From the Scrolls of the Flaming Sword:

SONS OF TUBAL-CAIN

by

Steve Losee

150 St. Mary’s Street

Blossburg, PA 16912

570-662-7515 ext. 2150 days

sandel@epix.net

3,612 words

 

"Know, my son, that the great Flood brought Great and Many changes to the earth...

in man...

in all beasts...

even the trees, flowers and herbs --

Great...and Many...Changes."

Unrecorded words of Shem.

1

Sunset was the time of day Shahna loved best. She would swim, alone, in the River Tigris, then stretch out on her favorite rock and watch the sunset.

Sunset and sunrise were the day’s quietest moments. They were also the times when, if she concentrated and stared at the horizon, close -- but not too close -- to the setting sun, she could actually see the swirling of the sky-waters.

She shook her head, enjoying the weight of her long, dark hair, then frowned again.

Events and men had turned against Shahna, but her new uneasiness came from something else. Though things were outwardly normal at the river, there was a sense of disturbance...in her heart, and in the very air.

So instead of relaxing and enjoying the rare moment, she listened intently, she sensed...she felt.Finally the disturbance became a physical sound, a rustling on the other side of the undergrowth several cubits to her right.

The litany she’d learned as a child flashed in her mind:

"The things that move on the earth:

Friends, strangers, enemies;

Burden-beasts, field-beasts, predators.

To learn them is to live on."

Quickly, silently she stepped over to the bushes and peered through.

At first she saw nothing, but she knew to keep her eyes moving, concentrating on where she had just looked.

There! A head turning. Some kind of field-beast...

Her eyes focused as the beast turned its head in her direction. Not a field-beast; but a predator.

It was a young thunder-lizard...the most fallen of beasts, according to some elders. This one was less than three cubits tall, but it was deadly enough already. These beasts were deadly when they hatched.

She kept herself rigidly still, knowing that it would not see her unless she moved.

Its useless front legs dangling, it turned its massive head again. The powerful hind legs were tensed, ready to spring after prey.

Then Shahna heard a second noise: a human voice, moaning. Her eyes went to the ground at the thunder-lizard’s feet, and saw an unconscious man, starting to move his hand.

"No, don’t move!" she thought at him. In a moment he would attract the beast’s attention. She took a deep breath, reached her thoughts into herself and touched her nephesh. With it, she searched for something to distract the thunder-lizard. There! A sleeping boar. Her nephesh pinched it, and she felt regret for its life.

The boar squealed, jumped and ran, attracting the lizard, which bounded after it.

Shahna knew she only had a few minutes before the boar was devoured and the lizard would be hunting again.

She quickly parted the bushes and ran to the prone form. He was up on one elbow now, holding his forehead with the other hand.

"Quickly!" she whispered, reaching for him. ""Come! Quickly!"

He looked at her, his dark eyes fighting to focus as he shook his dark hair back. "Wh...what...?"

"Thunder-lizard! We must get away! Quickly!"

He rolled to his hands and knees, shook his head, and tried to rise. "I...I’ve killed a thunder-liz..." His hand slipped and he scraped his shoulder and the side of his face on the ground.

Shahna reached under his arms and hauled him up. "No man kills one all by himself," she commented, "especially when he can’t even stand up!"

Thus they stumbled awkwardly to the clearing where the pointed wood-house stood against the hill. The man smiled. "I built a...a..." he said, and passed out.

He collapsed, and the sudden dead weight made her fall as well. She quickly scrambled back to her feet and glared at him disgustedly. "Men!"

(Like what you read?  Care tomeet the other characters, and see what happens?  The answers to all of that and more are yours for a lonesome buck.  Send it via PayPal or through the mail.  As soon as I have the buck and your email address, you'll have the story!  I'm looking forward to hearing from you/)