Primal Dawn

by Ryan Kirk

  Kindra spoke softly to Tev. She explained what had happened as simply as she could, and after a while, it seemed as though he understood. She tried to tell him how he wouldn’t be able to aim his weapon any more.

  “It’s fine, Kindra. I think this is better.”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Your way, it isn’t right. You don’t trust yourselves.”

  Kindra tried to understand what Tev was saying, but couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

  “Can you make it so I can hear everything?”

  Eleta answered. “Yes.”

  Tev seemed satisfied. “Now, I will hunt Kenan again. He is worthy prey.”

  “Tev, there’s something else. Kenan, he is going to another place where your people live. He is going to kill them all.”

  “Do you know where?”

  Kindra looked at the map and tried to describe the area as well as she could. Fortunately, Tev had an innate grasp of the surrounding land. Eventually, he had her stop. “I know where he is going.”

  There was a sound of distress in his voice, and Kindra wondered what the problem was. “What’s wrong?”

  “He’s going to my home.”

  A part of Kindra wanted to call out to him, tell him to stop, but she couldn’t. Tev was their only hope, as impossible as it was.

  Kindra felt blind as she listened to Tev standing up. More than anything, she wished she could see what was happening, but there wasn’t any way that could be. Sightless and distraught, Kindra listened as Tev began to hunt again.

  Tev was up and moving. Everything he had ever cared about was in danger. It was like he was living in a nightmare. No matter how fast he ran, it was as though he was trying to swim through the air. The ground passed underneath him so quickly he sometimes thought he was flying, but still he feared he wouldn’t be fast enough.

  As he ran, his mind found a relaxed focus once again. He would need to maintain it while fighting Kenan. He had lost to Kenan in their first fight. Even though he had possessed the element of surprise, Kenan had turned the tables on him.

  Tev knew part of it was that Kenan was an excellent warrior with amazing command of his armor. There was no way Tev would beat him in a fair fight. But Tev was a hunter, and fair wasn’t a concept that mattered to him.

  He had two advantages, small as they were. The first was that he was faster than Kenan. In their chase, Tev had always gained on him, even though he had run into enough trees to build a village with. Kindra had told him Kenan’s suit was supposed to be faster. So that was something. The other advantage he had was that he would have the element of surprise again. Kenan thought he was dead, and that he was one of Kindra’s clan. Kenan wouldn’t expect him again.

  Tev wasn’t sure how these advantages would come to his aid in another battle, but it was something to know he wasn’t completely outmatched. He had hunted creatures that were faster and stronger than him before, and he had always come back home alive.

  And now he was coming back home to a clan that was in danger. If Kenan got there before he did, Tev would never forgive himself. He pushed himself even harder, bounding the suit across the forest without hesitation.

  When Tev was within a kilometer of his village, he stopped to look and listen. There didn’t seem to be any fire, and he didn’t hear any sounds he would have associated with a massacre. His fear was that he had already come too late. Perhaps they were already all dead.

  He walked now, years and years of training kicking in. No matter how dire the situation, it either hadn’t happened yet or already had. Either way, rushing wouldn’t solve anything. He needed to be aware.

  Thankfully, there were no longer any pictures distracting him, images and words he didn’t understand. His vision was clear, and he could hear better than he ever had before. Whatever Eleta had done, there were more sounds coming to his ears than he would have heard on his own. The woods were alive and speaking, and he listened to their words, deciphering the meaning given to those who paid attention.

  As he crept towards the village, he let himself relax and become part of the forest. The exosuit made some noise, so he could never be completely silent. But he moved with all the grace he could manage, trying not to scare the wildlife nearby. With his mind focused, he scanned the sounds coming from the woods closer to the village. There was a place of near-silence, where the only calls he heard were those of animals crying about a predator. With sudden certainty, Tev knew that was where he would find Kenan.

  Tev altered course, aiming for a place between Kenan and the village. With luck, he would intercept him before he could attack the village.

  Step by step, Tev moved to head off Kenan. He moved slowly, afraid both of Kenan’s motion sensors and of making any noise that would give him away. He didn’t know how aware Kenan was of his surroundings, but after his first defeat, Tev would not give him any more chances. He wouldn’t underestimate his opponent.

  When Tev saw Kenan, it was all he could do not to charge him. His blood boiled with rage, and he wanted nothing more than to end this man’s life. He raised his arm, realizing too late, even though he’d been told, that he had no circle to aim with. The motion must have set off Kenan’s alarms, because he turned in surprise.

  Tev fired the weapon, aiming his arm as well as he could. His first shots struck above Kenan, whining through the forest. Tev held his fire and moved his arm down, tracing his fire onto Kenan. He was rewarded by several impacts.

  Tev couldn’t tell how much damage he had done, but Kenan’s armor must have been much thicker than his own, because Kenan kept his feet and his head. He saw the now-familiar view of Kenan’s right arm coming up to finish the job he had started. Tev bolted to the side, surprised when Kenan didn’t fire at him. He wasn’t sure if something was wrong or if Kenan had something else in mind.

  Tev tried to angle towards Kenan as Kenan turned and started sprinting towards the village. Tev swore to himself. He had hoped that by stopping Kenan before he got to the village it would remain safe, but Kenan was trying to bring the battle in that direction. It was almost as though he sensed Tev’s intentions and sought to frustrate them.

  Again Tev found himself chasing after his opponent. They were only a hundred meters from the village, and every meter seemed far too small for Tev, each step covering far too much space. With a sinking feeling, he realized there was no way he would stop Kenan before he reached the village. He considered firing at him, but held back. He couldn’t aim, and if he missed, the village was right beyond. It was a foolish risk.

  Kenan didn’t have any of the same compunctions. As soon as he could, he started firing haphazardly into the village. The village had already been awakened by the strange noises coming from the woods, but they weren’t prepared for what was coming their way. Kenan missed a step, and Tev caught up with him, tackling him from behind.

  The two of them went crashing to the ground, the unfamiliar sound of metal on metal tearing through Tev’s enhanced ears. Tev rolled to his feet and watched as Kenan struggled to his. A thought raced through Tev’s mind, but he didn’t have time to process it. He charged Kenan as he got to his feet, knocking him down to the ground once again. Tev pointed his arm towards Kenan’s chest and fired, sending more bullets into the already damaged armor. At least one of them must have gotten through, as Tev saw blood squirt from the armor.

  Kenan knocked Tev’s arm away with his foot, and Tev stopped firing just in time to avoid hitting two of the younger girls of the village, frozen in their attempt to leave their homes.

  Tev listened as Kenan’s own bullets whizzed past his head. He grabbed Kenan’s wrist, preventing him from moving his aim any closer. Kenan responded by curling his armored knees as close to his chest as he could and lashing out with both feet. The kick caught Tev in the chest, throwing him several meters backwards. He felt the armor collapse and crunch around his chest.

  Tev laid on the ground for a few moments, dazed from the blow. But then the sound of
Kenan firing his weapon came to his ears, and Tev felt a sinking feeling in his gut. Every second he wasted was a second his people died.

  Tev struggled to his feet. Kenan was working his way further into the village. Tev limped after Kenan, worried that the exosuit didn’t seem to be responding to his commands as smoothly as it had before. He needed to finish this, and finish it soon.

  As soon as he poked his head around the corner of a hut, Kenan snapped his arm towards him and fired. Tev spun out of the way, but Kenan kept firing, tearing up the hut Tev had meant to use for cover. Tev ducked low to the ground. He hoped that Kenan would assume he would keep moving in the same direction. He tried to focus on the sound of the bullets as they passed overhead.

  Although it was nothing but a guess, when Tev thought the bullets were past him, he spun back out, coming around the hut from the same direction he had at first. Kenan was still firing a steady stream of bullets, but his aim was several meters off. He calmly started to bring his arm back to Tev as Tev charged forward.

  Tev sensed Kenan bracing for the impact. The foreign warrior brought his right foot back and settled his weight lower. He was going to meet Tev strength for strength, and Tev knew that in that battle, Kenan’s suit would beat his own.

  Tev didn’t think, but a lifetime of fighting through crisis had taught him skills he would never consciously understand. He came in low and underneath Kenan’s right arm, clutching it in both of his hands. As he came up outside of Kenan’s arm, he held on tightly with muscles enhanced by an armor he still didn’t fully comprehend. Tev’s rising caused Kenan’s arm to twist. The warrior tried to twist with it, but could only go so far. Tev couldn’t hear the arm break, but from the unnatural angle he forced it into, it had to have.

  Tev kept twisting, trying to break the weapon on Kenan’s arm. He didn’t know how these weapons worked, but if they were anything like a bow, they didn’t react well to pressures put on them at unnatural angles. He was so focused on trying to break the weapon he didn’t see Kenan’s knee spinning around to catch him in the stomach.

  The armor crumpled around him again, and Tev felt a moment of gratitude that Kenan’s strike hadn’t landed any higher. If it had, it would have collapsed the armor around his chest completely, and Tev was certain he would have been killed.

  A calm focus descended on Tev. He could feel his death lurking nearby, and something in his body responded to the threat he felt. Suddenly, the world around him seemed to move in slow motion, and he saw with a clarity he had never possessed before. He saw Kenan’s left arm coming back to strike him in the chest, and he saw how the warrior was putting everything into it.

  Tev shifted his weight, just slightly, and watched as Kenan’s left sailed harmlessly past his body. He grabbed the arm and shifted the weight of his hips, trying to break Kenan’s other arm. Kenan, wise to what was happening, allowed Tev his motion, allowing the suit to roll forward into the dirt. Tev leapt into the air, driving his feet down onto Kenan as he tried to get back up. His feet crushed into Kenan’s chest, collapsing the armor already weakened by Tev’s bullets.

  For a moment, everything was a tangle of arms and legs and armor, but Tev got to his feet first, screamed, and brought his foot down on Kenan’s chest with all his armor-enhanced strength, right where he had fired his bullets earlier, right where he had just landed. Kenan’s body, armor and all, curled around Tev’s foot. Tev tried to remove his foot, but Kenan wrapped his left arm tightly around it, trying to bring him down. Tev was balanced well, however, and nothing Kenan could do would shift him.

  Tev raised his right arm slightly, pointing it at Kenan’s head. Kenan stopped struggling, knowing there was no way he could stop what was going to happen. Tev imagined the weapon firing, and he didn’t stop until Kenan’s helmet was gone.

  It took Tev a few minutes to realize it was all over. After everything that had happened, it was finished. Kenan was the man who had tried to kill his clan, and now he was dead. If Kindra was as good as her word, the danger to his people had passed.

  But at the same time, everything had changed. The village he had grown up in, the place he called home, was gone. He stood there, stupefied, as he looked at the hut where he had had his first kiss. It hadn’t been with Neera, but another village girl to try to make Neera jealous. Shet’s house was torn to bits, and all around him were bodies. Not as many as there could have been, but more than he could take. It was worse because he knew who each one was.

  Without warning, he felt something ricochet off his head. He frowned, then realized what had happened. His people were shooting at him. He was surrounded, and at an unspoken signal, arrows flew towards him.

  Even damaged, his armor had no problem deflecting the arrows and stones thrown his way. He realized just how much stronger Kindra’s people were than his own. In that moment, in that suit, he felt more out of place than he ever had in his life. He loved the suit. Loved how much strength it gave him and how much power he was capable of. He hated himself for how much he loved it.

  Tev debated, but only for a moment. Kindra wanted the suit back. She had made that clear when he left. Tev didn’t know what would happen to him when he returned it, but he had to keep his word. All he knew was that he had things to say before he left. There were things he had to make right. He hoped Kindra would allow him to return to his people, but he couldn’t be sure. After everything, he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to trust her.

  As the arrows bounced harmlessly off of him, he raised his arms, and after a few seconds, they stopped shooting at him, confused. Still moving slowly, so as not to alarm anyone, Tev hit the latch that disengaged his helmet. There was a hiss of air as the suit depressurized, and Tev pulled the helmet off.

  He could almost hear the sudden intake of breath as everyone saw who was underneath the helmet. Tev looked around and met every face. He didn’t know what to say, and he wasn’t alone in that sentiment.

  It was Shet who stepped forward first. Tev was glad to see he had made it through the battle alive.

  “Tev, is that you?”

  He nodded, and the words started to rush out. He told them everything. How he had been captured and how he had discovered the creatures were people just like them, with weapons Tev couldn’t understand. He explained how they had come from the sky, and how he had been given the suit to kill the one who killed his people.

  When he was done, all he saw were blank looks on the faces of those around him. The only one who seemed thoughtful was Shet, but then again, he always seemed that way.

  Tev turned around slowly, wondering what would happen next. Half his clan looked upon him in awe, and half looked at him as though they were ready to fire an arrow at his unprotected head. But everyone’s expressions changed when Neera stepped forward.

  Tev hadn’t seen her earlier. If he had, he never would have been able to fight well. His heart raced, and he searched her face for clues as to how she was feeling. But her face was a mask of stone, the only clue to her emotions the tears streaming down her face. She didn’t say a word. She just wound up and slapped him, harder than he’d ever been slapped before. The suit kept him locked in place, only his face snapping around from the impact. He felt his cheek instantly become warm.

  Without another word she turned around. Tev stopped her. “Neera!”

  She paused and looked at him over her shoulder. Tev knew he wouldn’t have another chance.

  “I’ve always loved you, Neera. I just wanted you to know.”

  There was an almost imperceptible flicker across her face, but she kept walking, leaving the circle that surrounded him. Tev’s heart broke, but he hadn’t expected anything else. He turned back to Shet.

  “I need to return to the people who gave me this armor. They require it.”

  The elder nodded. “Will you return?”

  “If I can.” Tev looked around the circle. Neera’s actions had changed many of the expressions on their faces. Now most of them were more angry than awe-inspired. He lo
oked the elder in the eye. He didn’t want to ask, but he had to. “Should I?”

  The elder looked at Tev. He studied the faces around him. The silence rang in Tev’s ears. When Shet spoke, it was loudly enough for all to hear. “You will always be a part of this clan, Tev.”

  Tev understood. He stood up straighter and addressed the crowd. “I know how you feel. But I will do everything I can to protect the clan. Even if it means my life. Remember me well.”

  The hunters, perhaps as a sign of respect, perhaps out of habit, replied. “Remember him well.”

  With that, Tev tried to look one last time for Neera, but she was nowhere to be seen. He put on his helmet and spoke softly. “Kindra, are you there?”

  “Yes. Even though I can’t see, I heard everything that happened. How are you?”

  Tev didn’t know how to respond. He was angry at everything that had happened. Excited and afraid of an unknown future. But most of all, his heart broke at Neera’s treatment of him. He didn’t know how to respond. “The hunt always goes on.”

  Either Kindra understood, or she was so confused she didn’t know how to answer him. As Tev was about to leave, Kindra asked him for one last favor. “Please bring Kenan’s body. We need the suit and his remains.”

  Tev considered arguing, but there was no point. Kindra seemed to be as much his clan now as his own people were. He picked up Kenan’s body and slung him haphazardly over his shoulder, and with one last look at his home, left.

  The next day, Tev sat with Kindra in their dropship, as they called it. He had brought back Kenan’s body, and although Kindra’s crew was horrified, they didn’t say anything to Tev. What had happened had happened, and there was no going back.

  Somewhat to Tev’s surprise, Kindra didn’t kill him. After he was out of the suit, she gave him food he didn’t recognize and told him he needed to stay with them for at least another day. Kindra’s clan still had decisions to make, and she couldn’t let him go until they decided. Tev had resigned himself to death, so he didn’t mind. Another day was another day. He spent the evening praying to Lys and sleeping deeply.