by Madenia
A long, long, long time ago in a place not so far away….
(Majestic classical like music with an undertone of primitive drums)
A young girl gazed longingly at the world beyond the camp. Somewhere out there lies more excitement and adventure than these short funny looking people can even imagine. She sighed and put away her sling.
“Ayla!” A guttural sound made her turn to her mother, Iza. The woman motioned, “I need some fresh herbs and make sure you get something that cures Botchi this time.”
“I’ll try,” she motioned back, “but at this late in the season there’s not much of a choice.” In a few long strides, she scooped up her basket and digging stick and set off into the forest. Rose hips, chamomile, “great for a Celestial Seasonings tea bag, but not for Botchi,” she muttered and went on.
Suddenly, a whimpering noise caught her attention. Curious, she parted the leaves of a cluster of brush and smiled. There lay the cutest cave lion cub curled up and, “oh you’re hurt!” Blood streaked across his head and stained the ground beneath. Quickly, she gathered him up amid his protesting growls. He was too weak to protest. Gathering her treasure, she went back to the cave.
Brun was outside and scowling and at her bundle. “You can’t bring that in the cave.”
“Either he comes or we both go!” She exclaimed. The healing side of her balked at leaving an innocent and helpless creature to die.
“Then you both can go to Hades!” Broud shouted and cuffed the insolent woman. “I curse you with death!”
“Give it up,” Ayla goaded. “We all know you can still see me, you’re just afraid of a woman.”
“Now Ayla,” Brun coaxed, “Broud has cursed you. You have to stop speaking to us and being mean to him. It’s time for you to go.”
Broud gloated as the woman crested the ridge and was out of sight. “Now we shall test my secret weapon.”
Brun raised an eyebrow, “what in the world could you make with sticks and stones?”
“It’s called a light saber, and I can kill the Others with it, including that insolent woman. She’ll lead us to them and then they die out instead of us.”
“A not heavy saver?” Brun asked confused by his son’s gestures.
“A L-I-G-H-T S-A-B-E-R!” He gestured impatiently, “like a sword only made of light.”
Brun shrugged already bored. “I don’t think your plan will work. Even if you killed all the others, we’re still not equipped to survive past the ice age. Look at these thick bones and semi-mobile arms! Besides, I’d rather we didn’t see the day of women’s lib.
Broud sneered at the man who had raised him. “You will see the power of the force, and you will believe.”
She traveled north for a long time, looking for people like herself. “Iza said they lived in this area. But what would she know, she’s never been here!” Frustration and hunger ate at her while the endless wind and loess assaulted her senses. Suddenly, a figure on horseback came galloping toward her. Startled at the strange apparition, she hid behind a rock.
“I’m Lumio Waterwalker, here to rescue you princess Ayla!” The man jumped down and gestured for her to come with him.
“Who says I need rescuing?” Ayla demanded.
“The Flatheads are conspiring to take over the Pleistocene era. And you’re a prime target. Let’s go before they get their light sabers and come after us!”
“Life Savers? Why should we be afraid of candy?”
“LIGHT SABERS!” he shouted in impatience.
Thinking this man may need a healer for his head, she reluctantly went with him, bundling the cub in a fold of her cloak. A few miles away, they stopped the horse and Lumio let out a long whistle. Suddenly, a happy yelping errupted as a very large wolf emerged from cover. Ayla’s eyes widened when she saw another man follow the Wolf.
“Ayla, meet Jon Solo,” Lumio stated. The man winked slyly at her giving her a roguish impression that set her heart fluttering. He quickly mounted his own horse and they set off toward the east.
While admiring Jon’s handsome shoulders and wild hair, she noticed him stiffen suddenly. Glancing at Lumio, she noticed he was tense also. Wolf’s ears were pricked up and listening.
“Flathead bogies on our tail,” Jon said flatly.
“I saw them.” Quickly, Lumio pulled out a large ugly tube like thing. From somewhere else he produced a root. A potato, to be exact.
The flatheads rushed on them suddenly; grunting and voicing strange war like sounds. Lumio and Jon were ready. Quickly loading their launchers, they fired.
Thunk! Thunk! The potatoes flew and hit the first man in the chest. He gasped hard and fell to his knees, out of commission for awhile. In retaliation, large rocks were thrown at them.
“Great, you give them vegetables and they give you rocks!” Ayla retorted angrily. “Some rescue. Follow me, cowboys!” Her hand was already emerging from a fold and came out swinging.
Thunk! Thunk! This time small stones hit the flatheads in a more effective manner. Having had enough of rocks and vegetables battering them, the men stopped their pursuit as the odd trio galloped away.
When they were at a safe distance, Lumio grinned at her. “That was great! We showed them.”
“It was too easy,” Ayla mused. “They let us get away.”
“Too easy?” Jon exclaimed, rubbing a huge bruise on his forehead. “That wasn’t easy, sister. Besides, why would the let us get away?”
Triumphantly Ayla revealed her lion bundle and turned him belly up to them. “Because this baby has the recipe for their sacred root juice tattooed to his belly. They don’t want any of the Other’s to use it.”
“Great,” Jon muttered. “We’re protecting Sacred Root Beer.”
“Gold leader to Ochre Red leader, do you copy?”
“Quit playing around Danug. Of course I copy, you’re right behind the tree. Now be quiet and wait for my signal.” Talut looked at the son of his hearth in frustration. Their team’s mission was to engage the flatheads in battle while Ayla and the other team got the sacred root. Talut raised his arm and bellowed, “charge!”
Across the way, Ayla, Lumio, Ranec and some others heard the roar. “That must be the signal,” Ranec said.
What would he know about ‘the signal?’ Ayla thought to herself. But followed as they stealthily made their way through the forest. The place wasn’t far, and she quickly took her digging stick and produced a few good size roots. Just as she was stuffing them in her pouch, a voice stopped her.
“Ayla!” Followed by the sounds of moving arms of speaking. She didn’t turn around and ignored what he was saying. Broud was livid with rage. How dare that insolent woman return and steal their sacred root!
“Um, Ayla, there’s a funny looking short guy that looks like he’d like to kill you over there,” Lumio stated flatly.
She sighed in resignation and turned to Broud who now ignited his light saber. “What’s that?”
He grinned evilly at her. “This is the downfall of the Others. With this we will hunt you all down and destroy your race. It’s called a light saber.”
The men looked at him in horror. This was it; this was the end for them. They had failed in their mission and failed their people. And most of all, they wouldn’t be able to get the ultimate buzz from the sacred root beer.
Ayla began laughing hysterically. “How…do…you…expect…to…kill…us?” She gasped in between guffaws.
He shot her a scathing look. “By swinging it at you and cutting you down!” He roared.
Her laughter doubled, and the men looked at her in consternation. “Do you think the shock made her lose her mind?” Ranec mused.
“No, I’m still sane,” she chortled. “It’s just, he can’t!” A torrent of laughter followed before she could find breath again. “His arms and shoulders don’t have free range of movement. Just look at his physiology, he’s made for strength, not sword wielding.”
Broud’s expression turned to shock. Looking down at himself, he attempted to swing his arms around. “Zot!” He cried. “It wasn’t enough for the insolent Mother to make us funny looking with a big useless brain, but to deprive us of free range of movement too. But no matter, I’ll spear you with the sword instead.”
Having had enough of him, Ayla rolled her eyes and grabbed her sling. Swinging it quickly, a thunk! Thunk! Sounded. Broud lay with a huge gash in his head, the saber lying useless beside him.
“Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. It’s David and Goliath,” Lumio said with awe.
“Who?”
“Nevermind.”
The team turned away to return to camp, mission successful. Suddenly, there was a scuffle from behind them. Whirling around, Ayla’s eyes widened in shock and pleasure. Apparently Broud wasn’t all done in, he had gotten up and was about to spring on her with his dirk. Jon Solo had leapt to the rescue, subduing the flathead.
“Ayla,” Broud gasped out. “Come with me and join the flatheads again.”
“Never! I’ll never come back,” she hissed.
“You underestimate the power of the Creb. Come, and we can rule together as leader and insolent woman. Mog-ur taught you many things, but he didn’t tell you about Durc. You do want to see your son again?” He had her full attention. “But Mog-ur didn’t tell you the truth. Ayla, I am his father. I’m the father of your child.”
“No! It can’t be!” She protested strangely close to tears.
“Search your thoughts Ayla, you know it be true!”
Her thoughts were not good company at that moment. Turning, she fled away from the ugly bleeding Broud and headed back to camp.
Jon Solo jumped on his steed and raced after her. “Ayla! You’re coming with me. We need to rendezvous with the others at the end of the river.” Wolf trotted obediently along, tongue lolling out.
She turned to him and nodded. “But first we must go somewhere. I promised to go to the Sharmudoi land.”
“The Sharmudoi? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
“Don’t worry Jon, I know what I’m doing. It’s a promise to an old friend.” She thought of Mamut and the little training he had been able to give her. He had made her promise to visit the Sharmudoi and seek out Shamud.
“Make it so,” Jon replied tugging his tunic self-consciously, “engage.”
Ayla rolled her eyes. “Wrong science fiction story.”
**
Their trip went smoothly until Jon’s horse cut his hoof. Ayla bent down and looked from the hoof to a book and back again. “Darn! I’ll never find the right page.”
“What are you looking for?” Jon asked in amusement.
“Somewhere in this book the horses feet are raw and bleeding and it tells what to put on them. I just can’t find it!”
Jon looked over her shoulder and smiled. “I see the problem, you’re reading ‘The Valley of Horses.” He pulled a large hardcover book from his pack. “This is what you want, ‘Plains of Passage.’ I believe it’s near the last part of the book.”
Ayla looked dubious but thumbed through it. “You’re right!” She said enthusiastically, “now why didn’t I think of that?” She proceeded to make the poultice from the very detailed instructions of flora and fauna and their usefulness. Ayla also noticed a lot of graphic details of male/female relationships but skimmed over them. After completing the poultice and tying a makeshift bag around the hoof to keep it in place, she sat back and rubbed her stinging hands. Some of the herbs had been potent to the naked skin. Jon drew her hands in his and started rubbing them gently.
“Don’t do that!” Ayla protested and jerked away.
“Easy your worship,” he said, “only trying to be nice.”
“Don’t call me that. I’m not a Mamut.”
“Sure,” he said gently.
“You cro-magnum men can make things so difficult sometimes,” she said accusingly.
“We do, we really do. But we also make things more pleasurable too. Come on, admit it. Sometimes you like me.”
“Sometimes,” she admitted truthfully, “when you’re not acting like a chauvinistic cro-magnum.”
“Chauvinistic cro-magnum?” He laughed and reached for her hands and continued massaging.
“Stop it,” she protested again.
“Stop what?” He asked huskily.
“Stop it, my hands are dirty.” She was getting more flustered by the minute. Broud had never touched her like this.
“My hands are dirty too. In fact it’s not just our hands, we haven’t had a decent bath in weeks. What are you afraid of?”
“Afraid?” She scoffed at him.
“Then why are you trembling?” He asked, his eyes turning a liquid blue. “I think you like me because I’m a chauvinistic cro-magnum. I think you haven’t had enough of us in your life.”
Too true, she thought silently but said, “I happen to like nice men.”
He leaned closer and whispered, “I’m nice men.” Feeling a bit flushed, she allowed herself to be pulled into his arms. This kiss was like sunshine on a cold day.
Nice men can do nice things, she thought to herself. Eat your heart out Harrison Ford.
Suddenly, Wolf jumped up between them, breaking the intimacy. Jon cursed the interruption while Ayla saw it as divine intervention.
Scruffy headed cro-magnum chauvinistic pig indeed! She thought to herself, feeling taken advantage of. What will he do next? Grab my hair and drag me back to his cave?
Jon looked slyly at the blonde woman. First base.