A Texas girl finds herself admiring a light in the sky only to find out it is indeed an alien, which transports her to another time long long ago in Africa and pairs her with a Neanderthal population in hopes that her descendants will populate Nort...
The unseen spirits that haunt the night airs were working extra hard to secure Kamrasi's destiny.
Since the attack by the crocodile, Kamrasi and his followers slept very close together to keep both safe and warm on the increasingly chilly nights. To be sure, several children were whelped on that trip upriver, most of whom were most assuredly his.
He ordered camp, leaving young Sinomi in charge while he and Matusi went in search of the Basindi.
Keep in mind Sinomi, that you are Mirumbura. You show no fear. We are here to trade and not fight. Do not lose any of our goods. By this, he meant the girls.
This was a sparsely grown forest, dominated by large boulders and clay-like soil. Thorny, evergreen, and spindly trees called Acadas looked undernourished and sported five-inch thorns which were covered with sweet velvety flesh, a delicacy of both the Basindi and ants the size of cockroaches.
Kamrasi brushed against the thorns. Drops of blood trickled down his leg.
Look, said Matusi. His eyes followed Kamrasi's hand as he went to scratch his leg. Small yellow lizards scampered out of the undergrowth and up his leg and began licking the blood. Kamrasi brushed them away. They persisted, and he easily picked one up by the tail and examined it closely. Not seeing any spiny armor or scales, he bit its toothless head off, skinned it with his teeth, and started sucking the tender pink meat from the tiny bones while its tail flickered.
Tender, he said smiling at Matusi, I could eat a handful more. He grabbed another one and handed it to Matusi. They ate as they went along, stopping to listen for the Basindi.
What do these little things live on when they can't eat me, Kamrasi asked. I see no other animals. When he heard nothing from Matusi, he looked and saw him lying flat on the ground several yards back, motionless. He called and ran back to help but stopped short when he saw dozens of the tiny Acaditca lizards covering his head eagerly lapping at the blood.
There was a hole in his head from a fist-sized rock. He arranged Matusi's body straight on its back and looked to see where the rock might have come from. He had no weapon save for his hunting knife and ran back to his clansmen. He heard drums. The Basindi, he thought. The drums were excited, gaining speed, repeating the same rhythm,
Boom! Kak' a laka' Boom...
Thick black clouds darkened the sky. Kamrasi was sure he had somehow displeased the Spirits. His well-laid plans were ruined, certain his trading expedition was turning sour, and his fate and the fate of his clan were in the hands of the unknown, which Julie called Chaos
The wind gushed through the trees and there came a sudden blinding flash of lightning that tore open the sky and sent thunder and shivers of fear down his spine.
Kamrasi tried to maintain his composure. He hoped that his painted body would protect him from any unseen (or seen) dangers. He thought little of Matusi now, whose destiny had been realized. He saw his clan up ahead bundled together behind a rock and yelled for them to get ready to move but the wind was too strong. Sinomi approached him, cowering down as if he were dodging flying rubble.
They were here and then the storm came. They ran off, he said. He had blood on his hands and wrath in his eyes. There were four dead, two males, and two girls. One of the men was a Basindi, and the other was a boy, a young child.
The surging storm terrified the clan. They were standing on the riverbed talking about what had just happened, the wind was subsiding, replaced by heavy rain. After a while, two scouts came back from across the river; they had followed the fleeing Basindi and returned empty-handed.
We couldn't find them, one scout said, they move like the wind, but we did see someone coming from there, he pointed upriver towards the narrow passage. A man and---, he looked at the other scout and they both shrugged their shoulders unable to describe what they saw.
What did you see Tabi? Kamrasi said. More Basindi?
Tabi shook his head. Not Basindi. Mirumbura. A spirit was with him.
A Spirit? Show me, he said. And they turned to go when from across the river the two figures appeared.
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The next chapter will be published on October 25, 2024
