Dominant Species
Issue #5
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter Seven
The Dragon's Mark
They decided that it was best to
build a raft and float down the river. While they were not sure, chief guessed
this river would take them closer to the Smoky Mountains. So they use
Eightdigit's axe to cut down some trees and work to fashion a raft the best they
can. As they are trying to tie the trees together with vines, they hear a
strange sound. It sounds like a cross between a woman screaming and a bird
screeching. Immediately, they all rise to their feet and grab their weapons.
They look to the trees to see what it may be. They look down the river but see
nothing. They then hear the sound again, this time louder and it sounds like it
is closer. They still do not see anything. Then they hear the sound of beating
wings and look up. Over the treetops comes a flock of harpies. There are four of
these foul beasts flying overhead. Derrick is smiling as he recognizes them from
Into the Catacombs. The creatures have the head and upper torso of a woman with
the lower body of an eagle. Their arms turn into large eagle wings. But unlike
most women, they are not attractive. Sure they have large, exposed breasts but
they also have a head full of wild hair and sharp teeth. Their faces are
anything but attractive as they have scars on them, most likely from other
creatures they attacked. Their feet have talons that are very large and very
sharp. Long tail feathers protrude from the back and help to balance them. The
hands on the end of the wings are more like smaller talons than human hands.
They are a three long fingers that are very slender and each having a razor
sharp nail at the end. As they harpies fly overhead, they see the men below and
start circling. They all fly around in a circle as they look down at the men.
They are determining the strength of the prey and what chances they have. What
they lack in beauty, they make up for in brains. They are quite smart and know
better than going after a foe that poses too much of a problem. Bearslayer
readies an arrow in his bow and aims it upwards towards the harpies. "Hold off
the attack." the chief says as he motions for Bearslayer to wait. He is somewhat
familiar with harpies as they have attacked the village on numerous occasions.
They seem fond of stealing children and if one is left unattended, they will
snatch them in a hurry. No one is sure if they devour them or not. Some of the
villagers guessed that they take them and raise them. Since no one has ever seen
a male harpy, they assume that they never have any babies but have maternal
instincts. So they steal babies to raise since they cannot have any on their
own. While this theory sounds pretty far fetched, it at least makes the mother
of the lost child feel a little better. As bad as it would be to have your child
raised by harpies, it would be even worse to have them rip the child to pieces
and eat them. The harpies keep circling for a few more minutes. Then they all
fly off in a single line away from the men and down the river, luckily it is the
opposite direction they are headed. The men all let down their guard and breath
a sigh of relief. While they outnumbered the harpies, they are still tired from
all the running they did and not in any mood to fight. Only Derrick is still
smiling. The chief looks at him and says "What are you smiling about?" Derrick
looks over at him and says "Did you see the size of their breasts?" The chief
rolls his eyes as he says "You know why they have female breasts?" The smile
leaves Derrick's face as he tries to figure out the answer to the question. "To
nurse their young?" he asks. The chief gives him a serious look and says "It is
to distract human males so that they can kill them more easily. Humans are their
favorite food." Derrick's face has a shocked look now. While he never heard of
that, he only knew them from the "Into the Catacombs" and it did say they loved
to eat humans and horses. Any stimulation he derived from the harpies was long
gone. The chief then said "Let's get this raft on the river and get as far away
as possible. The harpies may be going to get the rest of the flock and come back
to attack." This prompted everyone to work harder.
An hour later, the raft was ready to go. They loaded it up
with their gear and made some make shift poles to guide it with. The raft was
then pushed into the water and once it showed it would float and not sink, they
boarded it one person at a time. Once everyone was aboard, Bearslayer and
Howlingmad used the poles to push the boat away from the shore and into the
deeper water. They pushed down into the river bed to navigate the raft as it
floated down the river. Once the raft catches a current, it picks up some speed
and they do not need to navigate it as much. But they keep two people on the
look out and ready in case they run into any large rocks or creatures. The ride
is pretty smooth running. The current is quick enough to keep their pace up but
not too much that they cannot control it. As they ride along the river, it is
growing in size. What was about thirty feet across is now easily forty feet
across and growing. They also notice that their poles no longer can touch the
bottom of the river. They now line up one on each side and keep them poised to
push off the banks if they get too close or to hit any creatures that may pop up
from the river.
As they are floating, they look at the edge of the river,
where they see a variety of creatures coming to drink. The first animals they
come across is a herd of deer. There is a large doe with her fawn drinking by
the river shore. Derrick watches them and is amazed that deer can survive in
this world. In the old world, they had enough enemies, but now that number has
been greatly expanded. He watches as the deer so delicately drink from the
water. But his peaceful scene is quickly ruined as an arrow from Bearslayer's
bow goes right into the neck of the animal. The deer jumps up and gasps for air
as it writhes in pain. Before it can run away, a second arrow hits it in the
chest. The animal falls to the ground, lashing out with its hooves. The baby
looks quickly at its mother as she fights for life. Then it looks at the boat
and it seems to be looking right at Derrick. He feels a deep sadness as the fawn
turns and runs into the forest. He just stands there stunned at the coldness of
his comrades. He knows the deer will feed the group, but he cannot help feeling
sorry for the poor fawn. It is then that he starts to realize what a cruel world
he created. Sure, deer have been hunted for years. He even saw the movie Bambi
when he was young. And he knew that beef came from killing cows, but he never
really thought about it until he saw the sadness in the eyes of the fawn. What
chance will the little animal have? How long before it is killed without its
mother to look out for it? The crew move the boat over to the shore to collect
their prize. "We will be eating good tonight!" Bearslayer says proudly.
Later that evening, they are camped on the shore. A fire is
raging and the deer has been cooked. Everyone is enjoying the freshly killed
deer. Everyone except for Derrick. While the others are sitting around the fire
and eating, he is off by the river, just looking out at the water. The chief
notices he is not with the others and decides to see what is wrong. He sits down
on the shore next to him and looks at the flowing river. The moonlight reflects
off the water, which looks black. "There's plenty of deer left, why don't you
eat some?" he asks Derrick as he knows he has not eaten. "Not really hungry." he
says as he keeps his gaze out towards the water. "The meat tastes best the first
day." he adds. Derrick just repeats the same line "Not really hungry." The chief
can tell from the look on his face that something is bothering him. He is not
sure what it is. The best way to find out is to just ask. "What is bothering
you? Not feeling well?" Derrick looks over at him for a moment and says "I just
can't get the image of the fawn's eyes out of my mind. It was like it was
looking right at me." He now knows what is bothering Derrick. He sometimes
forget that Derrick has not been born in this world like the other men. He still
has feelings. He is used to the people of his tribe who were born into a world
where you either kill or be killed. There are no super markets to buy your food
from. Whatever you can kill, forage or grow is what you eat. Death is a regular
occurrence as the life expectancy is much lower than in the old world. There are
no old age homes here. He has heard how some tribes use their elderly as bait to
catch food. They send them out in the woods and follow them from a distance.
When a wolf or a bear attacks them, they move in and kill the animal, while it
is busy eating the old person. He looks over at Derrick and says "This is a
cold, cruel world. There isn't room for pity or guilt." Derrick looks back at
him and says "I know and that sucks." The expression on his face turns more
serious as he says "It is the world that you made. Isn't this what you wanted?"
That stung as Derrick tries to collect his thoughts. He is not sure how to
respond to that. He bows his head in shame and says "Looking back now, I know
what I did was wrong. It's just that I was a nerd. Every day at school, I had
someone pick on me. The only thing I lived for was the weekend when my friends
and I would play "Into the Catacombs." I loved that game and really thought it
would be great to live in a world just like the game. When I found the genie, I
thought what a great idea it would be to create a world like the one in the
game. I never imagined how much pain and suffering I would cause." Tears start
rolling down his face as he struggles with these emotions. The chief is unsure
what to say. There was a time when he would know what to do, but that was so
long ago. He was young then and the world was different. But he has spent so
much time being hard and strong, he has forgotten how to be sympathetic. Part of
him is not sure if he should be. He lost his world, his family, his friends
because of what this kid did. If he would have wished for a million dollars or
to be famous like everyone else would, none of this would have happened. That is
if what this kid says is real. While he has no other explanation for the world
he now lives in, a genie is very far fetched. Maybe not in this world, but
definitely in the old world. They only existed in stories and not in real life.
The chief then rises to his feet and says "Why don't you come to the fire. We
need to get some sleep soon as we have a busy day ahead." Derrick rises to his
feet and they walk over to the fire and joins the group. One of the men hands
him a bone with some venison on it. He gulps and starts eating the meat. He is
surprised at how good it tastes. Venison is something he never ate before. It
was always the store bought meats; beef, pork, chicken and turkey. Sushi is
about as exotic a food as he ever had and he hated it. But this was good. It
also was the first hot meal he had in awhile. They have been living off jerky
they brought from the village and what fruits and vegetables they could find.
Once good thing about this new world is there was no shortage of food. There
were fruit trees everywhere. Bushes full of berries could be found wherever you
looked. Wild grapes grew in great abundance. And there were plenty of wild
vegetables growing if you looked. Wild game was also in great abundance. But
killing an animal meant you may have to fight another animal for your kill.
Scavengers were also plentiful and unlike the old world, some of them were quite
large and more ferocious.
The next day they return to the river and begin their journey
again. While it is not allot faster than walking, it is way more relaxing and
gives everyone a break. While the men have no problem keeping the pace they
have, it has worn out Derrick. He may be invincible but he still is affected by
fatigue. Physically, he could walk on and on. But the mental fatigue is tough.
Plus he has himself convinced that he cannot keep walking. It is much nicer to
just sit on the raft and see what animals he can find on the riverbanks. He
hopes they don't see any more deer. Not that they would need to kill another
one. They still have a fair amount of cooked meat left. They made sure to wrap
it in these large leaves that seem to help preserve the meat. The chief called
the plant the Tupperware plant as the leaves have a sticky residue on the outer
rim of the large leaves that allows you to seal meat inside the leaves and if
done correctly, it keeps it airtight. No one can figure out why the leaves are
like this, but whatever the reason, they do make great containers. And they are
everywhere, so you are never far from a Tupperware plant.
As the raft slowly heads down the river, they see smoke up
ahead. As they get around the river bend, they see there is more than one source
of smoke. There are at least five pillars of smoke rising in the air. There are
trees that are blocking their view of what is creating the smoke, but it is
enough to get the men excited. Smoke almost always means a settlement. But they
have to hope it is a human settlement and not one of the other humanoids. Even
if it is a human settlement, it does not mean it is safe. There are rumors of
cannibal tribes and other groups that are not friendly to outsiders. While
headhunters and cannibals were only found in the dark jungles or tropical
islands in the old world, they are now found everywhere. And that is not all.
There are pirates sailing the oceans, bandits that attack travelers and even
berserkers that are known to kill anyone they see. One thing you quickly learn
is to be leery of anyone you meet. That is why it is so strange that the group
has accepted Derrick so easily.
The raft comes around the riverbed and ahead is a sight they
never expected. There is a complete town along the river. There are at least
twenty buildings and they all have power lines connected to them. There are
street lights along the brick streets. And along the river is a series of
paddles that the water are turning. These paddles are connected to an arm that
leads into a building with the power lines running from it. Also in the
background are windmills that are also turning. And it appears like there are
solar panels on top of the buildings. There are humans walking around the town
and others are fishing in the river. When they see the group, they look and
wave. The guys see a dock up ahead and aim the raft towards it. As they pull up
to it, some of the men from the town pull them closer and one of the men gets a
rope and they tie the raft up. They then help the men up onto the dock. Chief is
the first one to put out his hand and says "Hello, nice town you have." The man
shakes his hand and says "Thank you and welcome to New Memphis." Chief looks at
the power lines and asks "Do you have working power?" The man smiles and says
"Yes we do. We also have running water." Chief is amazed "Running water. Hot and
cold water?" The man smiles as he answers "Yes, both hot and cold running
water." Chief smiles as he says "How I remember having indoor plumbing." The man
then says "Come with me and we will show you around."
As they are walking around the village, everyone is amazed at
the town. All the houses are in nice shape and there is no sign of damage. Chief
asks the man "How do you keep the monsters from destroying your houses?" The man
smiles and says "Our town is under the protection of a dragon. The chief is
stunned as he says "How did you get a dragon to protect your town?" The man
smiles and says "Let's just say that we retrieve things for him." The chief just
nods. The he asks "Are those the Smoky Mountains?" The man looks over at the
mountains in the distance and sees the smoke rising from them. He answers "They
have been called that. But I would not venture there if I was you." The chief is
guessing the smoke is from the dragon, but he decides to try his luck and ask
"Why is that?" The man looks at him and says "The dragon lives there and trust
me, you do not want to make him mad." The chief looks at him and asks "Is the
dragon really that dangerous?" The man laughs and says "Wait a few hours and you
will see the dragon make his daily flight. Once you see him up close, then ask
me if he is dangerous." The chief just smiles. He knows what a dragon is, but
has yet to see a real one, at least up close. He saw what he thought was a
dragon in the distance, flying over Lake Erie. But it was like a plane in the
distance, you can tell it is big, but it is so far away, you are unsure of its
actual size.
As the men are shown their house where they will be spending
the night, the man says "You can go in the village and make yourself at home,
but be warned that you do not want to go past the scorched circle around the
city. That is where the dragon has marked his territory. Once you leave that
area, you are on your own." They all nod in agreement. When he leaves, they
start putting their packs down and sitting on the beds. It has been ages since
Derrick and the Chief have slept in a real bed. These have mattresses that are
filled with feathers and very comfortable. The best they have laid in was an
animal fur on the ground. The others are unsure of what these beds are, but once
they lay on them, they warm up to the idea. The chief then goes over to Derrick
and says "The mountain in the distance is probably the one where your friend is.
I am not sure how we will get in there and free him, but we can figure that out
later." Derrick looks at him and says "It is probably best if I go in there
myself. I am the only one who cannot be harmed." The chief nods in agreement.
As the men are packing, one of the villagers rushes into the
house and yells "The dragon is coming, hurry if you want to see him." None of
the men have ever seen a real dragon and are excited to see it. They have heard
how it is the greatest of all the monsters on the planet, but they have a hard
time believing it after seeing the queen spider and the ettin. While they are
rushing towards the door, they hear a sound. It sounds like a roar, only so much
louder. They have heard the roar of a T-Rex, but this makes that sound tiny. It
is so loud the whole house shakes. As they rush outside, they see coming from
the mountain a large red dragon. As it nears the village, they really get an
idea of its immense size. It looks to be two hundred feet long, if not longer.
And it is wide as well with a body that puts fear in the hearts of anyone. It
has a massive red head with two large snake like eyes. The mouth is enormous and
is full of teeth that are as long as a broad sword and just as sharp. Billows of
smoke rises from its nostrils and signals the fire that burns in its belly.
There are two large horns that curve like a bull's horns that sit on the sides
of its head. The belly is full of long scales that give the appearance of rows
of armor plating. Each of its four legs ends in wicked looking claws that are as
long as a human and look like they could tear through concrete. Its wingspan is
nothing short of breathtaking as the wingspan is nearly as long as the body. As
it flies over the town, the massive body and wings black out the sky. It is like
a solar eclipse has hit the town. The rush of wind generated from the wings
knocks everyone over and all the houses move from the great wind that is
generated. As it flies past, its long tail follows behind, swinging back and
forth. The tail ends in a point that resembles a devil's tail in popular
culture. As the dragon reaches outside the town, it shoots a column of flames
that scorches the earth. It circles around the town with the fire spewing from
its mouth and burning a circle around the town. Anything that was dumb enough to
be in the scorched area is now incinerated. When it finishes marking its
territory, it flies back towards the mountain. Before it gets there, the dragon
swoops into the forest and comes up with a dinosaur in its claws. The
triceratops struggles to break free, but the claws of the dragon are dug deep
into its flesh and it holds tight. The cries of the triceratops can be heard all
the way in the village and it is just another display of the beast's awesome
power. The dragon then carries it towards the mountain where it flies in the
hole in the top and disappears with its prey. The men all look at each other in
awe. They just saw a creature that swooped in and carried away a dinosaur like
it was a hawk grabbing a rabbit. The chief looks at Derrick and says "You are on
your own this time." Derrick shudders as he thinks about entering the dragon's
lair. Even with his invincibility, he fears the dragon. If the dragon decided to
eat him, would he be able to get out?
That night the villagers have a feast. While the dragon flies
by daily, it only marks the territory once a week. Whenever it does, they always
throw a giant feast and celebrate. There is much food to eat, wine made from
different berries and fruits they gather from the woods and pipes to smoke. It
is also the first time the men see the lights come on. While there is a huge
bonfire in the middle of town, there are also street lights on and lights on the
houses that are lit. All the men look at the lights in awe. Besides Derrick and
the Chief, the rest of the men were born in a world without electricity. For
them to see a light that is not the product of fire or fireflies is amazing. The
whole town is lit up and they are just amazed. As the people finish eating, they
begin drinking the wine. Barrels of wine made from blackberries, plums and even
watermelon is poured. The men taste some of the wine and are instantly hooked.
All fruit was eaten or smashed into jelly. There was no wine or other alcoholic
beverages. With no tolerance to the alcohol, the men are quickly intoxicated.
Soon, they are dancing around the fire with the women of the village. Derrick
also gets drunk as there are no drinking ages in this world. While he is
actually in his forties, he would not pass for anymore than sixteen. So he is
enjoying his first drink as well and loving it. Unlike many other things, the
alcohol does have an effect on him and he is quickly intoxicated. He is trying
to dance with some of the women who laugh at his clumsiness. He tries to dance
but keeps tripping over his own feet. They help him up only to have him fall
again. After a half dozen falls, he decides it is best to sit down and rest.
This new sensation is both exciting and terrifying. He has heard of the effects
of alcohol, but it is unlike what he expected. When your knowledge comes from
health class and bad after school specials, it is hard to fully comprehend how
it will really feel. Throughout the night, the party goes on, even though the
men are all passed out way before the party ends.
The chief knows the effects of alcohol and decides it is best
to pass on it. He instead sits with some of the men and smokes from long pipes
they have. The tobacco is sweet and unlike any he has smoked. It has the taste
of cherry and does not burn. It is very smooth and quite flavorful. "What kind
of tobacco is this?" he asks the other men. One of them answers "We call it the
cherry lotus. The plant grows around the base of the mountain and dries out
quickly." Chief smiles as he blows a smoke ring and responds "The cherry lotus,
I like it." It has been ages since he smoked anything. He was a smoker in the
old world, but like most people, he was forced to quit. While there were plenty
of cigarettes to smoke for a short period, they were soon destroyed or grew
stale. And with no new ones being made, he soon found that he had to quit. He
thought it would be hard, but when there is no temptation, it makes things
easier. The chief then asks "So that ring of burnt ground really keeps
everything out?" The men laugh and one of them says "It is hard to believe but
we will see dinosaurs or trolls come up to the ring and stop. They are afraid to
cross over it." Another guy says "Not sure if all the creatures just know to
avoid the dragon or if there is magic involved. But even the stupid ones will
not cross it." The chief looks at him and then asks "What happens once you cross
the ring? Are you fair game then?" One of the guys takes a puff of his pipe and
then says "I guess we are, but even then the monsters tend to leave us alone."
The chief blows some smoke rings as he savors the flavor. "Must be nice to be
able and relax like this." The men all laugh. They do remember the time before
they made the pact with the dragon. When they were constantly attacked by every
creature. When they could not sleep in peace. "So why does the dragon do this
for you?" the chief asks, knowing he is taking a chance of angering them. The
men all look at each other. Then one of them speaks up "In case you haven't
noticed, there are no children in the village. Whenever a baby is born, the
dragon comes and takes the child. In exchange, the dragon protects us." The
chief did not expect that answer, but now that they mention it, he hasn't seen
any children in the village. Everyone was in their late teens or older. It never
dawned on him that there were no children. He was too amazed at the electricity,
the running water and the tobacco. He then asks "What does the dragon want with
children?" The men are suddenly silent. The happy looks have left their faces.
They are replaced with sadness. One of the men speaks up and says "We really
don't know. We hope he is raising them." The chief then asks "What will happen
when you run out of child bearing women? They will get old one day and not be
able to bear children." The men all look at each other. It is obvious that they
have not thought that far in advance. "How do you get the women to agree to
this?" the chief asks. One of the men speaks up "Because life here is better
than it was out there. They are not raped or killed here like they were out
there. And they can hope the dragon is good to their children, where out there,
children were often killed and eaten." Suddenly the paradise does not seem so
good. The chief can understand having a symbiotic relationship with a monster,
his village did with the ettin. But to sacrifice your children to it was too
much. He would rather live a hard life with children than a safe one without
any. They were the future. Without children, life didn't have much meaning. This
was enough for him, he excused himself and decided to go to sleep.
Dominant Species ©
Tom Zjaba 2006