Finding Solace (Ancient Origins Book 2) Page 5

  The villagers raised their swords high. Their numbers were less, but the hybrids’ loss was devastating. Their initial attack was a huge boon in Doom’s people’s favor. The remaining children stood as ready, as strong. Menace raced to Rex, the tiny T-rex had a sword in his claw and was wildly swinging. Menace took the weapon.

  “You fool beast, you’ll slice your nose off, or someone else’s,” Menace said. The T-rex stuck his tongue out at him. Luke snickered and draped an arm around his pet.

  “He’s just trying to be helpful,” Luke said.

  “Give him a wooden sword left from Blue or Cole,” Kiki said.

  Luke shrugged and stuck a wooden sword into the small T-rex claw. The dinosaur swung the fake blade and whacked himself on the nose, repeatedly. Luke bowed his face into his hand while Kiki tried to pry the wooden weapon from Rex’s claw.

  “Listen up,” Doom yelled. “Don’t take this lull as safety. The hybrids are out there. Groups of five. Arm your pockets and belts with weapons. Remember where the bombs are, there are many left scattered around.”

  With only a few young children remaining, Doom and Menace gathered them together and locked them in a main room where they had fresh water, food, and warm bedding. The food was only in case of an emergency. Clarity gave each youngster a drink of a potion she created, hopeful the adults would be back before it wore off. The children slept. They didn’t want a repeat of the day prior. The only children to head out with the adults were Kiki and Luke. Both the child and teen had their own special back-up.

  A massive hyena walked by Kiki’s side along with a tiny T-rex, the large mutt Bubble-gum and the bulwark Muffin. Both children were armed and dangerous. Menace set out ahead. They were hunting hybrids. It was time only one thinking species walked the Earth. It would be human. There was a talk of another mountain where the hybrids were breeding. The village’s startling and disturbing revelation was the female hybrids waited for human eggs to impregnate them. Once eaten, human brains gave them ideas, and their victim’s stem cell memories.

  The mountain was large and the caverns well hidden. Much of the interior was in darkness. Creeping silently, Menace roamed the halls. He held a glowing rock; the warmth of his hand made the object shine. The stone walls dripped in areas. The kerplunk of droplets hit the ground, but his feet made no sound. Menace could hear the soft whistling of a hybrid. She was huge when she faced him in a large lit cavern. Eight feet high, broad, muscular, wearing a loincloth around her hips. Her six teats were visible. A hybrid was capable of a multi-birth. Menace knew if a female was born she would be killed unless she possessed a killer instinct with zero empathy. The Neandersauri female was a baby maker of evil filth.

  The hybrid screamed at him as he approached, he set his rock down and gripped his sword in two hands. Menace could smell her rage. How dare a simple human come near her greatness? She was queen hybrid. About to be dethroned. She swung a claw in his direction, and he dodged with ease. The blade of his sword struck up high into her chest, through her hard flesh out her back. The hybrid gasped and clawed at her chest when Menace pulled the blade back, her face a flurry of surprise. Humans shouldn’t be able to kill a hybrid. Menace grinned evilly.

  “Payback’s a bitch, bitch.”

  Motion from within her body began and Menace could see the inner Neanderthal trying to rip through her host. The guts ripped open and as with birth the body came forward covered in slimy blood. The female hybrid dropped to the ground dead. The Neanderthal hissed at him, but she remained attached to the dead Neandersauri with three long tubes. Two were for discharge, the other a feeding tube. Menace cut the cord and ran it through.

  Doom raced into the cavern and stopped in his tracks. “That is disgusting.” Clarity was behind him, a hand to her mouth.

  “Four to go,” Menace said and clapped Doom on the back.

  There was talk of five hybrid females. All lacked sympathy and were chosen to live and carry on breeding. They split up and continued to search. It was imperative any breeding females were dispatched before the hybrids could mate and create more beasts. The young grew to adult size within a year.

  Menace killed another female. The female’s lack of skill to protect themselves made them especially vulnerable. The hybrids counted on their size and the feeble weapons humans made to keep their reign of terror alive. Menace ran the beast through the belly making certain to kill the Neanderthal within. It became apparent the females hadn’t been warned of an assault. None knew of the human’s weapons and skill. The hybrids were lazy from being pampered and spoiled with food and no hunting. Waited on since birth they were unaware of their fate. All that was required of them was to give birth. Menace was surprised male hybrids weren’t sent to guard them but wondered if any had thought to, or if too many had been killed. Did they protect their own? Did they have any idea they should?

  Covered in hybrid blood, tired from the kill, tired from his overwhelming emotions, Menace stumbled to the high cave opening and gazed about. Solace was his only thought. He was elevated up the mountainous hill with a bird’s eye view. Below the fighting was strong. Kiki sent an arrow flying felling a velociraptor near Luke. The dinosaurs weren’t helping the Neandersauri, they wanted fresh meat. Muffin grabbed the back of a hybrid’s neck and crushed it, tossing it into the air. Heath, a human from a different earth world than Solace swung his sword. Controlled anarchy was what Menace was thinking.

  He shook himself trying to concentrate on the task at hand, there were more hybrid females to kill. Screams came from within the cave. The hybrid number was diminished but their fight was strong. Menace’s was stronger.

  “Hear me,” Menace bellowed. His fists were balled, his arms raised, his sword held high. Passion exploded from within. His loss was killing him. “I will exterminate you all to reclaim what’s mine. You will fall fast at my hand. You will fall sooner than you think. You will pay for what you did to my people, you damned dirty hybrids.”

  Menace wanted the hybrids dead. He had to figure out a way to find Solace but couldn’t until the war was at an end. He was ready to take them all on, today, this second, alone though he knew he was not. He shook with his fury. Two hybrids attacked from behind and, surprised, Menace was knocked from the cliff opening with a hybrid. Arms pin wheeling, clinging to his sword, the ground and death was fast approaching. Menace howled his fury, Solace was his. To die from a fall wasn’t his destiny it couldn’t be. He was supposed to battle. Doom needed him. He should have been more cautious.

  Solace.

  “My mate, aliens. Take me to my mate,” he bellowed. “I can’t end like this after everything I’ve been through.” The ground was only feet away. “She needs me.”

  The ground shuddered and split as both man and hybrid fell into a sinkhole. They were soon separated. Menace slipped along the sides of the hole which became a tunnel of frozen walls. The rapid descent became worse until he was suddenly airborne and free from the shaft. Menace fell like a stone into a snowdrift.

  The bitter cold assaulted him. He stood shaking off the snow he could. Wearing only hide pants and boots, no shirt, he was soon shivering. Everywhere he gazed was a fluffy thickness. The sky above was what his friends described as drab gray. He was alone. Normally when the snow was this high he and the other villagers became dormant and hibernated for at least six weeks, it was a necessity to their survival. Menace was wide-awake.

  What the hell?

  In a pouch he possessed matches and tinder but there was no wood to start a fire and warm his increasingly freezing body. Saved from one death to be thrown into another. The snow was almost to his thighs. He had asked to be taken to Solace. If she was here she needed him. Arms wrapped around his chest he surged forward picturing her cold and alone. The image of her suffering drove him forward. His eyelashes became clogged with snowflakes. The air he breathed was different than on his planet as though too much too fast slipped into his lungs. The puffs he exhaled haloed his face. He trudged on. Amidst the misty haze o
f flakes was a spiral out of the ordinary flittering toward the sky.

  Smoke.

  New determination fired his steps. The fluff puffed as his knees rose to spray his belly. Exertion kept the freezing at bay but his stomach and chest grew bright from cold. His growing labored huffs sent spittle flying to freeze mid-air. Distant mounds gave birth to massive trees, trees bigger than anything Menace had encountered. The spirals of waving life reached his nostrils and he consumed warm air. The scent of meat carried. Mammoth.

  Menace kicked a trail around the tree, his frustration was increasing. An indentation caught his attention. A door. Using his shoulder he shoved hard until the wood began to give. The warmth from beyond was a driving pull. Harder he strained at a massive wooden structure at least a foot thick. When the door flew open Menace had his sword drawn and fended off an arrow aimed in his direction.

  “I thought you were an animal.” A strong voice called out. “The night is not fit for man or beast. Come in and close the door.”

  A man stood, bow in hand. He lowered the bow maintaining close watch on the stranger. Menace understood a few of his words but not all—enough to know he was in no danger, he closed the heavy door. Menace sheathed his weapon and took in his surroundings. The colossal tree had been hollowed out. Massive tree limbs were high enough to use as tunnels and there were many. Though frozen outside huge leaves bloomed indoors. The housing was warm, many of the people were clad in simple leathers or furs.

  “I mean no harm,” Menace said. “I am in search of my mate, my female, a woman.”

  The man holding the bow spoke. “I am sorry, there is no other. These are all my people.”

  Again Menace understood only a few words, but he understood Solace wasn’t among them. Disappointment settled like a stone in his belly. A woman crept forward with a warm fur hide. He draped it over his shoulders. Next came a bowl of steaming broth.

  “Come and sit by the fire.”

  The man gestured as he spoke and Menace hungered for the warmth of the flames. Everyone in the tree house was silent as he moved. A small child whispered to her mother but was hushed.

  “But mother,” was whispered. “He wears faces on his body. Is he one man or many?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I am one man with the burden of many,” Menace responded.

  Puzzled the child cocked her head. Menace wondered if she understood. Menace went to sit on an object draped in furs. Another woman rushed forward with a hide for him to place under him, he remembered he was covered in blood. The snow had cleaned his body but not his hide pants. The meaty flavored broth he sipped was delicious. The others gathered closer. From similar openings many more entered. The tree was large enough to support many families in the low rounded trunk that stretched to higher levels. The faces of the young were fascinating. These people kept their own offspring.

  “Do dinosaurs walk this planet?” Menace asked.

  “I don’t know what you mean.” The arrow man sat across from him. “I am named Dagger.”

  The words were similar yet different. Menace caught only a few here and there, but enough to piece everything together.

  He pointed to his chest. “Menace.”

  “A warrior’s name.”

  “Yes.”

  “Which humanoid do you war with?”

  “No humans. Hybrid dinosaurs that kill my people. Do you have other humans?”

  “Yes.”

  “Like you?”

  Dagger cocked his head. “Nine.”

  “You have nine other types of humans?”

  Dagger shook his head. “Trois.” Menace was confused until Dagger held up three fingers. “Trois, human types.”

  It occurred to Menace trois meant three to this man. He wondered if nine meant no. He sipped the broth and was given a cup of water. The water was warm and sweet. Within the treehouse were higher sections with balconies. There were a few people draped over the banister watching.

  Dagger pointed to Menace’s tattoos. “Your people?”

  Menace nodded. Dagger removed his shirt and startled Menace. His body was well muscled and well proportioned. There were odd markings on his body that Menace didn’t understand. Not tattoos of specific things as were Menace’s, Dagger’s were different, small connecting patches across his shoulder blades flowing together as one.

  Others were bare-chested and all sported the same markings. Soon the others were grinning. It was simple well-meaning banter to show off differences. Menace was handed a huge chunk of meat dripping with juices. One bite and he knew it was pure mammoth, the taste varied from the mastodon mammoth hybrid his people hunted. Both meats were delicious, but this was a bit juicier.

  As he gazed at the people around him he had the odd sensation he was seeing all men. It wasn’t long before his intuitive nature came forth and he guessed what he was seeing. People of color had come through the sinkholes to Menace’s world. People of all colors were fascinating to the villagers. Gazing at their grins Menace knew he had yet to discover deeper secrets of these first peoples who carried on their flesh everyone, every human color to exist in their future. He wondered why he was sent here. Where was Solace?

  Chapter Five

  The bright white of the snow hit them covering the plane’s vision as they entered another world. Joe battled the horrific storm but Solace could see the frown lines increasing on his furrowed brow. Heavy flakes splattered the windows then turned to hail which bounced with a ping. The wind gusting tossed their plane up then down. It was neither daylight nor darkness they witnessed when everything was a pure white nothing.

  “I can’t see shit,” Joe bellowed.

  “Look, that might be land,” Bastian said pointing.

  “Can’t tell how deep the snow is,” Lochlan yelled.

  “Doesn’t matter, the stretch is open and I have to bring the plane down, now,” Joe yelled. “The wings are icing. One temperature extreme to another is a killer.”

  Solace watched as the ice began to form on the window in front of her. Snowflakes of dread collected making the clear glass frost before her eyes. Below a solitary flat area was approaching. If it was a covered lake they would be drowned unless frozen solid. Solace’s heart hammered. Her teeth rattled with the plane. The wheels made contact, bounced, and slipped as the plane teetered sideways. A wing hit the snow and sent the fluffy white powder flying. Lochlan jumped from his seat to race to the other side of the plane to throw his weight as a counter. The wheels lifted for a moment then settled down with a bounce and teetered. Lochlan raced to the left. The plane jumped and he toppled over for a moment before regaining his footing. He stood then, in the isle, arms outstretched waiting to see if and where he would need to be next.

  “Damn it, we’re skidding,” Joe called.

  “Down,” Solace shouted.

  Lochlan was thrown into her lap as the plane crashed through a mountain of snow obscuring all vision. The plane came to a complete stop while the children cried out. They were in darkness. A flashlight came on followed by another. Glow sticks came next.

  “What happened to the lights?” Tain asked. “They always came back on before, after we left the sinkholes.”

  “Maybe the landing did it,” Bastian said.

  “I don’t know,” Joe said.

  “Is everyone all right?” Solace shouted. She righted Lochlan who fell into the seat beside her.

  Nods from different directions confirmed there were no casualties. Faces looked eerie in the strained glow.

  “We’re going to have to keep watch. The snow’s so high we could be buried,” Bastian said as he looked through a back window. “We don’t want to asphyxiate.”

  “It’s not really falling, it’s more blowing than anything,” Joe said as he peered forward.

  “Hopefully the snow will be an insulator, it’s going to get cold, fast,” Solace said. She shivered. None of them was wearing the proper clothes for winter weather.

  “Break out the blankets and fu
rs. Solace is right, it’s going to be a cold one.” Joe went to his son and settled a few Hot Pockets around him. He did the same with everyone else.

  “Snow might be a good sign,” Solace said.

  “It might take more gas than we have to get this puppy off a runway of deep snow.”

  Joe sounded tired. He pulled his son into his arms. Em and Nina crept up to Solace who encouraged them and the twins close. Nick hadn’t spoken. Solace was used to his silence. The teen didn’t speak often or well. His perfected scowl was centered on the window to his right. Solace could see he still hated the world, all worlds it would seem. She placed a blanket near him, it was his choice if he wanted to use it or not. The scantily clad teen glared at her but shivered as he pulled her offering over his body. Solace hoped the plane held more furs. In this cold they would all need extra warmth.

  “Darned thing,” Blue grumpily said. He reached down, yanked a heated pad from his ass, and placed it on his tummy.

  “I’m hungry, Daddy,” Joey said.

  “We’ll break out some provisions in a few hours. Right now we need to rest.”

  “But we just woke up.”

  “Daddy’s feeling a little tired.”

  Everyone settled. Solace was worn-out as well. Terror took a lot of energy. Joe pulled his son closer. The combination of body heat, warmers, and blankets coupled with the panic of the flight soon had everyone asleep.

  ****

  “Where do you think we are?” Solace asked.

  Flickers of sunlight shone through the windows in the morning light. The children remained huddled together. There was snow as far as the eye could see. Solace didn’t think there would be any dinosaurs in this mess. Though she could be wrong, anything could happen. A furry T-rex the size of a house wouldn’t surprise her. She groaned as the images of a furry alligator crossed her mind. A hairy brontosaurus was next. She damned her imagination as the image of long golden hair flowing from a velociraptor came next. She pictured it blinking with big blue eyes and puckered red lips. Solace gave herself a shake.