Sequel to The Frozen Earth. Surface dwellers.
Read The Frozen Earth 2
Disclaimer: Nothing much to disclaim. I got stuck on the fourth part so it is yet unfinished, but I hope to correct that one day.
The Frozen Earth 2
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson
The skies had lightened much in the past generation, allowing a dusk-like light to shine through the thick sooth clouds during the closest rotation to the sun, but the light that guided those that dwelled in these dark lands came not from the skies. It came from the phosphorous green glow radiating from the resilient plant life that had evolved after the complete contamination and destruction of the world.
It was in this greenish light that a young woman watched the hunters of her tribe launch the small canoes into the ice-encircled waters of the ocean below. It was summer so the hunters used the canoes to get bigger prey, and although her brother was among those hunting today Tiam was watching for one hunter in particular. She was rewarded when the one she was looking for pulled her canoe to the edge of the ice and then stopped to wave at her.
“Watch for me, Tiam! Watch for me, I will spear an orthoc for you today!” Alik’s strong voice carried easily on the cold wind, bringing a smile to more than just Tiam’s lips. Even the old hunters smiled in recognition of the youngling’s glee... it was summer, hunting was plentiful, and the young hunter had a woman to woo. They had been there themselves once.
But the prey sought today, the orthoc, was not a matter to take lightly. The large black and white predators of the surface seas were swift and strong, and deadly... and they enjoyed the flesh of hunters just as much as the tribe enjoyed the rich fatty bountifulness of one of the slain giants. Just one orthoc would feed them all for some time, and was generally not a prey the hunters sought out especially during summer, when other prey were more easily found and killed.
No, during summer the hunters would primarily hunt doluseel, the large white ghosts of the icy waters, as they came atop the ice in packs to breed. It was a welcome change from the small furred things and silver sea worms that provided the fresh meat through the winter, and a pack of dolu had plenty of meat, fat, bone and fur to provide for the whole tribe, even if the creatures themselves were feared.
The large blind and ghastly white creatures had shapeless heads without eyes or features besides their tiny maws, with finned arms and forked tail attached to the large body, and when it came out of the water the animal would make sounds like the wailing cry of a human baby. Despite its blindness it would try to follow any members of the tribe that might be close enough to be noticed, sometimes attempting to crush the threat underneath their overwhelming weight, still it was the young dolu that were feared. The cubs’ appearance close to that of a swaddled infant and with a cry to match, the stories said that adult doluseel at times took the form of women and mated with hunters, or sometimes even crept into homes in secret to leave their young in place of real babies, stealing the human children off to the icy waters with them.
Some even said that Alik was the child of a dolu, her mother having been tall and her hair pale, not like any tribesman anyone had ever seen. Alik’s father had taken a strange liking to the foreign woman and chosen her for his mate, so the tribe had reluctantly allowed her presence during the few years she lived among them. And indeed Alik herself was taller than other women and her hair was not as dark as other tribesmen, so surely Alik was half dolu.
Alik’s father had been a good hunter and had taught Alik all she knew, making her one of the finest of the young hunters of the tribe almost since she was old enough to hold a spear. Still Alik had been a lonely child. Her mother died while Alik was very young, and the other women of the tribe were afraid to allow their children to play with a dolu child. Furthermore, though it was not spoken of it was understood that as an adult no matter how skilled Alik was, a half-dolu had little hope to find a mate that would accept her.
Tiam was close to Alik in age and her father and Alik’s father had been friends. She had been Alik’s only friend as a small child and best friend as they grew up. Now as adults, even though Tiam and Alik themselves had not yet realised it, Alik was trying to woo Tiam to become her mate. And Tiam was allowing her to.
The tribe watched benevolently, and allowed for Alik’s boasting and posturing as she tried to impress Tiam like any young hunter would for his or her intended mate. The decision to accept or decline was Tiam’s alone, and since Tiam showed a curious acceptance of the half-dolu, no-one saw any reason to object. Alik was considered very fortunate indeed.
The promise to spear an orthoc for Tiam was but one more in a series of things Alik did for Tiam lately, and in return Tiam doted on her hunter and displayed some possessiveness when others would tease her by offering to mend a torn fur or offer food by the fire. The elders of the tribe smiled and anticipated that the two younglings would be joined before the summer was over.
The hunt for the orthoc was not merely a way for an eager hunter to impress her would-be lover with what a great provider she was, this particular orthoc had taken up a territory that would prevent the doluseel from coming ashore to breed in the tribe’s area, and if the dolu selected another place it would make hunting much more difficult, possibly leading to starvation for the tribe. The only thing the hunters could do was to kill the orthoc before the dolu packs had arrived.
Soon the canoes and Alik had disappeared out of sight and Tiam returned to the fire with her tribesmen, working on preparing for what would come. Meat aplenty would be the best outcome, but they also prepared for wounded... or worse, no returning hunters at all. That was the reason not all hunters braved the icy waters with their canoes in hunt of the orthoc, if all went wrong someone still had to provide for the tribe.
Night fell, and the worried Tiam curled up in her sleeping furs, staring out into the green haze and straining her ears to hear the tell-tale signs of the hunters returning down by the water’s edge. Clutching the furs closer Tiam wished she was sharing them with Alik so she could hold the taller woman close, hear her heart beating and know that she was alive and well.
With the new day came the calls from the night watch, and when Tiam had rushed to the shore she heard the tell-tale sounds of the hunters returning with a large prey. She had been to far away to hear the crash as the hunters lured the severely wounded orthoc to beach upon the ice where they immediately fell upon it and ended its suffering with their spears, but the gleeful shouts and the noise from the cutting welcomed her up on the ice. It would be a good day’s work to skin and cut the orthoc and bring the meat back to the fire where it would be prepared for storage, and the skin for curing. Then there would be a feast that night where everyone would eat their fill of sweet fatty meat.
When Tiam reached Alik’s side, the taller woman was covered in the orthoc’s blood but still grinning widely. Although there were a few smaller injuries, they had lost no hunter in spearing the orthoc, and they would all share the tale of the hunt by the fire.
“I speared it for you Tiam!” Alik exclaimed and, heedless of the blood, lifted the smaller woman and spun her around on the ice. Tiam smiled indulgently and then, suddenly overcome with fierce relief that Alik was alive, threw her arms around Alik’s neck and kissed her.
They kissed for a brief moment before moving apart, staring stunned into each other’s wide eyes. The encouraging calls and laughter of those of the tribe that were also on the ice to work broke them out of their daze, and with a shy but delighted grin Tiam took the blushing Alik by the hand and pulled her to work by Tiam’s side. Alik and Tiam remained side by side all day and night, and as the dolu whelping season began, the tribe prepared for their joining ceremony.
A feast of dolu meat was roasted over the fires, and the fermented sap from the trees was brought out from hiding to drink in celebration. Tiam and Alik were both painted and clothed in new furs and their hands tied together by Tiam’s brother Hama, and they remained tied together until the chieftain ended their ceremony. Then the tribe, with laughter and song, chased the two newly joined to their sleeping furs that had been carefully placed together for the first time. Then the tribe continued their merry celebration with loud singing and dancing, long into the night, allowing the joined couple rare privacy for their first trembling discoveries of one another.
Not one full cycle into their new life as a mated couple, tragedy entered the lives of Alik and Tiam.
Hama’s mate, Laia, was blessed again with new life only two cycles of the seasons after the birth of their daughter Enei, but the pregnancy was hard. Laia took ill and became weak and pale, her strength waning with the growth of her belly even though she did not go hungry or cold. The shamaness was worried and devoted much time to Laia, but nothing seemed to give back her strength. Finally Laia entered birthing early, and to the grief of all, did not survive the birth of her son.
Hama was lost in his grief. He could not bear to see his son, whom the chief named Baran in Hama’s place, and drew back from everyone. He would go hunting but never returned with game, not speaking and not able to tolerate the presence of anyone but Enei, Tiam and sometimes Alik.
Alik and Tiam cared for the children when Hama was too lost to do so himself. Tiam was given herbs by the shamaness that enabled her to feed the baby, and Alik brought Hama with her while hunting when she could, hoping it would bring his mind back to them.
It was during such a hunt that the second tragedy entered their lives.
Because the day before had been the day when the members of the tribe washed their furs, the water supply was empty and needed to be refilled. Most of the tribe jointly went down to the ice to fill the water skins and barrels to carry back to storage, Tiam joining a group of mothers with Baran tied to her back and Enei holding onto her leggings.
Alik had taken Hama hunting with her since the man still could not bear to be around others, and so they were not with the rest of the tribe. On their way back with a furred creature slung over Hama’s shoulder, both caught the sounds of struggle on the wind, coming from the ice.
Running as fast as they could, Alik and Hama passed over members of their tribe lying motionless in the cold snow, ignoring those that might be lost in order to have a chance at saving those that was not. The sight that met them nearly stunned them into immobility however.
Only a few women and children were still standing, while the ground was littered with the bodies of members of their tribe. The women were fighting figures out of nightmares, large faceless, featureless man-like creatures of silver and white, carrying rods with squares of white blinding light that cut into unprotected eyes with searing pain, and rods that shot coloured lightning at those still standing. Another fell as Alik saw Tiam fighting with a creature holding little Enei, and then another.
Hama screamed and raised his spear, clearing his vision slightly faster than Alik was able to, and charged in rage. His spear entered one silver form, splashing red onto white, but before he or Alik had the chance to react, one of the other silver creatures aimed a different rod his way. The black lightning that hit Hama tore his body apart, and the silver creatures shouted strange sounds at one another.
Tiam, Baran and Enei were captured in a silvery thing and forced up into a large white object the size of a large orthoc. The wounded silver creature also entered with a few of its fellows, appearing as if though they were leaving. Alik threw her spear at one that had a rod directed at her, knocking it aside as she charged, leaping into the opening on the white object. She would not be parted from Tiam, no matter what.
A flash of blue light and Alik sank down into darkness, knowing nothing else.
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