berries, roots, and mushrooms lie in woven wooden baskets hanging on the wall, but Neera needs more than that in order to make their boy grow strong. Neera looks at him, her eyes barely open, then moves her gaze down to the child.

  “Yes, you go do that. This one's draining every last drop of energy from me.”

  “Ha, I'll be quick. Little Rhekir needs you to be feeling well.”

  Life smiles for Thoke again. He takes a moment to breathe it all in. His new family has made him think less about his old one. Finding them seems like a distant dream at this point. Thoke kisses both mother and child, feeling as happy as ever.

  He straps on his pelts, using only a thin layer now in the summertime. His arms remain bare; Thoke can't stand to be too warm there. Well clothed, he stands up while having to crouch slightly so as not to touch the roof.

  “What does the fine woman want for her midday meal today?” he asks from the huts entry flap.

  “I think boar would be nice. Maybe with some blueberries and nuts besides it,” Neera answers, her smile now wide. “But whatever you get will do, I guess.”

  “Whatever I get coming right up,” Thoke jests before giving her a deep bow. Then he opens the flap, and sets off into the woods, spear in hand.

  Thoke finds a small cliff and stands at its highest peak. He looks up, closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. The morning air feels cool and clear. Thoke must hone his senses in order to find any potential prey in the area. First he always shuts is eyes, so he can focus his hearing and sense of smell.

  He's gotten a lot better using his enhanced senses now. Neera has helped him sharpen them. A very weak wind blows, but it won't help him find any animal scents. For a long time, he stands in deep concentration.

  Suddenly, he hears a crack! Something stepped on a twig. Thoke scouts the area for the source of the noise, but the forest is too thick. The animal must be deep in the forest.

  He sneaks between the trees, focusing his hearing toward the sound. Weak footsteps move gently against the forest floor. Fixed on the sound, Thoke slowly moves through the grass. The sound of footsteps grows louder and reveals the identity of the animal. No doubt this is exactly what Neera ordered.

  As soon as Thoke spots the boar, he crouches down as low as he can and moves silently toward his prey. The forest provides camouflage, and the boar seems to have no idea of what’s about to happen.

  Thoke gets in close. He throws a rock out to his right, which makes the boar look where it landed. The hunter throws himself on the animal from behind and delivers a quick death with his spear, thrusting it into the boar’s heart.

  Very happy with today’s catch, Thoke returns to his loved ones. Gathering berries and nuts has never been a favorite of his. What they have back in their hut will do just fine.

  With the boar across his shoulders, Thoke spots their little campsite in the dense forest.

  “Neera!” he yells. No one answers. He tries again but is met with silence this time also. He pulls the entry flap away from the hut and finds it empty inside. Thoke feels a sense of worry spread through his chest and drops the boar to the ground.

  “Neera! Where are you?” Even after Thoke's third cry, silence follows once again.

  He spots something on the ground outside the hut. Blood. It's still wet. Something bad has happened. Thoke starts to run around the campsite feverishly. Panic sets in, and he can't think clearly. Instinctively, he runs up to the nearest high point to get a better look around.

  He sees far outside the campsite in all directions, but he can't spot anyone. Running around with no plan won't work and standing there looking won't help either. He realizes he needs to calm down and focus. With his eyes closed, he concentrates on his hearing. After slowing down his pulse, he can hear his son crying in the distance. With a jolt Thoke runs toward it. The tall grass flies up behind him as he blazes through.

  On a cliff about one hundred steps ahead, he sees Neera. She holds Rhekir in one hand and a bloody dagger in the other. To their left a muscular man comes walking toward them. He's wearing nothing above the waist but thick black stripes that cover his body from his bald head and down his front and back. His stomach is also dark red from where Neera must have stabbed him. The man bends down, and picks up a spear. Thoke's eyes open wide with fear. He has to stop him!

  With every last piece of strength, Thoke runs toward the cliff, but he's too late. The man thrusts his spear toward Neera while she attempts to climb up and away from him. The spear hits her in the back of her thigh and pops out the other side. Thoke slows, feeling unsteady at the sight. His face turns from one of fear to one of fury.


  While Neera screams in pain, Thoke jumps up on the cliff, landing right in front of the striped man. Before he has time to react, Thoke grabs his head by the ears. With one swift, powerful jerk, Thoke violently twists the man’s head. At that moment, it seems the world moves slower.

  Thoke can barely hear Neera's cries of pain anymore. The only thing ringing in his ears are the sound of the bones in the man’s neck turning into dust. Lifeless, the man falls down the cliff and ends up on the ground below. It takes what feels like an eternity. The man’s body lands on its stomach, but his face stares up at Thoke. He looks down at the man’s cold dead eyes.

  Neera’s screams for help snap Thoke out of it. Quickly he turns and takes off the pelts that cover his upper body. With careful hands, he grabs Rhekir from his mother’s embrace and wraps him in the pelts and then lays him on the rock. He then turns to Neera, stroking her cheek to calm her down.

  “Shhh, this is going to hurt.” Thoke tries to soften his voice as much as possible. Neera nods and takes a deep breath.

  Thoke snaps the spear at the shortest end, where the sharpened tip was. With a quick jerk, he pulls the spear out of Neera’s thigh. Her cries resound through the forest. Thoke rips up part of his pelts and wraps it around her bleeding wounds. She's lost a lot of blood, but hopefully Thoke can stop more from spilling out.

  He carries Neera and Rhekir back to camp. He places them both on the warm furs on the floor of their hut. His makeshift bandage seem to have stopped most of Neera’s bleeding. Neera is pale as snow and sweating but cold to the touch. Thoke does all he can to keep her awake. He shakes her and slaps her cheeks.

  “How's Rhekir?” she manages to ask.

  “He's doing fine. Just relax now,” Thoke answers before wiping sweat off her forehead with the back of his hand and then planting a kiss there.

  Once Thoke makes sure the blood has stopped flowing from her wound, he allows Neera to fall asleep. Rhekir sleeps as well, seemingly unaware of what's happened.

  After watching over them for a while, Thoke falls asleep beside them. His dreams are everything but calm. Several times throughout the night he wakes suddenly, drenched in sweat. All he remembers are the cold dead eyes staring up at him.

  The day after, Neera seems a bit better. At least she's awake. Her wound has still not closed itself, so Thoke changes the bloody rags several times through the day. Then he prepares the boar he killed. It's very important that Neera eats.

  She sits up next to the trunk of the large tree inside their hut and takes a piece of the cooked meat.

  “The man from yesterday, I've seen something like that before. He looked like the ravages, the ones who attacked my tribe. They had black stripes all over too,” she says with mouthful of meat.

  “Then maybe he was one of them,” Thoke answers. “What do you think he was after? There was no meat laying around and not many weapons either. It seems the man took a big risk without much to gain.”

  “He didn't say a single word. I was sitting right outside the hut with Rhekir in my lap when he came running from behind that tree.” Neera points at a tree only a few steps away. “I grabbed my dagger and stabbed him in the stomach, then I ran. I guess we'll never know what he really wanted.”

  A long silence follows. Thoke stands up and looks in the direction of the cliff.

  “I'll check around the area. There might be more of them, and I don't want to be caught off guard. I won't be gone for very long. I’ll still be able to hear you two. You must eat, and rest,” he says. “Mother once told me it's wise to keep your leg high if you've been cut there.” He grabs a rock from nearby and places her leg on top of it.

  Thoke walks up to the cliff. He can smell the body long before he sees it. As he approaches, he hears the buzz of flies around the corpse. No scavengers have gotten to it yet. The man’s pale skin has turned a shade of blue overnight. His eyes are still open, staring up toward the clouds.

  Some coal has run down into the corner of his eyes. The rest of the black coal stripes have also bled across his body, making some thin lines as well. Thoke stands there for a while, unable to look away. A heavy lump builds in his chest and glides down into his stomach, making him feel nauseous.

  He collects himself and starts to gather some large stones, which he lays over the body. Even a man like this deserves a proper burial. Before he places the final stone to cover the man completely, he turns his head back to the proper position. The man would wander aimlessly around the afterlife if he were to stay this way. Now he may at least rest peacefully.

  After having made sure every part of the corpse is covered, Thoke heads back to his family. He feels nervous and uneasy. There are probably more of them in the area. Perhaps the rest of these so-called ravages will come to look for their friend. Thoke doesn't know how many of them he could defeat in a fight.

  He opens the huts flap and stands in the opening for a while. These words don't come easy. His pride is about to take a major hit.

  “We're not safe here anymore. I'm not able to protect you two by myself. We need to find ourselves a tribe. More people around us means safety,” he says, keeping his head down. Neera slides toward him and grabs his hand, pulling him down. She holds her hands around his big black beard.

  “That's probably for the best. It would be nice to have some more people around again, and it would be good for Rhekir to have other children to play with eventually.”

  Thoke takes her small hands into his own, making them disappear.

  “It's decided, then. I will start keeping a lookout first thing in the morning. I know of several tribes who travels by this area.”

  Thoke searches for several days. He's been shadowing a couple of tribes with the right numbers and strength for a while. A tribe too large would probably not accept them, but a tribe too small would not be able to defend themselves well enough.

  His choice falls on a tribe containing only thirteen members. A bit small, perhaps, but they seem strong at least. He will now attempt to persuade their chief to take them in.

  The day is cold and rain falls lightly. The tribe has made camp by a small pond where some are attempting to catch fish. Neera and Rhekir hide behind some bushes, glimpsing a nice view of the camp.

  “Good luck,” Neera whispers. With light fingers, she tidies Thoke’s hair. Before they left, she braided two thick strips of hair on each side of his head. It makes him look very handsome, and he will make a better first impression. She's also tied a knot around his beard by the chin with a strip of deer hide so it would look less disheveled. Quite happy with her work, she sends him on his way.

  Thoke walks slowly toward the camp. They discover him instantly; everyone goes into defensive positions, drawing their spears and daggers. Thoke crouches to make himself look smaller and continues forward.

  He places his spear on the ground to show he's not a threat. One of the men steps forward. He's a bit bigger than Thoke, has short light hair and a thick beard. He's also pale of skin, looking like he might be from the same mountainous area as Thoke himself.

  “What's your purpose here? Be gone before you get hurt,” he says with his deep voice.

  Thoke can feel the tension in the air. He must not make any mistakes or else things will turn ugly in a hurry.

  “I have come to join your tribe if you would allow it.” Thoke softens his voice to appear even less threatening. The tribesman measures Thoke with his eyes, checking to see what kind of man he might be.

  “And why would I allow that? We don't know you,” he says with a skeptical look.

  “I'm a good hunter, and I have a woman and a small child. I cannot protect them while I'm out hunting.” Thoke drops to one knee. “I beg you, there are dangerous people out there.”

  “So where is this woman and child? Are they invisible perhaps?” the tribesman chuckles.

  Thoke looks back and signals to Neera with a wave of his hand. She rises and walks toward him with Rhekir wrapped in her arms. Then she goes down on b
oth knees beside Thoke.

  “Those two can join,” the tribesman states before starting to undress above the waist. “But let's see what good you are.”

  The tribesman raises his hands in front of a large hairy chest to fight. He's clearly big and strong, but not in a muscular way. No doubt this man eats before everyone else in this tribe. He will now test Thoke’s skills in combat to see if he's strong enough to join them.

  “Be careful. Don't hurt him too much now. They wouldn't understand,” Neera whispers in Thoke’s ear. Thoke rises and undresses in the same way. His already bulging muscles become even more defined in the rain, and his dark hairy chest rivals his opponent. He knows he must hold back. Showing his full strength would not be wise. The tribe might be frightened and perhaps even attack with their spears.

  Everyone gathers in a circle and now the fight can begin. Thoke and the large man walk around the circle. At times they make fake lunges just to test their opponent’s reactions.

  After a few rounds around the circle, the tribesman makes his first attack. He throws a punch toward Thoke, who skips away at the last moment. The man continues to throw punches. Left and right hands come flying shortly after each other. Thoke ducks away from every strike, and eventually he connects with a right hand of his own. The blow lands straight into the tribesman’s liver area. He jerks back in pain but catches Thoke’s arm with a tight grip. While pulling Thoke toward him with one hand, the tribesman hits Thoke in the teeth with the other.

  Thoke falls to his back but bounces up to his feet almost immediately. He runs toward the man, who punches at him with all his strength. Thoke ducks under, slides across the wet mud, and quickly strikes him in the stomach three times and then once to his head. The tribesman blocks the head shot and throws another fast left punch toward Thoke, who answers by swiftly throwing a left punch of his own.

  It hits the tribesman straight in the jaw, while the tribesman’s punch never reaches its target. He goes limp and falls onto his back. Mud flies into the air as the tribesmen then circle them and gasp.