Caveman Alien’s Trick

by Calista Skye

  “At least we will have no such problems,” Rax’tan says. “The most beautiful woman on Xren is clearly you.”

  I turn around and grin at him. “You’re such a charmer, I think you just might get laid soon.”

  Rax’tan gasps theatrically. “Oh! You think? That would be wonderful! You see, I’ve always wanted to.”

  I turn back and chuckle. “Yeah, me too. See how easy it is to paddle this canoe? It slides through the water like… like a fish.”

  “One of those mythical creatures. Told you they were rare.”

  The canoe shoots through the water, and in no time we’re out of sight from The Island. I’m getting better at navigating now, and based on the position of the sun I can easily find north.

  Soon, we’re in an area of Seatree Ocean where I’ve never been before. There are more islands, and they have more trees growing on them.

  I let Rax’tar do the paddling while I fill in more of the blank parts of the map. I’ve mapped the surroundings of The Island in a radius of a about a half mile, and I’m surprised at just how many islands there are. That, coupled with the seatrees sticking up from the water all over the place and blocking the view, would make it extremely easy to get lost here. You could spend days trying to find your way home.

  Rax’tar is taking us in a circle, and I can already see that it will end up at Love Beach. That’s fine with me, and the idea of having him inside me again makes me tingle down there. Every time we do it, we discover something new and wonderful together.

  I turn around on the seat so I can look at him while I’m drawing on the map. Once in a while I’ll let my eyes rest on his face or his body as he calmly paddles the canoe at surprising speed. I’d love to take him back to Earth and show him off. A huge caveman with stripes and eyes that glow. And two cocks… God, people would faint from envy. In fact—

  Something up in the air catches my attention. A dark speck.

  No, two.

  No, three! Three objects, high up.

  I point, alarmed. “Irox!”

  Rax’tar whirls around and sees where I’m pointing. Then he tilts his head to the side and just sits there as if puzzled.

  “Come on,” I urge him, grabbing my own oar. “Let’s get under cover!”

  Rax’tar looks up behind him. “They don’t look like irox. They move differently.”

  But he paddles, too, and after less than a minute we’re under the merged canopy of two seatrees that stick up from the water close together.

  I try to spot the objects again. And after some searching I find them. They’re closer now. Still dark or even black. But it’s like they’re each dragging something, a luminous trail. Three glowing trails. And they’re moving fast.

  Rax’tar is right – they don’t look much like irox. Except that they’re in the sky and that they seem pretty long. They have a different air to them, somehow. And it’s not a completely unfamiliar feeling to me.

  “Dragons,” I whisper.

  Rax’tar frowns at me, then keeps looking up. “Not irox, at least.”

  “Dragons are worse.” But I’m not sure they’re dragons, of course. I really, really hope not.

  I keep losing track of the flying things between the leaves in the dense canopy above us. But they’re coming lower, passing high overhead, going roughly west. Three flying things together. Moving slowly, not gliding like an aircraft would.

  Then all the doubt evaporates as the sunlight catches all three just right and they reflect it in a metallic sheen that would put a silver teapot to shame.

  My heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach. “Dragons.”

  “Very peculiar,” Rax’tar muses. “They shine like polished blades. Are they made of steel?”

  “No,” I manage, wanting most of all to weep. Just when everything was looking so good…

  Rax’tar sees my distress and reaches out with both hands, lifts me from my seat, and places me on his lap. “Now, now. This canoe isn’t that bad.” He misunderstands on purpose. “A little unstable, only. We’ll fix it, don’t worry.”

  Again, his strength astonishes me, but now I have another priority. “The dragons are bad. One of them kept me captive. Me and other girls. It would try to lure us into its trench. Sounding like a baby that had fallen in. The can blow fire, you know. Burn you to a crisp in no time. Rax’tar, I’m very afraid.”

  “There’s no shame in being afraid,” he says calmly and strokes my hair. “The jungle has many dangers. Only the very silly are not afraid of it. But the fear doesn’t have to rule you.”

  “Sometimes it’s hard to resist.”

  “Sometimes. But ‘hard’ doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”

  “Dragons have a way of getting into your mind. They can make you feel more afraid than you should.”

  He kisses the top of my head and holds me close. “Then we will get into theirs, instead. It’ll be fun.”

  It’s such a new thought, and he says it with such conviction, that it lights a little spark of hope in me. “I’ve never thought of it that way.”

  “We will think more about it. Now I can’t see them anymore. Shall we go back?”

  My horniness is gone, and now I’m just anxious. I cling to his huge, strong body. “Let’s wait until we know they’re not coming back.”

  Rax’tar looks up in every direction, and I can sense that it goes against his warrior instinct to sit here and wait.

  But he humors me, and I’m grateful for that. And seriously, if anyone can keep me safe against dragons, it’s him. Except…

  “Rax’tar. If you have to fight a dragon, your knife isn’t going to be enough. Please use a sword. All the men in my tribe do that. I think I can show you how to defeat a dragon.”

  “I will never touch a sword again.”

  I peer up at him. His face is hard.

  “Why not?”

  He calmly lifts me again and sets me back on my seat. “We should be getting back. We’ll tell the others.”

  But have to give this another try. “You have to use a sword. Only a long, heavy blade will have any chance against that armor the dragons have. You saw them shine. A little knife will bounce off it.”

  He grabs his oar and starts paddling. “There must be other ways.”

  I turn around on my seat and grab my oar, still looking up. Now I have to worry about both not-dactyls and dragons swooping in from above. But there’s no more sign of the dragons.

  We get to The Island, and Rax’tar gathers everyone in the hall.

  “We think we saw dragons in the sky,” he begins. “Phoebe recognized them from before. And indeed they were strange. At first glance they could be irox, very high up. But they shone in the sunlight like bright blades. They also moved differently from irox. I think they might have come in to land not too far from here. So we should be on our guard.”

  The others look at each other.

  “Just another Big.” Juri’ex shrugs with youthful confidence. “There are so many of them. One more isn’t going to matter.”

  There are mutterings of agreement.

  “Our swords still work.”

  “I will worry when I see one actually be dangerous. Or just when I see one. It was probably just irox.”

  “Let’s put our minds where our lives are, not far away in imaginary dangers.”

  “Surely, a dragon is just another kind of irox. And they don’t bother us too much out here.”

  Rax’tar glances at me. “I think these dragons might be more different from other Bigs than we think. I felt different looking at them. They have more of a menace to them. They gave me the impression to be… like men, almost. Evil men.”

  I nod. That’s the thing about dragons – they instil some kind of dread in you, just by looking at them from afar.

  “Evil or not – perhaps there’s good meat on them.” Gir’ex chuckles.

  “Is there, Phoebe?” Rax’tar asks me.

  “No. When they die they leave only their scales. And dust.”


  Erek’ox takes a sip from his mug. “Then we will hang their scales around our necks as trophies and decorations.”

  “Of course,” Rax’tar agrees. “And yet, before we get too confident, we should know more.”

  “Let’s go to my village,” I urge. “Talk to the warriors there. Join forces with them against the dragons.”

  “We all left our own tribes long ago,” Arit’zan points out. “I would wager none of us wants to join another one.”

  “You don’t need to join the tribe,” I state. “But learn how to deal with dragons. How to kill them.”

  “We did talk about going to your tribe, Phoebe,” Rax’tar ponders. “Perhaps this gives us a good reason.”

  “We were going there anyway in a few days,” Tret’zor exclaims.

  The room is suddenly quiet, and the men exchange glances.

  Huh. I never heard any of the others say they’d go to my village. I thought that was just Rax’tar’s vague plan. But okay, I guess it’s more than a vague plan now.

  Rax’tar squeezes my shoulder. “Yes, we will all go to Phoebe’s village. Soon.”

  I stir in my char. I wish it was a little lower. So difficult to feel like a serious participant in a meeting when my feet dangle like those of a toddler. “I have to go back now. To warn them that the dragons are here.”

  “I think it’s safer if we all go together,” Rax’tar says. “In a few days. Let’s not have these dragons disturb us unduly before we’ve actually met them.”

  I chew on a fingernail. That all makes sense. But I really want the girls to know that there are dragons on Xren now. Of course, there may be more than the three we saw. “There may be more than the three we saw. We should really get going before they can orient themselves and attack. We may not have a few days.”

  “This is all very uncertain,” Curt’on says. “Three small specks in the sky, and immediately we change our plans and go into a panic, like a pack of scared kreks? Let’s stick to our original plan.”

  The others nod and mutter agreement.

  And I see their point. It does feel like we give the dragons more power if we let them scare us like this. Also, I’m not looking forward to leaving this place. This island and this band of friends have a bubble of safety all of its own, despite the occasional dactyl attack.

  “Then we’ll do as we planned,” Rax’tar decides. “We will see your village soon enough, Phoebe. Until then, is there a way to make sure they are actually dragons? I would not enjoy returning to your tribe with breathless reports about such things and then have it proved wrong later.”

  I scratch my chin. It would be nice to have more to report to the girls than just ‘we saw something in the sky that looked like dragons’. “I think we can find those dragons. I mean, we might be able to spy on them from a distance. A long distance. Just to see what they’re doing. And to make sure they’re actually dragons.”

  “If they can fly,” Gir’ex says, “can’t they be just about anywhere?”

  “I suppose,” I agree. “We only ever met one dragon that was mature enough to fly. And that one stayed in much the same area while collecting his hoard. We think dragons need hoards like other beings need food. Without hoards, they’re weak. If the dragons have just arrived, they have no hoards here on Xren and they might be exhausted after a long voyage through space. They might stay in one place for a while.”

  “‘Might’,” Curt’on says. “We think.’ So many uncertainties. Yes, I agree we should know more before we make fools of ourselves at Phoebe’s tribe.”

  “We will go on scouting expeditions,” Rax’tar says and stands up, ending the meeting. “Perhaps the map Phoebe has made can come in handy.”

  The guys get up and start going about their normal business. I walk down to the canoe, keeping one eye on the sky.

  Curt’on follows me down there and inspects the canoe. “Does it work the way you intended?”

  “Better,” I reply. “It’s easy to paddle. It’s fast and light. We should probably make more of them. If we can find trees that are as thick as that one.”

  He gives the hull a thoughtful kick. “There aren’t many that big on the islands. We may have to go far to find one. But it could well be worth it.”

  “Definitely.” I throw a quick glance over my shoulder. Rax’tar is nowhere to be seen. “Curt’on, you were the first to join Rax’tar here. Why did he leave his tribe?”

  Curt’on raises his eyebrows. “He hasn’t told you? I’m not surprised. It is a sore point for him. For good reason, it seems to me.”

  “Don’t feel you have to tell me. I don’t want you to betray any trust.”

  “Oh, it’s not a secret. Everyone here knows. Everyone in his old tribe. Only you don’t. But I think you should, considering how… hmm... how close you are to him.”

  He sits down and absentmindedly touches the quickly healing wound at his throat. “Now, this was years ago. I had this told to me by Gir’ex, who witnessed it all. Rax’tar was a bright young man, active and strong. But perhaps a little too easily provoked. The other boys realized that from an early age. It was better not to give him any reason to get angry. Not that he was stronger than the others. He could just react suddenly and with some… force. But the older tribesmen didn’t know that about him. Men typically don’t notice the younger ones before long after they undergo the Stripening and become full warriors.”

  While listening I start taking the bark off the log I want to become the mast for the canoe.

  “So,” Curt’on continues, helping me prepare the log, “one day the boys were practicing with their swords. Rax’tar was probably the most promising swordsman the tribe had seen for some time, and he had long since passed the Stripening. The instructor, a tribesman called Fur’tax, sometimes had a difficult manner. I think it is also fair to say that he was somewhat envious of Rax’tar’s obvious talent. Gir’ex thinks so, anyway. Fur’tax made an acidic comment to a move that Rax’tar made with the sword. All the young men had comments like that made about their skills, and accordning to Gir’ex, it was quite innocent. But he could see Rax’tar get angry. He did nothing immediately. But later, when the training session was winding down, Fur’tax put his own sword in his belt for a moment to instruct another boy in holding the blade. At that moment, Rax’tar struck with his. He cut Fur’tax’s head almost clean off.”

  I freeze mid-motion. “He killed him? Just like that?”

  Curt’on sighs. “He claimed he thought that Fur’tax was still instructing him and that Fur’tax sheathing his sword was a feint. It was clearly not true. A ridiculous claim. Fur’tax had his back to him and was talking to another boy. It was on purpose, as they all knew. But because this happened during training, the chief couldn’t punish Rax’tar too harshly. Shortly after, Rax’tar left the tribe of his own volition one night, taking his sword with him. He declared that he would never use his sword again. It was his way of gaining some final triumph over Fur’tax.”

  “How?”

  Curt’on gives me a weak smile. “He hung his sword on the wall. You can see it in the hall. The large sword in the middle there. It’s a strange thing to do if you regret what you did with a sword, hanging it there in pride of place. The dark part along the edge is Fur’tax’s blood. Rax’tar’s final victory over his instructor.”

  I’m feeling numb inside. “That’s why he won’t use a sword?”

  “It might be hard to understand for an alien. But it is a way of showing contempt. Because Fur’tax used a sword and instructed in its use, Rax’tar now shows that it is beneath him to use one. He now only uses a tiny knife. To his detriment sometimes. It makes him get too close to his opponent, whether man or Big. Most recently to the irox that attacked you two.”

  I stare out at Seatree Ocean. I would never have thought Rax’tar had it in him to be a killer. But why not? It has to take a certain impulsiveness to abduct someone from a village, the way he did me. Just put me in a sack and carried me away. He’s never apol
ogized for that.

  Have I misjudged him?

  “When you and the other men here leave the island and come back with meat and furs and herbs – are you going on raids on other villages?”

  Curt’on shaves off another large piece of wood from the mast. “I have never done so. The others – I don’t know. I sometimes wonder how they’re able to bring back so much meat in less than a day. Rax’tar usually goes off on his own. Sometimes, he returns with strange things and won’t tell us where he got them.”

  I glance over at the hollow tree. I can hear the sound of someone chopping wood. Probably Rax’tar doing something useful.

  Yeah, I guess it makes sense that these guys are essentially raiders. Why else would they live here, in such a remote location? And Rax’tar is their leader.

  Damn it! I really like him. And of course, then he turns out to be a murderer and a robber.

  Curt’on gives me a curious glance. “There are some of us who would never raid other tribes or kill tribesmen in cold blood. We’re not all like Rax’tar.”

  “I know,” I mutter. “He’s one of a kind.”

  19

  - Rax’tar -

  I decide to chop firewood, letting Phoebe and Curt’on work on the canoe. I want Curt’on to see that I bear him no ill will after I attacked him with the knife. He must see that I trust him. Because I do. His question about sharing Phoebe was reasonable. He couldn’t know just how attached I am to her. Even I didn’t know the depths of it.

  I place another log on the tree stump and chop it in half with the ax.

  Yes, attached. Mysteriously so. She fills my thoughts at all times, even while doing other things. I long to hold her and squeeze her and relish her softness, her lightness, her smallness, and her scent. And her bright voice and her curious way of speaking. Her soft skin and her long hair and her… everything.