70

Introductory Text

70th Post

Posted 26 May 2016 at 03:20:11 EDT

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> Rona had fallen back onto the ground, and the evil thing stood over her. It was far taller than a man but very thin, with a waist hardly bigger than a cat's and legs like a mantis. As I stood there with my spear in my hands, the flaming wood lying scattered all around me, looking at this thing in the shifting darkness, it seemed less and less like a man and more like an animal, one of the sneaking, starving animals of the rocky land.
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> It folded its wings behind itself, and its teeth shuffled in its mouth like a spider's. Rona was screaming, the horrible sound ringing off the stones. I knew what the spear in my hands was for. I knew what I must do. But I could not move. I was held in place by an evil cowardice.
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> The thing crouched over Rona, and its cock rose from between its legs, very thin but longer than any man's. It separated into many different parts, like the petals of a flower opening, like a man spreading his fingers apart. The many parts grew longer, very long, and wound like snakes through the darkness toward Rona, seeming to sniff the air. They found Rona's body and went inside her -- inside her mouth and nose and ears and in between her legs. Her screams ended at once, and the snake-like parts lifted her body into the air.
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> Many seasons ago, shortly after I became a man, I had killed a rock lion while it was at the river's edge, watching the waters for fish. I had simply found it there below me as I came to the edge of a small cliff. All I had to do was leap down and drive my spear through its shoulders, and it was dead. When the people found out, they made me feel like I was greater than even the great men, at least for the rest of the day. The only other living person to kill a rock lion was already gray and almost toothless. It was said that I would become a great hunter. But Mother River provides so much for the people that we do not hunt often, and I hadn't killed anything since then, except a few boar.
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> Now I ran toward the great and evil thing, my feet slapping quick over the bare rock. I lifted my spear and leapt and drove the heavy war head right into its side. The spear went deep into its body, and a spray of black blood exploded out of the wound. It let out a sound like an awful bird call, and one of its wings unfolded and hit me hard enough that I fell back. Its wings flapped wildly, spraying fire and sparks everywhere, but it could not fly and fell back down onto the stone. Black blood poured out of its side.
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> I pulled Rona away from it, but she was limp and moaning, and the awful snake-like things were still inside her. I pulled them out, one by one, but they were sharp and cut my hands, and they came out of her body covered in red blood. When I had freed her, I took her up and grabbed my spear and slid down the side of the rock and stumbled through the blackness until I found a ridge of rock to hide behind.
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> There were a few bits of fire left on top of the rock, but they soon went out. I was in total darkness except for the stars above, clinging to Rona, who made no more sound. I waited there in the utter blackness. Rona did not stir, and I felt the warmth slowly flow from her body. By the time the first gray light of morning came, she was dead.
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> As soon as I could see well enough, I went back up to the top of the large rock. The thing was lying there, its wings spread wide and coated with black blood. It had bled enough to cover the entire top of the rock with blackness, which had dried and become thin flakes that blew away in the wind after I stepped on them. With my spear gripped tight, I approached it again. Its body was the same sort of pale color as the morning sky, and was covered in tiny glistening hairs. The mouth was like a spider's, with sharp black teeth. Its cock had become just a shriveled little thing, with no sign of the long snake-like parts.
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> I went down the rock again to where I had left the crone. She was gone. My belt lay in the dust, sawed in half. Maybe it was just as well. I did not want to see her again. I called for Charm and Grayscruff but there was no sign of them. I left the evil rocky land as fast as I could.
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> The weird rocks all looked the same to me, and I did not know the way well, but I found the river before the sun had climbed to its highest. It was a different part of the river than I had left, and nobody was there. I made my way along the banks, looking for the people. There was much to tell them. Would the other winged strangers soon try to set upon the people? Would we have to make war against them? If it must be so, then let them come. They could be killed like any other men.
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> The sun was still above the trees when I first saw men walking along the river, their faces the normal color of sandy river mud, not the evil white of the winged stranger. I called to them happily, called the names of the Fathers, but they did not answer. I came closer and saw that these were not the people. I took my spear in both hands. These men were Painted Backs. They stood silently by the river, their war spears in hand, signs of victory and triumph painted on their chests in bright blood. They watched me with strange, filmy eyes.
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