Prologue Previous Chapter

Kito

“Some storm, huh?” Barak said.

Kito rolled his eyes, wishing the big man would leave him alone. For three days now, he had slept nearby, walked nearby, even taken the same watches. And now they were stuck together under a tree as hail poured down around them. The thumping roar of the hail grew louder, bits and pieces managing to find their way between the branches to rain down on his arms and legs. A particularly cold lump found its way beneath his collar, sending icy chills down his back.

Barak nudged him, pointing at the ground, saying something inaudible beneath the growling storm. Leaning closer, he caught a few words. “-bou tracks. — hunting — meat!”

“Great.” Kito thought. “Even in a hailstorm, he still talks about hunting.“

What to say? He leaned his head close. “You bet.” He shouted.

“Anything would be better than your sister’s withered carrots.” Barak shouted back.

The carrots were getting pretty withered. And the meat went bad fairly quickly if it wasn’t smoked, so they were continually dining on old vegetables and dried meat jerky. Still…“You know, we would be dead if it wasn’t for her Song.” Kito said.

Barak shook his head. “No, we’d be far south of here, eating buffalo.”

“Finding some new vegetables would help.” Kito said, “And the fruits should be coming in soon.”

Barak shrugged. “You shouldn’t be digging for vegetables.. That’s woman’s work. You should be hunting with me.”

“Hey look.” Kito shouted gleefully. “The storm is ending.” He scrambled out from under the tree, only to get smacked by a large chunk of ice. “Ow.” He cried, clutching at his temple.

“Are you okay?” Barak laughed, pushing his way past the low branches.

Kito rubbed the side of his head. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Why don’t you–”

“Barak, Kito.” Armis shouted. “Grab your stuff and let’s head up the trail.”

Barak stiffened. “Why.. what’s the rush?”

Armis apparently didn’t notice, or chose to ignore the challenge in Barak’s voice.

Armis pointed towards the hills. “Tohm told me that Oola went ahead this morning by herself. She was stuck somewhere out in that hailstorm.”

A figure raced out of the campsite and up the hillside, slipping briefly on the ice. “There he goes now.” Kito pointed.

Armis spun around. “Tohm!?Come back.” He shouted.

Tohm turned momentarily, waved, and then continued up the path.

Armis’s shoulders slumped, and he sighed, waving towards Tohm. “Go after him.” He said, staring at the two of them. “Help him find her.”

Now’s my chance.

“I should stay back, help with the camp.” Kito said.

Barak grabbed his shoulder and pulled. “No, you heard him. You’re coming with me.”

Great.

=-=

“Oola?” Tohm shouted, standing at the edge of the large pool at the base of the waterfall.

Barak was muttering and throwing rocks into the water, sending deep ripples across the surface.

Kito just stared in wonder at the caratarcts of water pouring down the mountainside. How did so much water get up so high?

“Oola?” Tohm shouted again, as Kito examined the cascading course of the water. At least three spear throws high. Maybe more. Three spear throws of sharp rocks, climbing almost vertically up the hillside. And, of course, the rushing torrent of water that poured down between them, leaving a slippery sheen of water on every surface, glinting in the light of the midday Sun.

Barak threw another rock into the lake. Kito watched it break the surface, and drift down into the dark depths. Turning, Barak stared at him. “There’s no way we can climb that.. not all of us.”

Kito nodded, but Barak kept talking. “Not Reya. Not Pak. Maybe not even Din.”

Staring at the sharp rocks, Kito wasn’t even sure if he was up to the climb.

“Oola?” Tohm shouted again, further away this time. Kito turned and found his friend walking along the southern edge of the vallye floor. The rock walls were even steeper there than at the waterfall itself, but at least they weren’t wet.

“Tohm?” Kito shouted. “Where are you going?”

Tohm waved, and pointed. “I think I found a footprint.” He said, and started scrambling up the rocks.

“Tohm. Wait.” Kito said, running towards him. “What are you doing?” He yelled, as Tohm started pulling himself up the steep rockface. “Get down. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

Tohm turned towards him, perched a man’s height above the ground. “She could be stuck up there. She could need our help.”

“Tohm, just wait a little while.” Kito pleaded. “Armis will be here soon.”

“You heard him, Tohm. Get down.” Barak said, firmly.

Tohm stopped, and stared at Barak for a moment, hesitating briefly before sliding back down to the ground. The wind picked up, sending the icy mists of the falls raining down on them. “Come on. Let’s get away from this water. It’s freezing.” Kito said, walking towards the center of the valley, hoping the others would follow.

A set of small, red figures emerged from around the last river bend. As he watched they paused and stared at the waterfall behind him, turning to each other, pointing and gesturing.

“Armis!” Barak roared, walking swiftly towards the distant group. “Why did we come this way?” He brushed past Kito, fists clenched. “This can’t be good.”Kito thought, quickly chasting after Barak, running to catch up with the bigger man’s angry pace.

“Look at this.” Barak gestured towards the waterfall. “We can’t climb this. Certainly not Reya, or the boys.”

Armis grimaced as they approached. “You’re ri–”

“This is just stupid.” Barak growled. “We should go back. We should go back south, and find the buffalo.”

“Oola?” Tohm shouted again.

Kito turned away from the confrontation. “Tohm.” He screamed. “Shut up.”

Armis shook his head. “No, this is the right way. Everything’s been right so far.”

“How could this be right!?” Barak snarled. “How could this possibly be the right way to go?”

“My father said there would be difficult parts.”

“Difficult?” Barak turned and pointed at the expanse of the waterfall with his spear. “This is madness. We can’t ask Reya to climb this! I’m not even sure Shara could climb this.”

“Hey.” Shara protested.

Barak ignored her, coming face to face with Armis, leaning into the slightly shorter man. “We never should have come this way. I never should have listened to you.”

Armis stiffened. “You can do what you want. The others and I will find a way up.”

Barak stared at him silently for a moment. “You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?” Barak turned to the rest of the group, looking each one in the eye. “He’s going to get you all killed.”

Armis stepped forward. “Barak, shut up, now.”

“I should be in charge.” Barak growled. “I should be chief. And I say we should go south.”

Did he just?

“Are you challenging me for leadership?” Armis said, quietly.

Barak seemed surprised at his own words. He paused for a moment, but his eyes never left Armis’s.

Kito had never seen a challenge, but he’d heard stories. Usually both men died – one right away, and the other a few days later. “Don’t do this.” He said, stepping closer. “You can’t do this.”

Barak never took his eyes off of Armis. “Kito, stay out of this. If he-”

“Hey, what was that? Did you hear that?” Lam said, glancing around.

“Hey!” A shout in the distance.

“Over there!” Mika shrieked, pointing. “Someone’s coming!”

A dark-haired figure, clad in red, was rushing towards them across the valley floor, her curly hair bouncing as she ran.

“It’s Oola!” Pak shouted, and started running towards her. The others quickly followed, gathering around her as she gasped for breath. “I found… an easier path… down the hillside. We don’t… have to climb the waterfall.”

Kito felt the tension wash away. “Of course we don’t.” He thought. “Why would we have to climb at the hardest spot?” He felt stupid.

Barak turned back towards Armis. “This doesn’t change anything.” He said. “Sure, we go up there. And then what? We walk for another turn of the moon? We shouldn’t have come this way in the first place. We should have gone south.”

“Barak.” Reya said, angrily. “You-”

Armis held out his hand, and Reya fell silent. He stepped forward, spear at the ready. “I’ll ask again. Are you challenging me for leadership?”

“Guys.” Oola gasped again. “Before you go skewering each other…” She paused for breath again. “I saw smoke.”

Kito stared at her, wide-eyed. “What?”

“I think there’s a village, not far.” She said. “If we hurry, we might be able to get there tonight.”

The clan broke into excited babbling.

“What kind of smoke?”

“Did you see any people?”

“Do you think they have kids?”

“Alright, everyone, you heard her.” Armis said, turning his back on Barak. “Let’s go. Oola lead the way.”

“Oola!?” Tohm shouted in the distance, still searching.

“I’m over here, Tohm.” she shouted back.

Kito turned to Barak. He was staring at Armis’s back, his fist clenched around the shaft of his spear, knuckles white.

“Barak.. Don’t..”

He blinked a couple of times, and then seemed to shrink a little, shoulders slumping. He glanced at Kito.

“I will be chief. Someday.”

And then he started up the path after the others. Kito watched them walk for a moment, stomach churning. This isn’t over.

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Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 at 4:49 am.
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