He battled his thoughts. She must learn to obey him. She must listen to his every whim. Doom commanded here. He was leader; he knew what was best. Until he had to hand humans over. That wasn’t for the best; it was a necessary evil. Every sacrifice broke him further until his emotional bones were shards. He was as desensitized as possible, but it was never enough. For all his size and power, he wished with all his heart his life was different, wished he wasn’t leader. Doom stood clenching his fists.
Turn off the emotion.
Clarity was too compelling with her small stature and huge rebellious streak. Their physical confrontation intrigued him. There were women who would actually confront him?
Unbelievable
. Having her in his arms was torture. She was the first woman he ever clung to for so long—even if they were battling. His cock still twitched from desire. He couldn’t turn off his emotions; they tumbled through him, around him, over him.
Doom couldn’t stand it; he had to go to her. She must show him the contents of her sack. To learn about something new was fascinating. If she shared her knowledge with his people for a year it was possible to take a step closer to freedom. Doom sucked in his breath. Freedom was an elusive word never spoken aloud. Why had he thought such a thing? Hope was a better word. Still, freedom nagged his insides.
Racing from his home, Doom crashed through the door of the protective shelter startling her, not waiting for it to slide back completely before muscling his way in. Clarity was sitting on the last step up and he came close to tripping over her. She screamed, jumped up, and aimed something at him. Suddenly, Doom’s eyes were on fire. He couldn’t see. She wounded his eyes from a distance. Groaning, he lost his balance and rolled heavily down the steps where he landed on his knees, his fisted hands digging at his eyes.
“Doom? You startled me. Oops.”
“Oops. All you can say is
oops
. I’m blinded.”
“Calm down, the pain won’t last forever. I’m sorry. I thought you might be one of those beasts, what did you call them, erectasaurus? Or something.”
“There is
nothing
remotely erect right now, trust me.”
Doom could feel her hand on his shoulder, and she shoved a skin of water into his hands. He dumped the flask over his face to soothe his eyes. He blinked. The pain was still there but he could see her through blurred vision.
“What the fuck did you do to me?”
“It’s mace. Very effective.”
“You think?”
Clarity helped him to his feet and guided him to a bed. “I see you brought no food. You’re still not getting my purse.”
“I wanted to see what was inside, not take it from you. Humans have never brought anything through the sinkholes. You’re the first. Damn, I don’t know what hurts worse my eyes or my ass.” That fall would leave bruises. Tag-teamed by a woman and stairs. It occurred to him the torches were lit. He wondered if she understood the magic of matches.
“Maybe I shouldn’t show you what I have. You live in a primitive time. Too much knowledge too fast can be dangerous.”
“From what I hear Earth was primitive, too. Over the last two-hundred years it’s come even farther. Some of the humans here speculated alien interference. They don’t know why. Maybe aliens are cultivating you. Making you smarter for a new colony.”
“You just pulled that out of your ass.”
“No.” Doom poured more water over his eyes. “Humans have only been coming here for the last few decades. Each human has a point of view. I think about all of their points. Maybe you were sent here to give us the aid we need.” He wasn’t lying. Every individual was listened to for any clue of survival. Doom remembered everything. There had to be a reason humans began appearing. Doom devoured every morsel and crumb of knowledge.
“Your people coexist with dinosaurs. I have no clue what help I could give you. I’m a fish out of water here.”
“We adapted. You humans coexist with deadly Earth creatures, maybe not as overwhelming as dinosaurs but I have heard the ‘terrorist’ beast is formidable and unpredictable, though some call it cowardly. Most animals have some form of defense.”
“Yep, those terrorist animals are a piece of work.”
“The dinosaurs you are used to hearing about aren’t like the ones now. They were at one time long ago. I have seen skeletal remains. Everything evolved. Everything will continue to evolve until nature’s plan is perfect.”
“It won’t if you’re given technology to make weapons of mass destruction. You will slaughter the animals and kill your world.”
Doom squinted at her; his heart began to race. “Mass destruction. I’ve heard that term before.”
Clarity rose and paced. “I don’t belong in your world. When the hole opened I was headed somewhere and yanked onto your planet. I’m positive.”
Doom jumped up and gripped her hands. “How can you be so sure?”
“I was given a message before I fell. Someone was coming for me. The voice wasn’t yours. And from what little I saw and see, you don’t have the means to send any message to other tribes let alone across galaxies.” She made a point of casting her gaze onto furs and water bags.
“I’m not stupid or simple minded.”
“You survive with dinosaurs,” she sounded surprised. “Of course you’re not stupid. As for simple I’d use the term complacent. You know how to survive and since there are children here you adapt.”
Doom winced. Not one child had been born to his people in a long time. He was the last. Her eyes were bright and earnest. An untold lie was still a lie. A lie told to yourself was a lie. Doom reached to tuck a strand of her silky hair behind her ear.
“I have food in my home. This place is too empty for you to stay all alone. You’re safe with me.” He gave her a wry smile. “Okay you’re safe with your purse. I’ll watch you both.”
Clarity smiled. “This place is scary as heck but I would like to see more of your planet.”
She was never allowed to leave the village. Perhaps showing her the dinosaurs beyond the perimeter would change her mind as it had all the others. One glimpse and she would be too afraid to go anywhere.
“I will show you more after I tell you of the dangers. That could take a while.”
“Gee I never imagined.”
****
As Clarity moved through the village following Doom, she noted the grass-covered mounds. Sixteen in all, all various sizes, all incorporated into the landscape. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. The range appeared a vision of gently rolling hills with massive rock formations. There were caves as well, many with panels of hide, and she wondered at their contents.
Doom explained their dwellings. Each home was dug out of the ground. Huge stones were cut and placed inside to form the floor and walls. Cement was used as a filler. He took her to an open door where she peered inside a villager’s home. She didn’t venture down. The structure was brightly lit inside. Though Doom used the word cement, the ebony substance was very fine and at a touch it heated and glowed. Not exactly tar either, as the thick substance was neither wet nor dry. When pushed it held tight.
As they moved on, Doom explained the ebony mass also held an undetectable odor to humans and his people but repelled reptiles. For the ceiling, large mammoth tusks made a dome which was covered in grass. They were in the process of making another home. Clarity examined the mammoth tusks. She couldn’t be certain, but something nagged the mammoths might be a hybrid of mastodons and perhaps another large creature.
There was something odd about the bones—massive and whole, none broken or chipped, all smooth perfection. Clarity wondered if the bones were unbreakable. Doom said they could cut the stone; nothing was mentioned about the bones. Every home had a tunnel connecting it with the others underground. The village outside was situated in a circle, inside the circle were blazing fires and smaller fires.
For a people who dealt with dinosaurs on a day-to-day basis, no one appeared afraid. A woman played with a small boy who seemed quiet. All villagers dressed in the same short pants. The men went shirtless; the women wore small leather tops. There were few children, perhaps five, of various ages all in different forms of dress depending on age. Everything looked primitive to Clarity. The people wore skins and furs. Almost everyone seemed happy, except for the little boy of perhaps five.
Clarity could see there was a difference in this child. A woman gave up trying to encourage him to play with others and held him while tears streamed down his wan face. She was joined by a huge man, his father perhaps. The child resembled neither parent. He was healthy but thin. Every person in the village was big boned except the children. All the men were massive and bald. Some men wore tattoos but none as intricate as Doom.
The women all stood over five nine, all less than six feet. They were muscular. They all wore their white hair in braids or a bun. Doom’s people were beautiful, but ancient suffering flooded the depths of their eyes. Hopelessness filled the atmosphere. The lush beauty of the parts of the planet Clarity had seen was breathtaking. Except for the creepy bear wolves, there wasn’t a single threat she could see. And when Clarity saw one of the beasts drop to the ground to roll in a playful manner, she couldn’t help but smile.
Off in the distance Clarity saw a sauropod. The huge beast lumbered along, stripping trees as it went. The beast was magnificent. Never in her life had she thought to dream she would see such a sight. The dinosaur was beyond massive. She had a thought.
“How do you keep the larger dinosaurs from stepping on your homes? I’m sure the bones are strong but a mammoth tusk couldn’t hold one of those.” She pointed as she spoke.
“It’s not only bone protecting the homes, although yes the tusks are strong enough. Nothing can break them. The hides are thick and useful for many of our needs and the meat is succulent. Every so often, small rocks from the sky fall in strange pieces. They’re amazing for reinforcing the bones as a precaution. They are placed near the tops of the mounds, when anything large comes close the rock will glow through the dirt and grass and the bright light scares the dinosaurs.”
“I thought meteors never landed here.”
“Not in large sizes. I’m certain Earth had small meteors land that didn’t cause damage. The ones we use were already near here, so we took advantage. The material is like nothing on our planet and doesn’t break. We could only incorporate the substance and build around it. The bulwarks aren’t our only defense. You see, in the trees over there? Those devices make a noise the dinosaurs don’t like. Many dinosaurs have a set path when they migrate as well. All of the meat-eaters are too small to break through the numerous layers of bone covering our homes. For the larger ones, we have tar pits that surround the back of the village where you’re gazing. Those beasts are too big to avoid the hazard. They have learned to fear the smell of man. We hunt them, especially if they get too close.”
“You hunt those?”
“Yes, the meat is good and feeds many for a long period of time. We have massive trees sharpened at a certain height to hamstring a beast. Once they are down, it’s easy enough to slit a throat. Their own weight can crush their organs when they fall. We normally hunt one before they migrate. It takes all of us working together to slaughter and retrieve the choice parts we need. The blood draws too many predators after a while. But by then we have our packs loaded.”
“Amazing,” she whispered as they continued to walk.
A powerful man stopped chopping wood to stare at Clarity and her smile died on her lips. He was in his prime with many tattoos. His gaze wasn’t hostile, exactly. He was intense as he studied her. Finally, he shook his head and she could see his lips move as though he muttered under his breath. He attacked the wood before him with a vengeance.
“Are your people angry I’m here?” Clarity asked.
Doom followed her gaze and took a deep breath. “There are times my men ask to keep a human safe until it’s time for them to leave. The humans always go, and the men are left bereaved. Menace is the last of his tribe, near my age. Salvation came too late for his people.”
“Salvation?”
Taking her arm Doom encouraged her forward. “The Neandersauri are relentless.”
“Your people have survived.”
“It’s taken time to rebuild, we were hunted almost to extinction. Others from neighboring tribes joined with me after losing their leaders. Few leaders joined with me after losing their tribes. I lead all here.”
“A human’s greatest asset is their ability to think, to reason and solve conflict. What are these hybrids capable of?”
“Death.”
“Reproduction?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you hunt them?”
“With what? Our weapons are useless against them. We have nothing to pierce their hides. Our spears aren’t enough. They are built for death, toned over thousands of years when all humanoid-type species realized in order to survive we must adapt and integrate with stronger species. Their bodies are massive; their claws rip our flesh to shreds. They think; they’re stronger. It’s impossible to hunt the hybrids as animals. When last they attacked my tribe they went after leaders. My father fell when I was still a boy on the verge of manhood. Many leaders were slaughtered across the planet. Their assault was systematic and strategic.”
“Are they smarter than you?”
Doom glanced away. Clearly he was uncomfortable. “They want something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Earth humans haven’t always come here. It’s only been a while.”
“When did humans start coming here?”
Doom shifted his feet. “In the last few decades. The hybrids have grown smarter. They hunt in numbers no less than two.”
Clarity stopped. “Since humans started coming here.”
“It’s a theory.”
She grew angry. “What happens to the humans on this planet?”
“They go home.”
Doom released her arm and strode forward; she had no choice except to follow. He led her to a mound of grass, domed, twenty feet in a circular diameter. He gripped the solid rock door with both hands. The places he touched lit with pink and blue light but he was too impatient and dragged the door open. Clarity knew from the bulging of his muscles she’d never in a million years budge the door. They stepped down sixteen steps—she guessed the height from floor to ground to be twenty feet.