Prologue Previous Chapter

Reya

“Wake up. Time to go.” Someone shoved her with a foot.

“Leave me alone Barak.” She yelled.

“Get up now, or we’ll leave you behind.” He said, coldly.

She sat up, and looked around, and saw that the others were already packing. “What about breakfast?”

“You slept through breakfast.” He snorted. “Get up.” He turned, and walked away. “Let’s go!” He bellowed.

Mika dashed over, the burns almost completely faded. “Here. Eat this. I’ll pack your stuff.” She said, and handed Reya some nuts and a peach.

Reya stared at the peach for a moment, uncertain. Normally she loved them, but lately with the baby…

Cautiously, she took a bite. The peach flesh was just right, juicy and sweet.

Reya watched Mika as she scurried about, fixing up Reya’s pack. “You must be feeling better.” Reya observed, between chews.

Mika smiled briefly. “I do. The burns are healing well.” She said, stretching her arms. Closing her eyes, Mika turned her face to the sun, smiling. “The sunlight feels so good.” She murmured.

Reya fought a surge of impatience as she watched the others dwindling in the distance. They were already out of earshot.

Finally, Mika was done, and helped Reya slip the pack across her shoulders.

“Let’s go, so we don’t get any farther behind.” Reya said, and started off.

“Wait a moment, let me get my stuff together.” Mika protested.

“You’re young.. you can catch up.” Reya called back and kept going.

And catch up Mika did, falling in beside her older sister. The two of them walked in silence for some time, enjoying the warm sun, the twittering calls of the birds and the flowers that spread white and yellow throughout the grass. As they day progressed, the others continued to pull farther ahead. Already wet with sweat, Reya tried not to notice.

“We’re falling behind.” Mika said, eventually.

Reya grimaced, and nodded. Sighing, she tried to move her legs a little faster. But given the way her belly forced her to waddle back and forth, it didn’t do much good.

“I could go ahead, and tell them to slow up.” Mika volunteered.

“He wouldn’t listen.” Reya snorted. “He doesn’t care about anyone.”

They both fell silent again for a while and kept going. But the increased pace took its toll. As the sun rolled across the sky, her joints and muscles began to mount a rising protest, and she found herself short of breath, and bathed in sweat. It took more and more effort to keep going and ignore the fierce pains in her feet, her ankles, her knees and her hips.

Mika pointed off into the distance. “I hope they stop soon. I don’t want to get caught in that storm.”

Wearily Reya eyed the western sky. Purple-gray behemoths sped through the air towards them, heavy with the promis of rain and growing thicker with each passing moment. “Yeah.” She grunted, and then closed her eyes for a moment, fighting a wave of dizziness.

“Hey, look, I think it’s Lam.” Mika said, waving happily.

Reya wiped the stinging sweat from her eyes. The small figure running towards them was definitely Lam. “Yeah.” She grunted again, nodding slightly. And another wave of dizziness crashed over her, sending her stumbling sideways into her sister.

“Reya, are you okay?” Mika gasped, clutching at her.

The air was getting foggy, and dark. Too hot.

“Reya?” someone said, distantly. “Reya?”

Must rest.

=-=

Reya awoke with a start as raindrops plopped wetly on her forehead. Her head was pounding fiercely, a tight, cutting pain wrapped across the base of her skull.

Wincing, she looked up, and found a huge man standing over her.

“Aaaah!” she shrieked, scrambling away, pain forgotten. “Help.”

“What?” Din appeared from behind a bush. “What’s wrong?”

“A Jiant-man!” She yelled, waving behind her. “Over there. Get help!”

Din started giggling and clutching his stomach. Nonplussed, she turned around to look at the Jiant-man again and immediately a flush of embarrassment burned her cheeks.

It was just a pile of brown stones that someone… many someones, probably… had piled up in a manlike shape. Someone had drawn eyes and a mouth on the round stone at the top.

“It looked like a Jiant-man…” She said, uncomfortably. “At least a little.”

Din wandered off, shrieking with laughter as the rain quickened all around them. “She thought the stones were a Jiant-man.” He said, laughing in the distance.

Balefully she stared at his back as the boy disappeared into the woods, calling for his brother. Overhead, thunder crashed and she sought refuge from the rain under a large oak tree.

Shara ran over to the campsite, staring at Reya’s empty bedroll. “Reya?”

“Over here.” Reya said. Shara wasn’t the greatest of company, but at least she wasn’t Barak.

“How are you feeling?” Shara asked.

“My head is killing me.” Reya said.

Shara nodded. “You gave us all quite a scare.”

Reya blinked. “Why? What happened?”

Shara’s brow furrowed. “You don’t remember?”

Reya gritted her teeth. “If I remembered, I wouldn’t have asked.” She snapped.

“Oh.” said Shara, in a quiet voice. “You fell… Mika and Lam carried you to the campsite.”

“Oh.” Reya said in return. They sat quietly under the tree as rain poured all around, dripping through the branches, rustling the leaves.

“What was Din laughing about, earlier?” Shara asked.

Reya flushed again. “Nothing.” She said, too quickly.

Shara looked at her for a moment and started to say something else.

“Fine.” Reya hissed, interrupting. “When I woke up, I thought I saw a Jiant-man, but it was just that stone thing over there.”

Shara glanced at the stones, paused, and then turned and stared at it, hard. “It does look a little like a Jiant-man.” She said, wonderingly.

Reya snorted. “No, not really. But it is as tall as he is.”

Shara stared at the stone man a little longer, nodding slowly, chewing on her lower lip. “Taller.”

—

In the middle of the night, Reya was awoken again, by a tremendous boom that echoed across the hills, sending birds twittering and fleeing into the night sky.

She sat up and looked around. The others had been roused as well. Who is on watch? Lam rounded a treetrunk. “Is everyone ok?” He asked.

“What was that?” Reya called out.

Lam shrugged. “I don’t know. It came from the east.” He said. “There was a big light a little while ago… and then the boom, like thunder.”

“Look.” Oola crowed. “The moon… It’s coming back!”

Reya stared at the sky, her heart pounding. Sure enough, in between the wisps of clouds, the tiniest sliver of white was visible against the blackness.

It was oddly comforting to watch it disappear and appear again behind the clouds. A good omen.

The call of nature woke her early the next morning, and she stumbled, bleary eyed into the river, wincing as the cold water rippled around her ankles.

After she was done, she stepped out again and felt something crusty sticking to her leg. Groaning, she turned and sat down on a rock, trying to reach around her stomach to brush the dirt off. And of course, the crunchy brown gook got all over her hands, so she stood up again, and tried to wash them off.

Only the river’s surface was thick with mats of the brown gook, rotating gently in the current. Surprised, she glanced at the dirt on her hands again, and realized that it was a mass of the burned and charred bodies of uncountable fire ants.

“Barak, get up.” She said, shoving him with her foot. If she hadn’t been so worried, she might have enjoyed it more.

He stood up, scowling, while she told him what happened. He studied the river for a moment, and the debris in her hands.

Her eyes widened. “The noise, last night. Do you think it was the then?”

For once, he didn’t mock her. He just stared past her for a moment, his eyes dull. “Jiant. ” He said slowly. “I think it was Jiant.”

Reya blinked. “Do you think the ants killed him?” She said quietly.

“I wouldn’t count on it.” He looked around at the others, still sleeping. “We need to get moving.”

Reya nodded.

He glanced at her. “Can you walk?”

She nodded again, grimly. “Just don’t go so fast.” She said. Her stomach burned unpleasantly and the baby kicked.

He turned away. “Get up, everyone.” He said, grimly. “Let’s go.”

The morning raced by, and she caught herself looking over her shoulder more than once, staring at the green mountains they had so recently left behind. It took us three days to get here. How long will it take them?

In her mind she imagined Jiant’s great strides eating up the ground as his tribe rushed down the mountainside, racing like an avalanche towards the plains and the yellow valley up ahead.

Fighting the dizziness, she pushed herself a little harder.

A little after midday, Lam came running back to the main group, his legs blurred by the speed of his passage. “Man! Hill!” He called, stumbling towards them. In mere moments he was standing in front of them, gasping for breath. “Waiting for us.”

Reya’s heart pounded. This is it.

Barak gathered everyone together. “Keep your eyes open. Let’s not get caught like before. If someone attacks, run. Don’t try and fight, and don’t go with them. If we get separated, meet at…” He paused for a moment.

“How about the stone man.” Reya suggested.

Barak nodded. “Yes. Good. The stone man. Allright?” He glanced around and everyone nodded.

As they started walking again, Lam pulled away to take the lead again. “Lam.” Barak called. “Stay with us. I don’t want it to look like we’re spying on them.”

As a group, then, they approached the hill. And there he was, standing at the top, waving at them. The stranger scrambled down the side, jabbering at them in some strange tongue. Reya strained to hear familiar words, but nothing came.

The man approached carefully, holding up his hands, speaking slowly. As he drew within spear throw range he stopped.

“Mokto.” He said, patting his chest. “Mokto.”

“Barak.” Barak responded in the same manner.

Mokto smiled and bowed his head slightlly. “Barak.”

Motko approached slowly and the Clan drew into a semicircle around him. Repetitively, he introduced himself and was introduced in turn to each of the surviving members of Red Cave Clan.

Afterwards, he turned back to Reya, and pointed at her stomach. “Chaba.” He said.

“Baby.” she responded.

“Bay Bee.” Mokto said reverently, and smiled. He fell to his knees, bowing to her.

Now this is more like it. She thought, stifling a grin. She glanced at Barak and he carefully ignored her gaze.

Standing up again after a moment, Mokto waved his hands, gesturing westward, motioning for them to follow.

“Stay alert.” Barak said, and started walking after the stranger, holding his spear loosely in his hand.

Mokto set an easy pace, and the sun had moved well towards sunset before they crested a low hill and saw Yellow Valley for the first time.

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Saturday, July 1st, 2006 at 3:32 am.
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