《Great Journey [Stone Age Fantasy Adventure]》


 Chapter 1

    Yuliko stood with the other potential journeyers from her tribe. She could feel the warmth of the Great Maw¡¯Goro beneath her bare feet. They all stood in a line upon the obsidian mound, made from the hardened blood of Maw¡¯Goro, who towered over the landscape, a plume of thick black smoke billowing out its peak. All the land within view of the volcano belonged to the great spirit, and therefore was the domain of the Black Glass People, but the lava yard in particular was sacred.


    The potential journeyers were all the eligible youth of the Ibex Clan, one of the five clans that make up the Black Glass Tribe. Their clan revered the ibexes, the fierce mountain goats with oversized hook-like horns. Only Maw¡¯Goro, creator of the land itself, deserved the clan¡¯s respect more than their namesake.


    Upon being nominated to participate in the Great Journey, their next step will be to venture deep into the lava yard, close to the heart of Maw¡¯Goro, and select an obsidian core which will be fashioned into their ritual blade. In order to participate in the Great Journey the individual must be nominated by two clan members. Usually a youth would be nominated by the master they had apprenticed under, and one other clan member who best knew if the youth was ready to be elevated to an adult member of the tribe. However, Yuliko had no master, and most of the clan avoided her.


    Yuliko was a slender girl with sandy brown hair and blue-green eyes. She wore a chest wrap and skirt made of softened goat skin. She and the others carried their bags and weapons for they would be departing once the nominations were completed. Her feet were bare so she would be physically touching Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s earth. Yuliko¡¯s palm sweated holding her obsidian-tipped spear, which was unusual for her; her palms never sweated during a hunt.


    Each of the other potential journeyers had been training for their future roles in the tribe for over two years. Krissa had much experience as the shaman¡¯s apprentice. And Minty as the healer¡¯s apprentice. Kardan had been well trained by Lion, the best obsidian knapper in the whole tribe. And Zana and Pyker were both highly skilled hunters. There was no question that any of them would be nominated.


    Then there was Faydayo, the chieftain¡¯s apprentice, who had only been so for less than a year. Formerly he had been training to be the lead hunter, but after Yuliko had been stripped of her status as chieftain''s apprentice and heir, then Faydayo was raised to the position. He had not been humble about his advancement, even now he stood with a puffed up chest and a casual smirk on his face.


    Now Yuliko¡¯s future position in the clan was as uncertain as her chance of being nominated. She stared down from the mound, looking at the crowd of tribe members. Only the full-fledged adult members of the clan were permitted to witness the nomination ritual. The ineligible youth and the thralls were all back at the Ibex camp, preparing for the feast for the following evening.


    Behind the observers lay the treeline of the volcanic rainforest the Black Glass People dwelt within. It had been at a border area between the lava yard and the forest where Yuliko had her incident with the green man. Where the earth had shook, and where she had almost died. In her vision she glimpsed for an instant the antlered man was watching from behind the trees. But she blinked and the green man had disappeared.


    She turned her focus upon the faces of those with the power to nominate her. Her father and former mentor, Chief Domylo, stood at the front of the crowd, gazing impassively at the lined up youth. He was a tall man, wore his hair in a topknot with gray streaks over the temples, and he wore his snakeskin vest. His chest was exposed, prominently displaying the vertical white scar over his heart, the mark from his ritual blade when he was a youth taking the Pledge Rite. All the full-fledged clan members had the same scar.


    Domylo carried the simple painted ibex horn totem, the temporary replacement for the ancient totem Yuliko had lost. He refused to make eye contact with her or acknowledge her at all. There was no hope he would speak for her.


    There was also her mother standing beside him. She was wearing one of the brightly feathered headbands that she loved. Yuliko could hardly remember a time when her mother wasn¡¯t ornamented in the feathers of parrots or macaws. In stark contrast to Chieftain Domylo, his wife Kuli smiled as much as she was colorful. Yet when her eyes met Yuliko¡¯s there was a shade of gloom behind her pleasant expression. It was the same look her mother would give her after the incident, when she would tell Yuliko that everything would be alright.


    Of course, nothing had been alright after the incident. She had been entrusted with the clan¡¯s totem; an elegantly carved ibex horn, bedecked with rings of obsidian and red jasper, and the clan¡¯s most precious possession. And she had lost it.


    The Black Glass People are nomads who migrate around the rainforest surrounding the volcano. They must receive the blessing of the Great Maw¡¯Goro before they may move to their next camping ground. A year ago, Yuliko was returning from taking the totem to where Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s hot blood flows¡ªthe only worthy place to request a resettlement blessing¡ªand at the treeline between the forest and the lava yard, a tremor shook the ground, knocking Yuliko to her knees, protecting the horn with her body. And when the tremors stopped Yuliko looked up to see an antlered man-beast emerging out of the trees. He charged at her, and pierced her just beneath the ribs.


    She remembered laying on the rocks, bleeding out, but she still held onto the clan totem. The beast-man stood over her. It had dappled skin like a doe, a muzzle like a buck, and hooved feet. It wore a tunic, so she could not see if it had a tail like a deer or not. The green man plucked the ibex horn from her hands. It stared at her with sad looking black eyes. Then it touched a hand over her wound and spoke some words in a language Yuliko did not understand. Then the man-beast left her for dead.


    She was found hours later barely holding onto life. The clan healer, Makala, was able to patch up the wicked antler wound, but Yuliko had caught a fever that overtook her for many days. Everyone was overjoyed when her fever broke and Makala determined, by some miracle, she would live. But after she told her tale of how the totem was stolen, they had all turned against her. They called her a fool for confusing a common buck for a green man. Or, it could have been an intruder in an antler helm. Her fever must have cooked her mind. All the green men had gone extinct ages ago. Also, there were those that called her a liar, Krissa in particular. They accused her of making up a story to cover up losing the totem. Some even accused her of hurting herself.


    And if they didn¡¯t call her a liar or a fool, then they called her cursed. The most superstitious of the clan were afraid Yuliko would attract the green man back again. Uzban, the master potter, insists it was a curse that would bring double misfortune since she was the chieftain¡¯s daughter. And there were those like Davanu, the master tanner, who whispered that Yuliko¡¯s curse meant Domylo should not be the chieftain anymore with the trouble his daughter has wrought.


    According to the legends, the green men were dapple-skinned antlered people that once walked among the other thinking species. The green men were said to have lived in parts of the woods that man kin could never find without guidance, passageways to the Other World, where magic was strong. But the green men would sometimes leave their hidden homes to trade for man kin goods, and were said to even occasionally share their magic. There are some stories where the green men trade magic gifts in exchange for man kin children. In other stories the green men steal children by tricking parents into leaving their children in the woods. But all that was the ancient past. The only thinking species anyone from the Black Glass Tribe had ever encountered were other man kin and their closely related cousins; the stout-bodied flatheads, and the tiny squirrel people.


    The loss of the totem, and Yuliko¡¯s preposterous story, brought great shame to the clan. The Ibexes had once been of the highest status amongst the five clans, with her father, Domylo, serving as the High Chieftain of the Glass Tribe; but there were few greater marks of defeat than for a clan to lose their totem, so the Ibexes became the lowest status, and Domylo lost his High Chieftain position to the chieftain of the Razor Boar Clan.


    And of course, no clan members would follow the girl who lost their sacred totem and lost their clan''s status, so Domylo was forced to denounce Yuliko as his apprentice and heir.


    Yuliko scanned the rest of the tribespeople attending the nominations. She saw Makala amongst them. Yuliko had spent much time with the healer after her injury. Makala was fond of explaining her work as she busied about, and Yuliko had learned much just from listening while lying in the healer¡¯s hut. And she did not show any animosity towards Yuliko after the incident, which she was eternally thankful for. Yuliko had desperately wished for Makala to take her on as an apprentice alongside her current pupil, Minty. But even though Makala didn¡¯t blame her for what happened, she considered Yuliko marked by a bad spirit and refused to take her on as a formal student.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    There was only one other face in the crowd that Yuliko had any hope of nominating her. She spotted the bushy brown beard of Lion, the obsidian master. Yuliko had been bedridden for months after the incident, but when she had finally healed enough to move about, the ostracization made her wish to hide back in the tent. They all hated her. They mocked her. No other masters wished to teach her. All except Lion, who was unconcerned with the past.


    She remembered when he first showed her the proper way to knap the outer edges of an obsidian core, at a time when she felt most lonely and hopeless. The rough exterior must be flaked off to shape the perfect tool, he had told her. But we could not create the right shape if we did not have the rough sides to work with. The past must be flaked off too, and the right shape will emerge.


    She had precious few months between her healing and the Great Journey, where she followed Lion¡¯s instructions and learned to knap obsidian into finely fashioned tools. She was nowhere near as good as Kardan, who had studied under Lion much longer, but Yuliko thought she had been doing well.


    If Yuliko was not nominated she would have to wait until the next Great Journey to ascend to adulthood, and that could be years from now. Or worse, she may never get to make her Great Journey, and she would become a thrall, one of the lowest status members of the clan with no rights.


    The Great Journey was not merely an adulthood ritual, but it was the very foundation of Black Glass Tribe society. All the lands under the shadow of Maw¡¯Goro were gifted to the Glass People by the great spirit. In exchange, the tribe was duty-bound to protect Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s realm, and to deliver worthy tributes to the volcano spirit. During the Great Journey, the journeyers are to travel beyond the shadow of Maw¡¯Goro into the far lands, where they are to seek out and acquire the tributes. The most valued tribute a journey party could offer was the totem of a foreign clan, but other treasures were also worthy, like the gold and silver rings people in the far lands sometimes wear, and finely made pottery, carvings, and weavings from the far lands too.


    Journey parties may also bring back thralls as tribute to the volcano. The current high chieftain, Vogon of the Razor Boar Clan, his party had brought back the largest offering of thralls in known memory. The captives had been snake spirit worshippers to the south. They had been a most worthy tribute to the fiery heart of the volcano.


    Keeping the continued favor of Maw¡¯Goro was the main purpose of the Great Journey, but it served other purposes as well. The rainforest around the volcano was vast, and the Black Glass People were few¡ªmaintaining a balanced population was an important part of protecting Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s realm¡ªso the clans rarely had need to traverse beyond their own territory. The journeyers brought back important news about the ongoings of the far lands. The party leader was even permitted to act as the tribe¡¯s emissary and build friendships with other groups. And most critically, the journeyers could alert the chieftains to any potential threats.


    Yuliko needed to go on this Great Journey. It could be her only chance to redeem herself. If she were to help bring back a high value tribute, then she may shed some of the shame she had brought upon the clan.


    Eshika, the clan shaman, stood between the crowd of tribe members and the youth on the mound. She wore a red-dyed ibex fur wrap, with a puffy wool collar, a shade darker scarlet. The outfit contrasted startlingly with her bright blue eyes. She waved a smoking bundle of herb brush in the direction of Maw¡¯Goro, reciting the vows of service required to harvest the volcano¡¯s bounties. The billowing smoke told Eshika that the spirit has accepted the vows and that the nomination process may begin.


    Eshika had questioned Yuliko about the incident many times as she lay in recovery. Though the shaman never volunteered what she thought the meaning of any of it had been. But she was always curious about how Yuliko¡¯s wound was healing, which Makala said was a wonder of the spirits.


    Faydayo, as the chieftain¡¯s apprentice, was the first to stand for nomination. He practically strutted as he marched down the mound in position beside the shaman. Across the center of his chest he had tattooed a large triangle made up of smaller concentric triangles. The triangle was the symbol for the great volcano spirit.


    ¡°This young man stands before the Glass People and says he is worthy of the Great Journey,¡± Eshika announced. ¡°Who here nominates this one to make his Great Journey and join the Ibex Clan as an adult?¡±


    Chieftain Domylo raised a fist to the air. He met Faydayo¡¯s eyes squarely. ¡°I say this young man is worthy.¡±


    The chieftain¡¯s nomination was quickly seconded by Nabu, the lead hunter, who had been Faydayo¡¯s master before his elevation to chieftain¡¯s heir.


    Eshika dipped her hand in a bowl of red ocher paste. With her red palm she printed the ocher over one side of Faydayo¡¯s face, fingers crossing over his eye. ¡°This young man shall be taking the pledge, and shall be the leader of his mo¡¯huran,¡± she said.


    A mo¡¯huran was the band of journeyers. The bonds formed amongst a mo¡¯huran were said to be unbreakable and life-lasting. Faydayo¡¯s first task as the mo¡¯huran leader would be leading the excursion for their ritual blade cores.


    With his place confirmed, Faydayo moved towards the empty canal the nominees would follow into the lava yard. He flashed his smirk at Yuliko as he walked.


    Next, Eshika called forth Krissa, her own apprentice, and gave her the nomination. And she was seconded by Waylu, the cook master. Then the shaman picked up a second bowl with a black charcoal paste. She dipped the black over her red hand, and marked Krissa with a black handprint across her belly, over her navel.


    Krissa took her position lined up behind Faydayo near the canal. Yuliko observed the two of them briefly touch their fingertips together, before taking the upright ceremonial stance. Though it was no secret that Faydayo claimed Krissa.


    The same nomination procedure continued with the other potential journeyers, saving Yuliko for last since she had the lowest status. The others all had their masters grant the first nomination, and had another more-than-willing adult to grant them their second. Even Minty, who was so shy and awkward she barely spoke to the adults besides Makala, got an instant secondary nomination from Tarbak the shepherd, for she routinely treated his foot pains. Eshika marked all the others with black handprints, in places across the body that only the shaman understood the significance of. Besides the face and belly, some were handprinted across their forearm, chest, or thigh.


    Yuliko stood alone atop the obsidian mound, until she was finally called to stand beside Eshika. Now, as the last remaining youth and standing directly before her father, the chieftain would still not meet her eyes.


    ¡°This young woman stands before the Glass People and says she is worthy of the Great Journey. Who here nominates this one to make her Great Journey and join the Ibex Clan as an adult?¡±


    And to Yuliko¡¯s great relief, Lion raised his fist. ¡°I say this young woman is worthy.¡± He smiled at her through his bushy beard, and she smiled back. He had only been teaching her a short time, and he had never even formally declared himself as her master. Lion staked his reputation on Yuliko, so his endorsement of her was not taken lightly.


    Yuliko was touched by Lion¡¯s approval of her; but silence followed his speaking for her, and the warmth she felt gradually turned into cold terror. No one spoke up to second her.


    She turned to Makala with desperation in her eyes. Just because she couldn¡¯t take Yuliko as an apprentice didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t nominate her, right? But Makala only looked downward.


    Yuliko turned to her mother. Surely, she knew that her daughter was ready for the Great Journey. She had to know it wasn¡¯t Yuliko¡¯s fault the totem was stolen. But Kuli had lost her bright smile, and the gloominess showed through. She offered her daughter a sad apology with her eyes. Yuliko realized her father had forbidden her mother from speaking for her.


    Finally, the chieftain decided to meet Yuliko¡¯s gaze. She did not try to hide the hurt in her eyes. The anger. The rejection. The betrayal. She wanted him to see it. She knew he always blamed her. Even if he believed a green man had stolen the totem, he still blamed her.


    He stared back at her with shame.


    The heavy silence weighed over the lava yard. Yuliko would remain as the lowest status, even as those younger than her readied for the next Journey. She may remain low status forever. She may be cast into the lot of a thrall. Her future suddenly looked very grim, and unlike the rough exterior of an obsidian core, she could not flake it off.


    Yuliko felt a sudden fury burn within her, a blood-boiling anger at the unfairness of it all. It wasn¡¯t her fault the green man came for her. She had fallen during the tremor. She had been attacked. She had held onto the totem with her dying strength, but that wasn¡¯t enough. And now she was being punished for it. Now she wouldn¡¯t even have the opportunity to redeem herself.


    Maybe it had been her fault. Yuliko vividly remembered the moment she saw the green man walk out from the trees. She had been so scared. She had been petrified. If she could have ran, even just a moment sooner, she might have saved the totem, and saved herself from all the misery that followed. Her fiery anger turned towards herself for her cowardice.


    The raging silence, the profound lack of a second nomination, was finally broken by Faydayo snickering with his friends in the lineup of nominees. However, Eshika flashed a glare that quieted them.


    Then the shaman looked out over the clan members who had rejected the girl, then she turned and stared Yuliko over with her striking blue eyes, which crawled down to the antler piercing scar beneath the slender girl¡¯s ribs. After a moment, the shaman raised her fist and declared, ¡°I say this young woman is worthy.¡±


    Then the shaman dipped her palm back into the red ocher, and marked Yuliko with a red hand over her scar.

 Chapter 2

    It smelt of sulfur. The Great Maw¡¯Goro loomed ahead, bellowing dark smoke. The journeyers marched across the lava rock barefoot, so that they felt the spirit¡¯s fiery power beneath them as they walked.


    Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s yard was like a frozen ocean, with crests and troughs and coiling waves, made from hardened magma.


    Faydayo led the group through the canal cutting deeper into the lava yard. He was the tallest and strongest amongst the group, which no doubt played a part in his advancement to chieftain¡¯s heir, but he was also the most ambitious. He kept his hair short and his eyes were always narrowed in suspicion. This would be his first excursion as the mo¡¯huran leader, and he walked with determination.


    Behind him came Krissa, the shaman-to-be, and the second highest status in the party. The shaman was traditionally outranked in status only by the chieftain, but Faydayo would have kept Krissa next to him regardless of tradition. Her eyes were wide and bright brown. She wore her hair in a tangle of braids.


    And after Krissa came Minty, the healer¡¯s apprentice. Her hair was kept in tight buns, like the nubby horns of a baby goat. She had only been placed in third as a matter of custom since healers were also of top ranking status, but she and Faydayo interacted very little. Faydayo¡¯s domineering personality kept Minty¡¯s mousy self shied away.


    Next in the march came Zana, tattooed with leopard spots on her arms. She had taken the place as the lead hunter¡¯s pupil after Faydayo became chieftain¡¯s heir. And after her came Pykor, also a hunter, and an exceptional piper. They had both trained for years alongside Faydayo as fellow hunters, and were fiercely loyal to their buddy.


    Then came Kardan, Lion¡¯s formal apprentice. He was more lean than the other boys, but no less toned. And he had tawny brown hair that almost looked golden when it was caught in the light. Kardan and Faydayo had disliked each other since they were boys, which had only hardened as they turned to young men. More than once a competitive hoopball game became a childish brawl. If Faydayo could have put Kardan further back he would have; except the rear and the lowest status was reserved for Yuliko.


    She regretted all the circumstances that had led her to the lowest rank, but for the moment she was glad to be as far back from Faydayo as possible, for the shaman¡¯s act of handprinting Yuliko with red ocher instead of the black charcoal had visibly irked him. For some unknown reason, Eshika had chosen to mark Yuliko with the same color as the leader. They were supposed to walk in silence as they departed from the nomination ceremony, but even Yuliko in the back heard Faydayo asking Krissa what that had been about.


    But Krissa only shrugged. ¡°I see nothing special about her,¡± she had replied.


    There were obsidian cores all over the lava yard, but they were venturing close to the heart of the volcano, where the black glass was most imbued with Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s power. They needed strong cores to fashion their ritual blades. The knives made from these cores would be used as a part of the Pledge Rite, where they make their promise to Maw¡¯Goro to return with a bountiful tribute or not return at all.


    As they hiked through the rocky trench, an ibex leaped down into the canal in front of them. A big shaggy beast, white like seafoam. As tall as a person from hoof to back. And curved horns as long as a person¡¯s arm. The ibex kicked away some stones to reveal a patch of hidden pale blue grass, which it proceeded to munch on.


    Krissa declared it a good omen, then danced and chanted to embrace the spiritual energy. Her long braids were woven with beads of obsidian and amber, which rattled together as she swayed around.


    The blue grass was called Goro¡¯s ghostgrass, and it had many healing properties. Normally, such a find would be collected, however the ibex was sacred to the clan and they would not interrupt its grazing. So they crawled out of the canal and moved around the animal, then dropped back in afterwards.


    Yuliko pondered over how the goat knew exactly where to find the grass, and how the beasts so effortlessly traverse the rocky crags of the lava yard, perfectly suited for the land. They were truly Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s creatures. And they were perfectly suited to protect the land from intruders with their monstrous horns. Ibexes are very territorial, even amongst themselves. Catching the sight of two bucks locking horns in battle was considered a sign of coming change to the Black Glass People.


    All the lands beneath the shadow of the volcano belonged to Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s creatures, and Yuliko knew them well. The lava yards extended out from the volcano, with cavernous tunnels along the slope of the western side. And dense rainforest encircled the yard, covering long stretches of hills, deep valleys, and multiple branches of the fearsome Hungry River. Yuliko and the others had grown up beneath the rainforest¡¯s canopy, moving their camp each season to a new glade or a fresh dale, so they would not over-consume the bounties of the land. The Black Glass People lived in perfect balance with their land and with their spirit.


    With a nervousness that she dared not show, Yuliko wondered how they were going to fare outside of their home. She thought over all the tales of all the creatures and peoples to be found in the far lands. There were swamps with web-spinning alligators, and caves with bears twice the height of a man kin. There were tales of unicorns with golden woolly coats, numbering in the hundreds, roaming a magnificent open plain. And there were stories of tribes towards the Storming Mountains that had tamed the giant fluttering scalewings and could ride them through the air.


    The mo¡¯huran did not know which direction they would be heading until after the Pledge Rite, where the Eshika will announce their course. Tales from all the corners of the world flashed through her mind. To the west towards Windy Desert there lies a tribe of cannibals that sharpen their teeth into points. And to the south in the direction of the Salty Sea there are water witches who can transform into sea creatures, by changing skins the same way a hermit crab changes shells. And to the north towards the White Wasteland there was said to be a tribe who builds tall towers so they can try to capture the stars.


    Yuliko most especially recalled the tales of the hobs that had terrified her as a child. They were grotesque buggy creatures somewhere between a beast and a thinking species. They had a similar body shape to the other thinking species, standing upright with two arms and two legs, but their proportions contorted so they looked hunched over and scrunched up. They were small creatures, at least the grunt hobs were, smaller than even the squirrel people. They wore animal skins and they made crude tools and clubs, and some even say they have their own language, but the hobs will never talk or trade with another thinking species. They will only try to crack open their skulls. Hobs lurk in the dark, able to stalk with keen night eyes, and would ambush any prey with a brain bigger than a walnut. Hobs love brains. They prowl the far lands, searching for meaty heads to crack. They were said to sever the heads of large kills to be brought back for their hive queen.


    Of the thinking species, there were, of course, many more man kin tribes in the far lands, but there were others too. There were the flatheads, who stood half a head shorter than the man kin on average, and they had broad flat faces. If what was said of them were true, then the flatheads weren¡¯t so different from man kin, except they weren¡¯t as smart, for no species was as smart as man kin. They only spoke in grunts and they didn¡¯t keep any animals. And there were also the squirrel people. They looked mostly like a man kin, but half the size and with pointy-ears. They supposedly dwelt up in the trees and lived off of nuts.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Groups of traveling flatheads or squirrel people are known to cross through Glass People territory on the rare occasion. Though, they almost never cause trouble, and they sometimes even trade with the clans. Once when Yuliko was a young girl she had seen a band of flatheads pass through. She remembered a flathead woman wearing a seashell necklace and carrying a toddler with a head shaped like a melon. She had thought it was such an ugly baby, but cute too. The toddler played with its mother¡¯s shell necklace, then it noticed Yuliko and waved its chubby arms at her. The exhausted looking mother adjusted the toddler around to not look at the man kin, but the child crawled over its mother¡¯s shoulders to keep staring.


    Yuliko had been astonished by how similar the flatheads had been to her people. She could even read the emotions on their faces. The toddler had been curious, like her. She had wanted to follow the flatheads as they made their way through, but her father had forbidden that before she could even ask.


    The flatheads and the squirrel people were the only two thinking species to visit Glass People territory, but there were tales of others. Some were said to still be around in far land places, like the man-apes, who towered over man kin and could rip a person apart. And the squishers, who had webbed hands and feet and could breathe underwater. Her mother and chieftain father had famously ventured up the Hungry River on their Great Journey, where they earned a giant pearl as their tribute by helping a squisher village slay a river monster.


    But there were also the long lost thinking species that were said to have all died out. Like the scaled folk, who had scaly lizard skin, sharp teeth, and cold blood. They would spend hours lounging in the sunlight, absorbing the heat. At night if they could not get enough heat they would drink from the veins of warm blooded creatures. And there were also stories of the thunder people, the feathered flying folk that would sweep down from the sky, shrieking thundering war cries.


    And then, as Yuliko well remembered, there were the green men. The people with antlers like deer, with dappled short fur and hooved feet. When Yuliko had first seen her green man approaching from out of the trees, her first thought after realizing what it was had been that he was so human, more hominoid that bestial. Not as monstrous as some of the tales would have had her believe. As she stood there in the open, frozen solid, her next thought had been that she could read its face, just like with the flatheads. If she had any wits about her she would have gotten up immediately and ran. But the face didn¡¯t look hostile, rather the green man appeared sad, with woeful black eyes. But an instant later the green man had impaled her.


    Yuliko lifted her wrap and looked at the red handprint covering the scar on her waist. She had no idea why Eshika had given her the red mark, or why she had nominated her in the first place, but she was extremely thankful. Now she had a chance to show her worth to the clan and restore her status. It wouldn¡¯t be easy, especially not with Faydayo as the mo¡¯huran leader, but she had a chance.


    A part of her was deeply afraid they might encounter the green man again. It had watched her bleeding out on the rocks after it stabbed her, one antler prong tipped in red. Its brow was furrowed over his doey black eyes, watching the hot red blood flow out of her. Why hadn¡¯t it finished her then? Instead it stole the totem from her arms, and reached down to touch her wound. It said something, and then disappeared. Another part of Yuliko hoped she would have a chance to face the green man again, and find out what happened to the Ibex totem, but she knew that was a futile wish.


    When they reached a shaded area beneath a large boulder, Faydayo stopped the party for a rest, about halfway to the base of the volcano. Yuliko leaned against the rock and flipped open her folding fan to wave at her face. It was definitely warmer this close to Maw¡¯Goro, she could feel it in the ground in the soles of her feet.


    Kardan leaned against the rock beside her, smiling. Kardan wore his hair in a tight bun, which accentuated his sharp features. ¡°I was worried for a moment back there,¡± he told her.


    ¡°Me too,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure what really happened.¡± She looked down to her red handprint.


    Kardan placed his hand on her shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re here, is what happened,¡± he said. ¡°And I am glad for it.¡± His hand lingered on her shoulder briefly, which he then let graze across her back when he let go.


    She felt the warmth of a blush rise in her cheeks as she fanned herself.


    ¡°Yes, Yuliko, we are all so glad you¡¯re here,¡± Faydayo said, sardonically. ¡°We have our hunters and healer, but our mo¡¯huran desperately needed a¡ªwait, what is it that you do again?¡± He mocked her for not having a master.


    Yuliko was not looking for a fight with her leader before they had even started their Great Journey. She lowered her head to Faydayo. ¡°I will do as the group requires and our leader commands.¡±


    He studied her for a moment. Yuliko lowered herself even further. She wanted him to understand his authority was not threatened by her.


    ¡°Good,¡± Faydayo said, and he nodded at her to rise. But when Yuliko did so, Faydayo¡¯s gaze hooked onto her red handprint. ¡°But let''s all agree now that when we do find our tribute for the Great Maw¡¯Goro we won¡¯t let Yuliko hold on to it. She¡¯s likely to lose it to another deer.¡±


    Faydayo chuckled heartily at his own joke. Krissa, Zana, and Pykor all laughed too. Kardan looked like he didn¡¯t find it funny at all.


    ¡°As you say,¡± Yuliko told the leader.


    Clearly enjoying himself, Faydayo added, ¡°And, Krissa, don¡¯t let her join for any blessing rituals. Yuliko will probably hurt herself in the process.¡± Faydayo and his chums laughed another round at her expense. ¡°Say Yuliko, why don¡¯t you tell us your story again. About your mysterious green man,¡± he said.


    More laughs. The others goaded her to retell the worst experience of her life.


    ¡°You all know my story,¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d like to hear it again, I like dreamy tales,¡± Faydayo said.


    Dreamy tales were the fanciful stories everyone knew to be false. Like the singing squash patch, or the Basket Women who snatch up children in their wicker traps.


    Kardan took a step towards the leader. ¡°She doesn¡¯t want to tell the story,¡± he said.


    ¡°That may be. But I told her to tell it,¡± Faydayo said, also taking a step forward.


    ¡°Why? Just to be a dungball?¡± Kardan asked.


    ¡°The only dungball here is you, speaking to your chief like that,¡± Faydayo replied.


    The two young men bucked up at each other, shuffling closer and closer, until they were nearly within range of each other¡¯s fist.


    Yuliko tugged at Kardan¡¯s arm. ¡°It''s fine. I¡¯ll tell it again,¡± she said.


    Kardan gave one last glare to Faydayo, then back to Yuliko, then he backed off.


    The jovial mood had evaporated out of Faydayo¡¯s chums. No one was laughing. They all stared at her.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Faydayo said.


    Yuliko closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she started, ¡°As you all know, it was time for the migration¡ª¡±


    Suddenly, a groaning rumble sound rang over the lava yard, then the ground was shaking. Rocks jostled in place at their feet. All of them wobbled in a struggle to keep their balance. Yuliko tumbled forward towards Faydayo and he caught her.


    For a brief moment it seemed as if the boulder next to them were about to shift. They heard the rock crumbling around. But then, just as quickly as the tremor had started, it faded to a halt.


    Faydayo and Yuliko had held onto each other through the quaking. When the tremor had stopped, the two journeyers with the red handprints looked into each other¡¯s eyes briefly. Yuliko thought she saw gentleness in Faydayo¡¯s eye for just a second, then he shoved her away from him.


    Then suddenly, in a panic, Yuliko looked around for the green man. But the mo¡¯huran stood alone adrift the hard magma sea. She saw that both Kardan and Krissa had observed that moment with Faydayo.


    ¡°Is everyone alright?¡± Kardan asked the group, and they replied in the affirmative.


    ¡°We should move,¡± Faydayo said.


    ¡°That was a bad omen,¡± Krissa said, touching the palm of her hand down to the warm lava rock.

 Chapter 3

    The band of young Ibex men and women reached the base of Maw¡¯Goro. If they were to travel any closer they would be scaling the volcano. The sulfur smell was thicker here, the temperature hotter, and in the distance they could spot a slow moving trail of Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s burning blood. Krissa declared that the magical energy here was more than adequate for their ritual blades, and Faydayo ordered everyone to stay close as they searched for their obsidian cores.


    Selecting the right obsidian core for one¡¯s ritual blade was an important process. It must be a glass rock the journeyer connects with. The black glass knives they are to make will be their touchstone to Maw¡¯Goro, for out in the far lands they will lack his protection and influence. In the far lands other great spirits reign supreme. As long as a journeyer carries their ritual blade though, they can not be mastered by another spirit.


    Faydayo and Krissa walked off to search together. Yuliko saw Faydayo shaking his head, muttering something in frustration as they turned around a bend. Krissa put her hand on his backside as he spoke. Yuliko figured Faydayo was venting to her. Their first venture as a Mo¡¯Huran was supposed to be easy, for they were still at the very center of Black Glass territory, but Faydayo¡¯s leadership was already off to a volatile start; the tremor from earlier was certainly no good sign, and just before that he had nearly gotten into a fight with Kardan, and then there was the ambiguous red handprint Eshika had given Yuliko. And if Faydayo¡¯s behavior from the resting site was an indicator, he would not handle further grievances any more gracefully.


    Yuliko hoped Kardan might wish to join her in the search for their cores, but he was already off examining a pile of potential rocks. He had been the obsidian master¡¯s apprentice for over two years now, and not just any obsidian master, but he had learned from Lion, the most talented knapper across all the clans. Kardan was probably better equipped than Krissa to tell how powerful the obsidian around here was, for the obsidian masters don¡¯t merely shape the rocks by knapping and flaking, but they harnessessed Mow¡¯Goro¡¯s power to craft the obsidian. They worked the material with their minds before the chipping had even begun.


    Yuliko watched Kardan as he knelt next to an obsidian block with his head cocked, then he picked up the stone and held it up to his ear, as if he could listen inside like a conch shell. Yuliko had also trained with Lion, but she did not have the insight into the black glass that Kardan had developed. Her few months of instruction from the great obsidian master had been focused on knapping with tools, but Kardan was nearly advanced enough to be practicing vibrational knapping, where the knapper channels the magic of Maw¡¯Goro to shatter the obsidian into the desired shape. Kardan set down the stone he had been listening to, then picked up another one and sniffed it.


    Yuliko instead went searching for her core with Minty. The healer¡¯s apprentice was probably the shyest person in the whole clan. She was a small wispy girl who never went anywhere without her toadskin medicine bag.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy Eshika nominated you,¡± Minty told Yuliko as they strolled over to a little pit filled with potential cores. ¡°I¡¯m already scared enough. I¡¯d be terrified if you weren¡¯t coming on the Great Journey.¡±


    ¡°You would do just fine either way,¡± Yuliko said, squeezing Minty¡¯s hand briefly. ¡°But I am happy too, even if Faydayo is the mo¡¯huran leader.¡±


    And she meant that. She could tolerate being the lowest status in the mo¡¯huran and all of Faydayo¡¯s bullying if it meant she could bestow Maw¡¯Goro their tribute and not be cast as a thrall. She would talk to Kardan soon to make it clear she wanted no more trouble with Faydayo on her behalf.


    They hopped down into the pit and picked through a couple cores, to reveal a patch of pale blue grass.


    ¡°Goro¡¯s ghostgrass! How lucky!¡± Minty said excitedly, moving aside the nearby rocks to expose the whole patch, which turned out to be rather large, a rare find. Ghostgrass had potent medicinal properties, particularly for easing cramps and pains. She quickly pulled out a digging stick and began to unearth the plants, trying to keep the roots intact as much as possible.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    While Minty dug, Yuliko picked up two of the obsidian cores that had covered the hidden bounty. She held them up to her eye level, weighing them, feeling the comfort of their shapes in her palms.


    ¡°These glass cores gave us a gift, they must have much magic,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°I think they shall make good ritual blades, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they must have much magic,¡± Minty agreed, only glancing at the cores. She wasn¡¯t really a knapper. Her interests lay mostly with herbs and their various uses. Minty shook off the loose soil and wrapped the ghostgrass in a cloth before storing it in her medicine bag.


    Yuliko, however, was a knapper. She kept looking at the cores, thinking over the things Lion had taught her about choosing one''s starting block. The tool already exists in the glass. When you hold the glass, the tool should already be forming in your mind. Each flake gets closer to the shape that was already there. Yuliko rolled the two cores around in her hands, feeling all their edges. After a few minutes she handed Minty the egg-shaped core, and kept the heart-shaped core for herself.


    ¡°You can make a good short straight blade with that one. But strike it from the top of the curves, not the sides, or else it will be too brittle,¡± Yuliko told her friend. But with her heart-shaped core Yuliko planned on a more complicated blade, with a longer shaft with a slight curve, and she would add fluting to the shaft so it would fit in a handle better.


    The girls packed away their chosen obsidian cores. But before they were to rejoin the rest of the Mo¡¯Huran, Yuliko wanted to pick an extra piece of glass. Having an additional core to make replacement tools on the Great Journey would be helpful. The extra weight will be burdensome, Yuliko knew, but it could save them from a tight situation. For this piece she wanted something rectangular that could be a general purpose block.


    While she searched through the rocks, Minty fiddled with the strap of her toadskin bag a bit nervously, then said, ¡°Yuliko, I wish it was you that were leading our Mo¡¯Huran. I fear Faydayo may overreach and attempt to acquire a tribute that is too dangerous for us.¡±


    Yuliko frowned. She was not the leader. She lost her chance at that. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t say such things,¡± she told Minty. ¡°We must trust in Faydayo to lead us to success.¡±


    Her friend hadn¡¯t guessed that Yuliko was probably more desperate for a great tribute than even Faydayo.


    ¡°He is a brute, especially to you,¡± Minty said.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Yuliko replied, grabbing an appropriate hunk of glass as her extra piece. ¡°He is our leader. Maybe he will be better if we give him a chance.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s given you the hardest time of all since your incident. Why are you speaking up for him?¡± Minty asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Yuliko said, truthfully. Then she touched her scar and the shaman¡¯s mark over it. ¡°Maybe Eshika seconded my nomination because I¡¯m supposed to help Faydayo.¡±


    ¡°Ha! You¡¯re the last person he wants help from,¡± Minty said.


    Yuliko crossed her arms. ¡°Well, he¡¯s going to get it whether he likes it or not.¡±


    A high pitched honking caw, like that of a bird-of-paradise, sounded out from a few mounds over the lava yard. A signal that there was danger and to regroup. The two girls climbed out of the rock pit and rushed over the boulder steps to meet the others. They found them at the top of an outcropping gathered together at the edge. They were all huddled around something and they all looked upset.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Yuliko asked Kardan as she and Minty approached.


    He simply stepped aside and pointed at the object displayed on the ledge. A dead ibex lay spread out on a jutting elevated portion of the outcropping. Its white fur stained red. It lay on its backside with its belly cut in a vertical slash, gored, from rib cage to groin. Bloody intestines spilled out onto the rock. The poor goat''s horns had been severed as well, and brutally too, the scalp was scraped and bloodied. It may have been done while it was alive.


    Their clan, of course, would harvest what they required from the revered ibex, but always with respect. This here was butchery. A mockery. This was an insult.


    Faydayo¡¯s face had turned red. His fists clenched tight.


    Krissa knelt beside the slaughtered ibex and waved her hands over the beast as she chanted a prayer for the animal¡¯s journey into the Other World. She whipped her head around frenetically, rattling the beads in her hair.


    Yuliko gripped her spear tight. Her hands were not sweaty. She was ready to hunt.

 Chapter 4

    The Ibex mo¡¯huran stared at the mutilated goat from which the clan takes their name and pride. Yuliko could see the fury raging in Faydayo, but unexpectedly, also in Kardan. For once, they were of shared minds and wanted to immediately start a sweep of the area. Krissa kept saying this was another bad omen from the spirits.


    Yuliko was more shocked than anything else. She couldn¡¯t imagine why someone would do this. And here so close to the heart of Maw¡¯Goro. It was blasphemous. What was its purpose?


    ¡°We will find these intruders and cut their bellies open too,¡± Faydayo said, then he began organizing the party into two groups to start the sweep.


    ¡°I must study this omen,¡± Krissa said.


    ¡°Enough about omens!¡± Faydayo yelled at her. ¡°This was done by intruders, not the spirits. Let''s move out now.¡±


    ¡°This means something,¡± Krisssa told him, drifting her arm dramatically over at the butchered white ibex. Red smeared across its snowy coat.


    Faydayo narrowed his eyes at her. ¡°Fine. Stay with the dead.¡± Then he ordered everyone else to form up in their search groups.


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t have a weapon,¡± Minty whined. ¡°I can¡¯t fight intruders.¡±


    Faydayo shoved his spear into Minty¡¯s hand, then he unsheathed his war club from his belt.


    Minty looked even more uncomfortable now that she was armed. ¡°I wasn¡¯t prepared for this,¡± she said.


    ¡°We¡¯re going,¡± Faydayo said. ¡°If you¡¯re too cowardly to follow, then you stay with the corpse too.¡±


    Then Yuliko remembered something her chieftain father had taught her when she was still his heir apprentice. Enemies are always prodding for weaknesses. They will wait until you are vulnerable and then they shall strike, like a wild animal out of a bush. For there are many tribes that would like to steal Glass People land and resources, and even enslave their people. It was a leader¡¯s job to be mindful of their vulnerabilities. ¡°Faydayo, we shouldn¡¯t act rashly. This was meant to upset us.¡±


    Faydayo snorted at her. ¡°Are you afraid too, Yuliko? Scared you might get stabbed again?¡±


    She envisioned the green man¡¯s black eyes staring down at her, crackling in her mind like lightning. ¡°Yes,¡± Yuliko admitted. She was always scared of getting stabbed again. ¡°And you should be too. We were meant to find this. They want us rattled.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t let whoever did this get away,¡± Kardan said.


    ¡°Better that than one of us getting hurt,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°We should all stay together.¡±


    ¡°Enough talking!¡± Faydayo cried ¡°We¡¯re going to catch the scumrats that did this, and we¡¯re going now.¡±


    Krissa flippantly got in formation. Minty too, nervously ringing the spear in her hands. Faydayo would lead the two of them and Pykor around the westward bend. And Zana would lead Yuliko and Kardan eastward. They trekked back down the cliff into the open flat area.


    But before either group had gotten very far, a loud ¡°WHOOP!¡± sound echoed across the yard. That was a tribal call, meant as a provocation. ¡°WHOOP! WHOOP!¡± Their antagonizers emerged from behind the rocks going up the side of the volcano, about a hundred feet away. It was another group of young people, Glass People, they had handprint markings on their bodies as well. There were eight of them. They jumped up on the rocks, still shouting, ¡°WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!¡± The loudest and closest one, a boy with a mohawk haircut, jeered at them, ¡°Hey Ibex! Looks like you lost your horn!¡±


    They were referencing the totem stolen by Yuliko¡¯s green man. It was a beautifully carved ibex horn, from the head of a monster goat, engraved over generations by Ibex Clan craftsmen with images from the Great Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s birth story, banded with impeccably polished rings of obsidian and red jasper. Now it was likely gone forever.


    ¡°WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!¡±


    Most of the whoopers had black handprints on them, though the mohawk boy had a red one over his belly. Dangling around his neck hung a torc made with two white tusks. The tips of the tusks were painted blue and jangled wildly as he danced obnoxiously on his rock.


    ¡°Razor Boars,¡± Faydayo and Kardan grunted at the same time.


    The mutilation had not been an intruder or a sign from a spirit, but just a cruel jape by their rival clan. This was more than a joke though, this was a desecration of Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s sacred land and creatures. Only brutes could find such a thing funny. And only fools would risk the wrath of the great spirit.


    The Razor Boar Clan was of the highest status, and this was their mo¡¯huran. Yuliko realized that the boy must be Sarkola, the son of the high chieftain, Vogon. She had seen Sarkola at the last tribe gathering. He had won many games of wrestling and hoopball, but he had also been a sore loser when his clan had lost the team hoopball championship to the Ibex Clan. Winning the championship had helped secure the Ibex top status back then, but that was before Yuliko¡¯s incident.


    ¡°Your clan is totem-less. How could you possibly be worthy in the eyes of Maw¡¯Goro?¡± Sarkola yelled. ¡°You should offer yourselves as tribute. Throw yourselves headlong into Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s heart and your clan may be cleansed of some of its shame.¡±


    ¡°You bring shame!¡± Faydayo shouted pointing towards the de-horned ibex. ¡°You are sick dungballs! You¡¯ll walk the Other World with weights on your limbs and ants on your face!¡±


    Sarkola signaled to the whooping jokers and they pulled out their slings. He loaded a blue painted ball into the sling pouch. ¡°In the Other World your ancestors are all lost without their totem! You bring shame to all the People of the Black Glass!¡±


    Then they began walloping the Ibex mo¡¯huran with bullets. Blue dots rained down from their position. They were downhill from the Razor Boars and spread out in the open, easy to assail with the slings. Faydayo was hit with a barrage. Pykor yelled out. Then, Kardan was walloped too. And soon all the rest of them yelped in pain as they sprinted for cover.


    ¡°WHOOP! WHOOP!¡± the Boars cried.


    Yuliko was pelted in the shoulder, it almost knocked her down, but she managed to stumble to a hiding spot. Behind her Krissa yelled the loudest of all of them, she had been knocked down, and was rolling in pain. Faydayo was dashing back out to get her, taking more hits.


    Yuliko took a moment to examine her own injury. A large red welt was forming on top of her shoulder. It hurt a great deal, but honestly, her shoulder blade should be broken from how hard she had been hit. Slings at this range were deadly weapons. Animals as big as hyenas can be taken down with a single crack to the skull with a stone. Yuliko peered around from her hiding spot and saw a stray bullet bouncing across the rocks. The Razor Boars were attacking with rubber bullets, pressed balls of sap from the rubber tree and painted blue.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Kardan and Zana took cover alongside Yuliko. They also had welts. Faydayo was now carrying Krissa to the rocks where the rest of the Ibex had taken cover. Krissa¡¯s face had been marked with a great big welt right in the center of her forehead.


    With all of the Ibexes having taken cover, the whooping and the walloping came to a halt.


    Faydayo laid down Krissa, then picked up one of the stray rubber bullets scattering the lava yard. He threw it on the ground angrily and the blue ball danced over the black rocktop erratically.


    ¡°Alright, Sarkola, enough!¡± Faydayo shouted. ¡°You do all this as a prank? You think you¡¯re funny?¡±


    Sarkola started making his way down from their rocks, smiling widely, very pleased with himself. ¡°It may be funny, but it¡¯s no prank. It¡¯s a warning.¡±


    Sarkola¡¯s goons followed behind him, all carrying their war clubs out. The Boar mo¡¯huran poured into the flat grounds, rallied around their leader. Unlike the Ibexes, they wore moccasins on their feet.


    Faydayo marched right up to Sarkola with his own war club in hand. ¡°A warning about what?¡± he asked.


    ¡°To stay in your place, Ibex,¡± Sarkola answered. ¡°The Razor Boars finally hold the highest status amongst the clans, our rightful place. This is to warn your mo¡¯huran not to do anything foolish in the far lands. You can¡¯t hope to reclaim your clan¡¯s status with any tribute, so don¡¯t go after something crazy.¡±


    Faydayo inched closer to the Boar leader. ¡°I¡¯ll lead my mo¡¯huran to whatever tribute Maw¡¯Goro deserves,¡± he said.


    Zana and Pykor stood behind Faydayo, also wielding the war clubs. Kardan joined as well, but he was only armed with a throwing stick. And Yuliko followed too, she carried no weapon.


    Sarkola nodded to his colleagues and they tossed two stained red ibex horns at the feet of Faydayo. The symbol for ¡®Thrall,¡¯ a rope, had crudely been etched into one horn, and the skull symbol for ¡®Death¡¯ had been etched into the other.


    ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡± Faydayo asked.


    ¡°Those are your choices,¡± Sarkola said. ¡°When we return from our Great Journeys we shall be active members of our clans. My father is high chieftain, which means I shall be high chieftain someday. I want to establish the terms between our clans now. Either you can submit to Razor Boar supremacy, or your clan can die.¡±


    His father, High Chieftain Vogon, ran his clan very differently than Chieftain Domylo. Vogon favored returning to the same few campsites as they migrated, planting seasonal crops in cleared areas of land. It produced more food, and the Razor Boars were the biggest clan, requiring more food. However, the practice of removing trees for planting was very controversial amongst the clans. Now that Vogon was the high chieftain he was pressuring the other clans to follow his way.


    Faydayo grunted and shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re a foolish boy. Black Glass People don¡¯t threaten each other so readily. And you''re even more foolish if you think the Boars could defeat the Ibexes. You can¡¯t even win at hoopball.¡±


    Sarkola laughed ¡°You¡¯re the fool. You led your mo¡¯huran right where I wanted.¡±


    ¡°Is this what you wanted?¡± Faydayo said, raising his club to strike.


    Everyone gathered on the flats, tense, ready for action, but Yuliko rushed forward. ¡°Stop! Wait! Don¡¯t fight!¡±


    The Ibex leader turned to look at her, hot in the face, still poised to attack.


    ¡°Faydayo was right that Glass People don¡¯t threaten each other like this,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°We are civilized people. Status is decided at the gatherings, we all know that.¡±


    Sarkola looked her over, and then broke out into laughter once more, ¡°Whoop! Whoop! What do we have here? The very girl we have to thank for raising our status. What was your name again, Totem-Loser?¡±


    ¡°Yuliko,¡± she said.


    ¡°Ah, yes, Yuliko. The one who was gored by an elk or something like that?¡± Sarkola said.


    ¡°Something like that,¡± she answered.


    Yuliko noticed that not all of the Boar¡¯s seemed eager to fight. Half of them were hanging in the back and didn¡¯t seem to be having the fun that Sarkola was. One of them, a girl with a bowl cut, who carried a medicine bag, was looking at Krissa¡¯s head injury with concern.


    And Sarkola noticed that Yuliko also had a red handprint, which gave him another wry smile. ¡°What¡¯s this? Were you tasked to be Faydayo¡¯s babysitter? Too inexperienced, is that right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need a babysitter,¡± Faydayo yelled, getting up in Sarkola¡¯s face.


    ¡°My red means nothing,¡± Yuliko said, then she lowered her head. ¡°Faydayo is our mo¡¯huran leader and he is worthy.¡±


    ¡°If you say so,¡± Sarkola said. He puffed up at Faydayo before moving past him to stand in front of Yuliko. ¡°What about you, huh, girl? Are you worthy? If you were in my clan you wouldn¡¯t even be allowed to Journey. I would have made you my thrall.¡±


    ¡°I guess it''s a good thing for me that I¡¯m not in your clan,¡± she said.


    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Sarkola said, grazing his hand down her arm. He had a prominent chin and cheekbones. His eyes were shallow and mischievous. ¡°You might like being my thrall.¡±


    Yuliko swatted away his hand. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s gonna make you a thrall once he¡¯s in charge,¡± Sarkola said, nodding at Faydayo. ¡°Except he won¡¯t be nice to you like I would. I¡¯d show you how thankful I am for raising my clan up, Yuliko.¡± He said her name with emphasis, to show he remembered.


    Yuliko was struck by the truth of those words. It was no secret Faydayo resented her. The whole clan resented her. They¡¯d all be happy to make her a thrall. It was only her father¡¯s status as chieftain that had protected her from such a fate. Maybe she would be better off in another clan.


    ¡°She¡¯s an Ibex,¡± Faydayo said. ¡°And she¡¯s done talking to you.¡± Then he tapped her arm. ¡°Stand back, Yuliko.¡±


    Yuliko lowered her head again to Faydayo as she stepped backward. ¡°Can we please just agree to put away our weapons. We are all Black Glass People.¡± She made a show of setting down her own spear.


    ¡°I said you were done talking, Yuliko,¡± Faydayo said tersely.


    She lowered her head further.


    Faydayo stared at Sarkola harshly. Yuliko thought she could feel furious heat radiating off of Faydayo the same way she felt the heat of Maw''Goro on the soles of her feet.


    ¡°We came out here to collect obsidian cores. We have done that,¡± he said, and then he sheathed his war club back into his belt. ¡°You¡¯ve said what you had to say. We should both go our separate ways now.¡±


    The amount of restraint shown by Faydayo just now surprised Yuliko. And relieved her. A fight with another clan before their Great Journeys would be a bad omen if there ever was one. She didn¡¯t need to be a shaman to know that. And thankfully, Faydayo realized it too.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve said what I had to say,¡± Sarkola replied. ¡°But you haven¡¯t made your choice.¡± He pointed to the two ibex horns. Thrall or Death.


    Faydayo looked back at his mo¡¯huran, pelted with welt marks, all visibly afraid and angry. Minty had begun treating the especially bad welt on Krissa with a healing clay. She may have a concussion. The fighters were ready for action. Kardan especially, who had moved next to Yuliko. They all knew the smart choice. This was a child¡¯s game, with no bearing on the real standing of the clan. And besides, the Ibexes were already the lowest ranking clan. But picking up the thrall horn would make him look weak. It would be shameful. Both the Thrall and Death choices were meant to make him look weak and shamed. But one choice led to violence.


    Her eyes hooked into Faydayo¡¯s as looked over his crew. She pleaded with her gaze for him to put aside his pride, just for this instance. She thought she caught recognition in his golden-brown eyes.


    Faydayo turned back to Sarkola. ¡°I¡¯ll answer you.¡± And he knelt between the two red painted horns. He raised both his hands, letting them hover ambiguous for a moment. Then, slowly reached down and grabbed the thrall horn.


    Yuliko felt the tension in her body release. Most everyone else appeared relieved as well. The air felt palpably lighter. Kardan though, shook his head disagreeably.


    Still knelt down, Faydayo said. ¡°The Ibex swear service to the high chieftain. Not you.¡±


    Sarkola scoffed. ¡°Fine. Very good. I shall be the high chieftain someday though, and I¡¯ll remember this vow. Rise and our mo¡¯hurans may both be on our way.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s just one thing,¡± Faydayo said, clutching the ibex horn. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have hurt the goat.¡± Faydayo swung the curved horn like a hook club at Sarkola¡¯s ankles, tripping him. Then Faydayo sprung and pinned Sarkola to the ground.


    Then the rest of Ibexes and Razor Boars attacked.

 Chapter 5

    Suddenly war clubs were clashing across the lava top. Pykor, Zana, and Kardan each engaged a Razor Boar fighter. Faydayo had Sarkola pinned to the ground, forcing his mohawk to the rock floor. Krissa watched on in a daze, her forehead now smeared with gray clay.


    ¡°Everyone, stop fighting!¡± Yuliko yelled.


    Minty and the Razor Boar healer also shouted for a break in the combat, but their yells went unanswered. The Ibex and the Boars swiped at each other and parried blows. The two groups were more or less equally matched.


    Zana dashed and dodged, as leopard-like as her tattoos, artfully moving around the burly young man she dueled. So another Boar jumped in on her, putting her on the defensive. They were backing her into a rock wall as she fended off their blows.


    Kardan¡¯s opponent, a girl with her hair trimmed short, managed to whack his throwing stick out of his hands, so Kardan had lunged upon her war club, and now they wrestled over the weapon, kicking and punching.


    Faydayo dug his knee into Sarkola. ¡°Tell your people to back off!¡±


    ¡°Go roll in dung, Ibex!¡± Sarkola answered.


    Faydayo clapped the side of the Boar leader¡¯s with his fist. ¡°Tell them!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll piss where you sleep!¡± Sarkola yelled.


    Then he grabbed a nearby rock and struck Faydayo in his crown, knocking him off top of him. Sarkola tried to reverse the table and pin Faydayo, but the two became locked in a wrestling match on the ground.


    Yuliko watched the scene unfold. It was a disgraceful display between two Black Glass clans. They were one people, crafted from the molten life force within the great volcano, meant to dwell on these lands together, peacefully. They all shared Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s hot blood, it was not right for them to fight each other.


    ¡°Stop! Stop it! Are all of you crazy!¡± she yelled.


    But she got no response. The fight continued. Yuliko looked up the mountain, where in the distance trails of lava flowed. She was sure Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s blood had not run so heavy when they first got to the base of the volcano. Yuliko got a bad feeling. Like this was only a prelude to something more dangerous. Maybe Krissa had been right, the mutilated ibex might mean something important.


    The brawl was not progressing in the Ibex Clan¡¯s favor. Zana had been cornered against the rock wall by the two Boars. And Pykor was also losing ground to his fast whipping opponent, who swung their club so fast Pykor was always being pushed back. The girl with the short hair wrestling with Kardan headbutted him, and he tumbled backward to the ground. She smashed the club down hard at Kardan, but he crawled backward, avoiding the blows.


    ¡°Oh, Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s ashes!¡± Yuliko said to herself upon seeing Kardan in danger. She dashed forward and grabbed the red painted ibex horn with the ¡®death¡¯ symbol. Before the Boar could bring her club down on Kardan, Yuliko swung the horn into the woman''s gut, knocking the wind out of her. Then Yuliko kicked the short-haired woman over.


    Yuliko ran over to help Kardan up.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he said as he took her hand.


    Then she saw that Zana was being overwhelmed by the two Boars cornering her. Yuliko pointed and Kardan nodded. He ran and struck one of them in the back, giving Zana the chance to break out and take control of the battle.


    Yuliko almost followed after them, but something on the horizon caught her attention. It had just been an instant, but she thought she saw a figure in the distance.


    Closeby, Faydayo still lay entangled with Sarkola, each trying to force the other¡¯s limbs to the breaking point, so they might submit. The two rolled across the ground, Faydayo managed to get on top, but then Sarkola had him twisted by the wrist.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°You tell your people to back off,¡± Sarkola said.


    ¡°Go lick a pig pen!¡± Faydayo replied.


    Sarkola swiftly jerked on Faydayo¡¯s twisted wrist, causing him to scream.


    That jolted Yuliko out of her scan of the horizon, and she ran over to the two embattled mo¡¯huran leaders. She hovered the end of the death horn over Sarkola¡¯s face. ¡°Let him go.¡±


    ¡°I got this,¡± Faydayo said, in pain.


    ¡°I know. I¡¯m just helping,¡± Yuliko told Faydayo, then she faced back to the Razor Boar leader. ¡°I said let him go.¡±


    ¡°No. Faydayo the big boy doesn¡¯t want your help, Totem-Loser,¡± Sarkola said.


    ¡°I can handle this, Yuliko,¡± Faydayo said, gritting his teeth.


    ¡°Seriously, we shouldn¡¯t be doing this,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°I saw something out in the yard.¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯m going to fall for a trick like that?¡± Sarkola said, struggling to maintain his hold on his opponent¡¯s wrist.


    ¡°No trick,¡± Yuliko told him.


    Sarkola¡¯s eyes darted to the symbol etched into the ibex horn. ¡°Ah, I see you choose death.¡±


    His eyes flicked back up to Yuliko¡¯s. She thought she saw something darker than power-hunger in those eyes. Like he had wanted them to choose death all along.


    But in the split second he shared his dark gaze with Yuliko, Faydayo had broken free of his hold. In an instant, Faydayo slipped his arms beneath Sarkola and trapped him in a headlock.


    He took a moment to give Yuliko an unwelcome glare, before shouting at his captive, ¡°Call off your people!¡±


    ¡°Goat lover!¡± Sarkola yelled back.


    ¡°Faydayo, I really did see something out there,¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°Not now,¡± Faydayo grunted.


    Yuliko scanned back out over the horizon. Just more mounds and coils of dried magma. But then she noticed Minty was staring out over the horizon too. Yuliko looked back down at the boys, still squirming. If they wanted to keep at each other, then so be it, she thought. And then she left them to their wrestling match and rushed over to Minty and Krissa.


    ¡°Did you see something out there?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I thought I saw movement,¡± Minty answered.


    ¡°Dead things move in the far lands,¡± Krissa said. That was another myth about the far lands. It is said that those that die there don¡¯t go to be reborn in Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s Sacred Fire like the Black Glass People do. Instead they are cursed to dwell in the Earthly Realm as corpses and ghouls.


    ¡°She¡¯s hurt,¡± Minty said.


    The welt on her forehead was large and the redness showed through the gray clay. And her eyes had a glaze to them.


    The fight showed no signs of ending. Faydayo still held Sarkola and they were yelling profanities at each other. The quick-handed duelist had pushed Pykor along the crest of a coil ridge. Kardan and Zana were now in a two against three battle since the short haired girl Boar had jumped back into the fight. The other Boars that were not fighting also appeared to be gazing out at the same point in the horizon.


    It was only a matter of time before someone got really hurt, and more than that, Yuliko was certain something was out there observing them now. She needed this fight to end, or maybe they were all going to get hurt.


    Yuliko looked at the red ibex horn in her hand. It had been crudely sawed off at the base, leaving an approximately fist sized hole at the end. The other end had been untouched, coming to a point.


    ¡°Minty, do you have a saw in your bag?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± the healer girl said. She dug through her medicine bag and pulled out a finely crafted saw-toothed blade made of razor sharp obsidian. This piece had been fashioned by Lion specifically for the clan¡¯s healers. The knapping was so delicately done one could hardly see the flaking edges. It had been made for dire medical situations, where a limb must be removed. This blade could saw right through the bone. Pieces like this can only be crafted by an obsidian master using vibrational knapping.


    ¡°Keep looking out,¡± Yuliko told Minty, then she used the serrated tool to saw off the tip of the ibex horn, making it open on both ends. Thanks to the high quality saw, it did not take her long to convert her impromptu weapon into a blowing horn.


    She looked back out at the fight. Somehow Sarkola had broken free and he was laying punches on Faydayo. Kardan and Zana were facing constant blows from the Boars. Pykor had been tripped by the quick Boar and he rolled down the lava coil.


    Yuliko raised the horn to her lips and blew. A low resonate sound bellowed across the yard. ¡°BWAAAAAAAH.¡± The horn was quite large and required all Yuliko¡¯s breath to sustain the wailing sound. The wail had a warbly quality to it, like something dying. ¡°BWAAAAAAAH!¡±


    The fighters all stopped mid-strike, and turned to look at the source of the noise. Yuliko blew until she had no more breath. ¡°BWAAAaaa. . .¡± Then she lowered the death horn and let the wide end drop to the ground. She took a big gulp of air and then yelled out, ¡°All of you stop fighting! There is something out there.¡±

 Chapter 6

    Yuliko stood with the death horn in hand, the heavy end on the ground. Reluctantly, the two mo¡¯hurans lowered their weapons and disengaged from their fight. Faydayo and Sarkola both scrambled up from the ground, casting hateful looks at each other as they brushed themselves off.


    ¡°What did you see?¡± Faydayo asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. A figure in the distance, like they were watching and then moved to a hiding place,¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°I saw them also, but it was two figures,¡± Minty added.


    ¡°Me as well. Two figures,¡± the Razor Boar girl with the bowlcut said.


    ¡°The Ibexes are trying to trick us now,¡± Sarkola snarled.


    Another Razor Boar spoke up, a skinny boy with an obsidian crescent necklace. ¡°Uma and I both saw it, Sarkola. The Totem-Loser speaks true.¡±


    Faydayo pounded his fist to his chest. ¡°Hyah! Ibexes, form up. We shall take these intruders.¡±


    ¡°Razor Boars, form up,¡± Sarkola said immediately after Faydayo. ¡°We shall take them first. Whoop! Whoop!¡±


    The Ibexes and the Boars all reassembled into their respective groups. The Ibexes gathered around where Krissa sat, her expression airy and glazed.


    ¡°She has a concussion,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°One person is already hurt, let¡¯s not do anything stupid, Faydayo.¡±


    ¡°You and Minty stay with her,¡± Faydayo said, then he waved to the rest of the group to head out.


    The Razor Boars also left their healer, Uma, behind to take care of the burly man, whom Zana had hurt pretty good during the fight.


    Faydayo led headlong towards the point in the horizon where the figure had been seen, followed by Zana and Pykor and Kardan in the rear.


    As Kardan passed by Yuliko he said, ¡°You¡¯re not really going to stay here, are you?¡±


    ¡°Ashes to that,¡± she answered and followed him at the tail of the group.


    ¡°That was good thinking, making yourself a blowing horn,¡± Kardan told her as they ran.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± she said, bashfully.


    The Ibexes raced across the lava yard, keeping pace with the Razor Boars despite the Boars having moccasins while they did not. They came to a rockledge made of tiered steps. Both mo¡¯hurans hopped up eagerly trying to get ahead of the other, even though the smart thing to do would have been to move slowly and spy over the ledge. But, boldly with abandon, Faydayo and Sarkola jumped up to the top of the ledge with their mo¡¯hurans right behind them.


    ¡°WHOOP! WHOOP!¡± The Razor Boars yelled!


    ¡°HYAH! HYAH!¡± The Ibexes called out.


    The youths crowded round the intruders, waving their clubs and spears. ¡°Surrender or die!¡± Faydayo and Sarkola¡¯s voices rang.


    Yuliko was the last Ibex to climb up. When she did get across she found all the Glass People who had just been fighting were now working together to pin in the new opponents. She pushed her way through the circle beside Kardan and saw three travel-weary flatheads who had already laid down their spears.


    The flatheads were shorter than man kin, with broad bodies, and were so named for their flat faces. Flatheads are known to be strong, stronger than man kin, some say. But these flatheads looked scrawny and malnourished. There was one man and two women. It was hard for Yuliko to tell their age, they might have been about their own ages, but their pale bodies and hardened faces made them appear old and withered. Their spears were quickly snatched away.


    ¡°On your knees!¡± Sarkola shouted, then he kicked the man in the rear to drive home his point.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The flatheads had their arms outstretched to show they meant no harm, but they did not drop to their knees.


    ¡°I said down on your knees!¡± Sarkola said, then he kicked the flathead again.


    ¡°They don¡¯t understand you, dungball!¡± Kardan shouted.


    ¡°Oh, they understand,¡± Sarkola said, then he grabbed the flathead by the shoulder and forced him down. The two women flatheads followed and dropped to their knees. ¡°See. Any dumb animal understands simple commands.¡±


    It was plain to Yuliko that the flatheads were not animals. Just like the flathead woman with the seashell necklace she had seen so long ago, she could read the expressions on these flatheads¡¯ faces. And they looked afraid.


    ¡°What are these creatures doing here?¡± the boy wearing the obsidian crescent necklace said. ¡°This is sacred Glass People land.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Sarkola said. ¡°The intruders should be killed.¡±


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t!¡± Yuliko shouted.


    Faydayo shot her an ugly look, realizing she had disobeyed his order to stay with Krissa. But then he turned to Sarkola. ¡°They should be captured and brought to Chieftain Domylo for judgment,¡± he said.


    Sarkola spat on the ground, then said, ¡°Domylo of the Ibex is the lowest status chieftain. If they are to be brought to anyone, then it shall be High Chieftain Vogon of the Razor Boars.¡± Then he started walking in a circle around the three kneeling flatheads. ¡°But why should we bother my chieftain father with such petty matters. The flatheads already forfeited their lives by stepping their filthy bodies on Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s yard.¡± Sarkola slowly lowered the head of his war club near the temple of one of the flathead¡¯s women¡¯s skulls and let it hang.


    With a whimper, the woman began gesturing with her fist moving across her chest in small circular movements, the traveler¡¯s sign for ¡®passing through.¡¯ There were a select number of hand signals universally used across the lands for the most basic communication. There were also traveler¡¯s signs for ¡®seeking aid¡¯ and ¡®danger nearby¡¯ and other things of that sort. But the flathead woman merely kept gesturing ¡®passing through.¡¯


    Yuliko fought the urge to shout at Sarkola to put down his weapon. These strangers were clearly no threat, they were cooperating as much as they could, maybe they could learn something important from these people. But it was not Yuliko¡¯s place to say anything, she¡¯d already overstepped by following the party up the ledge. She desperately hoped Faydayo would be smarter than Sarkola.


    ¡°They are not fighting. If they are to die on the hardened blood of Maw¡¯Goro, then it should be done through a proper sacrifice by a shaman. Not like this,¡± Faydayo said.


    That was a clever move, Yuliko thought. Faydayo had framed it so that if Sarkola were to kill the flatheads now, then he would be denying the great spirit a formal offering.


    Yuliko could see it in Sarkola''s eyes, that he wanted to make a sacrifice, here and now, by his own hand. However, Sarkola lowered his club away from the woman¡¯s head.


    The woman exhaled in relief. Then gave the traveler¡¯s sign for ¡®Thank you.¡¯


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet,¡± Sarkola said, then nodded to the boy with the crescent necklace. ¡°I may decide that Nokomo will be performing his first formal sacrifice today.¡±


    Nokomo did not seem thrilled about the prospect of that, but also did not protest.


    The flathead man began signaling with his hands, but it was not traveler¡¯s signs. He was also making the occasional grunting sound. The grunts varied in tone and inflection. He was speaking his own language, which appeared to be some combination of hand gestures and grunt noises. It was all gibberish to the Black Glass youths that surrounded the foreigners.


    All gibberish except for one word that Lion had taught Yuliko. Lion had learned to speak the language of one of the flathead clans, for he had wintered with a clan long ago on his Great Journey. He would sometimes say this word as he stared at an obsidian core, examining long and hard before ever making his first break. He would grunt a sound like ¡°Gruh,¡± and wiggle the fingers in one hand. That was a flathead word for ¡®Fire.¡¯


    Yuliko shared a look with Kardan. He had understood the meaning too. Kardan had spent the most time with Lion, and had picked up a handful more words of that particular flathead language. The obsidian master¡¯s apprentice looked to Faydayo. ¡°Chief, may I try speaking with him?¡± Kardan had used the formal title for the leader of the mo¡¯huran trying to show Faydayo respect in front of the Razor Boars.


    Faydayo nodded in approval, but then Sarkola spoke up, ¡°The only one doing the questioning here is me.¡±


    ¡°He knows some flathead words,¡± Faydayo said. ¡°You know nothing.¡± And he nodded again to Kardan.


    Kardan didn¡¯t give Sarkola another chance to pipe in, and moved in front of the male flathead. Kardan started off by making the signal for ¡®Friend.¡¯ The flathead nodded and repeated the gesture. ¡°They mean to be friendly,¡± Kardan said to the group.


    Next, Kardan signed and grunted the word for ¡®Great Journey.¡¯ In his time wintering with the flatheads, Lion had been amazed to learn that the flathead clan also had a word for the Great Journey, and that it was a custom they also practiced. But, these scrawny flatheads shook their heads at the Great Journey signal. Instead the man pointed south, and used the traveler¡¯s hand signal for ¡®Walking.¡¯ The flatheads were traveling south but not on a Great Journey.


    Kardan tried the traveler hand signal for ¡®Trade.¡¯ The flathead shook his head no, and signaled again ¡®Walking.¡¯ Then Kardan repeated the gesture for fire with its matching grunt. The man nodded yes, fire. Then he raised his hands as high in the air as possible, standing on his tip-toes.


    Big fire. He swept his arms around, gesturing to the whole landscape. Big fire everywhere.

 Chapter 7

    They didn¡¯t get any more information from the flatheads. Only that they were traveling southward after some great fire. Faydayo and Sarkola spent a good deal of time arguing over who would take the flatheads captive back to their chieftain. By standing rights, the Razor Boars¡¯ claim outranked the Ibexes, since they were of the highest status. However, it had been Yuliko, an Ibex, to make the first sighting, and Kardan was the most capable of communicating with the flatheads.


    In the end, Sarkola¡¯s claim won out, since Faydayo didn¡¯t wish to bring any disrespect from the high chieftain upon his clan. And also, the Ibexes needed to properly dispose of the mutilated goat carcass. It wasn¡¯t right for it to lay on Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s yard with its guts hanging out.


    ¡°Perhaps these flatheads would make good workers once they are properly fed,¡± Sarkola had said before departing back to the Razor Boar camp. ¡°Maybe my chieftain father might make them his thralls instead of sacrifices.¡± Then the Boar mo¡¯huran left with their foreign captives.


    The Ibexes built a stretcher to carry back the slaughtered goat. Faydayo forced Yuliko to drag the ibex out of the lava yard as punishment for disobeying his order to wait with Krissa and Minty, and for speaking when he had ordered her silence. The goat was heavy, and attracting flies. They also collected both the horns that had been sawed off the poor beast, ¡®Thrall¡¯ and ¡®Death.¡¯


    Those were poor words to be debased upon the majestic ibex. And poor choices for the Ibex Clan. Yuliko thought of the thralls¡¯ existence in the Ibex possession. They¡¯re lives were mostly menial work that the full clan members did not wish to do; processing the hunted game, grinding grain meal, washing linens, digging waste trenches, and so on. All the thralls in the clan were Chieftain Domylo¡¯s by right, but he assigned them out to different hearths as needed, and as rewards. A thrall had to wish that they¡¯re overseer was benevolent, otherwise their life could be filled with harassment and beatings. It was plain to see that the Razor Boars led by Sarkola would not be benevolent.


    They made the long walk back across the lava yard. Yuliko reflected upon the events of the day as she marched with the extra burden. She wondered if any mo¡¯hurans had ever had such an eventful trek fetching their cores for the Pledge Rite. It was an especially poor start for Faydayo, who had not only had his authority threatened by Yuliko and Kardan, but he had ultimately faced great humiliation at the hands of Sarkola. Letting the Boars¡¯ butchery of the goat and their attack on his mo¡¯huran go unretaliated was a bitter root to chew. And letting the flatheads go in the custody of the Boars had been another strike against Faydayo¡¯s pride. There had even been a ground tremor, a bad omen from the spirits themselves.


    Yuliko was terribly exhausted by the time they saw the treeline of the rainforest. Her arms ached and her feet were more sore than they had ever been in her life. They passed back over the mound they had stood upon during the nominations, but the area was empty now, all the clan members had returned to the Ibex camp.


    So many unexpected events had occurred today, Yuliko was half-afraid she might see the green man strutting out the treeline again. But she was able to carry the stretcher across the threshold of the lava yard to the rainforest uninterrupted.


    Now that they had reached ground soil, they halted to bury the goat. He had already been savaged enough by the Boars, they didn¡¯t wish for animals to desecrate the ibex any more. They found a nice spot by a grove of tall tan-white yungit trees.


    ¡°Hey Kardan,¡± Faydayo said as they dug using hard reedcane stalks. ¡°Good fighting out there.¡±


    ¡°You too,¡± Kardan said with a nod. And they continued to dig without saying any more.


    After the hole was finished, the goat was placed inside along with the thrall horn. Krissa told Yuliko to hold onto the death horn while she blessed the goat¡¯s journey to the Other World.


    Despite her concussion, Krissa was still performing her shaman duties, though she kept getting the ibex confused with a person. ¡°He wasn¡¯t well known to us. But to others he was a beloved son and brother and friend. And he was a hunter, right? Or, maybe he was a potter. I don¡¯t know. Perhaps that doesn¡¯t matter. May his next journey in the Other World be a joyful one,¡± Krissa concluded. Then she sprinkled a handful of herbs over the corpse, and then she looked to Yuliko, ¡°Go ahead. Blow the man¡¯s horn.¡±


    Yuliko really wished Krissa had chosen someone else for this task, regardless, she blew the horn. ¡°BWAAAAH!¡± Its low resonate bellow was far more muffled under the forest canopy. It seemed the right tone for the day that they had had. A wailful sound. As the horn called out, Yuliko felt the ground beneath her feet shaking.


    She stopped blowing, and heard the leaves rustling and the land groaning. Another tremor. Yuliko watched the freshly dug mounds of earth shift and scatter. She lowered the horn and held out her hands trying to keep balance.


    The others were doing the same. This tremor was stronger than the one they had felt in the yard. And it lasted longer too. Krissa, who had been standing over the grave, lost her footing and tumbled down on top of the dead ibex. A branch snapped off a yungit tree above Pykor and Zana. They dodged artfully, narrowly avoiding being crushed.


    Yuliko felt the ground lift up beneath her, then she was toppled over, face in the dirt. Dirt spilled all around her. She could not push herself back up amidst the trembling ground. For an instant she thought she was going to be buried by the dirt.


    But after another moment, the quaking slowed until finally ceasing entirely.


    Yuliko pushed herself up out of the loose earth. She had fallen on top of the mound from digging out the goat grave. She stood up, shakily, and brushed the soil out of her hair. She frantically scanned all around her, searching for a green man coming out the trees again. But she saw none.


    Kardan called out to see if everyone was alright, and one-by-one they weakly replied that they were. She looked behind her to see Faydayo jumping into the grave hole to help Krissa out.


    ¡°This is another omen,¡± Krissa said, as he took her hand.


    ¡°There are only so many omens I can take in a day,¡± Faydayo said, then he lifted her up and out of the hole.


    ¡°This may be a good omen, I think,¡± Krissa said. ¡°I think it means our Great Journey is important. Our Journey will be special.¡±


    Faydayo stared at her skeptically after she said that. ¡°I think you need to rest back at camp.¡±


    ¡°No, Faydayo, I feel it. This has all meant something. You are to be our leader on a very special Journey,¡± Krissa said. The welt on her forehead had evolved into a nut sized bump, the gray healing clay cracked and peeling over it, like an outer layer of dead skin.


    Faydayo shook his head, like he didn¡¯t dare believe what she said to be true. Then he ordered everyone to quickly finish burying the ibex. They were long past due to be back at camp.


    Even though Krissa¡¯s words couldn¡¯t necessarily be believed in her current state, she was a shaman-to-be, she knew magic. Yuliko found herself wishing her claim about this Journey being special were true. Maybe there would be a chance for her to redeem herself and restore the clan¡¯s status. But also, though she didn¡¯t want to admit it, she was jealous she would not be the leader of the important mo¡¯huran.


    In any case, it was better to believe they were receiving positive signs from the spirits, as opposed to the alternative. She had thought a lot about what the tremor had meant the day of her incident, and she had never considered that it could be good.


    Kardan joined Yuliko¡¯s side as they shoveled the dirt. ¡°Hey, are you good?¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we got another one of those.¡±


    ¡°Yeah . . . Do you think the tremors could be omens?¡± Yuliko said. Then she asked what she was really wondering. ¡°Do you think Maw¡¯Goro might be angry?¡±


    Kardan frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know about omens,¡± he said. ¡°But Lion says Maw¡¯Goro is always willing to let great things be made from his black glass. And the Journey is like the knapping of glass, so why would Maw¡¯Goro be angry?¡±


    Yuliko looked down at her antler wound scar, painted over by Eshika¡¯s red hand. ¡°Perhaps he is angry at me. For losing the clan totem. Perhaps Maw¡¯Goro considers me unworthy.¡±


    ¡°Stop that,¡± Kardan said flatly.


    ¡°What?¡± Yulika said.


    ¡°Stop with that nonsense. Get it out of your head,¡± Kardan said. ¡°You were nominated like each of us. By Lion and Eshika. Who¡¯s better to say if one is worthy, huh?¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°I guess so,¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°It is so. And besides, didn¡¯t you here, those were good omens,¡± Kardan said, smiling wryly. ¡°We¡¯re on a special Journey.¡±


    Yuliko smiled back, though she could not dismiss the tremors as easily as Kardan. Her fears of the green man emerging out of the trees haunted her again. Yuliko could half-remember her fever dreams in the days just after the incident. She remembered being in the girls¡¯ hut, alone, and looking out the windows to see all the trees had bark of a marble white, even the dark brown pappo trees had gone pale. But then she¡¯d realized she¡¯s not alone, the antlered green man was watching from the corner. Then the hut would quake and Yuliko would try to escape, but suddenly the ground outside would be flowing hot lava, and she was trapped in the hut. Similar dreams had returned to her occasionally since waking from her fever and she couldn¡¯t believe they meant nothing.


    As they refilled the ibex grave, they unearthed the ibex horn Yuliko had blown. The ¡®Death¡¯ etching poking out the soil. The tremor had somehow buried the thing under the dirt, just like Yuliko had been afraid would happen to her.


    She added the horn to the grave and they shoveled it closed.


    #


    It had rained on them as they walked from the gravesite. Though the rain didn¡¯t bother them. They were used to frequent rains, and it was cooling after all events of the lava yard. Black Glass people didn¡¯t wear much clothing. What they did wear was made of thin cloth and animal skins wraps. So after the rainclouds passed, they were dry as they came into the camping grounds, though it was nearly dark.


    They were all exhausted and dirty. Many had bruises and scrapes from the fighting. And Krissa was in desperate need of rest to recover from her concussion. Yuliko wondered if the others¡¯ feet hurt half as much as her own.


    First they passed the cattle and goat herds kept on the outer perimeter, and people were coming out to greet the journeyers, as was tradition after their first trek as a mo¡¯huran. As they got closer to the central array of huts more and more people were coming out to wave them on.


    The huts were made of wood and straw. Most of them were big enough to accommodate multiple families under a single roof. They were built from pre-made wall and roof planks that could be set up and taken apart quickly. The Black Glass People migrated at least twice a year, at the end of each dry and wet season, sometimes more frequently if the area was over-burdened. Torches lined the walkway through the camp, bathing the tribespeople in orange light.


    Scores of clanspeople, many bedecked in obsidian jewelry, cheered on the returning youths as they walked through the camp, as was the custom after a groups first venture as a mo¡¯huran. Though, they also received many uncustomary odd looks, for it was not usual to return looking so battered. Still, Yuliko, welcomed the positivity emanating from her tribe, for it had been a hard day and it was nice to be back home. She waved back to them happily.


    It was tradition for the mo¡¯huran to present their chosen cores to the obsidian master, where he would assess them and enrich the glass with vibrational magic. But it was also urgent that they meet with Chieftain Domylo and inform him about the encounters with the Razor Boars and the flatheads.


    Krissa was taken by Makala once she saw the welt on her head and glazed look in her eyes. Faydayo took her obsidian core so they could complete the enrichment ritual for her.


    ¡°Minty! Yuliko!¡± a familiar voice shouted out from the crowd. They spotted one of the younger girls with her hair in pigtails, Tati, jumping up and waving with both hands. ¡°Did you feel the earthquake?¡± she asked.


    Tati was Makala¡¯s daughter. She and Minty had become very close during her apprenticeship, and since Yuliko had spent months healing after the incident she had grown close to Tati too. The three girls were practically sisters by this point.


    ¡°Oh yeah, we felt it,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°It was just a tremor though.¡± She purposefully downplayed how scary the experience had been for her.


    ¡°Well, it was a big tremor. It knocked down Piquio and Roma¡¯s hut,¡± Tati said, walking alongside Yuliko and Minty.


    ¡°Oh no, was anyone hurt?¡± Minty asked.


    ¡°No, everyone¡¯s fine,¡± Tati said. ¡°But you all look like you were wrestling hobs,¡±


    ¡°Nothing that exciting,¡± Yuliko told her. ¡°But we did see flatheads.¡±


    ¡°Now way!¡± Tati exclaimed.


    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Minty said. ¡°Though, they did not look well.¡±


    ¡°What do you¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hi, Kardan!¡± an overly sweet voice rang from the crowd. It was another one of the younger girls, Gidiya. She had long straight hair that she twirled as she budged herself into the walk.


    ¡°Uh, hi, Gidiya,¡± Kardan said.


    ¡°Was everything alright on your trip? Eshika was getting strange signals from Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s plume. Plus there was the tremor. And I think I saw Krissa was hurt. How¡¯d that happen?¡± Gidiya said, almost in one breath. She was the shaman¡¯s other apprentice, only taken on the last season, when it had been determined Krissa would be ascending to adulthood.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s good. We¡¯ll tell you about it later,¡± Kardan said with finality.


    ¡°Oh, alright, sure,¡± Gidiya said disappointed, then she reached into her satchel. ¡°Hey, I made you something.¡± Then she held out a bracelet made of intricately woven cord interlaced with red jasper beads. ¡°I was gonna hold off until the feast, but I couldn¡¯t wait.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t have,¡± Kardan said.


    ¡°Let me put it on you,¡± Gidiya said.


    ¡°Right now?¡± Kardan asked, but she had already grabbed his wrist and she was tightening the slipknot.


    ¡°Awesome. Thank you,¡± Kardan told her, chagrined. ¡°Okay, I gotta finish my trek.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, alright,¡± Gidiya said, and she turned around to rejoin the crowd, but then she saw Tati walking with Yuliko. She stepped next to Tati and whispered to her, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be so close to her. The Totem-Loser is cursed.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not cursed. She¡¯s my friend,¡± Tati said staunchly, stopping to face Gidiya.


    Gidiya looked Yuliko over from head to toe. ¡°She looks kinda cursed. I¡¯m glad she¡¯s not in our mo¡¯huran.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to her,¡± Yuliko said to Tati, tugging on her arm to move along. Tati stuck her tongue out at Gidiya as they continued walking.


    ¡°She¡¯s stupid. I don¡¯t know why you like her, Kardan,¡± Tati said.


    ¡°Yeah, Kardan, why do you like her?¡± Minty teased.


    ¡°I was just being nice,¡± Kardan said defensively.


    The girls laughed at Kardan¡¯s expense. Yuliko outwardly laughed along with her friends, but she was perfectly aware that Gidiya might actually be a desirable mate for Kardan. She was a shaman¡¯s apprentice with status, and she was pretty too. Inwardly Yuliko chanted to the spirits for Kardan not to care about her own lowly status as a mate.


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair the two of you get to go together and I¡¯ll be stuck with Gidiya and her friends,¡± Tati said.


    ¡°That is a long while from now,¡± Minty said. ¡°You could be all their friends by then.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that,¡± Tati said dryly.


    They were falling behind the others. They were already getting close to the chieftain¡¯s hut. ¡°We must finish our trek now,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°We¡¯ll see you again before the Pledge Rite.¡±


    ¡°You promise?¡± Tati said.


    ¡°We promise,¡± Yuliko and Minty said together, then Tati stepped back into the crowd and waved them on.


    Faydayo led the party to the largest hut in the center of the camp. The doorway was framed by two large pappo tree trunks, carved with images of Maw¡¯Goro, embodied as a triangle figure, and his great fire spreading over the lands, consuming plants and animals and other beasts, burning people, warriors and shaman and chieftains alike.


    The journeyers stood lined up like they had at the mound with Yuliko in last rank. Soon, the beaded curtain door was pulled apart for Chieftain Domylo¡¯s entrance. He emerged wearing his snakeskin vest, flanked on his sides by Lion and Eshika. The esteemed clanspeople marched between the pappo trunk pillars. Yuliko noticed her father glance her way, and look at her red handprint, before turning stoically forward.


    ¡°We return with powerful cores from the hot heart of Maw¡¯Goro,¡± Faydayo declared.


    ¡°Let us see Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s power,¡± Domylo said.


    The journeyers each knelt and placed their obsidian core in front of them. Domylo nodded to Lion, who stepped forward and walked in front of the line of kneeling young people, waving his hand over each core they had selected. He came to Yuliko¡¯s last, he smiled at her through his bushy beard, and after he had assessed her core he clapped his hands twice to signify all the cores were of the appropriate magical power.


    Next, Lion moved to the center of the lineup, and he began to hum and wave his arms around in contradicting circles. As he did so his hands twitched between various mystical gestures, only known to the most skilled obsidian masters,


    Yuliko could swear she felt a shift in the atmosphere. It seemed like the nearby torches burned brighter and hotter as Lion harnessed Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s strength. Yuliko felt a static-like tingle buzz across her body. It was as if the obsidian cores were absorbing the light from the brightening torches. The journeyers could feel heat coming from the cores. Then, Lion swept his hands forward, as if releasing the energy he had built up.


    During Lion¡¯s casting, Yuliko noticed that Eshika¡¯s attention was turned in the direction of Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s plume drifting upward into the sky.


    The brightness of the torches peaked and the tingling sensation reached a crescendo, before suddenly dwindling off and the torchlight faded back down to normal. Then the obsidian master bowed, and stepped back with Domylo and Eshika.


    ¡°Go now, and prepare for your Pledge Rite,¡± Domylo said. ¡°For soon you shall embark on your Great Journey.¡±


    The journeyers picked up their obsidian cores. To Yuliko it seemed that her core had increased in weight. It almost felt to her like the power of a rushing water current lay within the glass.


    With the formalities over, Yuliko stepped forward to inform her father of the ominous encounter with the flatheads. ¡°Father, I must speak with¡ª¡±


    ¡°Chieftain Domylo,¡± Faydayo said more loudly, budging himself between his mentor and Yuliko. ¡°I must speak with you on important matters.¡±


    Domylo looked at his daughter briefly, still stoic, then he flicked his attention on his apprentice. ¡°Yes, Faydayo, tell me inside.¡±


    Yuliko watched her father walk with Faydayo into the large hut, leaving her in the flickering orange torchlight.


    Then she turned to speak with the shaman. She needed an explanation for the red handprint, and her nomination. But Eshika had already disappeared too.

 Chapter 8

    The young men and women of the Ibex mo¡¯huran slept hard that evening, after they had their injuries treated and got some food. Yuliko¡¯s mother, Kuli, had saved her some roast mutton slices seasoned with ucca-yacca and wrapped in pappo leaf, along with a bowl of diced potatoes and sweet chilis. Her mother gave her the food without saying much, only that, ¡°You are such a skinny girl. You must remember to eat on your Journey.¡±


    That night Yuliko had another troublesome dream; in which the mo¡¯huran was marching through the rainforest, but all the tree leaves were a pale white. Yuliko wondered if the forest might be sick, as she walked under the white canopy glittering with sunlight. But then she thought that maybe the trees had been sick before, and this was how they were supposed to look. None of the others walking with her seemed to think anything strange of the trees.


    In the dream she was in last place in the marching order, as usual, and for some reason she kept falling behind. No matter how fast she moved the mo¡¯huran kept getting farther away from her. Yuliko looked behind and saw that an antlered green man was approaching out of the white trees. She shouted out for Kardan, who marched in front of her, but he did not hear. He and all the others left her alone in the white woods with the green man coming.


    Yuliko awoke drenched in sweat. She peeled off her linen cover and sat up on her bedroll. Damp hair strands dangled in her face.


    She bunked in the young womens¡¯ hut, for girls who have already flowered but not yet completed their adulthood ritual. Children would live in a family hut with their parents and perhaps one or two other families until approximately their thirteenth year, then they would be moved to either the young mens¡¯ or womens¡¯ hut where they would stay until it was time for them to join a group of journeyers. All the other girls were still asleep. It was the middle of the night.


    She stepped outside for some air. The moon was half waxing, but shining like it was full. A sea of shimmering stars swarmed the skyline, each patch of starscape competing to be more brilliant than the last. The air was always warm in the rainforests around Maw¡¯Goro, but at night it was a comfortable warm. Fresher out in the open than in the hut.


    She stood out there for some time, trying to forget the images of the encroaching green man, with his horns always seeking her out. She focused on the stars and tried to remember all heroes who had joined the sky spirits in starry sea. She was able to identify the stars that made up Brun the dragon hunter, who slayed the twin sister dragons, amongst many other beasts. Yuliko also found the stars for Lanola the first shepherd, who taught the Black Glass Tribe animal husbandry. Thanks to her the Glass People were able to raise goats and cattle and fowl for their many bounties. And Yuliko also spotted the constellation of Wukiki the magic stealer, who tricked spirits into inhabiting animals, then she would skin them alive and steal their power.


    And suddenly, as if the sky itself had been waiting for her, streaks of bright white light shot across the skyline, a half dozen of them in quick succession, right where she had been watching. She wondered if it were a sign from a sky spirit. But what could it mean? Her mind drifted back to Krissa¡¯s words after the second tremor, saying that this Great Journey would be special.


    #


    Yuliko steadily raised her arm with her hammerstone in hand. In the other she held the obsidian core perfectly still. Her vision was honed in on the exact spot she intended to strike. She could already see the knife within the core, she just had to hit the right spot, with the right force. Yuliko inhaled and held her breath. And then she swung down the hammerstone.


    Her heart-shaped obsidian core broke apart. Half the heart shattered into one large flake and many small ones. Yuliko picked up the large flake and twisted it around to examine from all sides. She smiled, it was a nearly perfect flake, just as she had imagined. It already had a long sharp edge that she could tweak with minimal flaking from the pressing stick. And it had a wide enough shaft for her to add a fluted indentation, that will allow her to fit the blade into a handle much more securely.


    The Ibex mo¡¯huran had all gotten their much needed sleep and were busy crafting their ritual blades out of the cores collected at Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s heart. Everyone except Krissa, who was still sleeping. Makala thought Krissa would be fine, but she just needed as much rest as she could get before the Pledge Rite. Kardan volunteered to craft her ritual blade for her. It was rather unorthodox, but little had been conventional for this mo¡¯huran so far.


    While the journeyers fashioned their knives, the rest of the camp prepared for the feast tonight. And the following morning their Great Journey will begin.


    Yuliko had already helped Minty knap her blade. Minty had done a good job, she had thought, though her breaks required much correction from the pressing stick. Regardless, Minty had crafted a fine, short blade, which she was now installing into her pappo wood handle.


    After helping her friend, Yuliko snuck off to a quiet place to do her knapping alone. Lion most often did his knapping alone, and Yuliko wanted to do everything the way he did it. She found a nice spot between two mammoth ear ferns.


    When you are knapping, a break is not destruction, a break is creation, Lion had taught her. As she examined the flake to become her ritual blade, Yuliko could clearly see his words to be true. She took the time to press shape the edges of the blade where necessary, pressing on a leather matt laid over her lap. Obsidian is hard, but brittle, making it an ideal material knap with. And because it is made from Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s blood, it can be sharper than other knapping materials like flint and chert.


    Her pressing stick was made of an antler tip jammed into the wedge of a stick handle, so that she had a hard blunt point to press against the glass. Yuliko never failed to remember that an antler point had once been jabbed into her. Too bad that hadn¡¯t flaked her into a sharp tool. Some breaks are just plain destruction, Yuliko thought.


    When she finally had her knife shaped and chipped exactly as desired, she was ready to begin the fluting. This was the most difficult part of the knapping process. The fluting would narrow the thickness of the part of the knife to be inserted in the handle. It requires precision, and if done incorrectly could ruin the whole piece. It was an advanced enough technique that only Kardan and Yuliko who had studied under Lion were attempting the process.


    She first needed to press out a square nub to be flaked off the side of the base. Then she would use a hammerstone for a direct strike at the nub. A strike at the wrong angle will fracture the length on the blade and she would have to start all over with an inferior flake. Yuliko sucked in her breath and envisioned the hammerstone colliding with the nub, just as she had done with the first break. She breathed out slowly, and inhaled again. Then she whacked the hammerstone against the nub, and thin slices of black glass chipped off exactly as intended. Yuliko was pleased with her work. Now all she had to do was the same thing on the other side.


    As she was pressing out the nub for the other side of the shaft, she felt the shadow of someone standing over her. Yuliko turned around to see her chieftain father watching with his signature impassive gaze. Yuliko set aside her knapping tools and rose.


    ¡°Good morning, Father,¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°Morning, Daughter,¡± Domylo said. ¡°You have become skilled with those tools.¡±


    That caught Yuliko off-guard. She lowered her head.


    ¡°Faydayo has informed me of all that transpired on your trek,¡± he said.


    ¡°Good. What do you think of the flatheads?¡± Yuliko said. ¡°I¡¯m concerned¡ª¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Her father raised his fist to chest-height with his knuckles facing her. Yuliko fell silent.


    ¡°Faydayo has told me you interfered with both the encounter with the Razor Boars and again with the flatheads,¡± the chieftain said. ¡°Do you not understand your place now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Father,¡± she said. ¡°But the situation¡ª¡±


    ¡°Every situation going forward requires you to obey your mo¡¯huran leader,¡± Domylo said. ¡°I find it concerning that you couldn¡¯t manage your first day without causing trouble. And even after Eshika spoke for you. Only she and her spirits know why she did that, but now your behavior risks shaming her too.¡±


    ¡°Father¡ª¡±


    ¡°You do understand that Faydayo has the power to cast you out of his mo¡¯huran,¡± he continued. ¡°And if you come back home that way you will be nothing but a thrall. I will not have that shame brought upon me or my clan.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª¡±


    ¡°You have already brought enough shame. Do you understand?¡±


    Yuliko fell to her knees, with her chin lowered to her chest. ¡°Yes, Father.¡±


    ¡°You disobeyed your leader in Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s yard, where you had a play squabble with the brute Boars. And you disobeyed your leader when the intruders turned out to be harmless,¡± her father said. ¡°But out in the far lands it won¡¯t be squabbles, and your encounters won¡¯t be harmless. You must follow your leader. Be a mo¡¯huran. Or you will not make it back. Do you understand?¡±


    Yuliko dropped her elbows and forehead to the ground, as low as she could present herself. ¡°Yes, Chieftain Domylo.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± her father told her. ¡°Go on with your knapping.¡± Then he left her alone by the ferns.


    Yuliko stayed motionless for a time, before rising in a huff. That had thrown off her groove. The fluting was too difficult a job to do with an unclear mind. She took several minutes to calmly rest and focus on her breathing. That¡¯s what Lion taught her to do when her mind was racing with thoughts when it should be focused on knapping. As she breathed she noticed the chirping of all the birds around her, the occasional skitter of some creature, the rustling of the mighty tall reedcane stalks as they swayed. After many long deep breaths she felt ready to continue with the fluting.


    Using the same technique as before she managed to knap off the thin flakes at the base, giving her knife the narrow shaft it needed. All that was left was to attach the blade to the handle. She had already carved a nice piece of dark brown pappo wood with a notch on one end to wedge the blade into. Thanks to her fluting the shaft would fit in snugly. First, Yuliko dipped the fluted base of the blade in tar, then inserted it into the notch in the handle. Next, she wound sinew string tightly around where the blade and handle met. Now she just needed to let the tar dry and her ritual blade would be complete.


    #


    Back in the young womens¡¯ hut, Yuliko and Minty showed Tati their ritual blades. Yuliko¡¯s was longer and of a higher quality, but Tati was impressed with both.


    ¡°So cool,¡± she said. ¡°Do these really have Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s magic inside them?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± Minty said. ¡°The cores of these ones covered a patch of Goro¡¯s ghostgrass, so I think they even have extra magic.¡±


    ¡°Wow,¡± Tati said. ¡°I want a magic knife.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get yours soon enough,¡± Yuliko said. She sheathed her knife into a leather holster on her belt.


    Yuliko and Minty were packing up their things for their Great Journey. They would be feasting tonight and they would commit their Pledge Rites first thing in the morning, so they had to be ready to go. They each had a backframe to tie their bags and bedrolls to. Yuliko would have two sets of clothing wraps. The ones she wore and a fresh set packed away. She also had her moccasins. And she would, of course, bring her knapping kit and the extra core. Along with her ritual knife she would have her flint spear, her atlatl, and a few throwing darts. Additionally, she would have her folding fan, a crescent scraper, a bone needle, sinew string, leather cord, flint and pyrite, a small pot of tar, and some soaproot, along with a few days'' rations.


    Minty packed much of the same gear, but instead of a knapping kit she had her toadskin medicine bag. It was made from the hides of poisonous toads who forewarned predators with bright blue and purple colors.


    ¡°Soooo,¡± Tati said coyly. ¡°I bet Kardan is glad you and he are in the same mo¡¯huran.¡±


    Yuliko¡¯s face turned red. ¡°Well, actually, he did say so.¡±


    ¡°Oooohhhh,¡± her friends said together with wide girlish smiles.


    ¡°Have you two kissed yet?¡± Tati asked.


    ¡°What! No, nothing like that,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°He has just shown me kindness, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°He stood up for you when Faydayo was being a jerk,¡± Minty said.


    ¡°Yeah, he did do that,¡± Yuliko said with a shy grin.


    ¡°So, are you going to kiss him?¡± Tati asked.


    Yuliko blushed harder. She had never kissed a boy. When she was younger, few boys had been bold enough to play flirty games with the chieftain¡¯s daughter. And, of course, after she lost the clan totem almost no one had wanted to talk to her at all. Kardan even at first had not shown too much of a liking for her when she started learning knapping from Lion alongside him. But they had become friendly over time.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said. ¡°But I would let him kiss me if he wanted.¡±


    ¡°Oooohhhh!¡± The girls squealed again, before bursting into giggles.


    ¡°You might have to make a move first or Gidiya might steal him,¡± Tati said.


    ¡°You, hush,¡± Yuliko said jokingly, but in truth she feared exactly that.


    A knock at the door was followed by the sound of Kuli¡¯s voice, ¡°Yuliko, may I see you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mother,¡± Yuliko said, and she sprung up to move to the door.


    She stepped outside and saw her mother, with bright red and yellow feathers in her hair, holding an item wrapped in cloth in each hand. One cloth fit in her palm nicely, the other cloth wrapped some kind of stick.


    ¡°Hello, Daughter,¡± Kuli said with a wide smile. ¡°I have gifts for you. I wanted you to have them before the feast. Here, I made this one for you,¡± she said as she handed her the first cloth.


    It was common for a parent to gift their child something special before their Journey, but Yuliko hadn¡¯t expected anything considering all the shame she had brought. She unwrapped the cloth to reveal a beautifully made leather headband, decorated with strands of obsidian beads and gorgeous blue-green feathers of a forest conure.


    ¡°By Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s grace! It¡¯s magnificent, Mother!¡± Yuliko said, holding the headband stretched out in front of herself. Each dangling strand had ten finely polished black glass beads. ¡°This must have taken you ages.¡±


    ¡°Lion helped me with some of the beads,¡± Kuli said, then she took the headband from her daughter¡¯s hands. ¡°Here, I want to see how it looks on you.¡±


    Her mother tied the laces of the band for Yuliko. She smiled brightly with the glass beads and conure feathers framing her face. ¡°Oh, it''s lovely. And the feathers match your eyes, just like I knew they would.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mother,¡± Yuliko said, almost melting at the thoughtfulness of such a gift.


    Kuli reached out and stroked Yuliko¡¯s cheek. ¡°You¡¯ve been through so much over this last year, my daughter,¡± she said. ¡°I wanted to speak for you at the nomination ceremony. I know you are ready for your Great Journey.¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you speak for me? Why did it have to be Eshika?¡± Yuliko said.


    Kuli frowned. ¡°It was forbidden.¡±


    Just as Yuliko had thought. ¡°Why does he blame me so?¡± she asked. ¡°It''s not like I gave it away. I almost died.¡±


    Kuli shook her head. ¡°Your father is chieftain and does not have to explain himself to anybody.¡± Then she offered up the second stick-shaped present. ¡°He made this for you.¡±


    That surprised Yuliko even more. Her father was the last person she expected to gift her something. Kuli placed the item in her hands, and Yuliko unwrapped it. In her hands was a high quality antler pick, weighted and cut to exactly suit Yuliko. The head was made of a sawed off antler prong stuck through a hole bored into the pick handle, which had been sanded down to a smooth finish with decorative bands carved along the bottom. With force behind it the antler prong became a very deadly weapon, as Yuliko well knew.


    ¡°Father made this for me?¡±


    Her mother nodded.


    ¡°Why forbid you from speaking for me, and then make me this?¡± the slender girl asked.


    ¡°It was not your father to forbid me,¡± her mother said. ¡°It was High Chieftain Vogon. He forbade both of us from speaking for you.¡±


    That was a surprise. She was at once reevaluating her fathers actions in this new light, and realizing there was likely a connection between Vogon and the Razor Boars¡¯ attack in the lava yard, not just the youths being buckful. Yuliko didn¡¯t understand what it all meant, but she knew it was probably not good.


    Yuliko raised the pick in one hand. Its weight and balance felt good. She figured she could use it one or two handed. She examined the antler piece closely. It was a yellowish-white color with vien-like dark lines streaking through it, like cackling lightning.


    ¡°Why an antler?¡± she asked. ¡°Is this to mock me?¡±


    ¡°No, Yuliko,¡± her mother said. ¡°It¡¯s to protect you.¡±

 Chapter 9

    Dyed parchment lanterns had been strung up across the huts, lighting up the camp with red glowing orbs. Musicians played their pipes and banged away at their drums. Circles of dancers jittered erratically. Sizzling skewers of meat and vegetables cooked over grill pits. Around campfires they shared platters of juicy fruits and trays of sweet bread. Others served heaping bowls of chilis, maze, oats, and yams.


    Yuliko found it all wonderful, and despite her immense desire to partake in the Great Journey, a part of her was now deeply saddened to be leaving her home behind. She sat round a campfire with her mother, Lion, Makala, Tati and others, eating her second bowl of maze with ucca-yacca. Yuliko wore her new headband proudly. She had noticed Gidiya spying at the lovely gift, but she quickly turned her nose up when Yuliko made eye contact with her.


    Lion was in the middle of retelling the infamous story in which he got his name, with the whole campfire chuckling along. ¡°And so there I was, chased up into one of those fat bloated savannah trees, naked, and carrying a basket of stolen melons. I swore that white lion was right there behind me the whole time. So then my new flathead friends come looking for me, and I¡¯m up in the tree shouting ¡®Lion! Lion!¡¯ But would you believe it, you could see for a mile in every direction and that damned lion had disappeared!¡±


    Everyone sitting around the campfire burst out laughing. Makala laughed the hardest of all, though surely she had heard this story dozens of times before.


    ¡°And by the time I was finally able to bring the watermelons to my mo¡¯huran all the flatheads refused to call me anything but ¡®Lion,¡¯¡± he said. He finished up by patting Yuliko on the back. ¡°You¡¯re going to have a few good stories like that soon enough.¡±


    Yuliko hoped that would be true. She hoped that her new stories would outshine the old one. That she would bring pride to her clan and no more shame.


    She scanned across the campsite, in search of Eshika, she hadn¡¯t had a chance to speak with the shaman at all since the nomination, and Yuliko had been keeping an eye out for her all night. So far the shaman had not made an appearance. Gidiya had mentioned Eshika got strange readings from Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s plume. Yuliko wondered if that had anything to do with the tremors.


    Many of the other young women and men of her mo¡¯huran were around other campfires with their blood families. Pykor played his bone pipe for a fire with his father and mother accompanying him on the drums and lyre. Zana laid flat on a bench with her buttocks exposed as she got a new tattoo, while all her siblings sat around her. One of her sisters was inking a spotted leopard¡¯s tail onto her backside. And, Minty, normally so shy, threw off her meek demeanor to dance wildly around another fire.


    Kardan was the youngest of five brothers, and around their campfire they were busy teasing him as much as they were congratulating him. Three of them were goading him into overdrinking soota, a sour goatmilk beer, which Kardan happily obliged. Then they all raucously began singing a rendition of Brun¡¯s Ballad, punching Kardan in the arm as they went along. One space sat empty around their fire, their missing brother had died on his Great Journey, killed by a foreign tribe.


    Faydayo sat beside his chieftain mentor, Domylo. A pavilion had been erected to house the chieftain¡¯s throne, plumed with dark red tyrant bird feathers as long as a person¡¯s arm. Domylo hosted Faydayo and his blood family on mats beneath the throne as his honored guests. Yuliko knew her father would be testing Faydayo¡¯s accumulated knowledge of Black Glass law and custom. It gave her just a bit of pleasure to see a strained expression on the mo¡¯huran leader¡¯s face.


    Yuliko wondered what her father would do about the Razor Boar¡¯s slight against his clan. Knowing her father, the offense would not be challenged until the next gathering of the clans, where it would be aired as a formal grievance. That was the way of the Black Glass People, so as not to escalate conflicts unnecessarily. Though, a chieftain was within their right to respond in equal measure instead of making a grievance claim. When Yuliko had been the chieftain¡¯s apprentice she had been taught that a wise leader does not antagonize just to get fair, but that provocation is done only to gain advantage.


    The flatheads were another matter. She imagined that the high chieftain Vogon may send a runner to bring Lion to the Razor Boar camp as an interpreter for the flatheads, and that Domylo would want to go with him. It was rare to have migrants enter Glass People territory, especially of another thinking species. It was rare enough for even man kin tribes to pass through. The nearby tribes that traded with the Glass People, like the Quengu Tribe who dwelt upstream of the Hungry River, and the Swamp Walkers of the Mudmarsh Basin, they understood how to approach Glass People territory and appeal for permission to trade. But they knew that migrating and living off the Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s land would not be permitted.


    Yuliko thought the flatheads must have come from very far away, and her father would want to know about the great fire that had chased them this way. The flatheads had come from the north. Yuliko tried to remember the people and places that way. Directly to the north beyond the rainforests were supposedly a valley with rolling fields of giant flowers. Some say the plants there will grab hold of people and strangle them in their stems. She couldn¡¯t quite remember what came after that, but according to legend at the farthest end of the known world lay the White Wasteland where nothing survives. The legends say there was once an ancient and mighty tribe there, but they lived out of balance with their spirit, and now the land is cursed.


    But surely the flatheads did not come from all the way out there. Unfortunately, Yuliko would be well on her way into her Great Journey before an answer could be coaxed out of the strange visitors.


    Elsewhere at the feast, Krissa had finally awakened and sat with her head bandaged, staring up at the parchment lanterns. A hot plate with a mutton skewer and a helping of sweet yams lay in front of her, but she didn¡¯t seem to have much of an appetite. One of the younger kids swiped the skewer off her plate and munched at it greedily. Yuliko decided she would go see how Krissa was doing, and perhaps see if she knew where Eshika might be.


    She excused herself from the campfire and grabbed two cups of soota.


    ¡°Pleasant greetings, Krissa,¡± Yuliko said, standing over the shaman¡¯s apprentice. ¡°Are you feeling better?¡±


    Kriss smiled lazily. ¡°Oh, hi Yuliko. I am feeling well. Thank you.¡±


    Yuliko held out a cup to her. ¡°I brought you soota. Care for a drink with me.¡±


    ¡°If you wish,¡± Krissa said and she took the cup.


    Yuliko knelt down next to her and sat on her ankles. ¡°I¡¯m glad you weren¡¯t too hurt by those brutes,¡± she told her.


    Krissa touched her head bandage. ¡°Oh, yes, it was nothing. Maw¡¯Goro would never allow any true harm to come to me.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Yuliko nodded, then sipped her soota. It was creamy and tangy. ¡°So, I wanted to ask if you had seen Eshika tonight.¡±


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t seen her here at the feast,¡± Krissa said. ¡°Though I did see her in Makala¡¯s hut when I woke up.¡± She drank from her soota cup and made a sour face as she gulped. ¡°I told her that I knew what the dead ibex meant. I told her that our mo¡¯huran was special.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Yuliko said, perking up. ¡°What did she say about that?¡±


    ¡°She said every mo¡¯huran was special,¡± Krissa answered. She took another drink, almost gagging. ¡°This is the strongest soota I¡¯ve ever tasted.¡± Then she thrust the cup back towards Yuliko, who took it from her. Then Krissa spat on the ground between her and Yuliko. She smacked her lips, getting the last of the taste out of her mouth, then locked eyes with her visitor. ¡°You¡¯re not special either.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Yuliko said, surprised.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you wanted to see Eshika about, right? To ask why she marked you with the red hand. You want to ask her if you¡¯re special. Well, I¡¯ll save you the trouble, you¡¯re not special.¡±


    Yuliko was stunned. ¡°Well, I¡¯d like to ask Eshika about it myself,¡± she said.


    ¡°You¡¯ve always wanted to be special. That¡¯s why you made up the tale of the green man,¡± Krissa said.


    ¡°What? No,¡± Yuliko stammered, but Krissa continued.


    ¡°You¡¯re not worthy to encounter the green men,¡± Krissa said.


    Yuliko genuinely did not know what she meant by that. ¡°I wish I never had encountered him,¡± she said. ¡°That was the worst thing to ever happen to me.¡±


    Krissa kept her stare. She had rich brown eyes, like pappo bark. ¡°If it happened,¡± she said.


    Yuliko got to her feet, still holding both cups of soota. ¡°I don¡¯t need to explain what happened for the millionth time. And I don¡¯t need to explain myself to you,¡± she said.


    ¡°You do if you are lower than me,¡± Krissa said.


    Yuliko stood up abruptly. ¡°Glad you¡¯re feeling better,¡± she said insincerely, then spun around and walked off. She hadn¡¯t done anything to upset her, and wasn¡¯t going to be harassed even if she was the lowest status. She strode away, in no particular direction, with the two cups of soota in hand. She looked around for Eshika again. But there was still no sign of her.


    She decided she wanted to walk around the outside of the feast for a while, and moved to a quiet area of the camp, without all the light cast from the lanterns and campfires, where banging of the drums was dulled somewhat. A growing nervousness fell upon her. She had spent so much time worrying that she might not be able to Journey, but now that she knew she was going and the time was at hand, she was overwhelmed by what it actually meant.


    She had never been outside Black Glass territory. Her whole life had been lived under the shadow of Maw¡¯Goro. She had frozen in fear when she saw the green man, and that had cost her everything. Would she freeze again out there in the far lands when her mo¡¯huran was counting on her? Yuliko wanted to say she would never let fear take over her again. But she doubted herself.


    She heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see Kardan had followed her. He wobbled as he stood there grinning at her.


    ¡°Are those both for you?¡± he asked, pointing to the cups in each of her hands.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Yuliko said, having forgotten the soota. ¡°I suppose I just need one. I was just talking to Krissa and she was being . . . . Here, take this,¡± She handed Kardan the extra cup, which he accepted happily, though he clearly did not need another drink.


    ¡°How kind of you,¡± he said, and gulped.


    ¡°You know we must wake early for the Pledge Rite,¡± Yuliko said.


    Kardan waved his hand dismissively. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± he said, swaying. ¡°But I came over here to check on you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine too,¡± she said. ¡°I was just . . . looking for Eshika. Have you seen her tonight?¡±


    Kardan shook his head. ¡°Nuh-uh. Why do you need to find her?¡±


    ¡°I have a question. That¡¯s all,¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°About why she nominated you? I can answer that,¡± he said. Apparently everyone could tell her about that except Eshika herself. ¡°She nominated you because you¡¯re encountered something from the far lands, and you survived. And I think this Journey may require survivors.¡±


    Yuliko sipped her soota. ¡°Yeah. Maybe you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I am,¡± Kardan said. Then he drained his cup. ¡°Hey. I want to show you something.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Show me what?¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Kardan said as he started digging around in his pockets. He showed her an obsidian shard he had been holding onto, about the size of a crab apple. ¡°Lion says I¡¯m not ready for it yet, but I¡¯ve been practicing.¡±


    ¡°Ready yet for what?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Vibrational knapping,¡± Kardan replied casually.


    That was the most advanced form of knapping that required great skill and magical prowess. Only knappers like Lion were capable of harnessing Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s power to craft items in such a manner. Vibrational knapping transfers the surging kinetic force of the great spirit into the obsidian to form the shape in the knapper¡¯s mind. Channeling the force of Maw¡¯Goro takes years upon years to learn, let alone to control without hurting oneself.


    ¡°Kardan, I don¡¯t know if you should try anything right now,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°You¡¯ve been drinking soota like an aurochs drinks from a spring.


    ¡°Well, an aurochs has a big thirst,¡± he said. ¡°Besides, a bit of a buzz is good for vibration channeling, I bet.¡± Kardan brought her over to a pappo tree stump between two huts, and he placed the obsidian shard in the center of the stump.


    ¡°Hey, are you sure this is a good idea,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°I don¡¯t want anything else bad to happen before we even leave camp.¡±


    ¡°Oh, relax,¡± Kardan said. ¡°I¡¯ve trained for this.¡±


    He knelt next to the stump and stared at the obsidian. ¡°I saved this piece for you. I saw what was inside of it. And I knew I wanted it for you.¡± Kardan closed both hands over the chunk of glass, taking deep breaths with his eyes closed, and steadily between breaths he would extend his hands outward.


    Yuliko felt a stir, a subtle shift in air pressure, the air felt warmer. A static tingle crawled over her skin, making her shiver. The obsidian shard began to vibrate in place where it lay on the stump. Red began trickling down from Kardan¡¯s nose. A drop of blood fell onto the pappo wood.


    ¡°Kardan, stop,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°You¡¯re bleeding.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Kardan said, and he sniffled, but his nose still dripped.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to impress me,¡± Yuliko told him.


    Karden ignored her, focused on the orb, breathing in deeply and exhaling forcefully crouched over the shard. He continued to widen the gap of his hands, like there was an ever expanding bubble forming over the stump. Kardan expanded the invisible bubble almost until his arms could stretch no further. The static buzz in the air intensified. ¡°Hyah!¡± he shouted, then Kardan clamped down his hands back over the obsidian.


    Yuliko heard the break of the glass. Not like knapping with a hammerstone. This was a shattering sound, more like lightning. Kardan pulled his hands away and turned up his palms. They were sticky with red, like his dripping nose. Dozens of obsidian fragments had burst outward and pierced his skin.


    ¡°Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s ashes!¡± Yuliko said. ¡°You¡¯re hurt. Why did you do that, Kardan?¡±


    ¡°Look,¡± he gestured with his bloody hand.


    On the stump lay a nearly perfectly knapped heart-shaped obsidian token.


    #


    Yuliko and Kardan¡¯s last night in the Ibex camp ended in Makala¡¯s hut getting Kardan¡¯s hands bandaged up. They were able to easily remove most of the glass, but Makala had to pull out some pieces with her wooden tweezers. She applied a poultice to his cuts and wrapped him up with cotton linens. Karden was well and drunk, and didn¡¯t feel much pain, and fell asleep while the healer treated him.


    When Yuliko explained what happened Makala was less worried about Kardan¡¯s hands and moreso concerned about his bloody nose. She thought his brain might have been filling with blood and she worried she may have to drain him by boring a hole in the skull. Thankfully, Kardan¡¯s nose had stopped bleeding by the time he fell asleep, and Makala decided that wasn¡¯t necessary yet.


    Yuliko turned the obsidian heart token over in her hand. Despite the bloody mess, the token Kardan had crafted was beautiful. It had a smooth finish impossible to achieve with normal knapping. And the obsidian had light red sheen that seemed to absorb firelight.


    Before she went to bed that night, Yuliko carefully packed away Kardan¡¯s heart with the rest of her belongings she would be taking into the far lands.

 Chapter 10

    The skyline was a pale gray-blue. A single drum intermittently pounded.


    Before the sun had fully risen, the entire Ibex clan gathered at the Cliff of Brun, where the women and men of the mo¡¯huran would perform the Pledge Rite. The approximately three-hundred members of the clan, including the children and thralls, had gathered in a glade beneath an enormous slanted rock wall, tilted towards the smoldering great spirit. The rock was a blackish-brown granite. Countless white handprints had been painted upon the giant slab, one right over another, forming the shape of an upside-down V, imitating the rough shape of the volcano. The handprints extended high upon the rock face. Yuliko estimated that four people on each others¡¯ shoulders would reach the top point.


    The drum continued as they all waited.


    Yuliko wore the feathered headband her mother had given her, and on her belt she harnessed the antler pick from her father. She and the rest of the journeyers stood beneath the triangle of handprints, arranged by status. They had all their gear with them and they wore wraps that exposed their upper chests. Each journeyer held their ritual obsidian blade in hand. Once they committed their Pledge Rite they would be departing out of Black Glass territory in whatever direction Eshika determines is the will of Maw¡¯Goro.


    The welt on Krissa¡¯s head had faded and she no longer wore a bandage. However, now Kardan¡¯s hands were bandaged up, and he was decently hungover. Minty looked as nervous as Yuliko felt. And, Faydayo, he seemed less cocky, not so puffed anymore. Instead, he stood stoically, like he was copying Domylo.


    The Cliff of Brun was said to be where Brun the Serpent Slayer had vowed to hunt down the twin sister dragons, Ingu and Wigi. The sisters were the only monsters with the strength and boldness to attack Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s domain. They would fly their feathered bodies over the forests, terrorizing Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s people, swooping down to snatch them up with their scaly claws. No warriors were brave enough to face the dragons, until Brun announced he would slay the sisters. Brun¡¯s courage was so great that the giant granite slab bowed to him. Then, the other warriors felt ashamed they had not been brave themselves, and they volunteered to join Brun on his hunt. That was the formation of the first mo¡¯huran, as the story goes.


    Of course, on the other side of the forest where the Monkey Clan dwelt there was another rock slope that they called the Brun¡¯s Cliff, where they claimed the earth bowed to Brun. It was a matter of contention at every clan gathering. Inevitably the Ibexes and the Monkeys would argue over where Brun formed his mo¡¯huran with no clan ever submitting they were wrong. Eventually the other clans would tire of the debate and it would be deferred until the next gathering.


    Yuliko looked to the crowd. She saw Tati and Makala. And she saw Lion too, smiling through his bushy brown beard. And standing prominently in the front was her chieftain father father and her mother. Domylo wore his most elegant beaded sash over his snakeskin vest. Kuli wore her most colorful feathered headdress. Morning light scattered over them through the tree canopy, dancing like sparks from a fire.


    The singular drum beat steadily quickened in pace. Rattling gourd shakers joined the beat. And from the shadow of the giant slab, out stepped Eshika, wearing her scarlet wooly coat and her face painted white with streaks of red encircling her mouth and eyes. Her blue eyes appeared absurdly out of place.


    Yuliko still had not had a chance to speak with the shaman about why she nominated her, or why the red mark. And, she never would get that chance, at least not until after her Journey, for like the nomination ritual the youths would march off to begin their Great Journey immediately after their Pledge Rite, without speaking or looking back.


    The music grew faster and louder. A low rumbling horn joined the troupe of instruments. Eshika stood between the journeyers and the crowd, with the triangle of hands towering behind her. The shaman raised her hands in the air as the pounding drum came to a blusterous crescendo and the horn wailed loud and sharp, coming to a sudden halt.


    ¡°These young women and men say they are worthy of Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s bounties,¡± Eshika announced with her hands still high. ¡°They say they shall be Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s servants and protectors. They say they will prove they are worthy as their elders have proven themselves worthy.¡± Eshika then peeled open her ibex fur wrap to reveal the slash scar across her chest. ¡°These young ones say they are ready for their Great Journey.¡±


    The drum beat on cue, three times in quick succession, followed a quick guard rattle. One of the younger girls, Gidiya, ran onto the staging ground carrying the painted ibex horn that had replaced the lost clan totem. The stolen totem had been intricately carved with images of the Maw¡¯Goro rising from the chaos that existed before him. The new painted totem shared the same images, though was far less impressive. Gidiya glanced back to give Kardan a cheeky smile as she stood in place by Eshika¡¯s side holding the totem.


    ¡°We have spoken for these young men and women, and say they are worthy of their Great Journey,¡± Eshika said. ¡°Today they shall make the Pledge Rite. They shall make the same vow that Brun and his mo¡¯huran made before they left for the far lands to hunt Ingu and Wigi. They say they shall return with a worthy tribute for Maw¡¯Goro, or they shall perish in the far lands.¡±


    Another quick drum beat followed by a rattle. Gidiya handed the totem horn to the shaman, then she stood on the sideline. Eshika held out the horn towards the crowd, displaying the images of a thundering storm cloud and a large fish, both being consumed by red hot lava.


    ¡°The world we know has always been divided into two,¡± Eshika said. ¡°Between Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s domain and the far lands. Just as there is the earthly realm and the Other World. But same as how the earthly realm was birthed from the Other World, Maw¡¯Goro was birthed from the chaos of the far lands. Before Maw¡¯Goro, the spirits constantly fought with one another for dominion, and the people of their lands were forced into perpetual war. Four great spirits were the strongest; the Storming Mountain, the Saltwater Sea, the Windy Desert, and the White Wasteland.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Eshika spun the ibex horn around to show the painting of a scarab and a white bear, also being engulfed in lava. ¡°But the Great Maw¡¯Goro did not wish for chaos, instead he wished for balance. And he erupted into a fiery explosion so mighty that it sent the other warring spirits to the far corners of the world. From the fire flowed Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s hot blood, which spread far and wide, and hardened to become both the land and the people. Since then the Black Glass People have been blessed with Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s bounties as long as they preserve the balance.¡± The shaman handed the totem back to Gidiya, who then rejoined the crowd.


    ¡°But once the twin serpents had dared to cross into Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s land and devoured his people, the great spirit learned that harming his people weakened him, and allowed the serpents to steal his magic. The great spirit needed a hero. And so Brun stepped forth, as the first of the Black Glass People to venture into the far lands. Now these journeyers take his same vow.¡±


    The daylight was rising and the contrast between the dark granite and the white handprints became more harsh. Yuliko could see the faces in the crowd more distinctly too. Her mother smiled, but somberly. And it seemed to Yuliko there was a dose of sadness in her father¡¯s eyes instead of his normal expressionless presence. She wondered if he was sad to see her leaving, or was it for Faydayo? Yuliko realized she had not thanked her father for her antler pick.


    The drums pounded repetitively again. Eshika turned to face the lineup along the rock wall.


    ¡°A mo¡¯huran¡¯s journey may take them across many lands in many directions, but the Great Maw¡¯Goro has told me that this mo¡¯huran is to venture north. It is in the direction of the White Wasteland that you shall find your tribute for the spirit.¡±


    To the north, the same direction the flatheads had come from, Yuliko realized. Towards the Big Fire.


    For some reason the direction the White Wastled felt right to her. Yuliko recalled her dreams of white trees. It felt to her like that¡¯s where she would find what she was looking, despite the tales saying the White Wasteland was a land full of ghouls.


    ¡°Journeyers, you have crafted your blades from Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s blood, same as Brun had, and same as your ancestors have done since Brun¡¯s Journey,¡± Eshika said. ¡°Hold out your blades. It is time to make your pledge.¡±


    Each member of the mo¡¯huran raised out their arm with the blades facing sideways. Eshika glided over in front of Faydayo. He spun his blade so the hilt was offered up to the blue-eyed shaman. Eshika accepted the blade and held it chest level. His triangle tattoo showed prominently in the center of his chest.


    ¡°Mo¡¯huran leader Faydayo, do you vow to return with a worthy tribute, to honor and protect Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s domain, and preserve the balance,¡± Eshika asked.


    ¡°I vow under the shadow of Maw¡¯Goro,¡± Faydayo proclaimed.


    The shaman slashed across his chest in a diagonal, right above his tattoo. The same slash wound all the full-fledged members of the clan bore. Blood trickled down Faydayo¡¯s muscular torso over his triangles.


    ¡°Now go. And do not return until your vow is complete,¡± Eshika said, and handed Faydayo back his ritual blade.


    Without saying anything else, Faydayo sheathed his knife, donned his backframe, and grabbed his spear. Then he marched out of the staging ground around the Cliff of Brun and out of sight.


    Eshika repeated the Pledge Rite with each of the journeyers, leaving bloody slashes across all of their chests. Minty had audibly whined when she had been slashed. Kardan seemed bemused to be cut up by obsidian again so soon. When Eshika had performed the Pledge Rite on her apprentice, it seemed to Yuliko that there had been some kind of understanding communicated between her and Krissa¡¯s eyes.


    As the lowest status, Yuliko was last in line, all the others had grabbed their gear and spears and disappeared along with Faydayo behind the Cliff of Brun. Eshika stood in front of her, holding Yuliko¡¯s ritual blade, and looked upon her with those otherworldly blue eyes.


    ¡°Yuliko, do you vow to return with a worthy tribute, to honor and protect Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s domain, and preserve the balance,¡± she asked.


    Once she took this pledge she could no longer stay in her home. She would be obliged to go out into the unknown where she would have no clan to rely upon, only her mo¡¯huran, half of whom didn¡¯t like her. Fear swelled up inside of Yuliko, a petrifying fear, same as when she saw the green man. Out there in the far lands she would face dangers she couldn¡¯t yet imagine. Did she have what it takes to survive in the wild beyond? She doubted herself.


    With great force, she mustered the strength to say, ¡°I vow under the shadow of Maw¡¯Goro.¡±


    Then Eshika raised the obsidian knife to Yuliko¡¯s chest, posed to make the slash that sealed the pledge. And at that very moment, the earth rumbled, the ground trembled, stones clattered, trees swayed. Eshika had been mid-slash with the knife, and she shook in such a way that instead of just a diagonal slash, Yuliko had been cut with a V-shape over her heart. Blood spilled down Yuliko¡¯s chest as the world vibrated violently.


    Yuliko and Eshika held onto each other. So did most of the crowd. Thankfully, the tremor turned out to be small and quick. In just a matter of seconds, the rumbling ceased and the world was still. The journeyer and the shaman pulled apart from each other and looked down at her chest. The cut was an inversion of the triangle of white hands.


    Yuliko stood still in shock, unsure what to do. There was a murmur amongst the crowd. Many were already saying that was a bad sign from the spirits. Some thought they should leave, and in fact were starting to do so. However, before the crowd could become unruly Chieftain Domylo stepped on the staging ground with his fist raised high in the air.


    The crowd hushed themselves down and returned their attention to the front. Then Domylo looked back to his daughter with his hardened eyes. The ceremony was to continue.


    In silence, Yuliko accepted her knife back from Eshika, she strapped on her backframe, and picked up her spear. She looked upon her clan one last time. They all stared at her disfigured ritual scar. Then, Yuliko marched away to join her mo¡¯huran and begin their Great Journey.

 Chapter 11

    The Ibex mo¡¯huran had regrouped on the other side of the Cliff of Brun from where the Pledge Rite took place. Yuliko was the last to join up. They all looked at her bloody V-shaped cut as she approached.


    ¡°The tremor hit during my pledge,¡± Yuliko said, as Minty handed her a cleansing salve and linens for her wound.


    ¡°Wow, you really must be cursed,¡± Zana said, holding her spear like a bucket beam over her shoulders.


    ¡°Chief, are we really going to take a cursed girl on our Journey?¡± Pykor asked Faydayo.


    Faydayo stared at Yuliko¡¯s chest, watching the red seep through the linen. But before he could answer Krissa chimed in.


    ¡°She¡¯s not cursed,¡± she said, sitting on her knees in a meditative pose. ¡°She just has another ugly scar now.¡±


    After everyone had the pledge cuts wrapped, Faydayo ordered the group to form up in marching order and head out. However, Krissa protested, saying she needed more time to confer with the spirits. Faydayo didn¡¯t like that though. By the Great Journey tradition the mo¡¯huran was obliged to depart from the lands touched by Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s shadow as quickly as possible after the Pledge Rite.


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t Eshika done enough communing with the spirits for the moment?¡± Faydayo said. The blood from his cut had smeared over his triangle tattoo. ¡°She already gave us our direction.¡±


    Krissa stiffed her chin up and remained in her kneeling position. ¡°I think the recurring earthen growls warrant more insight from the spirit realm.¡±


    ¡°How much more insight?¡± Faydayo asked.


    ¡°One cannot rush the spirits,¡± Krissa replied.


    ¡°How about another yanni worth of insight,¡± he told her. A yanni was the average length of time it took to run a type of obstacle course the Glass People build for competitions, called a yanni course.


    Krissa flipped back her hair and her beads clacked together. ¡°Two yannis.¡±


    ¡°One yanni. And then we¡¯re leaving,¡± he said, firmly.


    Yuliko stepped forward. ¡°We should let our shaman seek out the reasons for the tremors.¡±


    The chieftain-to-be flared his nostrils as he turned to face the interrupter. ¡°Stay in your place, Totem-Loser.¡±


    ¡°Listen Faydayo,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°I just think¡ª¡±


    ¡°You know what I think?¡± he said, cutting her off. ¡°I think maybe you are cursed and maybe you did cause the tremors.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not true,¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°Could be. Seems like the only real explanation we¡¯ve got,¡± Faydayo said. ¡°I do wonder if I want to have a cursed girl in my mo¡¯huran.¡±


    That silenced Yuliko. She lowered her head.


    ¡°What do I do with a cursed totem-loser, huh?¡± Faydayo continued. ¡°Do I just send her back? Do I turn her into a thrall? Or . . . .¡± he slid his hand down to his sheathed war club. ¡°I could be merciful.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t unheard of for a cursed person to request the mercy of death by the hands of the tribe rather than to live out a cursed existence.


    Yuliko lowered herself even further to the group leader. But then Kardan stepped forward. ¡°If Yuliko isn¡¯t a part of this mo¡¯huran then I won¡¯t be either. She and I will find another clan.¡±


    Faydayo snapped his attention to the new troublemaker. Yuliko thought she could read the thoughts in Faydayos expression. He could easily be rid of his most disliked members of the clan. But then his mo¡¯huran would lose the manpower, including a highly skilled knapper. ¡°No other clan would take the Totem-Loser,¡± he said.


    ¡°Then, I don¡¯t know, we¡¯ll live on our own, like woods witches,¡± Kardan answered.


    Living in the wilderness on one''s own, without the protection and economy of the clan, was a rough and dangerous life. Only a rare few folks can survive long living that way. And those that can survive on their own most often have magical powers to aid them. It was a silly thing to say, but Yuliko was touched that Kardan would stand up for her so boldly.


    ¡°Yeah, good luck with that,¡± Faydayo told Kardan.


    Then to an even greater surprise, Minty stood up shyly, and in a meek voice she added, ¡°I¡¯ll go too.¡±


    Faydayo turned to her now. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go too if you kick out Yuliko,¡± Minty said, raising her voice just a tad louder.


    Yuliko¡¯s heart swelled at the steadfastness of her friends.


    Faydayo¡¯s face reddened. Losing the party healer would be a detrimental blow to his mo¡¯huran. And the three rebels would have a better chance of joining another clan if they brought with them a healer and knappers. It would also be a major embarrassment for Faydayo to lose three mo¡¯huran members right at the start of their Great Journey.


    He huffed and raised his hand away from his war club. ¡°Alright. Enough of this. Nobody is leaving the mo¡¯huran.¡± He spoke as if the concession was a command instead. Then without waiting for a reply he turned back to Krissa. ¡°One yanni.¡±


    After the allotted time had passed, the shaman-to-be was no closer to answering the mystery of the tremors. Though, she got into her marching order anyway, right behind Faydayo. Then, by rights the healer should be next, but Faydayo moved Minty to the back end with Kardan and Yuliko.


    ¡°If you want to buddy up with those two, then you can have a low status like them,¡± Faydayo told her.


    Tension hung over the mo¡¯huran as they began their march. Even from the very back and only able to see the back of his head, Yuliko could feel the anger radiating off of their leader. She had not meant to cause a stir. She had to be more cautious with Faydayo, she realized. He was volatile, and even though it meant much to her that her friends stood at her side, Yuliko did not wish to risk Kardan and Minty¡¯s Journeys.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    After a short while of marching, Kardan said to her, ¡°Hey, your scar won¡¯t be ugly, by the way. It¡¯ll be unique. Like you.¡±


    That eased the tension for her and she smiled. She thought of the heart token he made for her, packed away in her bag. It had been foolish of him to make it and hurt himself, but it was also sweet.


    Though they were officially on their Great Journey, it would still be two days of hiking before they were even outside of Black Glass territory. The rainforest that surrounds Maw¡¯Goro is as vast as it is bountiful, with enough space and resources to fruitfully supply the five clans. The rainforest was rich with strong pappo wood, pliable yungit wood, rubber trees; many many fruits, berries, and nuts; plentiful game; soil for planting with hefty yields of grains and oats; clays for pottery; limestone, granite, jasper and other stones for masonry; and of course, much obsidian. Everything the Glass People needed. That is, as long as the balance is maintained. Over-using the land and destroying the ecosystem would weaken the great spirit, and then monsters would be able to savage their domain.


    Yuliko wondered about the High Chieftain Vogon¡¯s planting spots. She had been told they had dug up half the trees and bushes in those acreages. Though it did produce more food for his big clan. Yuliko hadn¡¯t been trained to understand the wisdom of the spirits, like Eshika and Krissa, but she didn¡¯t think the planting spots were wholly in alignment with Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s balance.


    As they walked, she made a conscious effort to take in all the sights and sounds around her. Yuliko could easily identify almost all of them, having lived off their bounties all her life. She noticed the different shades of leaves, bark, and flowers. The birds chirping. The rodents scurrying through the foliage. This would be the last she would see of her home for a long while.


    Though Yuliko¡¯s knowledge of the plantlife was significant, she was thoroughly out beat by Minty, who knew every plant and all their uses. She even foraged from several bushes as she passed by, saving them to dry out and add to her medicine pouch.


    ¡°Oooh, needra flower,¡± Minty said as she plucked a sprig of star-shaped yellow flowers. Then to nobody in particular, she said, ¡°This is good for fevers.¡± She did not seem much bothered to have her status lowered, and in fact, was more comfortable being closer to her friends.


    Yuliko was familiar with needra flower. She had drunk many bitter cups of needra tea after her antler wound had turned to fever. She hoped she would never have to taste the stuff again.


    The northward trail traveled over steep hilly terrain. Faydayo intended to lead the mo¡¯huran to the northern border marker. Each direction had a monument erected by the ancient Black Glass People to mark the rough boundaries of their territory. Once, one of Yuliko¡¯s hunting parties had traveled to the very edge of the western end, and she had spied upon a pillar of circular shaped obsidian blocks stacked taller than a person with their arms stretched up. It would have taken ages to carve the blocks and to haul over the obsidian from Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s yard, not to mention the work it would take to stack them. The border markers had all been built so long ago, nobody remembered who had constructed the hulking monuments. Some say the border markers are even older than Brun.


    But they would not reach the border marker tonight. So an hour before nightfall, Faydayo halted their trek at the top of the hill with covering from some oversized mammoth ear ferns. They set about making a minimalist camp, for they would depart again before the sunrise. Canvas tarps were strung up to sleep under and wood was gathered for a fire. They would need to keep a fire burning all night out in the wilderness. The forest prowled with wolves and bears and jungle cats.


    For dinner they had dried salt beef. The only food they had packed was dried salt beef. It was light and would last a long time without spoiling. Yuliko thought the beef strips tasted alright, but they were far too hard, like chewing on bark. Thankfully, there was nearby fruit to collect and Yuliko filled up on mangos.


    Pykor played his bone flute as they sat around the campfire. Yuliko noticed that Zana sat so she was nearly touching knees with Pykor, and she was complimenting his every song. Of course, Krissa and Faydayo were sitting together. Faydayo watched the fire intently while Krissa mused over how the tremors can only mean that this Journey was special, though she didn¡¯t know exactly how.


    The rebels sat in their own huddled group around the fire.


    ¡°Why do you think Eshika chose to send us north?¡± Kardan asked.


    ¡°Oh, I wish she hadn¡¯t sent us this way,¡± Minty whined. ¡°They say the northlands are haunted by dead vow breakers.¡±


    ¡°They say that only about the White Wasteland,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°There is much land between here and there.¡±


    ¡°They also say there¡¯s a wolf pack that isn¡¯t afraid of man kin to the north,¡± Minty said. Yuliko was sure knew rumors of dangers in every direction. ¡°And there¡¯s hobs lurking that way too.¡±


    ¡°We can handle wolves and hobs,¡± Yuliko said, putting her hand to Minty¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Still, I would have rather we were sent east,¡± Minty said. ¡°I would like to see the giant scalewings.¡±


    Common scalewings were plentiful in the rainforest, some as big as a plate. The scales of their wings come in all manner of colors and patterns. But they say that eastern tribes ride scalewings the size of an aurochs, and the tribes use them to travel up impassable mountains and to raid each other''s villages.


    ¡°But is it a coincidence she sent us in the same direction the flatheads were fleeing from?¡± Kardan asked.


    Yuliko didn¡¯t think so. She thought over everything she had heard about the White Wasteland. The tales told of a once prosperous tribe who lived alongside the white bears, who were not like animals, but were a thinking species, like man kin. Over time the man kin tore up the land more and more to build their big villages. This enraged the spirits of the land, who wished to slay all the man kin in a great disaster, but forstalled because they did not want to hurt the reverent white bears. They great spirits waited until the white bears had built a bridge to new land where they could thrive. As soon as the last bear had crossed the bridge to their new land, the great spirits struck the earth with equal might to all the destruction the man kin had wrought on the earth, corrupting the land so that its bounties would not grow. Its trees turned to stone so they would have no wood. And the people turned to ghouls to haunt the waste.


    ¡°The White Wasteland and the great fire,¡± Minty said. ¡°What sort of tribute are we supposed to find in such places?¡±


    Their chat was cut short by Fayday standing up, still staring at the fire, his the bands across his triangle tattoo flickered in the light. ¡°I must speak,¡± he said. Then he looked upon the men and women of his company. ¡°Our shaman says that this Journey is a special Journey. If that is true, then our mission shall be more challenging than any of us expect. The outset of our Journey has already had many irregularities, but I am telling you all now that going forward we shall act as a traditional mo¡¯huran. That means my commands shall not be questioned. My word is law as Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s hand in the far lands. Is that understood?¡±


    Immediately Zana, Pykor, and Krissa all pounded their chests with their fists and shouted, ¡°Hyah!¡± Faydayo looked to the rebels. He zeroed in on Yuliko, burrowing his golden-brown eyes into her. She pounded her chest. ¡°Hyah!¡± Kardan and Minty followed.


    ¡°If we are to fulfill this special purpose, then my commands shall be obeyed, word for word. Understood?¡± Faydayo said.


    In unison, all the members of his mo¡¯huran slapped their chests. ¡°Hyah!¡± They cried.


    ¡°Our goal is unclear as of yet, as is the start of all Great Journeys. Though Krissa says the great spirit will demand much of us in order to accomplish our ultimate task. I intend to complete that task. And I intend for all of us to survive when we do it. From this moment onward. Your lives are mine. I shall lead us to success and show that we are worthy.¡±


    Yuliko stood up and hammered her chest. ¡°Hyah!¡± All the others rose after her, they thudded all their chests simultaneously. ¡°Hyah!¡±


    ¡°I shall lead us to the greatest tribute Maw¡¯Goro has seen since Brun himself offered up the bones of the twin dragons!¡± Faydayo declared.


    ¡°HYAH!¡±


    ¡°That is why the earth trembles, it is bending to this mo¡¯huran as the marble bent for Brun!¡± Faydayo shouted.


    ¡°HYAH!¡±


    ¡°We shall find this great tribute, even if we must venture all the way to the White Wasteland and beyond!¡±


    ¡°HYAH! HYAH! HYAH!¡±

 Chapter 12

    By the afternoon of the following day the Ibex mo¡¯huran had traveled far enough that they could no longer see the great spirit¡¯s smoldering black plume when they looked back in the homeward direction. And shortly thereafter they reached the northbound border marker. Once they crossed the threshold of the marker they will officially be outside Black Glass territory, beyond the shadow of Maw¡¯Goro.


    This one was different from the western marker Yuliko had seen. Instead of a stack of large disc-like stones, this monument was a trilithon; Three monolithic obsidian rectangles standing upright to support a horizontal rectangle block, creating a three pillared frame. Yuliko tried to imagine a group of men lifting and arranging the monolithic blocks into the shape before her, and the complexity of such a task confounded her. It was even bigger than the western marker. Enormous ramps and cranes and scores of workers must have been required.


    The monument was nestled in a grove of yungit trees at the top of a hillcrest overlooking the expanse of forest beyond. The whitish-tan bark of the yungits made the black obsidian monument all the more striking. Yuliko and the others walked beneath its massive beam in awe.


    The blocks had also been etched with pictoglyphs. Symbols meant to forewarn of the potential encounters that lay in this direction. The glyphs were arranged in no discernable order that Yuliko could tell, and the artistic quality of the renderings varied. Amongst them glyphs she spotted the wavy lines of flowing water, which surely referred to the northward branch of the Hungry River, the Sharp Tooth. There was also a glyph of a stick figure man with a flower head, crowned with a circle of petals. Yuliko thought that must mean there really was a field with flowers that could grab people.


    And there were also a mammoth herd, some strange humpbacked horse creatures, rings of many colors surrounded by figures holding spears, a tower of some sort with a five-pointed star at its top, amongst several other carvings. The young Ibexes all vocalized the rumors and legends they knew that may correlate with one of the glyphs.


    ¡°This swirly symbol must be the tornado that the blind adventure tricked out of its wind,¡± Pykor said.


    ¡°These little figures could be the savage squirrel people that attack from the trees with poison arrows,¡± Zana said.


    Minty searched for a drawing of a scalewing rider, but was disappointed to find none.


    Strangely, there was also a triangle scratched onto the obsidian, the glossy black outlined with white grooves. The triangle symbolized Maw¡¯Goro, but, of course, the great volcano lay in the opposite direction. None of them could recall a tale with another volcano.


    After it seemed like they had learned all they could from the pictoglyphs Faydayo called for them to move out. His plan was simply to head northward until a viable option for Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s tribute revealed itself. Which Yuliko guessed was about as good a plan as she could have come up with.


    As she took her position in the last place, she could feel a palpable mixture of excitement and nervousness in the air. From this point forward they would be truly on their own, and cannot return until their vow is fulfilled.


    Just then as they were about to resume their march, Yuliko got the strange sensation that they were being watched. She spun around, looking from tree to tree, seeing nothing to alarm her, but the sensation remained. Her eyes then drifted upward to the very top of the trilithon, and along the horizontal upper block, almost obscured by the sunlight reflecting off the obsidian, she spotted another glyph. It was a carving of a person with antlers, sitting cross-legged and coiled by a serpent around his torso.


    ¡°Look!¡± Yuliko shouted, pointing up at the antlered glyph. ¡°It¡¯s a green man!¡±


    The others looked up where she pointed.


    ¡°Oh, it is a green man,¡± Kardan said.


    ¡°See. They are out there in the far lands,¡± Yuliko said, excitedly. ¡°This proves my story was true.¡±


    ¡°That proves nothing,¡± Faydayo said. ¡°We don¡¯t know that that¡¯s a green man any more than we know what you saw that night.¡±


    ¡°Look Faydayo,¡± Yuliko said waving at the trilithon. ¡°Our ancestors carved them upon the border marker. That means they¡¯re out there. That means . . . .'''' Her excitement suddenly turned to a sickening horror. A chilling creep tingled at her spine. The green men were out there. In the direction they were headed. The black eyes of her attacker staring down at her overtook all other thoughts, like a stormcloud taking over the sky. Yuliko again searched the treelines for a watcher, and saw nothing.


    ¡°That glyph could be ancient,¡± Krissa said. ¡°Nobody knows when it was carved there. It could be from before the green men went extinct.¡±


    But they aren¡¯t extinct, Yuliko thought. They¡¯re only hiding.


    ¡°Why is it wrapped by a snake?¡± Kardan asked.


    Nobody had an answer for that.


    And so, Faydayo ordered them onward into the far lands.


    #


    It started raining shortly after they crossed the trilithon, and it continued off and on¡ªmostly on¡ªfor the next two days. The rainforest beyond the border marker was much the same as the forest within. Pappos and yungits and rubber trees. Guavas and mangoes and melondrop blossoms. Jungle birds and bush rodents. It was like they hadn¡¯t left home at all.


    Yuliko liked feeling the rain. The familiarity of it made her less nervous. However, and perhaps Yuliko was imagining this, but she felt as if there was a chill in the rain that wasn¡¯t there in Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s domain. She wondered if the great spirit¡¯s hot power had been warming the air and the rainclouds too.


    So far their journey into the far lands had been uneventful. They simply marched north and it rained. But that eerie feeling of being watched never really left Yuliko. Sometimes she would see Faydayo stop and stare through the treelines, like she had been doing. But, he never seemed to notice anything to act upon either.


    On a resting break, Yuliko stood before Faydayo with her head lowered, the formal way of a subordinate asking to speak. He tapped her shoulder, giving her permission. ¡°Faydayo, I have had the sense that we are being followed.¡±


    He only gave a slight nod, telling her he understood and to proceed as normal.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    On the third night they made camp at the top of a rocky hill. The ground wasn¡¯t comfortable, but at least they were out of the mud and puddles. Yuliko, Kardan, and Minty huddled under a tarp together.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to think that it must always be the wet season in the far lands,¡± Kardan said.


    It was peculiar to have such consistent rain during the dry season, but not entirely unheard of. Even Yuliko was growing weary of it. It wasn¡¯t like going on a hunting trip back home, where she knew she would be returning to a warm camp with all its comforts after only a few days.


    ¡°I¡¯m already tired of dried salt beef,¡± Minty said, as she gnawed at a jerky stick.


    Yuliko couldn¡¯t help but agree. It would at least be nice to spice up the beef with some ucca-yacca.


    Thankfully, the following morning was clear skies, albeit extremely muggy. Faydayo always had the group moving by first light, and in the twilight hour they spotted a family of beavers heading over the next slope, two adults and two children, walking in a line much like the mo¡¯huran. They were large creatures, the adults were as big as man kin, with teeth like daggers. Faydayo raised his fist, commanding silence and stealthy footsteps. He nodded to his followers, confirming his intent to hunt the beavers.


    Beaver furs would make excellent waterproof cloaks. Though the Ibexes were used to rain, it would be an extremely useful item to have if the weather was getting colder, and to use as waterproof covers for their packs. Plus, the beaver meat would be a nice reprieve from the salt beef.


    Everyone readied their spears. The mo¡¯huran stalked the beaver family for a long while to a creek where a wooden beaver shack was under construction. The family must have recently been forced to move to a new location, perhaps by predators or a natural disaster.


    Faydayo halted them a half mile away from the shack. Using hand signals, he split the party into two groups. The first one to sneak up on the beaver from behind and force them away from the creek. The second group to lie in waiting and spring on the startled beavers. If his plan worked properly they would hopefully be able to slay the whole family, but they would at least try for the two young beavers, who would be the easiest kills with the softest furs.


    Faydayo needed his best hunters in hiding to make the killing blows, which was himself, Zana, and Pykor. So, that left the others to surprise the beavers. By status rights Krissa should have led the first group, however, Faydayo instead put Kardan in charge. Ever since the squabble with the Razor Boar mo¡¯huran Faydayo had shown Kardan a modicum of respect, at least when it came to time for action. And, without saying a word, he signaled for the groups to get in position.


    The Black Glass People primarily hunted with the atlatl and throwing darts. An atlatl is a throwing device that acts as an extension of the thrower¡¯s arm, with a nook on the end to hold a spear or dart. The atlatl adds more momentum to the throw, allowing projectiles to be launched twice as far with accuracy. Yuliko loaded her atlatl with a dart once they took position behind some bushes by the creek bed.


    All the hunters would have their atlatls readied as well from their position behind a thick pappo tree. The beaver family went about their business unaware of the predators nearby. The mother beaver was trying to nudge the children to the inside of the hut, but they were too engaged at sticking their noses into nearby puffy dandelions. And the father beaver was busy chewing the end of a log he presumably brought over earlier.


    Kardan waited for the signal from Faydayo. He was expecting a loud ¡®Hiyah¡¯ and then they would all launch their spears and shout, driving the beavers towards the pappo tree to be finished off. However, instead of the Ibex call, a loud screechy ¡°WHOOP!¡± hollered through the woods.


    Suddenly a half dozen spears came from across the creek and striked the beaver home. Two spears dug into the mother beaver. The father beaver squeaked something at the small ones then pushed them to the river. And before a second volley of spears could come from newcomers, the surviving beavers had dived into the creek and swam away.


    ¡°WHOOP! WHOOP!¡± Sarkola and the Razor Boar¡¯s yelped as they came out of hiding, running and splashing through the creek to their prey. They wore wooden armor, fashioned with small planks corded together to give the wearer flexibility. And they wore oblong cone-shaped wicker helmets.


    The mother squeakily moaned with pained heavy breaths, two protruding spears in her side. Sarkola knelt next to her and slit her throat. ¡°WHOOP!¡± he shouted out when stood back up. He spun around to face the foliage. ¡°Ibexes! Faydayo! Come on out!¡±


    Faydayo walked out with his atlatl still loaded. Zana and Pykor followed. Then Kardan led the other group out with their spears ready. The Razor Boars stood defensively with their weapons.


    ¡°What is this, Sarkola?¡± Faydayo said. ¡°You¡¯ve been stalking us. Why?¡±


    ¡°Just to let you know that we could, Ibex,¡± Sarkola said. The tufts of his mohawk stuck out from the lip of his helmet. ¡°At any point we could have taken your mo¡¯huran out. Just like the Razor Boars can take out the Ibexes whenever they want. Remember that.¡±


    Faydayo tried to mimic Domylo¡¯s impassive stare, but Yuliko could see the hot rage under the surface in her leader¡¯s face. ¡°You dishonor your Great Journey with these games,¡± Faydayo said finally.


    ¡°The game of status never stops being played, Ibex,¡± Sarkola said, then he turned to face Yuliko. ¡°But I see you still don¡¯t know how to play. You¡¯ve kept the Totem-Loser around.¡±


    Yuliko was sure Faydayo was calculating the situation the same as her. The Razor Boars¡¯ armor would deflect their spear throws, though the Ibexes could get a couple lucky shots. Then they would be brawling again with war clubs, and the Ibexes would be disadvantaged without armor, but maybe they could be quicker. Attacking was risky, with no benefit.


    Faydayo removed his dart from the atlatl and resigned from his fighting stance. All the other Ibexes followed. Yuliko noticed that Uma, the Razor Boar healer, and Nokomo, the shaman were visibly relieved to avoid more fighting.


    ¡°You have stolen our hunt and made your point. Now my mo¡¯huran shall continue our Journey.¡± Faydayo said. ¡°But if we cross paths again. It shall not be as two clans of the Black Glass. It shall be as enemies.¡±


    Sarkola grinned. ¡°Good.¡±


    The Ibexes regrouped and backed away from the Razor Boars, still on guard for some kind of surprise trick. But Sarkola let them walk away and his team began butchering the beaver mother for her bounties.


    Faydayo led his mo¡¯huran far from the creek, traveling northwest to put some distance between them and their rivals. The Razor Boar shaman must have felt the same thing from Maw¡¯Goro, that the worthy tribute lies north, and sent their mo¡¯huran in the same direction as the Ibexes. That meant there was a good chance of encountering Sarkola¡¯s group again. And Faydayo had already committed to bloodshed when that happens.


    Yuliko had sensed that there was someone watching them, and was relieved to know it wasn¡¯t a green man. However, she wondered why Faydayo had allowed the confrontation to unfold as it had.


    They eventually came to a tall and droopy willow tree where Faydayo decided to take a rest. As they all drank from their waterskins and munched on some purple swama berries they had collected on the way.


    Krissa rubbed Faydayo¡¯s shoulder as he sipped his water. ¡°The Razor Boars are nothing but a distraction. We must not be deterred from our mission. Remember, you are the leader of a special Journey.¡±


    ¡°And what is our special mission, huh?¡± Faydayo said with probably more edge than he intended.


    ¡°We¡¯ll discover that soon enough, I believe,¡± Krissa said.


    Yuliko lowered her head to Faydayo once more. He tapped her. ¡°Did you know that it was Sarkola following us?¡± she asked.


    Faydayo nodded. ¡°The Razor Boars have a stench to them.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you let them steal our hunt?¡± Yuliko asked. ¡°We could have surprised them.¡±


    ¡°It was to give Sarkola a victory that will satisfy him,¡± Faydayo said. ¡°Hopefully it was enough and he will no longer bother us.¡±


    Yuliko was impressed. Faydayo might actually have some political talent. She lowered her head even lower. ¡°Good thinking,¡± she said.


    ¡°Of course it was good thinking,¡± Krissa said. ¡°He is our special leader.¡±


    ¡°I also wanted to know how far Sarkola was willing to take things,¡± Faydayo added. ¡°And now we know. If we meet the Boars in the far lands again, we¡¯ll have to kill them.¡±

 Chapter 13

    The Sharp Tooth River had flooded over from the recent downpours. White rapids whipped and rushed wildly. Jagged rocks peaked out the surface, forever being pounded by roaring currents. A big pappo tree had been washed away and lodged between the large rocks. The Ibex mo¡¯huran stood on a patch of boulders overlooking the wide river, debating on how they should cross.


    The Sharp Tooth was a daughter branch of its mother the Hungry River, which is said to be the widest, longest, and most dangerous of the river spirits. Looking now upon the tumultuous gushing force of the Sharp Tooth, Yuliko could hardly imagine what the Hungry River must be like.


    The river ran from east to west. Pykor thought they would likely find better passage traveling upstream to the east. But Faydayo thought that might bring them too close to the Razor Boars. But the farther downstream they went the more chaotic the rapids got. And from their vantage point on the boulders they could see that the Sharp Tooth would eventually flow downward into a steep ravine that they wanted to avoid. Zana suggested that they build rafts to carry their belongings and they try to swim. But the narrowest point between the banks had still been too risky of a swim for any of their liking.


    That pretty much left hopping across the rocks and walking across the stuck pappo log.


    ¡°How do we know that log can even support us?¡± Minty asked, staring at the roaring river wide-eyed.


    ¡°We don¡¯t,¡± Faydayo said. ¡°One of us shall have to risk the first crossing and test the log¡¯s strength.¡±


    Silence fell upon the group. They all knew that if the log was not secure, or the rocks too slippery, then the person crossing would be devoured by the Sharp Tooth.


    Then Kardan pounded his fist to his chest. ¡°I will make the first crossing,¡± he said.


    ¡°Kardan, no!¡± Yuliko yelped.


    ¡°One of us has too,¡± he said. ¡°Might as well be me.¡±


    Faydayo nodded. ¡°Might as well.¡±


    ¡°Are we sure about this, guys?¡± Minty said.


    ¡°We¡¯re on an adventure,¡± Faydayo said. ¡°This is adventuring.¡±


    Kardan slid his spear pole into his backframe to free up his hands. Then he climbed down from the boulders to an overhanging rock that he could use as a jumping point to the first jagged stone poking out the water. He would have to jump to one more boulder, then jump to the pappo log, and from the log he could jump to the opposite bank.


    ¡°If you fall in, swim like you are a baby bird pushed from the nest and must fly,¡± Pykor told him, fluttering his hands in imitation of bird wings.


    Kardan took several deep breaths staring at his destination rock, analyzing the jump, swinging his body slightly in a sprinting stance. Then he dashed and lept, flew over the rapids and slapped into the jagged stepping stone, gripping onto its sides for dear life. After a moment he was able to scramble himself up to standing position. ¡°I¡¯m good!¡± he shouted.


    He had one more stone to go, but it was an easier jump with a wider surface to land on. Kardan made the next leap, landing on his feet, but struggling for balance, waving his arms wildly. ¡°Woah! Woah!¡± he shouted. Yuliko nearly choked on her heart heaving into her throat. But quickly enough Kardan steadied himself. ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± he shouted.


    Following that, he lept and grabbed onto the branches of the lodged tree and pulled himself onto the trunk. With his arms outstretched he began walking across the log like it were a balancing beam on a yanni course. Very cautiously, he placed one foot in front of the other until he made his way across. Then he made a final leap and rolled onto the grassy shore on the other side of the river. Kardan stood and raised his hands in success, shouting something Yuliko couldn¡¯t hear over the rush of the river.


    Next, Zana volunteered. Having had the advantage of watching Kardan make the crossing first, she was able to leap her way over the rocks and walk across the beam like it was just practice for her. Then came Pykor, who also performed the crossing well.


    Then it was Krissa¡¯s turn. She lacked the athletic prowess of the others, so Faydayo said he would be right behind her if anything happens. Krissa had to be nudged out of her kneeling position, where she had been asking the river spirit to bless their crossing. She sized up the leap to the first stone, the hardest jump, and took a deep breath. Then she ran and lept, crashing hard, but managing to hold on. She made it to the next stone too, then Faydayo was behind her on the first rock. Krissa jumped and grabbed hold of the pappo branches then climbed up onto the log. Faydayo watched from the second stone.


    Though, as Krissa made her way across the beam she slipped and slapped her body down on the pappo trunk, nearly sliding over the edge, but she gripped the bark and stopped herself from dropping into the water. She now lay face down, spread eagle, clung to the center of the trunk. ¡°I . . . I can¡¯t move!¡± she yelled.


    ¡°Yes, you can,¡± Faydayo told her. ¡°You have to.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too slippery!¡± Krissa shouted back.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Just crawl the rest of the way,¡± Faydayo said.


    Krissa shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t move!¡±


    Yuliko and Minty, the last two still on the south bank, watched the shouting between the two of them, their voices muffled by rapids churning. Though Yuliko could imagine the rattling of Krissa¡¯s beaded hair as her head shook.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming to you!¡± Faydayo shouted.


    Faydayo climbed up on top of the pappo log, and very cautiously he inched his way along, being mindful that the additional weight could upset the trunk¡¯s lodging. He got behind Krissa and reached out to touch her. Yuliko could not hear what he said to her, but after a short while Krissa finally had the nerve to continue by crawling. Once she got to the edge of the trunk though, she had to stand up to make the final jump. But with encouragement from Faydayo right behind her she was able to successfully leap to the bank. And Faydayo joined the others on the north bank right after.


    Now it was Minty¡¯s turn. The girl was pale white and her eyes as wide as dinner bowls.


    ¡°Do you think Krissa got the appropriate blessings from the river spirit?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes, of course,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°Krissa made it across just fine. And so did all the others.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can do this, Yuliko,¡± Minty said.


    ¡°Yes you can,¡± she assured her. ¡°I¡¯ll be right behind you, like Faydayo did for Krissa, okay?¡±


    ¡°But if I fall¡ª¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t fall,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°Get that out of your head. Only think about making those jumps, alright?¡±


    Minty nodded, looking no more certain. ¡°Is my medicine bag secure enough?¡± She turned around so Yuliko could check her backframe. The healer¡¯s toadskin bag had been fastened in place firmly by several leather straps.


    ¡°Yes, your bag is good,¡± Yuliko said. ¡°Remember, the first jump is the hardest. After that it will all be easy.¡±


    Yuliko also made sure her own possessions were safely packed. Her feathered headband from her mother, and the heart token from Kardan were in her bag. Her antler pick from her father and her ritual blade were both sheathed in place on her belt. She also slid her spear into her backside.


    Minty took her position on the bank facing the first jagged stone. She looked remarkably small with her medicine bag and spear attached to her backframe. Then, with more speed than it seemed she would have with all the weight on her back, Minty lept. In fact, she nearly had gone too far, but she caught the sides of the rock and managed to hold on.


    ¡°Hyah! You did it!¡± Yuliko shouted. ¡°Just a couple more to go.¡±


    Minty made it to the next rock as well, with better judgment of her leap, and Yuliko followed behind. Next Minty jumped to the branches of the fallen pappo and climbed to the top of the trunk.


    However, once she stood up the big brown trunk rolled slightly, sending Minty landing hard on her bottom and nearly rolling into the water, but she latched onto a branch.


    Thankfully, the pappo had only lurched, and was no longer moving. The extra weight from Faydayo and Krissa crossing together must have upset the balance of the log.


    ¡°Great Spirits!¡± Minty cried. ¡°What do I do, Yuliko?¡±


    ¡°Crawl across. Go very slowly, or it could roll again,¡± she said.


    ¡°I¡¯m so scared,¡± Minty said.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Yuliko told her. ¡°Just think about your next inch forward. Don¡¯t worry about the rest.¡±


    Minty maneuvered into a crawling position, as she did so the log rolled slightly again, but once she was lying flat the log was still. Then, just as Yuliko said, she moved her way across inch by inch.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing great!¡± Yuliko shouted to her friend.


    Just over halfway across the trunk, Minty again felt the log shifting and rolling. ¡°Oh, no! Oh, no!¡± she called. She suddenly shifted all her weight in the opposite direction of the log¡¯s tilt, and she momentarily counter-acted the movement. However, she was stuck in a very precarious position. If she moved at all the log would roll. ¡°This is bad! The spirits didn¡¯t bless my crossing!¡±


    ¡°Yes they did! You¡¯ll be fine,¡± Yuliko shouted from her rock, trying to mask her own terror. ¡°Minty, listen, you¡¯re going to have to stand up and move fast, then just leap for the bank. The others will catch you.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that!¡± Minty yelled.


    ¡°You can. You¡¯ll need to go quick before the log rolls, okay?¡±


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t,¡± the petrified girl said, blue waves with white crests crashing beneath her.


    Yuliko saw the others watching helplessly on the other end of the bank, shouting muffled encouragement to Minty.


    ¡°I¡¯m right behind you,¡± Yuliko assured her.


    ¡°If the log dislodges then how will you get across?¡± Minty shouted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. You just have to go first,¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°Okay . . .¡± Minty said, then she slowly started moving herself up. When she had the flats of both feet on the trunk the log began to roll again.


    ¡°Go, Minty! Go!¡± Yuliko shouted.


    The small girl bolted across the log as the water currents tilted the surface, trying to force the big log free. She reached the end and leaped, splashing into the waters by the bank, and thankfully Kardan and Zana were right there to pull her out.


    But the movement from her jump had fully loosened the pappo trunk with Yuliko still standing on the stepping stone. Without a moment to spare, Yuliko jumped for the pappo branches and heaved herself up onto the trunk. An instant later the pappo became free of one of the rocks that held it in place, and began spinning long-wise in the water with Yuliko on top. All the others were shouting at her, but Yuliko could only hear water. Yuliko realized she¡¯d only have a brief second as the trunk spun with the current to make her leap, otherwise she¡¯d be carried off and crash into the ravine.


    Crouched on the end of the log spinning round, Yuliko held her breath, and focused only on the jump in front of her. When the moment was right, just as her end of the log swung towards the bank, Yuliko jumped with all her might.


    She landed in the cold water. Completely submerged. She was sure she was being dragged along by the current to her death. But then something caught her hand. And the next moment she was being jerked out of the water onto a grassy bed.


    She gasped for breath. Faydayo lay next to her, also dripping wet. He smiled wide and patted her on the back.


    ¡°By Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s ashes, that was adventuring,¡± Faydayo said, then added, ¡°Totem-Loser.¡±

 Chapter 14

    EPISODE 14


    Eventually, the pappo trees started to thin out. And so did the yungits. And the reedcane. And all the other familiar trees. The forest was instead populated with more coniferous trees, mostly light brown cedars that grew sparsely in Glass People territory.


    And the rain was definitely colder the farther north they traveled, they had all noticed. It was unfortunate they were unable to make cloaks from the beaver family, because they all hated the chilly rain. And they hadn¡¯t had the opportunity yet to hunt any other large animals, for they had been making due with rabbits and hamsters. They had just about collected enough skins to make two cloaks, which would of course go to the highest status members, Faydayo and Krissa.


    The group had grown more cautious as they gathered off the land, for the flowers and flora were becoming overtaken with new and different sorts as well. Even Minty, their expert herbalist, was unsure about the new plants. One day they had all binged upon a trove of what they thought were fallen trutoo nuts, however later as they walked they had all gotten sick stomachs, and made camp early so they could puke their guts out.


    They continued on through the cedar forest for six days, living mostly off of dried salt beef to avoid another gut mishap. Though, they were running low and would be forced to live off the land in a day or so. Yuliko thought it was worth the risk of another evening of hurling if she didn¡¯t ever have to chew on a hard chunk of salt beef ever again.


    One night they heard wolves howling. It was in the far distance, but it still put them on edge. They all remembered the rumors of a great wolf pack unafraid of man kin.


    On the seventh day the cedar forest came to an abrupt halt. They stepped beyond the cedar treeline like it were a stage curtain, and entered into a rolling meadow of bright flowers¡ªrich red shades, striking orange petals, vibrant yellows¡ªsweeping through the valley.


    ¡°By Maw¡¯Goro¡¯s magic, look at that,¡± Zana said. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful.¡±


    The others couldn¡¯t help but agree. The meadow flickered like a flame with the blowing breeze, causing all the colors to sway.


    The meadow appeared to be largely made up of sunflower-like plants with tall stalks and disc head flowers. They were fragrant like sunflowers too. However, the stalks of these sunflowers were thicker than normal, almost like the trunk of a sapling rather than the stem of a flower. And some of the disc heads of sunflowers were quite large, as big as serving bowls.


    Yuliko remembered the tale of the plants that could grab people. ¡°There was a glyph on the border marker of a figure with a flower for a head.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any walking flowers,¡± Pykor said. ¡°Just these.¡± Then he pushed on one of the sunflower saplings, it had a bouncy flexibility to it. He let go and the sunflower sprung back into place. ¡°Oh, wow. You could wallop someone with one of those.¡±


    ¡°How fascinating,¡± Minty said, moving to examine the springiness of one of the sunflowers for herself.


    Faydayo looked down the rolling valley. The meadow extended far, but in the distance to the north he could make out a pass between two mountain ridges. Either they could use that pass to continue northward or they would have to cross over a mountain.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°We will travel through the meadow to the pass,¡± Faydayo said, pointing to their destination. ¡°But be cautious, don¡¯t harm the flowers, the glyph may have been warning of some defense mechanism.¡±


    They started walking through waist high sunflowers, but by the time they had crossed over the first hill they were treading through head high sapling stalks with sunflower discs as big as watering basins. The width of the stalks on the largest sunflowers was as wide as Yuliko¡¯s arm. She picked up a fallen sunflower seed and saw it was the size of her thumb.


    And over the next hill the sunflowers were starting to tower over the mo¡¯huran, even Faydayo, the tallest of them. The stalks were so tall now that they could not even rightly tell which direction they were headed. Faydayo had them stop at the top of the next hill so he could reorient.


    ¡°Hold on, I got an idea,¡± Kardan said. And then he jumped up to grab hold of the disc of the biggest sunflower closeby. Amazingly, the stalk supported his full weight, with his pack and all. Kardan then heaved himself up and on top of the big disc. The flower wobbled somewhat, but managed to hold him up. ¡°Haha!¡± Kardan shouted from up. ¡°Hey, you all gotta come up here. This is incredible.¡±


    Instantly all the others wanted to see the view. Each of them found a big enough sunflower and started to climb up the same way Kardan had.


    ¡°Everyone, stay alert,¡± Faydayo told them. ¡°Don¡¯t get distracted.¡±


    But all of them had fully diverted their attention to climbing the giant flowers. Yuliko was up on top of her sunflower almost as soon as Kardan told them to come up. And she saw that he had been right, the view was incredible; before them lay a widening meadow that just kept spreading down the valley, but farther in there were even bigger flowers. Sunflowers rising up like pappo trees, with great big discs as big as the floor of a hut.


    ¡°What are these strange flowers that never stop growing?¡± Minty wondered aloud for all of them.


    ¡°Whatever they are,¡± Faydayo said, as he was the last to climb onto a sunflower disc. ¡°We should be more cautious as we go forward.¡±


    ¡°You got it, Chief,¡± Kardan said, jumping into a mocking bow stance towards Faydayo, but to his surprise the sunflower bounced him back up slightly after the jump. ¡°Hey, check that out,¡± Kardan said. Then he started jumping up and down, bouncing higher each time. ¡°Guys, look at this.¡± It was as if the stem of the sunflower stalk had the same kind of elasticity found in the rubber tree sap.


    Yuliko started bouncing up and down too. ¡°Woah! This is fun!¡±


    Next all of the mo¡¯huran was jumping and hooting with laughter on the bouncy flower stalks. All except Faydayo who kept telling them to quiet down.


    ¡°Hyah! Hyah!¡± Pykor shouted. ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m flying!¡±


    ¡°Weee!¡± Minty hollered. ¡°We need these at home!¡±


    Zana started hopping between two of the sunflower discs with cat-like agility. ¡°Woo! Woo!¡± She cried.


    Even Krissa had joined in the fun. Her beaded hair clacking all over the place as she bounced.


    ¡°Will you all stop being so childish!¡± Faydayo said. ¡°I want to reach the pass before nightfall.¡±


    ¡°Oh, have a little fun,¡± Krissa said.


    ¡°Yeah, man,¡± Kardan said. ¡°Have you ever done anything even remotely like this be¡ª¡±


    Suddenly Kardan was pulled by his legs down underneath the flower heads. Yuliko stopped bouncing. ¡°Kardan?¡±


    No answer.


    ¡°Weee!¡± Minty cheered, not noticing anything afoot. ¡°Wee¡ª¡± Then she too was pulled down to the ground beneath the bouncy flowers.


    ¡°Everybody stop!¡± Faydayo yelled, drawing out his war club.


    Yuliko saw Zana and Pykor draw their clubs too and swing haphazardly down below their discs. But before Yuliko could draw her antler pick, a leafy hand had wrapped around her ankle, and pulled her down below.

 Chapter 15

    Figures with leafy bodies and wooden faces pinned Yuliko to the ground as they tied her hands behind her back. The rest of her mo¡¯huran had also been pulled down from the flower tops. The figures were quickly and aggressively tying them all up. They also deprived them of their weapons.


    The leafy figures moved like people, Yuliko saw, with two legs and two feet. They had skin like bark and their hair was made of ivy vines and decorated with sunflower heads. There were at least ten of them.


    Their faces had grotesque exaggerated features. Yuliko worried that perhaps they had been attacked by some sort of ghouls. But why would ghouls be covered in leaves and flowers? Perhaps these were hostile flower spirits?


    They wielded dried sunflower stalks that had been de-petaled as clubs. Faydayo was the last to be yanked down back to the ground and subdued by the leafy people. He fought back as they tied him, so they beat him a few times with the heads of their sunflower clubs. The flexibility of the club stalks seemed to add some extra punch to the blows.


    Yuliko was stripped of her backframe and belt. One of the flower people rifled through her bag, spilling out her tools and materials. The flower person flicked open her parchment folding fan and fluttered it upon their malformed face.


    They spoke to each other in a language that she didn¡¯t understand, but Yuliko noticed that their lips weren¡¯t moving. Then she realized the wooden faces were masks. She looked more closely at their leafy bodies and saw the leaves had been wrapped in place with cordage over bark and wicker armor. Underneath she spotted pinkish-brown flesh tones. These were people disguising themselves as plants.


    If her hands had been free, Yuliko would have attempted to use the traveler¡¯s hand signal, so instead Yuliko spoke, ¡°We mean no harm. We are travelers,¡± she said.


    ¡°Apoo cha tu,¡± the masked person standing over her said, then they whacked her in the stomach with their sunflower club, confirming that the sunflower clubs carried an extra wallop to their strikes.


    All the air was knocked out of Yuliko, but they forced her to stand anyway along with all the others. They were then shoved into a line, irregardless of status, with masked sunflower warriors intermittently placed between them.


    They were forced to march. Yuliko could not tell what direction they were headed with the canopy of the tallest sunflowers blocking the sky. But the sunflower people leading the way seemed to know exactly where they were going. They continued for a long while with the sunflowers getting ever taller, until reaching a ceiling of about twelve feet tall, with stalks as wide as a man kin thigh.


    Eventually, they came to a rocky crag within the meadow that sloped downward between two rock walls. As they walked into the crag, the sunflower stalks were replaced with a wide-open gorge hidden right in the middle of the meadow. There was so much more space than Yuliko would have believed from her view atop the giant sunflower. It was astonishing a place this big was nestled within the meadows unseen. The rock walls grew higher as they descended down the slope.


    When they were deep enough in the gorge, wicker huts began appearing built along the rock walls. These huts were much smaller than the huts the Black Glass People built. These were designed for only two or three people. And there were a few people lingering around. The people by the huts were unmasked, and looked very much like Black Glass People, except they were all wearing leafy skirts and wore flowers in their hair.


    Yuliko noticed a young woman holding a toddler and she stopped to stare, remembering the time she had seen the flathead woman with the youngling. The toddler looked shy, but curious. Then a masked sunflower warrior slapped her with their flower club in her rear. ¡°Cha tu!¡± they said. The young woman brought her toddler into her hut and Yuliko moved along with the rest of the captives.


    They were walked all the way to the bottom of the gorge where most of the clanspeople had gathered. Yuliko estimated there were perhaps a hundred of them. They were all encircling some sort of wicker construction. Yuliko looked upward and gasped.


    Towering overhead, built from the dried sunflower stalks, stood a wicker figure taller than even the biggest sunflowers in the meadow. The figure stood with its knees bowed and its arms held upward like a fork prong. Its face was a giant wooden mask with the same grotesque exaggerated features as their captors¡¯ masks. Antlers made of stalks jutted from the figure¡¯s head, and crowned around the antlers was a wreath of large sunflower discs.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Yuliko barely had time to take in the grandeur of the wicker man construction before she was forced onto her knees with the others in front of the biggest hut. The sunflower warriors formed a semi-circle around their prisoners. A girl with a drum standing next to the hut doorway banged on the instrument rapidly and shouted out, ¡°Machu pakik na Leandrus!¡±


    The curtain covering the doorway was pulled aside and outstepped a man wearing elaborately woven wicker armor bedecked with dried brown sunflower discs. He wore a cape of woven vines, also sporting dried sunflowers. His hair was tied in a long ponytail and upon his head was a withered wreath crown with faded red and yellow petals.


    The crowned man strode in front of the line of prisoners, examining them. One sunflower warrior showed the chieftain one of their obsidian ritual blades. After his inspection, the chieftain clapped and said, ¡°Nan kho.¡± Then one of his grass-skirted subjects ran behind him with a leather stool. The chieftain, Yuliko assumed, flipped his cape so it draped behind the stool, then he sat and stared at the prisoners. ¡°Pokum,¡± he said with a wave of his wrist.


    Faydayo took that to mean he wanted to hear from them. He crawled forward on his knees and bowed, ¡°Chief of the sunflower people, we come as travelers on our Great Journey. We mean no harm to you or your clan. We only ask for permission to cross your land to the mountain pass.¡±


    The crowned man frowned. He pointed to Faydayo and said, ¡°Acki okimon ton glass chal.¡±


    Faydayo perked up at hearing glass. ¡°Yes, we are Glass People. Glass chal.¡±


    The chieftain ordered something else in his foreign tongue. He gestured to huts farther down as he spoke. One of his subjects bowed and ran towards those huts. As they waited for whatever the chieftain wanted, Yuliko thought she heard the sounds of a woman crying out in pain. But it was brief and hard to discern if that¡¯s what she really heard over the murmur of the flower people watching the strangers.


    In short time, the runner came back with a stocky man walking with a limp and missing an arm. The man was sweaty and had a worried expression. The chieftain spoke with the one-armed man briefly in their own language, before the newcomer limped a few steps forward to face Faydayo.


    ¡°King Leandrus say why Glass People come here?¡± The one-armed man said.


    That shocked and relieved Yuliko that this man somehow knew the tongue of the Black Glass People. There was a chance of talking their way out of this.


    ¡°We are passing through on our Great Journey,¡± Faydayo said.


    The one-armed man thought for a second, then translated the best he could. King Leandrus leaned forward and repeated a phrase the translator had said.


    ¡°You say Great Journey brought you here?¡± the translator asked.


    ¡°Not here exactly,¡± Faydayo said. ¡°Just this way.¡±


    But King Leandrus spoke again before the translator had time to interpret. He spoke with grit in his words.


    ¡°The king say you here to steal tribute. He say Glass People no steal tribute from Meadow Dwellers,¡± the one-armed man said.


    ¡°No, we have no intention of¡ª¡± Faydayo started, but was cut off by the sunflower king who rambled off a string of foreign words, then he pointed to their mighty wicker man.


    ¡°King Leandrus say you here to steal pyre totem,¡± the interpreter told them.


    Faydayo shook his head. ¡°No. No stealing.¡±


    ¡°Foopolo,¡± the king said.


    ¡°He say you lying,¡± the interpreter said.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t even know you were here!¡± Faydayo said, growing angry.


    The one-armed man conveyed that to Leandrus. The king yawned and gave a reply, then flicked his wrists at the prisoners.


    ¡°King Leandrus say you be offer to Wild Watcher,¡± the interpreter told them.


    The sunflower king clapped his hands together again and a Meadow Dweller brought him a long stone blade. The longest stone knife Yuliko had ever seen. It was made of a peppery looking rock, and only sharpened on one side by grinding instead of knapping. The blunt end was thick, polished, but not grinded down in order to reinforce the weapon. Yuliko imagined the blade must be quite heavy. A strong blow could maybe even cut through bone.


    The king stood up from his seat and stepped forward, careful not to catch his cape on the stool. He raised the stone blade and waved its point across the line up of journeyers. The knife point threatened each of them in turn with a bloody demise. Minty let out a cry when the knife faced her. Faydayo snarled when the blade came to him. Yuliko felt her heart pound at her chest when the king pointed at her.


    But finally, King Leandrus came to a stop on Krissa, who was blanked-faced. He used the tip of the blade to brush her beaded braids away from her face.


    The king said something else and two masked sunflower warriors picked her up and started dragging her towards the wicker man. King Leandrus followed after them. The Ibexes shouted helplessly, begging for them to stop.

 Chapter 16

    The Meadow Dwellers cleared a path for the sunflower warriors to haul Krissa at the feet of the wicker man. The king strode behind with the long knife in hand and his withered flower cape dragging behind him. Krissa began chanting Wukiki¡¯s protection incantation. The other Ibexes pleaded for her life. The sunflower warriors whacked the shouting prisoners with their stalk clubs.


    Through all the noise, Yuliko was again certain that she heard a woman in pain in the distance.


    Faydayo headbutted the warrior in front of him in the gut, giving him time to jump to his feet and shout, ¡°I invoke the traveler¡¯s right to combat!¡±


    The one-armed translator shared Faydayo¡¯s words to King Leandrus. The sunflower king shouted for the warrior¡¯s carrying Krissa to stop. And the whole area fell to silence, except Krissa, who was still chanting to herself.


    Yuliko then clearly heard a woman yelling in what sounded like labor pains farther into the gorge. However, the Meadow Dwellers were all focused on their king and the captives. All except the translator, who looked back in the direction of the woman¡¯s voice with worry on his face.


    King Leandrus spun around and walked back towards Faydayo. He gave the traveler¡¯s sign for accepting the duel. Then, speaking in his own tongue, he spoke to the one-armed translator who reluctantly returned his attention to the situation at hand and said, ¡°You be a bold intruder, to invoke traveler rights.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re only passing through,¡± Faydayo said.


    The king looked Faydayo over, and then shrugged. Then he held out the large stone knife to be taken by a servant and it was replaced by one of the flexible clubs made from the sunflower stalks. The stool was brought over to him and Leandrus sat. He spoke a long string of foreign words as two servant girls began untying his cape and taking off his flower crown.


    ¡°King Leandrus say yes combat,¡± the translator said. ¡°Fight him flower way. You win, you walk. You lose, all you die.¡±


    ¡°What is the flower way?¡± Faydayo asked. Then his hands were unbound and a stalk club was shoved into his fingers.


    The one-armed man pointed upwards to the top of the gorge¡¯s rock wall where tall sunflowers were growing right at the edge. ¡°Flower way,¡± he repeated


    #


    Faydayo was escorted by two of the masked warriors and the king back up out of the gorge and to the top of the rockwall overhanging the main Meadow Dweller campsite, above where the wicker man had been built.


    Yuliko and the rest of the Ibexes remained at the bottom of the gorge, craning their necks upward, watching in terror as Faydayo was forced to climb his way on top of a giant sunflower growing right at the edge of the gorge, along with King Leandrus. Each of them was armed with a stalk club.


    During the time it took for them to trek out the gorge, the interpreter, who named himself as Jogen, told the other prisoners that he traded with Black Glass People and the Quegu Tribe when was younger, and had learned some of both their languages. He explained that the objective of the fight was not necessarily to kill their opponent, but to knock them off of the flower heads. Being knocked off the sunflower heads up there just happened to be a fall to certain death.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°But Faydayo could fall back into the meadow, not over the cliff, and be alright, right?¡± Krissa asked Jogen.


    ¡°He lose, all you die,¡± he said.


    As the two fighters took their position, Yuliko again heard the cries of the pained woman. But the sound was washed out by the crowd cheering on their king.


    ¡°Jogen, who is the woman crying?¡± Yuliko asked. ¡°Is she in labor?¡±


    He took a moment to consider her words then said, ¡°Yes. Woman baby labor. My son¡¯s wife. Baby hurting her.¡±


    Above, Faydayo and the king began circling each other on the flower head. Their view from down below in the gorge wasn¡¯t very good, and they could only really see their upper torsos moving about. The lower halves obscured by petals. After a moment of circling, Faydayo lunged at his opponent, but the king took advantage of the sunflower¡¯s springy quality, and bounced upward, doing a flip over Faydayo, at whacking him in the back with his club when he landed.


    ¡°We have a talented healer with us,¡± Yuliko told Jogen. She pointed out Minty. ¡°She could see your son¡¯s wife and maybe help.¡±


    Jogen¡¯s eyes widened. He looked at Minty, then back in the direction of the crying woman, then he looked up where his king was dueling. Leandrus was repeatedly bouncing and flipping over and around Faydayo, clearly playing with him.


    Jogen shook his head. ¡°King Leandrus want you all die. Healer already see son¡¯s wife. No help.¡±


    On the giant sunflower head, the king was now pushing Faydayo around with the springy stalk club, forcing him closer to the edge of the disc. Though Faydayo was able to move nimbly and dive back into the center of the disc. He even got one good wallop on the king with his club.


    ¡°Yes, we can help,¡± Yuliko said to Jogen. ¡°Our healer is very good.¡± She pointed to the blue and purple toadskin bag in the pile of their things. ¡°That¡¯s her healer bag. She can help.¡±


    Jogen limped over to the toadskin bag and opened it up with his one arm. He saw its contents of healer tools, pots of clay, and pouches of herbs. A glimmer of hope flickered across his face. ¡°Healer help,¡± he repeated.


    ¡°Yes, she will help. Right, Minty?¡± Yuliko said.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll do my best,¡± Minty said.


    The interpreter looked back up to the fight. The king was wrangling Faydayo back towards the ledge. Leandrus must now be aware of how quick Faydayo could be, and wasn¡¯t giving any opportunities for him to escape. Then to everyone¡¯s surprise, Faydayo dashed to the side and lept over to the nearby flower head. Everyone in the crowd gasped. Leandrus jumped right after him, but now Faydayo took control of the platform. Now that Faydayo was actually proving a challenge, the kings stopped playing around, and assailed his opponent with wild strikes, bouncing lithely as he attacked.


    ¡°Please, stop the fight and we¡¯ll help your son¡¯s wife,¡± Yuliko said.


    Jogen frowned. It was obviously not socially acceptable for him to counter the king¡¯s decisions, but the one-armed man had to know this may be the last chance to save the laboring woman, maybe the baby too. ¡°Abboo na callum!¡± Jogen shouted up at his king.


    He was unheard over the other cheering Meadow Dwellers, and the king¡¯s attention was squarely on the fight. ¡°Abboo na callum!¡± Jogen shouted again. Then he tapped the clanspeople beside him and repeated the phrase. His companions joined him in chanting the phrase. ¡°Abboo na callum!¡± a growing group of Meadow Dwellers chanted.


    The king was furiously whipping his club down upon Faydayo, who was only managing to block every other blow, being pushed back towards the disc edge.


    ¡°Abboo na cullum!¡± the clanspeople shouted.


    King Leandrus froze mid-strike, perhaps at the final blow that would have sent Faydayo tumbling down the gorge. Jogen shouted up something else in their own language. He pointed to Minty, then urgently pointed towards the hut with his son¡¯s wife.


    ¡°Dundu,¡± the king said, and lowered his war club.


    Relief and renewed energy showed through Jogen¡¯s face. ¡°Please, follow,¡± he said to the girls, handing Minty her toadskin medicine bag. And then he showed them the way to the patient.