Chapter 5
- Nator’ax -
I wake the way hunters wake. Quickly, with my body almost upright before my mind can catch up.
For a moment, I sit still.
Something warm presses along my back and against my chest. A soft weight rests against my arm. The air smells faintly of leather and smoke, and beneath that, another scent that I have come to know well. Riley.
Then I remember where we are.
The saucer hums softly around us. Its floor still lies tilted against the ice that holds it trapped in the glacier crack. Pale blue light glows from the viewing walls.
Riley sleeps in the furs beside me. During the night, she moved close again and again whenever the cold crept into the ship.
Each time, I let her press against me. Each time, I wrapped an arm around her so she would not freeze.
Now she lies with her back against my chest, her hair brushing my chin.
One of her hands rests lightly on my forearm, as if she took hold of me in her sleep.
I remain still for a moment. Her warmth seeps through the furs into my body. Her breathing is soft and steady.
“Sweet Ancestors,” I groan softly. She’s very nearly irresistible. That sweet scent…
Yet Riley is under my protection. She lives among our tribe now, and I have sworn to Korr’ax to protect the women of the tribe. To not abduct, to not take advantage of them. It has never been hard. Not until now.
The warmth of her body makes it difficult to remember such oaths. Korr’ax is far away. I may never see him again. He may never know what I do now.
I take a slow breath and force my thoughts away from that path.
Something moves outside. The glow of the saucer’s viewing wall catches my eye. A shadow passes across the white ice beyond it.
I raise my head.
A shape stands outside the ship. A large one.
I shift carefully so I do not wake Riley and look more closely.
It’s a Big. But not one I know. The creature stands beside the saucer, with its heavy body leaning against the curved wall. Its skin is thick and grey like weathered stone, and matted for hangs from all over it. A long tail sweeps slowly across the ice behind it, spiked and deadly.
Its head is strange, too. Wide and heavy, with bony ridges above the eyes and long horns that curve from the sides of the skull. When it lifts its head, I see rows of thick teeth inside its mouth. The beast presses its weight against the ship, making a low scraping against the hull.
That isn’t good. If the creature pushes harder, it could drive the saucer deeper into the ice.
The Big turns its head, and one long horn hits the side of the saucer with a deep ‘bong’.
Beside me, Riley stirs, stretches, and opens her eyes. For a moment, she looks confused. Then she follows my gaze to the glowing wall. Her eyes widen. “What is that?” she whispers.
“A Big,” I tell her, since I don’t know the name of the thing.
She studies the creature for a moment. “A dinosaur?”
It’s the same word she used before, so I understand the question. “A Big,” I confirm. “But I haven’t seen this kind before.”
Outside, the creature lowers its head and sniffs along the hull of the saucer. Its breath fogs the cold air.
Riley pushes herself up on one elbow, furs wrapped around her shoulders. “Is it dangerous?”
“We always assume an unknown Big is dangerous. We’re usually right.”
She watches the beast lean harder against the ship.
The hull groans again.
Her eyes flick to me. “Can it break the saucer?”
“I don’t know. It’s big enough to, if it steps on it.”
I study the creature. If it keeps pushing like that, it may wedge the saucer even deeper in the ice. That would make flying again impossible. Or perhaps it could push the ship far enough that it falls down onto its bottom again.
But the beast stands on the wrong side. If it pushes harder, the ship will only tilt more, then fall with the wrong side up.
I rise slowly from the furs.
“What you doing?” Riley asks.
“I may have to kill it. Or chase it away.”
Her eyes widen. “Really?”
“Really.” I reach for my sword. “It’s about to knock the saucer over on its head.”
The familiar weight of the weapon steadies my thoughts. If I kill the beast, we gain much. Hide for warmth. Fat for fire and food. Meat that could feed us for many days, if it can be eaten. Some Bigs have meat that’s too sour or stringy to eat.
But Bigs are dangerous. This one is big, but still a predator. I spot the dried blood on its snout.
Riley sits up fully, the furs gathered around her. “Could you make it push the saucer over instead?” she asks. “Up right way?”
I glance again at the creature’s position. “Not like this. It stands on the wrong side.”
The beast snorts and scrapes its foot against the ice. Then it turns its head toward the viewing wall. Toward us. For a moment, its yellow eyes stare straight through the glowing surface of the saucer, as if it senses us inside.
Then it slams its shoulder against the hull. The whole ship shudders.
Riley gasps.
That decides it. I move to the hatch and open it. A blast of cold air rushes inside.
Riley hurries over and grabs my arm. “Be careful.”
I nod once, then linger for a moment because I really like the way she holds onto me with her cool little fingers. Then I drop down onto the ice.
The cold bites immediately through my boots. The glacier wind whispers along the walls of the crevice.
The Big turns its head when it sees me.
For a moment, we stare at each other.
Then it roars. The sound echoes between the walls of ice like thunder.
The creature lunges.
I leap aside as its jaws snap shut where I stood a moment before. Its breath stinks of blood and old meat.
My sword flashes. I slash at the thick muscle of its leg as it passes. The blade bites deep, and dark blood sprays across the ice. The beast bellows and swings its heavy tail. I duck beneath the blow and slash again at its flank.
The creature snaps at me, jaws wide enough to bite a man in half.
I roll aside across the ice.
Its teeth crash together where my shoulder had been as I surge to my feet and strike again, this time across the side of its neck.
The beast roars in pain, and for a moment, it hesitates. Then it turns and runs.
I step back to avoid the final, murderous arc of that spiked tail, then chase it several steps across the glacier, hoping to bring it down before it escapes.
But the Big moves faster than its heavy body suggests. Within moments, it pulls away.
I stop and watch it run. It would have been good to kill it, but for one man, the danger wouldn’t be worth it.