The giant catfish hung in the shallow water for a few seconds and then glided forward. Graf struck, driving the spear down with all his strength. The flint tip hit with tremendous force and penetrated behind the head in the fleshy area to the side of the backbone.
In a blur, the huge fish exploded straight up through the surface in a cloud of water and red-flecked mist and foam. Graf’s arms were snapped up and outward, and his body shook violently from the thrashing gyrations of the fish. Adrenaline surging, he held tight to the spear as the fish slammed to the surface on its side and tried to swim out and away, but the spearpoint was buried deep and the twin barbs held tight. Bending at the waist, Graf twisted to the side and locked the spear shaft between his right arm and his rib cage. He pulled back with all his strength against the weight and power of the thrashing fish. Yaan thrust her arms around Graf from behind and strained with him, and together they held the fish in place for several seconds. Then Yaan’s feet shot out from under her on the slippery surface and she slammed to the rock. Graf held tight to the shaft as his feet slid over the edge and he plopped thigh deep into the water.
Determined not to lose the fish, Graf maintained his grip as his arms flailed from side to side and his body shook. He locked as hard as possible on the shaft as it jerked forward and pulled him to his knees. Then, as he struggled to regain his feet, the shaft became still in his grip. He pushed up on his feet and held tight as the water calmed around him. Then, arching his torso and arms backward, he rammed the spear forward.
He felt the penetration, but there was no response from the fish. It was over. The spear was still, and the once-clear water swirled around him in a murky, crimson cloud. Graf pulled back on the spear. He was pulling dead weight.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to get the fish onto the rocks, so as Yaan slid into the water to help, Graf headed for the shoreline. The fish was partially buoyant in the shallow water, and after several minutes they made it to the edge of the lake, where Graf pushed at the spear until it protruded equal length on both sides of the massive head. Grasping the spear on either side, Yaan and Graf hauled the carcass twenty yards from the water’s edge. Exhausted and elated, they flopped to the soft grass. A second later they broke out in uncontrollable laughter.
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After resting for several minutes and regaining their strength, Graf and Yaan retrieved their bows, quivers, and pouches and returned to the fish, where Graf prepared to dress the carcass for transport. Pulling a half moon–shaped cutting stone from his pouch, he knelt in front of the fish and leaned forward to sever the head. That was when he noticed a strange formation on the water approximately fifty yards out. Two large ripples in a V formation swirled on the surface, heading toward the shoreline. Graf and Yaan stood as the rippling water accelerated toward them. Fear rising, they stepped back a few paces. Seconds later, the ripples reached the shallow bottom along the shore and a gaping snout lined with menacing white teeth appeared above the swirling water. The crocodile was huge and coming fast.
Head held high and jaws wide, the giant reptile exploded from the water. With a bouncing, waddling gait, it closed the distance to where Graf and Yaan stood frozen with surprise and fear. It thrust its head high to the side and slammed down hard, snatching the fish from the ground. Jostling the carcass in its jaws, the croc backpedaled to the shoreline, slid tail first down the bank, and disappeared beneath the surface.
Trembling with shock, Yaan clung to Graf’s arm while he stared out over the lake. As he turned toward her, more movement caught his attention. This time, two rippling V formations were churning toward the shore. Yaan let out a shriek as she spotted them, grabbed her bow and quiver, and bolted back away from the lake. Graf was at her side a second later, and together they sprinted hard, not looking back.
Adrenaline surging and legs pounding, Graf and Yaan sprinted back across the plain as the crocs burst from the water and thrashed forward to where they had stood only a moment before. Graf glanced back over his shoulder and a second later slowed to a trot. He finally stopped and turned to watch the spectacle unfolding as Yaan joined him at his side.
With their intended prey gone, the crocs stood motionless with their heads held high and huge snouts agape. Immediately they turned their bloodlust on each other and smashed their heads down, clamping on to the sides of their necks. Rows of curved, serrated teeth dug deep and held viselike with straining, powerful jaw muscles. The behemoths hissed, pushed, pulled, and rolled in a violent death struggle as Graf and Yaan stared wide eyed. After several moments, the thrashing stopped, but neither beast relinquished its hold on the other. Then, in an explosive eruption of force, the huge reptiles rolled over and over, flailing down the bank and into the lake, where they roiled downward and disappeared into the depths.
An eerie silence settled over the plain. Graf and Yaan stood silent for several seconds before they turned and headed away from the now calm lake.
The late-afternoon sun warmed their backs and stretched their shadows long as they approached the narrow strip of land bounded by the waterfall on one side and the long upward ascent leading to the natural bridge on the other. Soon they would be back in the safety of the clan and the calm of the cave. Hand in hand, they walked in the warm glow of the afternoon sun. Without saying anything, Yaan looked over at Graf, slowed, and pulled at his hand. He turned and faced her as she slid her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. They had faced death together and survived. Now in the aftermath, Yaan realized how close they had come to losing each other and how much her life was filled by the feelings she had for her mate. To lose him would be unbearable. Nothing had to be said. Graf was experiencing the same emotions. Yaan pulled at Graf’s hand, and they sank to the soft grass in the warm silence of the afternoon and their overwhelming affection for each other.
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Graf heard it first. The low huffing was at once familiar, but not identifiable. He slowed to a stop, cocked his head, and listened while Yaan stood quietly at his side. They scanned the vista in all directions: nothing in sight, but still the sound resonated on the calm breeze. Minutes passed, and the sound grew clearer . . . closer. Graf realized something was making its way up the opposite side of the grassy incline. A second later he identified the sound. Eyes wide, he looked for an escape route. There were no trees within running distance, and only the falls and the drop to the pool to the front—no place to go except back over the plain. And that was no escape because what Graf knew was cresting the incline was something they could never outrun. If it caught them in the open, it would mean certain death.
Graf snapped his head toward the ridgeline just as what looked like a large, gray boulder bobbed into view. The huge head of the rhino sported two curved horns. The smaller one protruded from between the small, beady black eyes; both were deadly. A deep, huffing grunt bellowed from the beast with each plodding step. It crested the top and stood silhouetted against the late-afternoon sky. The animal was massive and terrifying. At over six thousand pounds and fifteen feet from snout to tail, the beast had no natural enemies and grazed the grasslands unmolested. It was never hunted by even packs of predators, including the clan. Ill-tempered and aggressive, rhinos would charge anything with the slightest provocation, and often with no provocation at all. A swipe of the massive horned head could easily toss a man more than thirty feet, and anyone knocked to the ground was certain to meet a crushing death under a thudding horned head and trampling legs. Rhinos were always given a wide berth in passing and were never approached. They were deadly and unstoppable—and now one stood no more than thirty yards away.
Graf and Yaan stood terrified and motionless as the huge beast plodded down the slope, its low, huffing grunt punctuating the still air with each ponderous step. Graf’s eyes darted in all directions as he looked for an escape. If they broke and ran back toward the plain, the beast would spot their movement and overtake them in seconds. They would die battered and trampled in the grass. If they broke wide arou
nd the animal and headed up the incline, they would meet the same horrific death. The animal was just too big and too fast. There was no escape back or up, and around to the other side was nothing except the ledge over the drop to the pool over a hundred feet below.
As he surveyed the area, Graf realized they had one chance. Rhinos possessed an acute sense of smell, but their eyesight was extremely poor. If he and Yaan remained still and the beast didn’t see or smell them, it might wander off to the plain to graze on the lush grass. Graf held firm to Yaan’s upper arm as the animal plodded down and angled away from them, heading for the plain as Graf had hoped. The beast lowered its head, pulled at the grass, and kept moving. They could smell its heavy musk as it grazed only yards away. What Graf felt next filled his brain with adrenaline.
A breeze washed across the back of his head upwind toward the beast. At that instant, the horned head bobbed up and the massive gray body swung around. The beast stood facing them and sniffing the air. It cocked its head to the side and pawed the ground, grunting loudly with each stomp. Graf knew what was coming and tightened his grip on Yaan’s arm. Snapping its head high, the rhino exploded forward in a thunderous charge.
In sheer panic coupled with surging adrenaline, Graf and Yaan bolted toward the edge above the frothing pool. The thundering rhino closed on them; its horns were within a foot of their backs when they leapt at a full run from the edge. They flew out and down as the six-thousand-pound mass of the beast slid over the edge behind them. Arms flailing in the mist, Graf and Yaan sailed down in what seemed like slow motion. They plunged into the water in a frothing swirl of bubbles. With no outward trajectory, the massive rhino plummeted straight down and crashed on its back with a loud, dull thud on the rocks at the edge of the pool, where it shook spasmodically, its legs pumping in the air.
Graf and Yaan kicked hard to the surface at the far side of the pool, where they were immediately swept over the side in a cascading rush of whitewater. They bounced and rolled out of control steadily downward until the riverbed leveled and they found themselves drifting in shallow, muddy water. Battered and scraped, they stopped on the sandy bottom as the muddy water swirled around them. Yaan glanced over to Graf, who was grasping his thigh with both hands, his face twisted in pain. Blood oozed from between his fingers and curled in clouds around his thigh, and his foot was pointed out at an unnatural angle. Somewhere in the plunge and being swept downstream, he had lacerated his thigh and broken his ankle. His pain was obvious and the damage serious.
Graf fought back the pain and surveyed the terrain. On both sides of the stream, a high canyon wall extended to what he knew would be the plain leading to the bridge and back to the cave. The climb would be difficult without injury, and as he looked to his leg, he knew it would be impossible in his present condition. He twisted around and peered to where the water flowed ahead. The high canyon walls stretched in the distance to a point where they curved into the forest. Following the flow of the water seemed to be the only option, but for now they would need to rest and regain some strength. The far side of the stream ran flush to the canyon wall, but the side they were closest to consisted of a dry, sandy, flat area. They would make for it and any shelter it might provide for the encroaching night. At first light, they would follow the stream and hopefully find a route up to the bridge.
Graf managed to stand, and with Yaan’s help balanced on his good leg. Struggling together, they made it out of the water and to the area that jutted out from the canyon wall. The dry expanse of sand extended along the bottom of the canyon as far as Graf could see. He felt some relief knowing it would be a lot easier than hobbling through the water. They spotted a small, concave area in the rock face and headed for it. Sitting with their backs to the rock face, they rested as the deep canyon darkened in the spreading twilight. The searing pain in Graf’s leg had subsided to a throbbing ache, and the blood flow had lessened with continued pressure. He removed his hands and examined the wound. Blood was oozing steadily from the six-inch gash and pooling in the sand. He would have to stop the blood loss if he was going to survive.
With Yaan’s help, he swiveled around toward the rock face and elevated his leg. He removed the sling that secured his pouch around his neck and tied it around his thigh above the gash. Almost immediately the bleeding diminished to a pulsating trickle. As Yaan knelt beside Graf, she scanned the sandy area around them and spotted something that made her freeze in place. She tapped on Graf’s shoulder and pointed at the sand to their side.
Paw prints the size of a clenched fist covered the entire area around where they sat.
Graf twisted closer and examined the prints. He knew at once what had made them. He turned back and began scanning the rock face of the canyon wall. They would need to get high out of reach to avoid the animals he knew would be returning in the dark. The pug marks covering the sand had been made by a pack of cave hyenas. Weighing over two hundred pounds, the beasts had bone-crushing jaws capable of severing a human limb with one snapping bite. Nocturnal predators, the humpbacked, muscled canines hunted in packs of five or more individuals. They were the most opportunistic and efficient predators roaming the forests and savannahs. They made short work of the young, weak, or injured of any species they came upon, leaving nothing behind but a bloody smear. Graf knew they were both nocturnal and territorial, and they covered the same territories consistently. It was certain they would return in the darkness.
With no way out and no protective shelter, Graf and Yaan would meet a bloody death before sunrise.
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Graf hobbled along with his arm over Yaan’s shoulder, looking for any shelter or place where they could climb above the sandy bottom and out of reach of the predators that would be returning in the night. They found nothing, and with darkness closing, they made their way back to the small, concave area, where they sat with their backs to the canyon wall. It offered little protection other than keeping them from being exposed. Graf winced as blood continued to trickle from his wound, and Yaan stared straight ahead as night fell. Exhausted, they awaited their fate in silence.
On the high plateau above the stream where Graf and Yaan huddled, the alpha male hyena padded along with three others trailing behind. Poking their long snouts up into the night air, they made their way to a shrubby area and a well-worn trail that twisted downward to the stream on the canyon floor. At the bottom, they would work their way along the stream bed toward the pool and the bottom of the falls. Many times they had come upon carcasses that had fallen or jumped from the rim of the plateau while being pursued by predators. The canyon floor always yielded something for the pack, and it also offered the opportunity to rest and drink. They quickened their pace to a slow trot as they descended into the canyon.
Nearing the canyon floor, the alpha male stopped, settled on his short haunches, and sniffed at the night air with audible huffs. The scent was blood spoor. The rest of the pack also picked it up and milled about excitedly. The alpha male jumped up, and the entire pack surged forward with low, barking yelps. Prey was near.
The pack splashed at the edge of the stream and lapped at the muddy water. Their hunger rose as they sniffed the blood in the air and tasted it in the water. They skirted about with snouts twitching and saliva dripping from bared teeth. Vicious snarls rose with the yelping as the pack exploded forward. Something ahead was already dead or dying. They would soon gorge themselves.
Graf was nodding in and out of a cloudy consciousness from blood loss as Yaan clung to him, shivering with near exhaustion. The full moon shined bright above the canyon, and moonlight shimmered on the gurgling stream, illuminating the canyon floor in a soft glow. Eyes wide with fear, Yaan looked upstream at what appeared to be dark shadows lunging over rocks and gliding along the stream bank. A moment later, sharp high-pitched yelps cut through the night air. They were coming fast. Yaan glanced over to the unconscious Graf and wedged herself closer to him.
Consumed by terror, she watched as the snarling beasts burst to the
edge of the stream and ringed the area. Growling and snarling, menacing teeth flashed as the beasts lowered their heads and snapped their jaws waiting for the alpha male to begin the bloody and deadly onslaught. Paralyzed with fear, Yaan shook uncontrollably in the face of what would surely be a vicious death.
The canyon faded to black as the moon and stars were obscured by a dark, roiling mass that appeared in the night sky. Yaan felt a slight tingling enveloping her entire body. A crackling blue light illuminated the entire area around her and Graf as the snarling beasts sprang. Black canine eyes and snarling jaws were inches from Yaan’s face when the night exploded with a brilliant, phosphorescent white light. The darkness was riddled with sparks, loud hissing, and sharp popping sounds . . . then dead silence. As Yaan slipped into unconsciousness and slumped against Graf, the smell of singed fur and charred flesh floated up from the canyon floor.
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Night settled over the cave as Ott and Cha made their way to the communal fire pit. The air was warm, and a full moon burned bright in the star-strewn sky. Nin the medicine woman and several elders sat at the fire. Several other fires flickered in the open area. As was common in good weather, many chose to escape the smoky interior of the cave and take their evening meal under the open sky. As Ott and Cha sat, Nin informed them that Graf and Yaan had not yet returned from their trek to the upper plateau. Ott’s face registered some concern, but not worry. Graf was skilled in all ways of survival and hunting, and he had often spent nights away from the cave taking shelter in places known to all the hunters of the clan. He was probably basking in the safety of a fire with Yaan close by his side. If the day had been long, he would choose that rather than risk traveling at night when the predators roamed. He would return in the morning. Ott placed a piece of meat on the flat rocks above the glowing orange embers and stared up at the blanket of stars that riddled the sky as far as the eye could see.
The Way of the Seed_Earth Spawn of Kalpeon Page 10