Stone King - Chapter Three - A Helping Hand

It was a small community of Elukka Kansa, half humanoid and half animal, a community that was primarily the Mirri, cat folk who could sometimes easily pass for fully human.  There was no lore regarding the Elukka, how they came to be mixed with animals, or if this was their original state, and those without the blood were the unnatural ones.  The only thing that was certain was that the Elukka were intelligent, had a close knit family structure, and a simple government system made up of responsible and experienced men known as elders.

They had a  nice relaxed trade situation throughout their lands, along with an assortment of farms.  The houses were small, but well maintained, and the farms grew ample produce to feed the inhabitants, as long as some were willing to hunt for the meat they needed.

"What kind of buildings are those?"  Mena asked.  Kivi wasn't sure himself, but Jaana spoke up first.

"Its a mud mix.  Sand, clay, mud and some sort of binder, like grass or straw.  They bake the bricks, and plaster the outside with the same mix.  They then cover the walls with a bunch of wood and light it on fire.  The mud bakes just like the bricks, and it can withstand the worst elements, providing they seal it with something, like tar, or wax."  Mena looked closer.

"They look shiny, so it might be wax.  They have round roofs though.  No parapets like down south."  Mena replied quietly.  She liked the looks of the homes.  They felt homey, and looked well kept.

"They are either flat or round roofs the world over, Mena.  Round sheds the water, while flat allows people to walk on them.  Good to stay cool in the summer heat, and good to hide things on, like wheat behind the low parapet walls."  Kivi looked around.

"No archer holes."  He said quietly.  Mena looked at him from the corner of her eyes.

"What do you mean, Kivi?"  Jaana asked.

"I don't think these people expect soldiers to attack them.  There are no standard defenses.  No walls, no towers, no murder holes, and nothing to stop cavalry."  Hella closed her eyes.

"Fuck, we're an invasion force."





The soldiers dismounted and got off the wagons that brought them to the site.

"Alright, we find the leader of this place, inform him of the king's decision, and see what happens.  Everyone, keep your swords easy in the sheathes."  It was a familiar order.  Make sure your blade could come out when it was needed, but don't bring it out until it was needed.

"Hella, I don't like this job."  Jaana said softly to her.  She nodded.

"I know, Jaana, and I know they are your people, but we've already soured our relationship with the southern king.  We need to stay cold with this one."  Hella's lips thinned.

"They are not my people, Hella."  She said flatly.  "They would not take me in when I was abandoned because I was half human.  You are my people."  She lowered her eyes.  "Still, this feels wrong."  She lifted her eyes carefully and listened to the one person she felt was their true leader, though he always did so indirectly.

"I feel the taste of the land, and of the men who brought us here."  Hella laid her hand on Kivi's shoulder.

"And what does it taste like, son?"  He smiled and leaned his head against her hand instinctively.

"Worse then the southern king's men did.  This land tastes sweet, and unspoiled."  He heard his sister growl.

"Why can't we just do the job we're paid to do?  Why do we have to listen to your feelings?"  Kivi frowned, and turned towards his sister.

"You would slaughter innocent people for coin?  That doesn't feel like Mena at all!"  She turned towards him, her face contorted in anger.

"What would you know about me anyway?"  She felt she had to attack.  How his hand felt in hers earlier was so foreign to her normal anger that her senses were still reeling.  The only way to win was to attack.

Kivi stepped back in surprise.  Her anger was unexpected as he had felt the stirrings of something important between them.  A shared feeling.  The next few events ripped away any chance for that to progress.

"Leave our town!  We have no part in your king, and your king does not own our lands!"  Her smile was malicious, and full of scorn.

"And now I suppose we'll have to fight for our lives because Kivi doesn't like the taste!"  He blinked.

"You hate me."  He said softly.  It wasn't a question.

"You're damned right I hate you!  I've always hated you!  You stole my mother from me!  You stole Banus, and now you steal Jaana!  They're my family!  Mine!"  Her anger was unreasonable, and it angered Jaana greatly.  She was only part of the family because of Kivi, not because of Mena.

Jaana had no chance to respond to her accusation though.  The next few moments seemed to be mired in muck as soldiers drew their blades, and Banus followed his heart.  Their company struck at the king's soldiers, while the inhabitants fought them both.

Kivi felt his world fall apart.  Arrows slid by his face as though a child threw them, and blades deflected harmlessly off of clothes that should not have been able to shrug it off.  He pulled within himself, disappeared into the small space that was no where, and walked through the soldiers fighting among themselves.  He was a splash of water, a dark shadow that disappeared, and reappeared at will.

He targeted only one soldier.

He moved from place to place, several feet with each step, from one fight to another, barely a glimmer in time.  He slashed an enemy as he passed, ripped arrows out of the air, and moved away from the center, where Mena and Hella faced each other angrily.

"What are you?"  The soldier said in fear as the dark place stopped in front of him.

"My father said he would kill you for your betrayal."  Kivi sliced him quickly, but didn't watch him fall.  He didn't need to as he had sliced him cleanly in two.  "Now he won't have to."  He turned one last time to where his mother and sister argued, then turned away.

"How dare you say that?  Do you know how many times he saved your life?"

"I don't care!  I hate him!"  Hella turned away from her daughter in disgust, and looked for her son.

"Kivi!"  She yelled out, deflected a blade and slid it up into an enemy's lungs.  She pushed the body away, and called out again.  "Kivi!"

"Over there!"  Banus yelled, and pointed to a slender cloaked figure at the side of a raging river.  Hella didn't have any time to cry out, or to stop him.  His face was closed in and empty of emotion as he casually jumped into the torrent.  Just a simple hop, and she watched her beloved son be pulled away to be crushed at the bottom of the raging river that cascaded over a huge cliff.

That was what hurt the most.  He was only a hundred or so feet away, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.

"NO!"  She fell to her knees, and cried out with great sobs.

"Momma?"  Mena reached out with her hand, in just as much shock as Hella, but her mother wouldn't turn her way.  Mena wanted to cry out that she was sorry, that she didn't want to be mean.  She wanted to cry, rant and rage as she watched her brother be washed away.

She couldn't though.  She didn't think of him as a brother any longer.  Her small heart broke into the smallest of pieces as the world she had known was shattered before her.  She looked at her small hand and remembered the strength in Kivi's hand, power he held in check just so he could always be gentle with her.

She watched as her mother cried in agony, and helplessness, and knew that any tears she wanted to shed would be seen as empty.  She had pushed Kivi into that water with her words, and did the one thing she felt her mother would never forgive her for.

With her hatred, she killed her mother's only son.





As Kivi was swept away, the town overwhelmed the soldiers that remained.  They quickly understood that the ones who fought the soldiers with them did not agree with the king's methods.  They also saw the intense grief of one of their members, and took pity on them.

They whispered among themselves while Banus carried Hella into one of the homes they offered for a few nights.

"She is heart sick."  The feline grace was obvious, as were the slightly pointed ears and teeth, but the sympathy was unexpected.  "I hope it does not deal the blow."  Mena turned on the woman in anger.

"My mother will not die!"  The woman nodded.

"Maybe, but when the heart is sick with grief, even the smallest blow can cripple.  She's been heart sick for a long time."  The woman walked away with no other comment, but Mena could hear the whispers, and feel the stares.

In her mind, the stares contained accusations, and weights filled with guilt.  Her guilt.  She knew of her mother's grief over her lost son, and now she had put a spike of hatred in the heart of the son she had left.

Now she hated Kivi more for dying then for living.





"Momma?  Is he okay?"  The girl's mother pulled the limp body out of the river, concern etched in her features.  He felt much heavier then his slender body should be, but she had other concerns right now.  Even the circumstances for their visit to this part of the river faded from her mind.

She seldom followed the river south of their home as that would take them closer to the village of the Mirri, and there wasn't anything left for them there.  Thea had questioned this trip south, but she had been insistent on going further south for the wider part of the river where she might catch fish more easily, but that excuse faded from her mind.

The reason for her trip south was now so obvious to Gita that she didn't need to remember her excuse.  She had been guided there.

Kivi opened his eyes and saw the kindest and softest eyes look down at him.  Gentle hands lifted him from the river's edge.

"I'm not sure, Thea."  She gently laid him down on the grassy riverbank, away from the swirling cold waters, and probed his limbs.  "No broken bones, but the waters can steal your life with nothing but the chill.  We should get him inside where we can warm him."  Thea smiled.

"Thank you, Momma."  She lifted him again, and carried him north along the river bank, then west half a mile to a small sun dried mud hut.  The central frame was swamp reeds woven and tied with long grass, then plastered thickly with mud, clay and dried swamp reeds, but the air had long dried it to near stone like hardness.  It was a simple small home, but when she put him down on the grass mat, he knew it was just that.  Their home.

"Mom?  Why are you taking his clothes off?"  She asked uncomfortably.  Her mother smiled.

"You're getting older, love, so this might feel strange.  In order to warm him, we have to get rid of the cold wet things he wears.  They will dry, but he'll warm up better if its with us around him."  Thea bit her bottom lip and then heard the command she knew was coming.  "Please, take off your clothes and get behind him, Thea.  I'll warm his front."  Her mother stripped off her own clothing and pulled the grass mat over them.

"Momma?  Are you sure we should do this?"

"If we want him to survive, yes."  Thea sighed, and though she was his age, there was something about this boy that made her frightened, and excited.

No animal, or man, ever survived the Stone Falls.  No one.





"Are you hungry?"  Kivi opened his eyes and saw those kind eyes once again.

"Huh?"  A girl giggled and popped within view.

"Momma asked if you're hungry!  We don't have much, but you're welcome to share!"  Kivi looked around the hut, saw the small amount of embers in the middle, and the simple grass mat he had slept on.  It was obvious that they were quite poor.

"I am, but I can't take your food.  Where are my clothes?"  The mother sighed.

"I don't want you to die out there.  Please, eat with us."  He looked into those kind eyes once again, and for the first time since he learned of his sister's hatred of him, he wanted to smile.  He couldn't, but he wanted to.

"Not yet.  Please."  She sighed once again, and handed him his warm dry clothes.  "Thank you for caring for them.  This will make it a bit easier to do what needs to be done."  The woman looked wary now.

"What needs to be done?"





"Ma'am?  This should hold you for a bit."  He knocked on the side of the hut, and waited until she pulled a mat made from reeds away from the door before he stepped inside.  When she let him in, she was surprised to see two plump rabbits in his hands.

"How did a human ever run fast enough to catch rabbits?  You don't even have a weapon to take them down!"

"Momma!  That's not nice!"  Her mother blushed brightly, and he could see the resemblance between mother and daughter.  The mother had pointed ears a bit higher on her head, and her hair ran down her back and spine like a lion's mane, but the rest of her was only covered with a thin down, a very fine fur that didn't keep them warm in the winter.  Thea's eyes were a bright blue with yellow flecks, while the mother's eyes were green with yellow flecks.  There was the slightest upturn to their nose, but other then the long sinewy tail, those were the only visible differences in their appearance.  The tails they tried to keep tucked away from sight.

"Ah, now I see why you are out here alone.  She's more human, right?"  Her mother looked carefully at the boy, then nodded slowly.  "I understand.  Your fire is dying.  Where is your ax?  I'll get some firewood."  She lowered her eyes.

"Stolen.  We pick up dead fall, but...."  He nodded only slightly as he already knew the answer.  The trees grew thicker and stronger the further north you traveled.  Wood cutters seldom came this far out, so the stands were almost all old growth forests, with massive trees and roots systems.

"There's not a lot to be found.  Do you know where there are any red rocks?"

"Red rocks?"  She asked, a little confused.

"The red marks iron.  Are there any close by?"  Thea smiled.

"Yeah, right behind our house!  I'll show you!"  She took Kivi's hand and pulled him back outside.  "I'm Thea, by the way!"

"Kivi."  She cocked her head, but tugged him along with her until they were in back of the house.  "Right there!"  He nodded, touched the stone, and nodded again.

"Yeah, this is iron alright."  He put both hands on the stone, and with his fingers, he pulled the iron oxide out of the rock, picked up a few fallen twigs, and wrapped his hands around them.  The carbon from the twigs and iron oxide catalyzed with the air to form a crude iron.  Without a forge, or the time to form it properly, this would be good enough for a basic ax.  Then, using just his hands, Kivi roughly shaped the iron into an ax head.

"How did you do that?"  She asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

"I don't know.  I just do it."  He looked around and found a piece of deadfall, almost as though it was laid there just for him.  "This stick will make an ax handle for a bit, until I can make something better.  Tell your mother I'll be back in a bit with some wood.  If she can get the rabbits skinned...."

"She doesn't have a knife."  He sighed softly, and put his hand over the stone again.  Within a few minutes, a crude blade appeared in his hand.

"This should do."  Thea took the blade and let her tears fall onto it.  "What's wrong?"  He asked her, a little bit concerned.

"Why are you so nice to us?  We're not used to it."  She said softly.  Kivi lifted her chin with his hand.

"I know, but I also know you need kindness now.  Now go to your mother.  I can feel her worry from here."




"A knife?  I don't remember this in his clothes."  Her mother frowned.

"He made it!  Took it right out of the rocks!"  Her mother, Gita, looked at her in surprise, then put her hands on her hips.

"Are you telling the bad words, Thea?"  She shook her head.

"Look at it, Momma!  See where his fingers made marks in the metal?  He made an ax for us too!  He said he would be back with firewood!"  She bit her bottom lip again, which caused Gita to relax a bit.  She wasn't lying.  "Is he for real, Momma?  Are we asleep?"  Gita looked at the knife, the finger marks, and sighed.

"I'll sharpen the blade and skin those rabbits for stew.  The meat will make that stew taste really good now."  She sharpened the knife on a stone she picked up just outside the door, and used a bit of water to keep the blade from overheating.  While she worked the blade, her eyes went wide as Kivi appeared, dropped off a hand cart full of wood just outside the door, and left again.  When the rabbits were skinned, another cartload appeared.  And when she had cut it up, somehow, another cartload appeared.

"Momma, where did he get a cart?"  She shook her head.  She didn't know where he found one, or if he made it, she didn't know how he did it.

He stepped inside, sat down heavily as though his body weighed more then the wood he moved, and closed his eyes.

"Kivi, are you magic?"  He opened his eyes and saw Thea sitting right in front of him, her eyes wide open, and curious.  He smiled tiredly.

"No, little one.  Just different.  I can move fast when I need to, but it costs me.  I need to sleep for a bit."  His eyes closed again,  and once Gita had stoked the fire with the wood she considered a treasure, she lifted him carefully and laid him back on the grass mat they slept on.

She carefully removed his damp clothing, and turned towards her daughter.  Thea had already stripped off her clothes.  She smiled softly.

"You care for him, don't you?"  Thea blushed a bit.

"He's nice to us, momma.  And kind to me."  Gita smiled again.

"Just because he's not mean doesn't mean he's nice to you, love.  Remember that."  Thea smiled and slipped in beside him.  Her tail wrapped around him, and she snuggled in close.

"He could use a bath though.  He really worked up a sweat."  Gita chuckled and finished preparing the stew.  Kivi could rest while it simmered for a bit.

For the first time in months, she had something to smile about.  She wasn't sure how they were going to survive the winter, but with Kivi's gift, the knife and the ax, she just might be able to keep her daughter alive and fed for the winter.

"I hope you stay with us, Kivi.  We really could use all the help we can get."





"Gita, do you mind if I build a shelter next to your home?  To keep the wood dry so its easier for you to burn and keep warm."  Gita smiled, and hid her tears.

"Anything you want to do to help us, Kivi, please, feel free to do so.  Just try not to destroy the small gardens we were able to turn over.  We won't get much from it because of how long it took to turn them over, but we should get a bit more next year.  I might be able to turn more soil over, thanks to this ax you made us.  I can cut some wood and make a simple rake and hoe."  He nodded, and like her daughter, he cocked his head slightly to the side.

"Did you plant too late?"  She shook her head.  "What happened?"  She swallowed a lump, and couldn't lie to him.

"We were driven off our land to the south.  We get the land loosened up, get a home set up, and they expand and drive us away!"  She lowered her eyes.

"I see.  Because there is no man of the house?"  She shook her head.

"Our people don't believe we can really own the land.  The Creator gave it to us, so we work it, and make our home.  We have full knowledge that he may ask us to leave a place, but he will lead us to another place to compensate."  He sighed.

"But the king keeps pushing north, and taking what he wants.  I see."  He looked thoughtful for a moment and said something that made her shiver.  "This is your home, so I will still ask."  It was what he didn't say, the words that were stuck in those intense steel eyes of his that made her shiver.

She didn't have to mention that there were no markets around to buy seeds from, so she had to harvest wild vegetables she found growing in the forests, forage for mushrooms, and berries.  This year would have been the worst so far.  She had only just finished their hut and turned over the gardens, but it was now mid summer.  The wild food she could forage for might keep them alive up to winter, but without tools or weapons, she couldn't get enough to put some aside for the winter months, and the spring when there was hardly anything yet to eat.

Gita watched him for the rest of the day and wondered what he really was.  Large stones moved as though he asked them to, and all he had to do was push a bit.  He built a large flat stone foundation by midday, at which point he had to sit in the shade and rest for a bit.

"Hi!"  Kivi opened his eyes and saw a crude clay cup held out to him.  He smiled a little.

"Hi, Thea.  Thank you for the water."  She smiled back and waited until he finished it, then raced off with the cup.  He wasn't surprised to see her come back with more.

When he felt rested enough, Kivi went off with the hand made cart again and brought back several long thick logs.  Thea watched him as he cut them to length, a clean slice with the ax that should have taken dozens of strikes to chip through the bulk of its thickness, and laid it on the foundation.  He made the notches the next row would lie in, while Thea wondered how she could help.

Three walls, and one with a door opening,  rose from the foundation, which made Thea look at her mother, then giggle and pick up the wooden plank they used to gather river mud from.

"Thea?  What are you doing?"  She giggled again, and didn't answer.  When she came back, the plank was covered in mud, with some moss mixed in.  The moss acted as a binder, while the river mud could be mixed with regular earth and make a good hardy wall.  Her people had used this kind of material for centuries, and as long as they used fire to cure the mix, it would last for decades.  If it was used between the logs, it would need to be replaced every few years, but would do a good job of keeping the winter chill out of the air.

When Kivi had returned with another cartload of logs, he frowned as he watched the girl push the mud into the cracks between the logs.

"What are you doing?"  Kivi asked as he unloaded the freshly cut logs.  He sat heavily on the ground near to where Thea busily worked.  He wasn't unkind, but he sounded strange.  Thea looked at him with hurt eyes.

"Helping.  You can't do everything, Kivi.  It costs you too much."  He held out his hand.  She squealed when he pulled her into his arms and laid his head against hers.

"Thank you."  She smiled, but held up her hands.

"Unless you want to get muddy....!"  He chuckled and let her go back to work.  He watched her with a look Gita could not read, but when his strength returned, he once again set about building something for them.  He would never know how grateful she felt for all the help he provided.





Gita looked around the new structure as it was near the meal time, and frowned.

"Did he leave?"  Thea shrugged.  "Thea, weren't you helping him?"  She nodded.

"I swear, I've been working on the walls, and was only gone long enough to get more mud!  It was only for a few minutes!"  Gita frowned, and saw something far in the distance.  Kivi was at the end of the field, and as soon as he came close enough, she could make out the dead deer on the cart he made.

"How was he able to hunt that down so quickly?"  She asked quietly.





"We haven't seen a thing all day!"  Banus said irritably.  The Mirri hunter frowned.

"This is a pretty normal hunt for us."  Banus grunted.  "Only the elders can tell where the deer will graze, and that's after a lifetime of experience hunting."

"Kivi could feel where the deer were, and point us right to them!  I wondered if he asked them to come for us when they arrived right where we were.  I miss that boy."  The Mirri stepped back.

"Feel?  Is he Hukka?  Wolf Kin?"  Banus shrugged.

"Not sure.  He has no signs of being of one of the tribes of the Elukka.  He found us when he was only two years old.  He saved our lives that day, and Hella became his mother right after it."  The Mirri nodded solemnly.

"I understand.  That is why she is so heart sick.  She lost another like him."  Banus took a quick look at his hunting companion, and slowly nodded.

"Yeah, we did.  Kivi filled the hole our son left, and now its empty again."

"Will she take comfort in knowing that he died quickly on the Stone Falls?"  Banus closed his eyes at the statement from the Mirri.

"Don't ever say that to her, please.  Her only hope is that he still lives.  If he's still alive, she has a reason to live.  If she ever believes that she won't see him again, I know she'll wither and die."  He closed his eyes, like she was now.  "He was her life.  Our life."  The Mirri sighed softly.

I must make sure we send some food north to our lost sister.  The Creator must be unhappy with us for being so heartless.





"Momma, he doesn't stop!  He tricked us when he said he wanted to build something for the wood, and it ended up being a house for us, but then he did build a shelter for the wood!"  She shook her head.  "Why did he not take down our old home?"

"I don't know, baby.  He says it felt wrong to take it down, so there's some use for it still."

"And he got us fresh wood to burn, and the whole field is turned over for next year!"  Thea kept chattering away, unable to calm her excited heart.  No one had ever been so nice to her, or her mother.  Even when they were attracted to her mother, it wasn't nice words they used.  Gita hugged her daughter, and sighed happily.

"He is a blessing from the Creator.  We just have to believe that, Thea."  She had to believe that herself, otherwise, she would die of fright.  His strength was unheard of, and everything he could do just had to come from a blessing.  It just had to.

Kivi put a stone beside the newly built door.  He intended that it would be used as a seat, and a place that anyone could use to sharpen tools.  The look in his eyes was cold, and almost frightening in its intensity.

"Gita, listen carefully."  She frowned.  When he walked in through the door, she felt secure, and safe in his presence.  Just like she used to when her husband was alive.

"What's wrong, Kivi?"  Now, she felt unnerved.

"Listen very carefully to what I say.  There is a group of men coming up over the hill.  Armed."  She closed her eyes and tears started to fall.  "I see you are aware of who they are.  Listen!"  He said firmly.  She opened her eyes in surprise.  "Whatever you do, listen to what I say.  Okay?"  She nodded.

"Alright, Kivi.  I will listen, but...."  He pinned her with his eyes again.

"Do not abandon hope.  Just listen to what I say, okay?"  She nodded, and watched him turn to Thea.  "Thea, you as well."  He then looked at them both.  "Only respond if you feel it is necessary.  Otherwise, keep silent.  I don't want to give them any reason to look away from me."  She nodded and bit her bottom lip.

"I trust you, Kivi."  Her simple words soothed his intensity, and he began to relax.

"Good.  Stay at the doorway, and only go inside if I tell you."  He held his hand to Thea's cheek, and smiled.  "They will not harm the ones who keep me warm."  She blushed, and smiled shyly.

Seconds turned into minutes, and dragged along at an agonizing pace.  They expected the men with swords, but she hoped they would stop coming north.  There wasn't much further they could go before they were at the border.  They couldn't cross the northern border.  Ever.

After nearly an hour of waiting, three men in light leather armor with bows and swords, and on horseback, made their way up the hill, smirks on their lips.  This made Kivi stiffen.  He wasn't afraid.

He was now angry.





Kivi stood at a new foundation to a structure he had barely started.  It was at the top of the hill.  In Kivi's mind, his hill.  The same hill the horsemen now trod upon.

He could feel the darkness rolling his way, and it rose some base emotions in him.  The thoughts were easy to read.

Another easy victory.  All the help the women could manage was an unarmed boy.  Kivi seethed inwardly, though outwardly, he appeared calm and unshaken.

"Stranger, we're here to tell you that the king has decided to develop the lands you now stand on.  Leave or...."  He lifted his eyes, and cut them off.

"The king has no claim on my land.  Leave now.  You will only get this one warning."

They started to laugh, and in only the briefest of seconds, Kivi moved from his position at the foundation.  In that blink of an eye, one of the men was on the ground, his body twisted in unnatural angles.  They watched in stunned silence as he walked back to the foundation, and tied the bridle of their comrade's horse to a post.

 The remaining two looked at each other uncertainly.  Should they draw their weapons?  He nodded, and both started to unsheathe their swords.

"Your lands?  We know for a fact that the whore cat woman and her brat are squatters....."  The second horseman lay on his back, the light of life now gone,  and his horse led off just like the previous one.  He moved so quickly, he looked like he stepped from one space to the next, though they were separated by several dozen feet.

"These are my lands."  He said dangerously.  "Do not dare to say such vile things about them ever again!  The girl is mine!  She cleans the house, along with her mother.  If you move to....damned fool."





The boy moved impossibly fast.  Before the leader could get his sword up to attack,  he was disarmed, and his sword casually walked back to the foundation.  His men were already laid on the ground, their bodies twisted and broken.  He had no way to win, other then to try his bow and keep this thing at a distance.

"What kind of devil are you?"  Kivi dodged the only arrow to become notched, unseated the lead rider, and stood over him with the new sword in hand.

"I thank you for the bows and swords.  I shall make good use of them.  I believe your horses know the way back to your camp.  I'll keep one for the family to use, and take all your provisions.  If you return here, I'll be forced to kill anyone who comes."  Kivi looked down at the man with so much naked hatred laid bare, the soldier tried to scurry away like a frightened rabbit.  He had never seen such hatred, let alone the glimmer of power now lighting the boy's eyes.

"And just so you know that I'm serious...."





"Kivi, am I your servant?"  Thea asked softly while kneeling beside him.  She didn't know what it meant to belong to him, but her mother said that maybe he meant a servant.  She trusted him, so had no cause to doubt.  Her mother couldn't quite quell a disquieting notion though, not until he explained himself.

Kivi laid down on the skins to try and rest, and they proved to be a comfortable mattress, but they didn't have enough yet to make a blanket.  Thea's tail and her mother's feet would stick out a bit from under the mat whenever they laid down.  Since Gita had just finished cleaning the food prep area, she could casually watch their personal interactions.

"No, little one.  They knew they could push you around, and force you to leave.  They now think that you belong to me, and that your mother works for me.  That means...."  Thea laughed delightedly.

"That they would have to push you off the land!"  He smiled.

"You got it, little one."  Gita laid her hand on his shoulder.

"Not that we aren't grateful, Kivi, but what did you do to him?  He was screaming as though he was tossed into a pot of boiling water!"  Kivi closed his eyes.  It wasn't far from the truth, but what happened to him was not physical.  His scars would be buried deep within his soul, and there was no known method to heal that kind of damage.

"A trick I once learned long ago.  Unnerve your opponent, and make them think that something worse would happen.  If ever I'm not around, he won't be the one to return."  She frowned.  It sounded like the truth, but why did he avert his eyes?  Was it something much worse?  Then another thought tugged at her mind, and she quickly dropped that subject.

"Wait, are you leaving?"  He shook his head.

"No, but there might be times I have to go hunting, or go to a town for some food.  I can't leave you here unprotected, so I took a few steps."  She sighed.

"I understand."

"If ever I have to leave, I know I can't be gone for long, so always remember that I will return."  Thea slipped in close and molded herself to his front.  He could feel the curves of her body pressed tightly to him, and now knew he had a reason to return.  Thea confirmed it.

"Make sure that you do."  She whispered in his ear.  "I would hate to sleep in our bed without you there."  Gita frowned slightly as she approached their sleeping area.  As her clothes hit the floor, she noticed that his feet stuck out from the edge of the deer skins, like her own did when she didn't curl up a bit.  Thea wasn't anywhere near as tall as she was, and as far as she knew, Kivi was Thea's height.

Has he grown larger since he woke up this morning?  Kivi, just who are you?  Why do you feel familiar, like I somehow know you?  Not just you, but I know your soul.  And why do I feel this way at my age?  I've already had a child, but you make my heart beat faster every time your hand touches mine, and every time your fingers run through my mane!

You should be Thea's mate, but why do I feel sad when I think that I can't love you too?