by Lily Thomas
Then a small orange flickering light further down the cave tunnel called to her.
“Almost there.” She said to the baby.
In just a few moments, Ezi broke out into a main chamber where she found several small fires around the inside of the cave. Eron was standing in the middle of the cavern, smiling at her. Firelight flickered off the older shaman, giving him a godly appearance, especially with his large shadow standing on the cave wall behind him.
He opened his arms wide, “It is good to see you up and well, Ezi. We all feared the gods meant to take you from us.”
“It is nice to see you as well.” The elderly shaman was the one sabertooth in this clan that she trusted. She hadn’t even seen him shift into his sabertooth form, and wondered if he might be too old to shift properly.
“Bring her to me.” He coaxed her forward, and Ezi did as he bid.
As she approached, she held out her bundled child until she was safely in Eron’s arms.
“What a pretty baby,” Eron said softly as he gazed down at the child.
It was well known Eron would have liked to have a mate and children, but the gods had never been kind enough to give him any of that. It was a shame. Ezi could easily see him making a fantastic father with his gentle but firm personality.
He spun around, bent over, and placed the baby into a small fur-lined basket that he must have brought when Aiyre had informed him that Ezi was coming to the caves. A baby basket wasn’t normally inside the cave.
Then he faced her again. “Come.” He guided her over to one of the small fires, “Now sit.” He commanded her.
She did as he said and watched as Eron took a hold of a few bunches of dried leaves. He dipped them towards the flames until they began to release a white smoke that trickled upwards in the cold air of the cave. Then he walked over to her as he chanted and waved the smoking leaves around her head.
Ezi sucked in deep and even breathes. The smoke filled her lungs and helped to calm her racing memories.
Then Eron moved over to the baby, and he waved the burning leaves around the child who gurgled and laughed, raising its arms over its head.
“You are a lively one.” Eron smiled down at the baby before placing the still smoldering leaves beside a small fire.
Then he grabbed a bowl and walked over to Ezi. He dipped a couple of fingers into the bone bowl and wiped the mixture over her face until her face was completely covered. Eron left her to walk over to the baby. He rubbed the mixture over the baby who just cooed and gurgled in delight to the sensation.
“Now,” Eron said as he rose and took his own seat in front of the fire, “we will find out what name the gods will give to her.”
He took a different bone bowl, raised the rim to his lips, and drank whatever was inside. She watched as his blue eyes grew hazy as the liquid took effect. His chanting grew louder until his voice echoed off the cave walls and filled her ears.
Slowly, Eron rocked back and forth as he chanted, his eyes rolling back in his head. After what felt like a lifetime, Eron righted himself, looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Her name will be Flosa.”
“Flosa,” Ezi repeated as her eyes glanced across the fire and at her child. The name somehow made her feel closer and more connected to her child.
Chapter 5
Tor wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead. He tried to open his eyelids, but they felt weighed down. The pain was there, but it felt distant like he’d somehow been removed from it. He growled in irritation to find himself in his human form. He could feel the separate fingers on his hands and his human toes. His sabertooth form had done its best to protect him, but even it ended up drained and needed a rest.
Then he felt hands begin to roam over his body. And there was something else… talking perhaps?
Fighting the darkness surrounding his mind, Tor ripped open his eyes and kicked out his feet while swinging his arms. If this was an animal hoping for an easy meal, then he was going to defend himself until his dying breath.
“Be calm.” A soothing male voice reached his ears.
The voice sounded familiar to him. Glancing up, Tor’s eyes landed on a face that he knew. “Darh.” He froze in the middle of his thrashing about.
“Tor, we thought you were long dead and walking with our ancestors in the Eternal Hunting Grounds.” Darh continued to run his hands over Tor’s body as he searched for broken bones or other wounds… other than the one that had to be obvious on his leg.
“I thought I would be walking with them,” Tor admitted. After the rhinoceros hunt, he hadn’t thought he would see a member of his clan unless it was in the Eternal Hunting Grounds. He wanted to see his mother and father, but not this soon. Not if he had to die to see them.
“What happened?” Another person walked into his field of vision.
Shifting his head slightly, recognition lit up his face, “Jirk?”
“Yes.” The other man bent down next to him. “What happened?” He repeated the same question as Darh as his brown eyes skimmed over Tor until he reached Tor’s leg and then the other man visibly winced as he saw the wound there.
“A wholly rhinoceros.” Tor croaked out of his sore throat. He had no idea how long he’d been laying on the ground without water, and his throat didn’t like the prolonged speaking.
“It attacked you?” Darh’s eyebrows rose in skepticism. They might be irritable creatures, but they weren’t known for attacking without a reason. They were large enough to deter predators from attacking a healthy one.
“Not before I attacked it.”
Darh snorted as he shook his head. “Why would you hunt a wholly rhinoceros by yourself. You were asking to be killed.” He looked at Tor like he was some young cub who couldn’t learn.
Tor just shrugged. “I needed the challenge to take my mind off troubling thoughts.”
Darh pursed his lips as he shook his head. “We were supposed to be out checking traps for rabbits, but we will have to bring you back to the village instead. Eron and Tira will need to heal this gash before it becomes something more serious.”
“How close are we?”
“A valley away.”
“My sabertooth must have brought me back.” Because Tor definitely didn’t remember walking back towards the village. He wasn’t even sure he would have known the way back.
“It knew you would be safer near the village then out there with all the predators lurking around.” Jirk nodded his head, his shoulder-length brown hair waving over his shoulders. “The wound is scabbed over now, but I’m sure it was bleeding all over when you got it.”
Tor relaxed against the ground, knowing his clan would take care of him. The pain was coming back to the forefront now that he was conscious.
“How should we get him back?”
“Hand me your shirt.” Darh stripped off his own shirt as Jirk did the same. Once Darh had both of the shirts, he tied the arms together. “Now we can roll him onto the shirts and pull him back to the village.”
Jirk nodded his head in approval. “Let’s get him back then. Daerk isn’t going to believe his eyes.”
“I almost didn’t believe my own eyes when I first spotted him.”
The men gripped his shoulders and legs and quickly shifted Tor onto the shirts. A brief shot of pain rocked through him as his leg jostled, and he let out a grunt as he ground his teeth together.
“Sorry.” Darh apologized. “But we have to get you back to the village, so Eron can take a look at your wound and get it healed.”
Tor nodded his head as he gritted his teeth until the pain slowly faded into the back of his mind as a darkness called him into the back of his mind. There was no need for him to suffer more than he’d already had. He was turning his life into Darh and Jirk’s hands.
He felt them begin to drag him over the ground. Every once in a while, a bump would have him sucking in a pained breath. After several more bumps as they dragged him, the pain became too much, and once more the darkness pulled him
down into a black abyss, and he feared it wouldn’t be much longer until he was walking in the Eternal Hunting Grounds.
Daerk sat at a campfire, his eyes scanning over the village he’d seen through a harsh winter after kicking out the last leader, Brog. That man had been a disease in the village, but things were lighter and easier now that their meat hut was bursting at the seams. All Daerk had to do was keep it that way.
A couple of children ran past him as he sat there at the village fire. One corner of his lips crooked upwards as he watched them play a game of chase. Someday, when they were older, they’d be playing games of chase in their sabertooth forms to perfect their hunting skills, but for now, it was simply a game. They wouldn’t be able to shift into their other form until they were slightly older.
Ezi had given birth a couple of moons ago, and there were some more babies on their way. The clan was prospering, but the land they lived in had a way of taking and giving happiness at the same rate, and he worried more trying times would be in store for them.
“Where does your mind wander to today?” Aiyre plopped down beside him, her brunette braid flopping around behind her back.
And once more, he had another reason to smile. “Hoping I am still the best person to lead this clan.” He reached out and fingered a couple of beads on her shirt. “These are pretty.”
She sent him a dazzling smile. “I sewed them on yesterday.”
“I like them.”
Aiyre cocked her head to the side as her gorgeous brown eyes scanned over his face. “I can’t promise that there wouldn’t be a better person somewhere out there to be a leader,” she waved a hand vaguely around, “but when it comes to this clan, you are the perfect leader. Our clanmates can now breath without the worry of inciting Brog’s wrath.”
It was true. No one had to worry about him going into a rage and throwing clan mates into a fire like Brog had tried to do.
“I worry about our next winter,” Daerk admitted as he absently rubbed one of her shoulders. He’d been reluctant to put all this pressure on his shoulders, and now that he had so many lives relying on him he didn’t want to let them down. Everyone had confidence in him, and it made him worry he wouldn’t live up to their expectations.
Aiyre shook her head as she leaned into his touch. “We have a summer to look forward to, and if we lead correctly, winter will be easier. It will never be easy, but the gods are so far smiling down on our clan.”
“Still…”
She placed a gentle hand on one of his own. “What if I ask Eron to ask the gods?”
“Do you think they will answer such a question?” Daerk could remember several occasions where the gods had deemed no answer was necessary. The gods only spoke to Eron when they had something to say, and he worried that they would once again find their lips sealed tight. Or worse, they would confirm his fears that he wasn’t the right leader for their people.
“I am sure they will give you whatever answer you need to give you confidence, whether it is through Eron or the actions of this world.” Aiyre patted his hand.
Daerk cocked his head to the side as he examined the woman beside him. “Are you sure you are not a god? The wisdom you hold has me wondering.” His eyes narrowed to slits as he examined her.
She tossed back her head with a thunderous chuckle that seemed to take a hold of her entire body. When she recovered, she slapped one of his hands playfully, “I am no god.”
Aiyre leaned her head onto his shoulder, and her delicate scent wafted up to his nose. He stroked a hand over her hair, enjoying the comfort she brought him. Their meeting hadn’t been an easy one, but it’d been worth the battle. He rested his own head against the top of hers.
A pronghorn shifter and a sabertooth shifter seemed like a funny match to him, but who was he to question the gods. They seemed to think she was the perfect woman for him, and he wasn’t complaining.
He pulled her in close to his side. A feeling of contentment flowed through him. This moment was perfect.
“We need help!” A cry went up.
Daerk leaped to his feet, suddenly forcing Aiyre to catch herself as she too stood up next to him. They looked around frantically, their eyes searching out the source of the voice. For a brief second, he thought he might have heard something that wasn’t there, but when he glanced over at Aiyre her eyes were just as frenzied.
“Over here!” The voice called out sounding strained.
“Come.” Aiyre grabbed one of his hands and rushed them over to one side of the village. As they came around a hut, their eyes landed on a staggering sight. “It can’t be,” Aiyre uttered under her breath.
“Tor?” Daerk darted forward as the two men ceased dragging his friend across the ground. As he bent down on the ground next to Tor, he lifted the other man’s head into his lap. He knew it was Tor, but he looked like he was either dead or about to join their ancestors in the Eternal Hunting Grounds. “Fetch Eron and my mother!”
“I’ll go!”
He glanced up for a brief second and watched Aiyre sprint off in the direction of the caves, where Eron would be communing with the gods. Her fur-lined boots flew over the ground. He glanced back down at his friend. “What happened?”
“We were out checking traps for animals when we stumbled on him lying on the ground in his human form.”
The other man stepped forward. “We couldn’t believe our eyes at first.”
Daerk looked up and finally recognized the faces of the men. It was Darh and Jirk who stood in front of him. “Where did you find him?”
“Not far from the village.” Darh pointed off in the direction they’d come. “He was near one of the massive trees that mark our territory.”
“This wound on his leg.” Daerk brushed over it lightly with a few fingertips, and the first sign of life came from Tor’s lips as he gasped in pain. But his eyes did not open, and the blue tinge to his lips caused Daerk’s heart to tremble. This here was a dear friend, and it hurt him to see Tor in such a state. “Let’s get him to his hut while we wait for Eron and Tira.”
Despite the fact that Tor had been gone for many months, Daerk had kept his hut ready and waiting, because he’d always been sure that Tor would once more return to them. He just had hoped it would’ve been in a better state and not with a gruesome wound on his leg.
“What have you done to yourself, my friend?” Daerk shook his head as he gently placed Tor’s head back down and took up one side of the fur shirts.
Jirk took the other side, and together they picked up Tor’s torso using the fur shirts that were tied together and slowly eased him through the village until they arrived at the right hut. Jirk went in first, backward, and then Tor and Daerk entered the hut, which had a brightly burning fire. Daerk had never let that fire burn out. He’d never given up hope that Tor would once more rejoin their clan.
Rir, Tor, and Daerk were like brothers. They’d been close ever since they were cubs and nothing would separate them.
Gently, they placed Tor down on the bed of furs by the warm crackling fire. Pulling back, Daerk scrubbed a hand across his face. “I always knew he would come back to us at some point, but I was hoping I would see him walk into the village, not have to be carried.”
Jirk nodded his head as Darh came into the tent after them. “Some of us wondered if we’d ever see him again.”
Darh nodded his head in agreement. “Some of us thought we never would.”
“Where’s Eron?” Daerk turned to face the entrance of the hut feeling irritated that no one was here who could ease Tor’s suffering. The wound was turning blue and black right before his eyes, and he wasn’t sure his friend would make it through this. It oozed yellow pus and had Daerk’s mouth turning up on one corner in disgust. But it also made him glad Tor appeared to be passed out due to the pain… he could only imagine what this nasty wound would feel like.
“I’m here!” Eron busted through the hut flaps, Aiyre hot on his heels.
Daerk watched on helplessly as
Eron knelt down next to Tor. The clan shaman placed a small leather bag by his side and ripped open the lid exposing animal stomach bags that contained everything that he would require.
“I’m going to need some hot water,” Eron stated.
“I’ll grab it!” Aiyre left the hut in a rush, her braid swinging behind her until the hut flap closed behind her, and she was gone from sight.
Then Daerk glanced back down at Tor. “Will he live?”
“Only the gods can answer that question Daerk. You know that.” Eron returned as he dug through his pack, pulling out herb after herb, some Daerk couldn’t even name.
“Aiyre said hot water was needed?” Tira rushed into the hut, carrying a couple of animal skulls full of water. Trails of steam rose off the top.
“Place them down beside me.” Eron motioned but never even turned to look at her.
Tira rushed over to Eron’s side and placed the skulls on the ground beside him. “That wound looks nasty.” She commented as she got a better look. “Anyone know what happened to him?”
Darh stepped forward. “He mumbled something about a wholly rhinoceros.”
Tira shook her head. “He tried to hunt one?”
“I don’t think he said.” Darh looked over at Jirk who just shrugged in response.
Daerk rolled his eyes as he scrubbed his hand over his face again. “Attacking a rhinoceros while on his own sounds like something Tor would do. He’s always been a bit overconfident.”
Tira made tisking noises with her tongue. “He should know better.”
“In his state of mind, he may not have known any better.” Daerk shook his head. “He’d been rejected and was hurt, and it may have festered until he wasn’t thinking about his actions. Just look at him. You barely see the man under all that grime and hair.”
“And now he may die.”
“I’m doing my best to prevent that from happening.” Eron chimed in. “And with the blessing of the gods, I may just be able to do it.” He finally turned to face the people in the hut. “Some of you should leave. Your presence is only stifling the hut.”
