Page 9 of Caveman Alien's Terror

I can still barely believe it. A female! On this continent, where I thought there were only male slayers! When I first interrogated Tarat’ex and he told me the reason he was cast out, I tortured him for lying to me. But then it turned out to be true!

There were two, even. I saw them both. But the other one was clearly involved with that orange-eyed slayer, a much more formidable enemy than these outcasts I graciously allow to tag along with me. No, it has to be that dark one with the clear eyes and the ability to not cower before me.

I grin into the woods. Such a challenge! A small, round female who’s not scared witless by the mere sight of me! Yes, she will provide some entertainment, I’m sure. She was quite attractive, despite her pitiful clothing and frizzy hair. But conquering the strong ones, the defiant ones, is always much more interesting and fun than simply taking a female who offers herself willingly. Or from sheer terror. This one won’t, that’s for sure.

“Some force may be required,” I muse. “And is that not the best way of all?”

4

- Astrid-

I could leave through the gates, and the guards would simply open them for me. Being a shaman comes with some privileges. But if I do that, the guards will make sure that Korr’ax is alerted. And that wouldn’t be good for my plans. So I have to sneak out of the village.

The spot where the wooden palisade meets the Mount is the weak point in the wall. It’s difficult to shape the wall exactly after the contour of the rock, and keeping the crack smaller than a few inches doesn’t make much sense anyway. The walls are there to keep large creatures out, not to keep small womenin. Say, like a newly appointed shaman apprentice with a depression problem.

“Nobody thought ofthat,” I mutter to Luna as I push my pack through the opening first. “After this, they will think of nothing else. After you, milady.”

Luna elegantly jumps through the opening without touching the sides, and lands silently on the other side.

Steadying myself on the red rock, I slide first one leg, then the other through the opening. It’s a close fit, but if my hips go through, then I know it’s wide enough.

And it is. Landing softly on the ground right outside the wall, I pick up my pack and pull my spear through the opening in the wall. I check on the dragon dagger, carefully hidden but easy to get hold of.

Then I stand there and listen.

The jungle is manically alive, even at night. There’s a constant rustle from the undergrowth, bushes move for no good reason, saplings sway, and the shadows keep shifting. At night, the sense of stepping into a lion’s cage is even worse than in the daytime. And I can’t ignore that the cavemen really fear the jungle at night and try not to leave the village in the dark.

“But we’re shadows, too,” I tell Luna as I walk into the deadliness. “They should all fear us more.”

As a way to motivate myself, it’s not that effective. But it’s all I have, apart from the urge to do this in the first place.

“She’s almost certainly dead,” I mumble, but I’ve been telling myself that for years and it never works. I owe Cora to at least look for her for real. I’ve done it before, back in the tunnel days, but I never had the nerve or the means to venture far from the other girls. I worried about how they would survive without me, so I didn’t take chances that could kill me.

This time, all the girls will be fine even if I never return. I have a weapon, I have experience with the jungle, I have a good place to bring her when I find her. And I finally have some idea where to look for her.

I hear sap dripping onto my hat, but Alba’s fireman’s helmet concept works well and none of it seeps through the mesh.

Luna keeps up, sometimes behind me and sometimes in front. She’s not too bothered by all the life around us, but of course she was born to live in this jungle.

“I hope you’ll stay with me,” I tell her softly. “You make me feel braver.” There’s no reason for that, of course. I don’t know how she’ll react if we get attacked. If she has any sense at all, she’ll run at the first sign of trouble. Or even turn on me and join the attacker.

Old Melr’ax never brought his stevik into the jungle, just kept it on his platform in the Foundling village and brought it to ceremonies. It would be newly fed, he says, in order to be as docile as these things can be. He would drape the creature over his shoulders in order to display his mastery over the jungle wildlife and instill awe in his tribesmen.

“Would you enjoy being worn like that?” I ask Luna. “I get a feeling you’d love it. Being on top of everything, carried around, surveying your subjects like a queen.”

We go on for a good while, making a wide arc around the village. The terrain is mostly flat, but the giant trees and the dense bushes force us to take a meandering route. The moon Yrf hangs in the sky like a thin, blue sliver, but I can rarely spot it through the treetops. It’s the only way I have to navigate through the jungle, and so far I seem to be on the right track.

“We’ll find the salen tree,” I tell Luna, keeping my voice to a whisper. “Because it’s a good landmark. Not for any other reason. You’re probably thinking that I’m looking for that bluedude. Okay, I am. But just because it would be cool if hehada spaceship.”

I know I’m breaking the caveman rule about not talking in the jungle, but it keeps me thinking about other things than what may lurk around the next tree. And the cavemen have deep, bassy voices that travel well, while my airy, squeaky voice can’t possibly be heard over the general hiss of this wilderness.

We walk for hours until the jungle starts to get brighter as the sun rises.

But the light doesn’t help me relax. Instead a strange fear is growing in my mind. Not just the fear that I always have of the jungle, but a paralyzing fear of something specific about to happen. Except I don’t know what that thing would be.

Luna suddenly stops, nearly tripping me up.

“What is it?” I squeeze the spear and look around anxiously.

---