Chak looked at the ground. Then at the sky.
It would storm soon. All was well.

He would have plenty of cover for his ambush of the hunter-warrior from black-dractyl clan.

But now, he attended his ancestors.

They said that once the ground was as mountains carved from within. This place his ancestors lived. The Older Ones said it was true. He believed them. But it was of no matter to him. It did not help him hunt.

They said great beasts made of sticks and stones were moved by demons. This he did not know. It was hard to credit. But demons were real. this he knew.

Now, his ancestors were as wind. They are important. Honoring the Ancestors gave one strength in a hunt. That, and reviling the Runaways. It was good to vent the ancestors anger. Good to remember that this land was not theirs.

It is a foe. But a dangerous foe. One to be considered. He had a piece of bone, that came from the place that was their land. The place that would still be their land. Someplace that was not angry at them. To call home.

He sometimes had these delusions. Mada had a piece of metal. The Old Ones said it came from a great ocean beast, that had once born their ancestors. When the world was not all against them.

He put aside his musings. Holding his hand to the ground. He said the names of all his ancestors since the Leaving. 121 of them. Then he said the name of Mada's ancestors. For luck. He was a superstitious man.

The ones who said they knew, said that luck was not a good power to trust in. Nor were the Gods, that the occaisional Kang Scout spoke to. It is the demons who give knowledge. The demons who our ancestors trusted. Thinking is better than wishing.

But then the ancestors were stranded here, and the world fell apart. He felt chagrin. He apologised to the Ancestors. It was not his place to criticise their actions. It would do him no good in the here and now. And he needed his Ancestors help.

If the ones with power found out his views, they might kill him. But they were few. Soon there might be none in his clan. And maybe none in the other clans. All die.

Life would go on. Until it did not.

He set about making a fishing line. And waited for the rain. And the time to kill a man.

Archive

Library

Museum

Links