“We are one on this,” he laughed and pointed at the Ebu Gogo, who looked to be losing his imaginary battle.
The gawking, mocking, prodding, and laughing carried on from mid-morning until late in the afternoon. The Swapper girl reasoned that Icehunters had very little around their village to entertain. It seemed to them like the entire tribe would spend the day simply making observations about their differences. She was used to a bit of curiosity from the locals when her Swapper tribe came to trade, but now that the only trade was for admittance, curiosity came without much respect.
She rubbed the side of her head where one of her captors struck her after she bit an Icehunter who prodded too much. Her cut healed weeks ago, but the young Swapper remembered exactly what it meant to be hostile. She began to think about striking her captors in the dark while they slept. If she got help from the Waterbreather and the Firebringer, perhaps they could silently kill all six of their captors and find their way out of the frozen North.
“Good thoughts, goods words, good deeds,” her ilu repeated in mother’s soothing voice. “Murder does not bring back those who were slain. You would become what you despise.”
While the last of the locals meandered and eventually departed, the Icehunter’s captives stoked the fire roaring on one side of the cave’s mouth. Frozen packs of mammoth, wooly rhino, and reindeer made up most of their day’s admission. A portion of which roasted on the open flame, fat sizzling and hissing as it dripped from hock to coals. A small pile of starchy roots rounded out the evening meal.
“This is my hand axe,” a one eyed Icehunter told captive and captor alike in a gruff tone. His rusty orange hair hung in a dozen plaits around his muscled shoulders.
The Swapper girl quickly nodded agreement and kept her eyes on the food. Her angry glare had earned a kick to the ribs from One Eye before.
The Icehunter with three claw slashed scars running from cheek to neck scowled. “Fish man. You will make an act like Ebu Gogo. Ebu Gogo earns us more food than you or them together,” a thick finger attempted to tally the Firebringer, Waterbreather, and Swapper girl, and failed.
“Your economic pursuits are no concern of mine. I will not turn into a fool simply because I work with you against my will.”
The Swapper girl cowered back away from the fire, deeper into the cave. She knew what happened when the Waterbreather said things that Scar Neck, One Eye, or their companions didn’t understand.
The pair of Icehunters growled and rose to their feet. Their four companions turned heads from cooking and tallying to watch another evening confrontation. The Waterbreather moved toward them even as they approached with clenched fists raised.
One Eye lunged forward to close the gap and swung a heavy fist toward the Waterbreather. The pale bare chested captive dodged to One Eye’s blind side and his leg swept the Icehunter’s legs from beneath him. His head thudded loudly on the stone cave floor. Scar Neck pounced upon the Waterbreather before he could react and they smashed into a cave wall. The Icehunter held his captive against the wall with a meaty hand grasping his throat. His free hand punched blow after blow into the stunned Waterbreather.
The Swapper girl began to sob. Through tears she saw the Firebringer jump up to help, but One Eye and another pair of companions joined the melee. After a couple vicious moments the Waterbreather and the Firebringer slumped against the cave wall bloodied and bruised. The Swapper girl felt a sick sense of relief, their captors had learned to restrain themselves. No one would pay to see badly battered oddities.
Monkeyboy Teaser
By S Shane Thomas
http://www.LARC-SciFi.com
Writer Battle_Chaos Page 6