Dangerous magic wielders invade the stone age to replace humanity with a species fit to serve their kind. One man was sent to stop them and a group of misfits join the struggle for existence. Archaeology and cryptozoology meld into high fantasy.
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"I pooped," Qannik said.
Yuwa's nose crinkled and pulled in a powerful whiff of the little Icehunter's handiwork. "Break takin time."
The Ebu Gogo had strapped the toddling Qannik to his front with strips of fur. They were up to Yuwa's knees in the river, hunting catfish with spears. Yuwa's granddad memories of the stream revealed that some of their quarry grew larger than him. The four fish the pair had skewered so far would be a good start toward supper.
Long feet negotiated the stone riverbed slowly. Yuwa laid Qannik down and examined the knot around his soiled cloth. The Ebu Gogo cocked his head to one side and waited for instruction.
A moment later he began the dirty work. Yuwa cleaned the cloth first and wiped the toddler's bottom. A breeze kicked up, rustling trees down the shoreline. He raised an eyebrow, the little Icehunter's pee wand seemed to move with the breeze. Yuwa waited for a granddad memory, but warm urine came first.
"I peed," Qannik said.
Yuwa wiped his face and spat. "You got anything else to piddle or drop?" He held the cloth in front of him this time, on the ready.
A quick dive under the surface and Yuwa was back at the hunt. Soon he had named a fish for each of his companions, a method he found easier than Skinchanger's counting. More things than a finger tally were usually more trouble than Yuwa cared for.
The spear fisher and tot sunned on a flat blue rock until their furs were dry. Yuwa watched the little Icehunter practice the spear, just as his mommy showed him. His training was an even mix of technique and play. His wild red hair glinted in the afternoon sun.
Something began to trouble Yuwa. It felt like his grandad voice wanted to warn him about something. He clutched the shaft of his spear tight, stood over his fish, and scanned the skies over the river for King Birdie. Nothing. Yuwa coaxed the toddling fighter back into his sling, hefted his string of fish over a shoulder and crept up the game trail back to camp.
"Let's do some creepin, baby. I don't like this feelin' wigglin' around my guts. No sounds, okay? It's sneaky time."
Yuwa crept through bushes and slid under dense growth instead of following the game trail back to their camp. He smelled the coppery blood before he was close enough to see anything. Then he gasped. Dead Ghostkin eyes stared at him from a few paces ahead.
Yuwa's hand covered Qannik's eyes, but then he heard the tot's soft snore. Yuwa worried that if the little Icehunter saw the dead man, its ghost would invade Qannik's dreams. "You picked a great nappy time."
Through a bush nearby, Yuwa spotted a mound of Ghostkin corpses and a fire. One Ghostkin warrior tended a fire near the smoking rack that Thokmay and Sachet had constructed earlier. Another warrior wielded a knife, preparing their fallen comrades to be meat over the flame. Yuwa crept back a pace and fought down the urge to vomit.
He heard a few more of the Ghostkin yell to the pair at camp, they must be searching for his companions. Yuwa rushed back to his peep hole through the brush and stared hard at the pile of corpses. All Ghostkin. He scanned the rest of the campsite and then he saw her. A blood stained mass of cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Her blonde hair turned red and pink, stained by the carnage she had endured. The Ebu Gogo darted from the brush to another hidden spot near the Icehunter warrior.
He studied her in long tense silence until he saw the rise and fall of her chest. Yuwa giggled, a sound that nearly woke Qannik. She sat with her back against a tree, hands bound behind her, against the trunk. Yuwa crept close.
"Silly Huk, you sleepin?" Yuwa placed a hand on her shoulder, the only place he could see that didn't look like it hurt.
Mother Icehunter groaned softly, then her eyes snapped open. Her steely blue gaze tore about the campsite, arms flexed against their bonds, then she locked eyes with Yuwa.
The little man cut her free and he melted back into the brush.
He watched Qannik's mother slowly rise to her feet and walk calmly toward the Ghostkin going about butchery. The Ghostkin butcher turned at the last second and growled, even as her knife slashed his throat open. The growl turned gurgle as blood spurted out to the beat of his fading heart. The noise was enough to alert the Ghostkin warrior tending the fire. His eyes went wide and he reached for a ram's horn on his hip.
Yuwa hefted his spear, raised himself from a crouch, and launched his weapon in a smooth throw. He missed the Ghostkin's head by an arm span, but caught the man's attention until a blur of blood soaked blonde closed the distance and twisted his head until the neck snapped. The sound echoed in the silence that followed.
Icehunter and Ebu Gogo scrambled to gather supplies amid the wreckage of their camp. Yuwa did everything he could to stay focused on the task, but he needed to hear news of the other companions. Not in the baddie's meat pile, good enough for now.
Yuwa led mother Icehunter slowly back to the river. As she washed the blood away Yuwa dressed her deepest cuts, aided by granddad memory. Yuwa listened to her recount their sudden appearance, Bobby's disappearance through the portal, and her fight against the Ghostkin.
"Thank you little one, Qannik is safe in your care. We are forever in your debt." Silaluk kissed Yuwa's cheek.
Yuwa cracked a wide grin. A bit of drool hung off his chin. She had laid one on him! Mother Icehunter was no Ebu Gogo maiden, but she was plenty pretty. His mind seemed jumbled for a time.
"Yuwa, we've got to push on further down through the woods. We'll rejoin anyone who escaped the Ghostkin. We've got to find the others and rescue Bobby."
"With my sneakin and your danger makin moves, we'll get that Skinchanger back."
Yuwa, Qannik, and Silaluk pushed on until nightfall without sign of their companions or Ghostkin.
Hot orange coals glowed in the darkness. Yuwa rubbed his belly, hoping to massage enough room to stuff the last bits of his fish down before his turn at watch ended. As he watched the embers flicker between yellow, red, black, and orange; he imagined making mommy-daddy with Silly Huk. He would have protection from King Birdie, and just about any other danger maker. His little Yuwas would be bigger and stronger coming from an Icehunter momma. She had kissed his cheek, Silly Huk must be in love. Then he looked at her feet. How did other humans keep from falling over with such little feet?
Yuwa sighed. He would have to let her down easy. Ebu Gogo didn't make mommy-daddy with other humans because they were too tall and their feet were so little. She would just have to settle for Bobby if she wanted more babies.
An icy shiver shot down Yuwa's back. Someone was here. Someone sneaky, there were no sounds. Yuwa was on his feet, spear in hand, in an instant. He circled their camp, peering into the darkness. Then realized Fishey man stood beside him.
"Soulwalkin, Fishey man?"
The Waterbreather nodded grimly.
##
Visit www.LARC-SciFi.com to read flash fiction from Bobby's universe or to buy Distant Origins, the book that explains Bobby's strange origins.
