Page 69 of Caveman Alien's Bride

She may have been taken.

New strength fills me, and I rush back out. “She’s not here!”

“What?” Breti’ax whirls around. “Then where is she?”

“Where were the men tonight?” I demand. “I want it clear where everyone was! Every single man!”

Breti’ax stares in disbelief. “Chief, you don’t think atribesmanhas taken her?”

“Many of the tribe think she’s an agent of Darkness,” I seethe. “They may want her dead or gone.”

“Are there signs of a fight?”

I stride back inside and check for blood or broken items. But if anything, the cave is tidier than usual. “No sign of struggle. But look!” I point at the necklace.

“A man wishing her ill would never take that off her,” Breti’ax says, frowning. “It would take time, and it would serve no purpose. This is a clear sign that Bryar took it off herself.”

I stand still, just thinking. What he says makes sense. “Then she left by herself, like that other woman before. Butthiswoman is married. Bryar ismy wife!”

Breti’ax picks up the necklace and thoughtfully turns it over in his hands. “She may think she no longer is.”

“Can we blame her? Everyone thinks she’s our enemy!”

“And she may well be the worst enemy we have,” Breti’ax says quietly. “Without meaning to be. Let her be gone, Chief! We have a war to fight. The tribe has never needed you more. The Lifegiver is ready to bear your son. Tomorrow you shall start it, and in a few months you will hold your son in your arms. The Tretter Lifegivers are also ready for you the next time you go to that village. Your life is here, Chief! With your tribes! This is what you wanted. You rule two tribes, and you rule them well!”

I want to tear my hair out. “But I wanther, too!”

Breti’ax comes over and puts an old, wrinkled hand on my shoulder. “Chief Korr’ax. If no tribe has a woman, there is no war. You can rule the tribes in peace. Very likely the Krast tribe will ask you to be their chief as well, and this time without anyfemale to confuse us all. I’m sure their Lifegivers are in a good state, too. What if you hadthreesons, Korr’ax? No man would ever be able to measure up to you! You would be a living legend! Other tribes may come and ask you to betheirchief. You could rule the whole jungle! And then, after many happy years as the most admired man on Xren, when the time came to leave this life, you would be among the foremost of the Ancestors! Everyone will pray to you for courage and leadership! Forever!”

I sigh deeply. “I can’t deny that everything you say makes sense, Breti’ax. Let me now think about how best to handle this.”

Taking a few steps to the side, I stand on the edge of the Mount and look out over the dark jungle at night. My thoughts are churning.

But I’m not really in doubt about what I must do.

“I love you, Bryar,” I mutter. “But the tribes need me. And they need me at my best.”

20

- Bryar -

“Stop here,” the Krast leader says.

The sun is about to rise, and the jungle is getting brighter. The Krast men groan and sigh as we stop for a rest. Many of them are bleeding, and one of them is so badly injured he must be carried.

Their injuries are all because of me. My constant stepping on twigs and making them break with loud snaps attracted a couple of predators in the night, and the Krast men had a terrible time fighting them off.

To my joy, none of them were remotely as good with their swords as Korr’ax, and I doubt any of them could defeat a not-raptor as easily as he can. If I get another day or so of this, maybe we’ll get to the point where these Krast abductors just give up.

Dren’in is being very quiet. I think he’s starting to realize there’s no way the Krast will honor the deal and make him chief. He just slinks along behind us, lacking the strength of character to insist upon his right. Maybe he hopes things will change when we getto the Krast village, but I think he will be sorely disappointed. While these guys are nowhere near as strong and competent as Korr’ax, they’re miles better than Dren’in.

“If you make a sound, I’ll cut you,” the leader of the Krast men says as he loosens my gag. “Eat this.”

He puts a piece of dried fruit in my mouth, and I have no choice but to eat it and drink some water he pours into my mouth.

“I have another need,” I tell him, using a phrase I’ve constructed in my mind. “Water must out, too.”

He stares at me for a heartbeat before the penny drops. “Then do it.”

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