by Marius Thue
Teemo serves the food on some flat lightly heated stones. The stones have been heated on the fire and then cooled back down to a nice warm temperature. Thoke has never had this kind of luxury. He's heard of it but never felt it himself.
After having consumed the food, Thoke thanks his host for the hospitality.
“This was great. Thank you, Dorkas,” he says before pushing away the stone plate, which is immediately picked up by Teemo.
“Now we'll have some proper entertainment, follow me,” Dorkas says as he starts for the big trail.
Torches burn high on each side of the path. They go all the way down to the gate by the sea, where there are even more fires placed outside. The heat is beginning to get to Thoke, and he has to take off some pelts. Thick furs are unnecessary here. Like Dorkas and so many others, he takes off the pelts above his waist. He sees that Dorkas is still leaner than himself, muscular to some degree sure, but still lean.
Just outside the gate, people have gathered around a big hole in the ground. There's also people seated up the steep slope leading up to the valley. From there Thoke expects they can see all the way to the bottom of the pit.
The hole is at least ten steps wide in each direction and seems to have been dug out by people. Down in the hole, there is a man only covered with some rags around his waist. Desperately, he tries to get out and climb the earthy walls in vain. The walls are about the height of two men, and the crumbling walls makes it impossible to climb.
“Who is this man, and why is he down there?” Thoke wonders, keeping his eyes fixed on the pit.
“That man tried to steal from us,” Dorkas explains. “He's down there to take his just punishment.”
“What kind of punishment?”
“A fight to the death. One of ours go down there with him. If the man wins, he gets to leave or take the other’s place among us. If it were a woman, we'd send a woman down. Same terms.”
Thoke doesn't approve, but joins Dorkas at the chiefs' seat. It's placed directly opposite the hill leading up to the valley. Three large stones serve as seats. This would be the best spot with the best view of the pit.
More and more, people come over. It looks like almost all of the adults in the village have gathered. They scream and shout in anticipation of the fight.
“May I ask what happened to the maimed man outside the mountain gate? Why didn't he get such a punishment?” Thoke wonders.
“The man ignored direct orders and killed an innocent. Different rules for those who already live here,” Dorkas says. His eyes grow intense, and Thoke detects anger in his voice.
Dorkas stands and raises his hands to signal silence. Everyone obeys immediately, making only the crackling of the fires audible.
“Quiet everyone,” Dorkas begins loudly. “Here in our magnificent village, on this excellent starry night, I welcome all of you to tonight’s fight. This fight is held in our guest Thoke’s honor. He has been given the honored seat to my left. The man in the pit stands accused of sneaking into the village to steal food. Last time, as you might remember, Teemo was victorious. A fight we will all remember in the years to come. A fight that earned him the title of pit master. Let us hope this continues this night. Teemo, get into the hole.”
Dorkas's speech is met with a thunderous roar from the crowd. Teemo is undressed and pushed down into the pit by some men. He tries to fight them off, but it's no use. The fear is clear on his face as he stares at the man on the opposite side of the pit. One is as scrawny as the other.
“Teemo might be small, but he's like a ferocious wolverine when cornered. He's won many a fight down there,” Dorkas says while leaning over to Thoke.
The man in the hole seems to be busier trying to get out of the hole rather than fighting Teemo.
“The day of judgment has come. Fight!” Dorkas yells, and they are once again met by loud cheers from the crowd. The tribe screams, shouts, and waves their hands around like madmen.
Teemo attacks at once, pouncing on the man who stands with his back turned. He hangs on. They both fall to the cold hard ground, rolling in the dirt and snow. Teemo scratches the man’s eyes. His fingers seek their target with determination while the man desperately tries to fight him off. He screams in fear as they tumble around.
The riled up crowd scream out Teemo’s name over and over. For a long time the fight for life and death goes on without any of the contestants getting the upper hand. Punches, kicks, and scratches send blood flying through the air and up into the mass of people cheering.
Thoke winces as if he feels the pain himself and looks at the crowd with disdain. For every drop of bloodshed, they scream louder and louder. They stand up and punch the air with their hands. Spit comes flying out their mouths as they roar. Thoke cannot even judge who they’re cheering for any more; it seems they will be pleased as long as one of them die.
Thoke stands up and quietly walks away. Once in a while he looks back at Dorkas, who doesn't detect Thoke's disappearance for some time. As Thoke walks inside the gate, he glances back and sees Dorkas whispering some words to a man sitting next to him. Shortly after, Dorkas comes running toward him.
“Hey! Wait, where are you going?”
“You call this entertainment?” Thoke stops and points at the roaring crowd. “If it's punishment you seek, then give these men a quick death rather than this suffering.” Thoke walks on, and Dorkas follows close.
“But here they get an opportunity to earn their freedom. To defy death and their punishment,” Dorkas explains while trying to catch up, making Thoke speed up even more.
“Until the next time they do something to displease you? Have you seen Teemo? The man is in ruins.” Thoke stops to face Dorkas.
“Teemo does what he needs to be a part of this tribe. That's how he became a part of it in the first place. Here he's at least safe against the world outside.” Dorkas rubs his fingertips along the corners of his eyes before continuing. “Listen, these fights are necessary for the unity of this village. They spend most of their days hunting or fishing. They need some excitement. You saw them. They loved it. Besides, it helps keeping people honest knowing what their fate might be if they disobey the rules here.”
“So you scare them to do as you want, then?”
“Calm down now, old friend, and listen. When we started raising the numbers in this village, we had a problem. We had a lot of women and just a few men. Some of the men took this as an opportunity to rape as many women as they could. The women were scared to tell this even to me.” Dorkas's gaze grows distant and locks on to nowhere in particular. “One day, I was headed down to the tool hut to get a new spear. When I pulled away the flap, I saw a man holding a woman down while another had his way with her. The woman cried and begged for mercy while the men laughed. I pulled them both by the beard and dragged them outside the sea gate. There, I removed the thing they had used to abuse this woman and made sure she got to see they would never be able to do this thing again. Now they were the ones screaming, and she was the one laughing. During the racket, some of the villagers began gathering to watch. I beat the men repeatedly across every part of their bodies, and each blow was met by cheers from the crowd. The noise reached its peak as I squeezed the life out of their throats. That's when I got the idea. I knew no one was to get away with something like this again. The truth is that no one dares do anything wrong when they know the consequences are dire.” Dorkas looks back up at Thoke. “At the same time, people seem to enjoy watching fighting and killing. It's human nature. It's in our blood.”
Thoke looks at Dorkas closely. He can see the pain in his eyes, something he realizes was always there. There's a deep conflict within him that Thoke will never understand. Dorkas's methods are extreme but seemingly effective.
“I agree that a punishment is the right action, but I still disagree with your way of delivering it,” Thoke says, now in a lighter tone. “I'm not going to tell you how to run your village, however, but I won't take part either.” Thoke forces a s
mile and pats Dorkas on the shoulder.
It has grown silent by the pit, and it seems the fight has ended in someone’s death.
“Come now, Thoke. Let's sit down by the fire.” Dorkas forces a similar smile. He rests an arm on Thoke’s shoulder, and together they sit down in the closest circle.
The fire still burns high as one man sits tending it at all times.
“Remember the time we put rotten fish inside Grym’s hut?” Dorkas says suddenly before breaking into laughter, causing Thoke to do the same.
“Yes I do.” Thoke stops to laugh again. “Between the skins in the walls.”
“He couldn't figure it out for days!” Dorkas shakes his head, laughing. “Well, he always was a smelly one.”
They keep chuckling and laughing. Great memories are rare to speak of these days, but once there were many of them.
“He found out the day before I fell through the frozen stream, I think,” Thoke says. “I was eight and you were eleven as far as I remember.”
“Sure was,” Dorkas answers. The laughter dies out, but there's still positivity in the air.
“It was early spring and the snow had begun melting some,” Thoke begins telling. “That day was cold, though, and we were trying to cross what looked like a narrow gorge inside the forest. Suddenly, the thick snow disappeared under me and everything became black and cold. I could hear the sound of the stream engulfing me. Then you jumped in.” There's a moment of silence before Thoke continues. “You had grown a lot that winter and were much taller than me. The water couldn't drag you under, and before I knew it we were back on land. We both ran wet and cold back to camp. We could have both drowned there and then, but we got home to Mother, who wrapped us in warm furs. I still remember how great the fire felt that night. In some ways, it was the best and worst day of my life up to that point.”
“You would have done the same for me,” Dorkas says, smiling. “Those kinds of things could have happened every day to us back then. We never did as we were told but carved our own path. Thorkar was always furious when we came back, having been away all day.”
They both sit there smiling for a while, thinking of how carefree and fun life was then. When no matter what happened, they were always somewhat safe.
“I guess I owe you a fresh story,” Dorkas says. “I just don't know where to begin.”
“We have time this night. Tell it all,” Thoke says, having waited for this with anticipation.
“Might as well begin right at the day we were separated, but after I want to hear what you've been up to as well, old friend.”
“Agreed.” Thoke smiles wide.
Some villagers overhear their conversation and sit down next to them. More and more gather as Dorkas gets ready to begin his story. They are all intrigued to hear how their chief managed to build this great village.
Dorkas regards his people for a while, waiting for them to gather around. Then he'll be ready to tell everything that’s happened since the day it all changed.
CHAPTER 18
The storm surrounds the hunters, making Dorkas unable to see anything but snow. He holds his arm in front of his face to shield it from the stinging ice. Suddenly, a strong flash of light blinds him, and he falls backwards.
He wakes on his back, but when he tries to rise, he realizes he's tied down. It appears he's inside some cave of sorts. Lights shine on the walls, like stars of red, green, and white. The smell is near indescribable. It reminds him of some strange burned odor. He finds he can move his head, but that's all.
All the hunters are in there and are tied up. For some reason they're all naked. Thorkar lies to Dorkas's left while Skarn is on his right. Both appears to be sleeping. He struggles to see if their chests are moving up and down but in the end assumes that they are indeed breathing.
Thoke lies opposite him, Dorkas judges, though he cannot see his face. Grym and Helok lie on each side of him. They also appear to be sleeping. Dorkas tries to stretch his neck as far as possible, but he cannot see Thoke's eyes no matter how hard he tries.
Some beings enter the room, looking strange as anything. One of them notices him and comes toward him. It seems human enough but is covered in gray shiny skins. He cannot see a face, as it's covered behind a dark hood of sorts.
The being begins pressing his fingers against some kind of plate that's attached to whatever Dorkas's lying on. Some fluid begins flowing out of a long bent stick which is attached to his arm. The being appears more and more stressed as he begins flailing his arms, trying to stop the fluid from coming out.
Two others come running into the room. Thoke has begun to move and the fluid seems to be flowing over there as well. A high and piercing noise fills the room. Dorkas tries to cover his ears, but is unable to move his arms even the slightest bit.
Suddenly, Thoke tears loose and sits up. One of the beings tries to hold him down, but Thoke violently pushes it to the side. Now the other two rush over toward him.
Thoke has somehow found a sharp, smooth, dagger-like rock. He swings the dagger at the beings, and chaos ensues as fluid squirts everywhere. They bump into Thorkar and Grym as they fight, causing the platforms they lie on to tumble over. In their fight, they eventually disappear from sight. Dorkas tries to twist out of his confines but is still unable.
Suddenly, Thoke stands over him and begins untying his ropes. The cave begins to fill up with fluid, smoke, and an increasingly high-pitched noise. Dorkas gets to his feet and sees the three beings lying motionless on the floor.
With a massive thunderous sound, the cave splits in half, sending pieces flying everywhere. Dorkas feels the ground disappearing underneath him, and he finds himself falling through the air, the wind spinning him.
He hits something and gets pushed to the side. He sees the others falling not far from him. The snow underneath comes closer and fast. Skarn and Thoke hits the ground somewhere in the distance. Quickly, the snow engulfs them and soon everything becomes white before turning pitch black.
Dorkas wakes, not being able to breathe. Moving is though. It feels like he's stuck. Panic spreads across his body as he tries to thrash around as much as he can. I've got to relax. This gets me nowhere, he thinks.
While he begins to dig, a thought strikes him. What's up and what's down? He might be digging himself further down into trouble. He spits to see which direction it falls. It seems he hasn't been going up nor down but has dug horizontally into nowhere.
Finally, he sees sunshine come through the snow. With a kick, he pounces out of his confinement. At last he's free! The sun blinds him for a bit. His head begins to fill with questions. How long was I down there? The beings … who were they?
After a while, his eyes adjust to the light, and he realizes this area is completely unknown to him. Dorkas stands up as naked as he was at the day of his birth. Luckily, he can't see anyone around. Even though he's not exactly ashamed of his body, it would still be quite embarrassing if someone were to walk up on him out here. He can see a high hilltop not far away. If he goes there he might figure out where he is.
Dorkas begins wading deep into the snow. Strangely, he doesn't feel cold at all, only lightly uncomfortable. Usually this would have been near unbearable. Anyway, he needs to get back to camp. If the others are alive, they would have gone there.
Halfway up the hill, he finds two sets of fresh footprints. One seems to be a day or two fresher than the other. He decides to follow the tracks. At least they'll lead to people, and he might borrow him some clothes.
After following the tracks for a while, he spots their camp in the distance. Running into the camp, he slows down almost in the center when he realizes no one's there.
The snow is littered with footprints, and all of the gear remains unmoved, so the storm couldn't have blown this way.
He finds some furs inside his hut and puts them on. Could they have left me here? He thinks. In the outskirts of the camp, he finds some footprints that lead outside. They're made by two different men, Dorkas notes,
so he decides to follow the freshest one.
After having wandered for a while, he comes to the end of the tracks. Up on a snow-covered plain, the footprints disappear into thin air, as if the person who made them just dissolved right there.
Here realizes there's not much use walking aimlessly around, so he wanders back to the camp. Still, there's hope someone else finds their way there.
Dorkas stays at the camp for several days, but no one has returned. It's getting increasingly difficult to find food. Up until now, he's gotten by with the food left behind in the camp. The days pass like all the others, without a sound from anyone.
He's sitting by the campfire, shielded from the darkness. Frustrated by the low flames, he blows on the embers gently, when a thin, bald man throws himself over him. They tumble around for a bit, but Dorkas quickly gets the upper hand and gets on top. Two fast taps of his fist to the man’s skull is all it takes for him to slip into unconsciousness.
Dorkas lays the man on his side and waits for him to wake up again. A while later, the man begins to stir.
“Why did you attack me?” Dorkas asks, puffing himself up.
The man looks frightened. He wipes away blood from under his nose with the back of his hand. Dorkas makes a fist and holds it up against him. The man throws his hands in front of his face and falls backwards in sheer terror.
“I'm just hungry is all!” The man is nearly crying. “I got separated from my tribe and have been alone for a long time now. This camp looked abandoned, so I thought there might be some scraps of food left here. When I saw you, I figured it was either you or me.” He trembles with each word. Dorkas can't decide if it's because of fear, hunger, or perhaps both.
“You could have just asked.” Dorkas stretches for a piece of meat and throws it on the ground in front of the man. “I'm alone here too. You haven't eaten in a while I see.”