by Saxon Andrew
“Trust me; that was pure luck.”
“It’s nearly daylight; let’s look for some water and something to eat.”
“I couldn’t sleep now if I wanted to.”
Andy rubbed Dinah on the left side of her neck and she lifted her nose and sought the smell of water. She veered slightly left and picked up speed. They arrived at a small stream that came out of the ground and flowed toward the river. Andy and Harmony jumped off and both of them raised their weapons. Andy kept his eyes glued toward the river and Harmony kept watch toward the plain. “Harmony.”
“Yes.”
“What are you not telling me?” Harmony kept her eyes toward the plain and Andy said, “You don’t learn how to fire a weapon that accurately without a lot of practice. Judging by what’s on those belts you have with you, there weren’t enough to make you proficient with them. You’ve been using that weapon for a lot longer than a few months.”
Dinah lifted her head and Andy looked at Harmony. She had the rifle trained on him. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”
Harmony stared at Andy and then lowered the barrel and handed the rifle to him. “Is everyone in your community as smart as you are?”
“There are some that are smarter.”
“I doubt it.”
“Are you going to tell me the truth?”
“Let’s move away from the forest.”
Andy jumped in the saddle and pulled Harmony up behind him. “What I told you about the Destroyers burning my village and taking everyone as slaves was true…but it happened fourteen years ago.”
Andy was surprised by the statement, “So what happened?”
“The brightest of those that are captured are trained to fight for the Destroyers. I was chosen to go with the Hunting Parties to attack other communities and remove predators from the homeland. I had a good eye for shooting from the time I was eight years old. By the time I was fifteen, I was going out to invade other settlements. I hated what I was doing, but there was no escape. If I ran, the survivors of our attacks would have killed me. If I ran into the wilds, the predators would have done the same thing.”
“What made you run?”
“Singer and I stumbled up on a Warrior attacking a young girl; she could have only been about eight years old. He laughed when he saw us and asked if we wanted to join him. I shot him between the eyes.”
“Singer said we were dead. Everyone had to be accounted for at the end of the raid and his body would be found. A bullet in the brain was hard to disguise.”
“So you chose to run.”
“Singer wouldn’t let me leave alone.”
“He was your lover.”
“No, he was my master. I was his slave.” Harmony lowered her head, “He never abused me. But that was not the norm. Everyone from my village was beaten and tormented by their Masters. Singer decided that we had no choice but to flee to the north. We killed fifteen warriors and took their ammo-belts. We collected all the food we could carry and headed north.”
“How did you get through the Raptor fields?”
“Twenty five of the inhabitants of the village we were attacking ran with us. One of them was that little girl. She died with the Raptors. I can still see her face in my dreams. I didn’t save her.”
“No, I guess you didn’t.” Harmony looked at Andy with tears in her eyes and Andy said, “But you did manage to save yourself. Now you have to decide if you’re going to make that count for something.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You’re planning a suicide mission. You’re going back to kill every Destroyer you can until you’re killed in the process. If Dinah and I are also killed, so be it.”
“How do you know that?”
“You talk in your sleep. You keep saying for her to be patient and you’ll make them pay.”
Harmony lowered her head, “I’m not talking about the little girl.”
Andy’s eyes narrowed, “Oh?”
Harmony sighed, “I have a sister that I know will be punished for my actions. She lives with Singer’s brother and I’m sure she’ll be abused for what we did.”
“What’s your sister’s name?”
“Melody.”
“Are you the older one?”
“Slightly.” Andy titled his head and she said, “She’s my twin sister.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I can’t go back to them.”
“No, but you can provide all the information my community needs to plan to meet them.”
“Your bows are no match for their rifles.”
Andy smiled. He turned Dinah toward the tree line and stopped her before she moved too close. “How far out are we from the forest?”
“About three hundred yards.”
“Do you see the small herbivore at the edge?”
“The green one?”
“Yes. Hit it with your rifle.”
Harmony looked at Andy and jumped off Dinah. She rested the rifle against Dinah’s rear and after a moment fired. Dust kicked up to the right of the small dinosaur. Andy whipped around in the saddle and had an arrow on the way in an instant. The lizard flipped over. Harmony looked at Andy, “That is impossible.”
“You need to remove that word from your vocabulary. I’ve been reading wind and how it affects arrows from the age of four. Their rifles would be a danger to our Cursors, but one on one, they will lose a shooting match.”
Harmony lowered her head, “I should die for what I’ve done.”
“Slaves don’t have options. If you die, make it mean something.”
“Do you still need to go and take a look at them?”
“Are they still raiding in the south?”
“I believe they are.”
“I want to see for myself how they conduct a raid.”
Harmony started shaking her head, “Then you’ll have to get close and they’ll find you. They are incredibly organized.”
“Do you always talk in absolutes?”
“I guess.”
“You should stop. How much further do we have to go before we run into them?”
“I would have never believed that we would have covered this much distance in this short time. I suspect we’ll see the smoke from their raids within another week.”
Andy nodded and offered his hand. Harmony took it and he pulled her up behind him. “Why didn’t you show me how good you are with that bow before now?”
“I needed you to decide where you stood. You did that when you lowered your rifle.”
“I’m surprised you allowed me to point it at you.”
“I wasn’t in danger.”
“Oh?”
“If I had given Dinah a signal, she would have whipped her tail at your head. She was standing beside you.”
“So I don’t represent a danger to you?”
“Yes, you do. But not when I chose the time and place where you could be.”
“So you’re going to leave Dinah and me behind when you go to take a look.”
Andy turned around smiling, “Is everyone in your community as smart as you are?”
Harmony burst out laughing. Dinah continued running south.
Chapter Four
Lyla sat on the wall and felt her heart breaking. Andy had been gone for two months and she knew he wasn’t anywhere near the Community’s lands. The Archers had gone looking for him and had covered immense distances to the north and south. Those that flew south discovered the new species and one archer saw a human body in the bones of a dead giant carnivore. He was losing the updraft that kept him aloft but flew close enough to clearly see the decayed carcass in the dead giant.
Mark had come to her to deliver the bad news and she wailed when she saw his expression. She knew that the worst had happened. She wanted them to go for his body but they weren’t supposed to be out looking for him. The Archer Elders had decided that they would replace Maxius with Andy. The search had started immediately and the gliders were launched away from
the community.
Harvey knew what they were doing, very little escaped his attention, but he didn’t allow them to see it. He kept his eyes on Lyla and when her tears were obvious, he knew the worst had happened. He talked with Maxius and told him that he would have to hide his grief. He had to act normal. Harvey shook his head and knew the community had lost one of its best.
Maxius tried but he couldn’t stop himself from going to Lyla and talking with her about Andy’s eventual return. Lyla broke down and told him that Andy’s body had been found. Lyla saw Maxius’ grief and she put her arms around his neck and wept with him. A month later, she agreed to be Maxius’ mate. The ceremony brought the community together and even the Archers could now accept Maxius now that Andy was gone. He had taken the responsibility of taking care of the one Andy left behind.
Mark went to Harvey and told him what they had done and Harvey told him that he couldn’t blame them. He instructed the Archers to go out and take on the new giant predator. It was a danger to the community and they appeared to be moving north. The Archers sent a thirty man group of Riders to make the determination of the giant’s danger. It took them a month to arrive at the site of the dead predator. It only took a moment to determine that the dead body wasn’t Andy. The group’s leader, Inapay, knew that something tragic had happened; a huge mistake had been made. The Archers knew what this information would do to the now united community and they swore to keep the information secret. The chances of a lone archer surviving in the wilds this long was remote and the odds of surviving longer was even worse. They swore that the news would always remain secret. Nothing good could come from telling the community that Andy might still be alive.
As soon as the group returned to the community, Inapay told Mark and he immediately went to Harvey. “What should we do with this information, Elder?”
Harvey shook his head and blew out a breath. Marks said, “It has to remain hidden.” Harvey nodded and looked at Mark as he lowered his head, “It just has to.” Mark raised his head and looked at Harvey, “The Archers have sworn secrecy and we will not mention this to anyone including our mates. I know what damage this would do to us. However, I still pray he is alive.”
Harvey extended his hand to Mark, “As do I. As do I!”
• • •
Harmony and Dinah were at a small pool while Andy was bathing in it. She looked around the plain and saw the terrain was very uneven. A predator could be sneaking up on them from below the rise to the east. She saw Dinah looking at her and she raised both hands over her head. Dinah went to her full height and sniffed the air and looked around. Andy saw Harmony make the hand gesture and was shocked. He rushed across the pool and slipped and fell into it. Dinah and Harmony both looked at him as he came out from under water shaking his head and sputtering water out of his mouth. Dinah rushed over to check on him and Harmony sat down she was laughing so hard. Andy grabbed his clothes and started running toward them. He rushed over to Harmony and said, “Give her the down signal!”
Harmony was still laughing but stopped as soon as she saw Andy’s expression. “Did I do something wrong?”
“GIVE HER THE DOWN HAND GESTURE!” Harmony stood up and put both hands in front of her palms down and pushed them toward the ground. Dinah immediately went to the ground. Andy raised his head and looked at the sky as he shook it, “Isn’t this just great?”
“What, what’s wrong?”
Andy went over to Dinah and rubbed her jaw. She started the low humming sound she made whenever she was extremely happy. He looked at Harmony, “Cursors never bond with more than one person.” Harmony just stared at Andy. “Never! However, the evidence is clear, she has now accepted you as one that can command her.”
“Why is that a bad thing?”
“I have lost the ability to send her home with information. She will not go and leave both of us behind.”
“What if we both gave her the gesture to return home?”
“Too much for her to process.”
“Does that mean she wouldn’t have killed me if you ordered it when I had my gun on you?”
Andy took in a deep breath and nodded, “Probably.”
“Why is this so terrible? I don’t understand.”
“When it comes down to the nitty gritty, she has to follow the lead of her rider. She can’t be looking at anyone else for instructions. They’re not built to handle that conflict.”
“How do you know?”
“Excuse me.”
“If they never bond with more than one person, how do you know what will happen?”
Andy stared at Harmony and after a moment said, “I guess I don’t know.”
“Then let’s try this. We’ll get on Dinah and both give her opposite commands. Let’s see if it causes her a problem.”
Andy shrugged and suddenly noticed he wasn’t dressed. Harmony looked at him with a smile, “I was wondering when you were going to notice that.” Andy turned quickly with a red face to get dressed. He refilled the water pouches and put all his gear on Dinah’s back. He jumped in the saddle and pulled Harmony up. He looked at her and said, “Go.”
Harmony immediately said, “Stop!” Dinah kept jogging forward. “Turn left.” Dinah kept moving forward. Andy looked back, “Nudge her with your right knee.” Harmony tapped her right knee against Dinah’s side but she continued moving forward. Andy said, “Stop!” And Dinah stopped jogging. Andy got off and said, “Move into the saddle and see if she’ll follow your commands now.”
Harmony slid forward and said, “Go.” Dinah started jogging forward. Harmony said, “Stop!” and she stopped. Andy pointed forward and Harmony said, “Go!”
Dinah started forward until Andy yelled, “Back to me!” She immediately turned and came running back to Andy. Harmony rubbed Dinah’s neck and Andy looked up at her, “It appears my commands have priority. Barring me telling her differently, she will follow your instructions.”
“What does that mean?”
Andy raised an eyebrow, “It appears she knows you have our best interests at heart.” Harmony tilted her head and Andy quickly said, “The Cursors have a sensory system that is beyond our understanding. No other dinosaur species has shown any inclination to bond with humans. She senses things that we don’t know exist. Dinah would have nothing to do with anyone else in the community but she has accepted you. There are others that have been around her much longer than you have and she did not accept them.”
“Is the one who is going to be your mate one of them?” Andy stared at Harmony and nodded. Harmony smiled, “What does that tell you?” Harmony slid off Dinah and said, “My turn to clean up.” She started walking toward the pool taking off her clothing as she walked away. Andy saw just how beautiful she was and turned his back before he saw too much. He looked up at Dinah as he rubbed her jaw and wondered what it did tell him. He knew that Harmony was no longer malnourished. He shook his head and Dinah rubbed her head against his chest. There was one thing he was certain about; Dinah loved him unconditionally.
He took his bow and stood watch while Harmony washed the dirt and grime off her. After thirty minutes he heard behind him, “I’m done.”
He turned around as she was putting on the top of her uniform. He closed his eyes and knew that was a vision he would not soon forget. She pulled it over her head and looked at him, “I think you like what you saw.”
“Harmony, don’t put this kind of pressure on me.”
“I know; you’re promised to another.”
“I am and this doesn’t help.”
Harmony sighed heavily and said, “You’re right. I’ll respect your commitment.”
“Let’s get moving.”
Andy climbed in the saddle and pulled Harmony up behind him. He knew that riding Dinah alone would never feel the same again. Dinah started jogging south. At the end of the day they saw smoke rising in the distance. Harmony saw it first and Andy wondered what caused her to stiffen up behind him. He looked ahead and saw the smoke plumes. The
y continued riding south. Harmony was silent for the rest of the day.
• • •
That night Harmony said, “Andy, I should go with you.”
“Why?”
“Two of us stand a better chance against them.”
“Do you remember when I had Dinah run away with you from the Raptors?”
“I do.”
“Can you see where I stood a better chance without you present?”
“Yes but this is different.”
“No it’s not.”
Harmony shook her head, “How is that so?”
“I’m not going on foot to see them.”
“You can’t take Dinah anywhere near those guns!”
“I’m not. You’re going to keep her safe while I go and see.” Andy paused, “I’m going to fly there.” Harmony’s eyes narrowed. “I’m serious.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ll show you in the morning. However, I need your promise that you will protect Dinah while I’m gone. You’ve seen enough now to avoid trouble. Use her to help you see it before it gets close. Will you swear to do that for me?”
Harmony nodded and they found a place to bed down for the night. After a few hours, Harmony got up and walked over to Andy and laid down beside him. She backed up to him and fell asleep. Andy could feel her fear and he put his arm over her and, in a few minutes, fell asleep.
• • •
Andy woke with the sun and took the backpack off Dinah. Harmony heard him and opened her eyes in time to see him remove it. “Do I find out what’s in that now?”
Andy smiled, “You do.”
“Well, it’s about time.”
“First, I have to get dressed.”
“You’re not going to wear that blue uniform?”
“Yes but I have to put something over it.” Andy reached in a side pocket on the back pack and took out a small packet. Harmony stared at it and couldn’t make out what was in it. Andy pulled out a small uniform that appeared to be shifting color. It looked like it was made for a doll. She shook her head but said nothing as Andy put his leg in it and stretched it. It covered his entire leg. It took him about ten minutes but after he pulled the top on, his body disappeared. All she could see was his head.