by Feath Pym
The ground twitched like the skin of a bison trying to shake off a nit-bird.
Eh Quest woke with a gasp. He sat up in alarm, unsure of what had happened. The cave was in darkness, Father Sun had yet to rise over the edge of the world and the community fire had banked down to subdued blue embers. Hearing straining, he tried to identify the rumble he felt through the thick, fuzzy fur. He thought he heard the creak of shifting Tree Spirits, the lurch of hearty rock; new, frightening sounds. What charged toward them, that they would make these new sounds? Mammoths trumpeted, horses neighed, rhino’s bellowed, but none of these identifying sounds were made. What came at them?
His heart beat so hard, his arms couldn’t hold him up. Clutching his fur to his chest, he tried to see what happened but the dark defeated this. He heard the people around him, the huge cave the clan lived in echoed their shouted questions, intensified the raw fear. The din was so loud, he couldn’t hear if his sister called to him for help.
“Ta Laf? Are you all right?” he cried, but the screams of over one hundred people drowned
The tremble got closer, shattering loud and angry, then it pounced.
It felt as though Mother Raven, the creator, took her mighty wing and slapped their cave in contempt. The whole cliff shook with it, an ear popping explosion of distressed rock. Eh Quest hid his head under his sleeping fur, his shout of terror drowned by the disembowelling scream of the Mother. Another moment of it and the solid rock of their shelter would shatter. They would be buried and on their way to the next world.
But Mother Raven moved on as rushed as she’d come, taking her rage with her. Shaking violently, Eh Quest peaked out from under his fur, blinking and trying to bring the new world into focus. The Mother must have cleared the earth with that rage, swept it clean and silent as glacial ice.
“What was that?” Eh Quest asked. It was gone, the silence outside said it was gone. Is it safe? Every hunter knew silence didn’t mean safe, it only meant danger. He sat there wide eyed, clutching his fur, listening for a hidden enemy. His heart fought him like a jack rabbit, trying to escape.
A rock in the back of the cave fell from the ceiling to crash, rolling to a stop against a wall. It shocked the clan enough to still their shouts, as numb minds listened. The repellent grind of settling rock jolted them. Eh Quests spine snapped straight, fear became a drive to run.
“Out of the cave!” The elder, Eh Speak commanded. Eh Quest needed no order, he jumped naked to his feet. The darkness betrayed him though and his feet tangled in his fur to send him back down. He landed on his spear, reminding him to take it. They might be still there, concealed in ambush. He clutched his spear and the loin cloths it rested on. Using more caution he gained his feet. Someone had thrown or kicked a piece of wood onto the center fire. His eyes adjusted for the small flame and he saw enough not to bump into any faltering bodies.
Everyone was in a panic, strong arms seized squalling children; others grabbed random things, or no things at all. Eh Quest helped his friend, Ta Sim, who limped. In the confusing crush, he didn’t see faces, only frantic movement. They all stumbled out of the moaning cave, in their haste tripping on baskets or stepping on fiery embers.
Someone fell, getting trampled by the panicked. Eh Quest couldn’t see them, only heard their shocked cries. He tightened his hold on Ta Sim, secure in his arms. He couldn’t drop her! Still he didn’t see his sister, Ta Laf. Cold washed over him thinking it may have been her trampled by the clan.
Outside, they clustered shoulder to chest, naked and shivering. He called to Ta Laf again, and again no answer. The screeching of frenzied sea birds sliced Eh Quest’s ears like talons.
“We should light a fire,” Eh Speak said trying to be heard, “so we can see.” Eh Quest could only hear him because he stood next to him.
“No need,” Ta Heal, another elder, spoke up. “Father Sun is rising from his sleep.” Involuntary, Eh Quest checked and saw Father Sun rising over the edge of the world, casting shards of yellow light over an agitated sea. He felt his fear ease, seeing a normal world, as did the others around him. Soft moans replaced screaming fright.
“What is that over the cliff?” Ta Heal asked. From where they stood, they should see nothing but rock and sky. Now in the lightening day, they saw something high up and dark flowing their way.
“Birds?” Eh Speak guessed.
“No birds I’ve seen,” Ta Sim said simply and everyone took her word for it. Ta Sim knew birds. She patted Eh Quest’s arm, wanting him to let her go. He let her stand on her own feet, reluctant to release her.
“There’s so many of them, they are blackening the sky.” Eh Speak said, not hearing her. Those children on the fringe of the group were pulled back with concerned hands.
“Not birds,” Ta Sim said, timid as a fawn. “Clouds?”
“And now snow? Snow? There is no ice! Father Sun warms the land! How can this be?” The confusion in Eh Speak’s voice was painful to hear, like the splintering of a favorite spear shaft. The children, seeing the snow, wiggled from protective arms, attempted to catch the fat lazy flakes. Just to be promptly captured and pushed into the middle of the group, trapped by adult legs.
“No Go!” Ta Sim said, pointing with a stern finger. Obedient, all the children froze, training snapping them into place. As the game dictated, they would not move again until the “go” command released them.
Eh Quest sat down hard, his bare butt landing on a small, sharp rock. The pain of it did nothing to clear his head, which swirled with thoughts, twisted and warped. The world had gone mad!
“No, it’s not snow!” Ta Heal said, rubbing the ‘snow’ between her aging fingers. “It’s ash.”
“Ah,” Eh Speak said, calmer. “A fire then.” Eh Quest knew only close fires were a danger. They all watched the boiling blackness in the sky race towards them. “And not clouds. It’s smoke. Eh Quest, your eyes are sound. Is it a fire near or far? Go up to the top cliff and tell me what you see.”
Shaking, Eh Quest forced himself to his feet. Taking his things with him, he climbed the cliff trail trying not to slip, his feet and knees as wobbly as a new born calf. Once at the top, he checked the closer fields and forests first, but saw nothing distressing. He turned his head to use his side sight, with the soft morning light he saw better that way. Just at the edge of the world he saw the shimmer of a deep red glow, so far away as to be of no danger to them. Thick black smoke rose from it, to be sent their way. Perhaps enticed by mischievous Wind Spirits, to enliven the day.
The ocean caught his eye. Frowning, he saw the water no longer reached as far as usual. The sea birds, which had calmed down, set off a racket again. Circling overhead, their frantic squall drowned him out when he tried to tell the clan.
“This must be a dream,” Eh Quest spoke to himself. “This is too strange. A Shadow’s dream.” Once he’d thought of it, he realized it must be true. Only the Shadow People could make such strange things happen. His shoulders relaxed, his stomach loosened. Of course, a dream! He started to laugh. This wasn’t real! He tried to wake himself, because he’d had enough of this dream, but nothing changed. Clutching his things to his chest so as not to lose them in a shadow dream, he returned to Eh Speak.
“The fire is at the edge of the world, and the smoke comes our way. But there’s also something wrong with the ocean. It’s moving away!” He told Eh Speak.
“A fire at the edge of the world? That can’t hurt us, not that far away.” Eh Quest watched the stiffness ease from the clan, wide shoulders straightening, confidence returning to tattooed faces. Eh Speak would know of any danger and warn them. His sister, Ta Laf, found him then. Taking a deep breath in relief, he pulled her close. He checked her for injuries but saw none. His last fear faded.
“But earlier, what could that have been?” Ta Heal looked shaken and she leaned against Ta Sim. The younger Ta supported her easily, her own injury forgotten. “I have never seen or felt such a t
hing.”
“I can think of nothing new, but I will dwell on the old stories, recounted to Speakers. But for now, there is no danger. Take the children back into the cave, get them settled.” Eh Speak said as he watched the wet sand on the beach grow larger. His eyes narrowed and his gaze snapped back to Eh Quest.
“Go!” Ta Sim released the children, who by their rolling eyes, were becoming frustrated at the length of their confinement. “Everyone in the cave. We’ll play a game of Catch Me.” Many adults followed the children into the cave, while the bolder ones investigated the beach with suspicious caution.
Eh Speak’s thick fingers dug into his shoulder. “Walk me to the cliff top,” he said. “You said the water was going away?”
“Yes, Eh Speak.”
Rubbing his shoulder and wondering why he felt pain in a dream, Eh Quest took his arm. The Speaker wanted to go up the next cliff, the one above their cave. There were many things the elder suffered from, but weakness wasn’t one of them. Eh Quest knew him capable of climbing the gentle slope, so why ask him to come?
On top of the cliff, they saw the birds had withdrawn far off the coast, they circled and dove at something unseen. Wind Spirits were brushing through the cliff grass, their humours of taunting the people glutted for now, they hunted for butterflies to tease.
“You are not dreaming,