Chapter 4: Southernmost part of continental Myanmar. Appx. 1500BC

For months, दिनं प्रभात इति (Day Dawning) and her daughter, प्रातः सूर्य (Morning Sun), had travelled northwest from land’s end in Southern Myanmar, then an unnamed isthmus in an unknown land on a nameless continent. Day and Morning were both widows of their clan’s chiefs. वृषभगर्जनम् (Bull Roaring), Day’s husband and mate, had been challenged for the chieftaincy by गरुड स्वूपिंग (Eagle Swooping). Upon killing Bull and becoming chief, Eagle Swooping had taken प्रातः सूर्य (Morning Sun), ostensibly the chief’s daughter, as his mate and wife, thereby securing the chieftaincy.

At two hundred-and-twenty years (Day) and two hundred years (Morning) of age, they were considered to be barely middle-aged. Both were beautiful women in the prime of their breeding years and, therefore, suitable mates. That they travelled alone was, at best, unusual in that day and time. However, Day and Morning were mighty warriors, excellent trackers, and skilled huntsmen, so they managed to slip through the wilderness mostly unnoticed by the other human and humanoid species living in the area. They did, however, have to fight and kill several males also travelling through that land because of their insistent advances.

Day had heard rumours of another clan of the Jarawa people, the Negrito, living in a valley on the west coast of the land they currently traversed. She and Morning hoped to join this clan. As beautiful women of breeding age, they’d more than likely be welcomed by all clans. Historically, to ensure their genetic diversity, the clans often met so the unmated marriageable aged men and women could pair off—the newly mated women left to join their new mate’s tribe.

The day was drawing to a close. In these southern latitudes, summer lasted longer than it did in the more northern regions, but the nights had begun to turn cold. The area they traversed had many species of wild animals, some of which were not afraid of humans. Especially not of single ones travelling through their territory. Finding a rock wall close to a stream, Morning decided to set up camp before it. It was her turn to cook as her mother hunted. Searching the area, Morning gathered what edible tubers and plants she could find to supplement her mother’s kill.

Day returned just after dusk with a heavy pair of rabbits slung over her shoulder. By then, Morning had cleaned the tubers and wrapped them in creek mud. The mud would protect the tubers from the fire. When the mud had turned into a fired clay-like hardness, the tubers would be ready to eat. The fired mud covering broke away, leaving the tubers clean, steaming, and smelling delicious.

Day sat beside her daughter and swiftly gutted and skinned the rabbits before handing them to Morning to spit and place on sticks standing above the fire. “We need more flint,” Day said, showing Morning the remains of her knife. “I’m out of arrowheads and knives.”

“We’ll follow this stream,” Morning said confidently. “We should find some good samples either in the water or along the banks.”

Morning and Day had taken their weapons with them. Morning had the battle-axe she’d snatched when she waded into the slavers—Day had her husband’s Talwar sword. Both of these weapons were made by Light on the Water. But the blades on those were the only steel they had. Light had known the process for making more, but he hadn’t shared that secret with anyone before his untimely death.

Sitting around the campfire, a vague awareness of something out of place bothered Morning. She hadn’t seen nor heard anything out of the ordinary, but her instincts had triggered. Shifting as if uncomfortable, Morning moved her battle-axe closer. Her mother saw her actions, and she casually brought her sword closer, too. Suddenly, four men attacked their camp. Coming from three directions, they seemed confident they’d easily overcome these two ‘weak women’. Of course, the real battle would then begin. Men of this time were loath to share, and inevitably, they’d squabble and then fight over who was raping who.

However, the four men’s first error was assuming that these were two ‘weak women’. Morning counter-struck as the first man leapt the fire and swung a wooden club at her head. Morning’s up-swinging axe ploughed into the man’s balls and opened his abdomen to the air. The man’s lower intestines poured from the gaping wound as he fell on his face.

The man attacking from Morning’s left suffered no better fate. Ducking under a powerfully but clumsily swung club, Day viciously hacked at his legs. His right leg parted at the knee, sending the potential rapist crashing to the ground. He’d bleed out and die before too long.

The third attacker tried creeping up behind Morning as she dealt the death blow to her first assailant. He didn’t have a chance to learn the error of his ways because before he could even react, Morning spun around and neatly decapitated him.

The fourth attacker tried to flee, but Day flung her sword after him. It hit the man squarely between the shoulder blades, with the tip exiting between his pecs. He fell to his knees, staring disbelievingly at the sword’s tip protruding from his chest. Walking up behind him, Day gripped her sword’s handle and uncaringly kicked him off her blade. Walking to the stream, Day casually washed the blood from her weapon and returned to the fire. She helped her daughter drag the four ambushers far enough away so that when the wild animals in the area feasted on the men’s remains, they wouldn’t attack her and her daughter. They returned to their meal, and although the rabbit was perhaps a little overcooked, neither Day nor her daughter cared.

When Day and Morning awoke the next day, they feasted on the rabbit’s remains, readying themselves for another day of trekking. The two women didn’t know their ultimate destination and only knew they had to put as much distance between themselves and their former village as possible.

Brooding over the previous night’s fight, Morning said, “If we could travel as a man and his mate, we’d attract less trouble. Two women alone in this wilderness are a magnet for any unmated man or man-like creature.”

“Well, daughter,” Day replied. “There is just you and me, so we have no choice. Perhaps, further from the coast, we’ll find the valley the Negrito clan have claimed. Hopefully, they’ll accept us amongst them.”

“We’re not only beautiful, Mother,” Morning said with a twisted smile. “We’re warriors, hunters, and fertile. Not only will they accept us, but the men will fight over us if the clan chief is weak.”

Day agreed. She knew her daughter was bothered, but not by what. She didn’t think Morning was bothered by killing their ambushers, so what? She waited silently, knowing that pushing her daughter to say what bothered her would only result in them arguing.

“There’s something inside me that says I can do something about our situation, Mother,” Morning said. “It says I can change.”

“Change?” Day asked queryingly.

“Yes,” Morning replied. “Shift to something else.”

“Shift?” Her mother asked.

“Yes,” Morning repeated.

“To where?”

“Not where, what,” Morning corrected.

Suddenly, Morning’s head and then entire body was surrounded by a glowing light. A light so bright it forced Day to look away. When she looked back, her husband, वृषभगर्जनम् (Bull Roaring), stood before her.

“Bull!” Day shouted joyfully and rushed towards him. Then she recalled that गरुड स्वूपिंग (Eagle Swooping) had killed him when he (Eagle) had challenged him for the Chieftaincy. Meaning that what was before her was a demon wearing her late husband’s body. She recoiled before snatching up her sword.

“Mum!” Morning shouted. “What are you doing?”

“Morning? Give her back, you demon!” Day screamed as she attacked.

“Mum!” Morning yelled, blocking her mother’s blows. “What are you doing?”

Tears pouring from her eyes, Day roared, “Give my daughter back, you demon! I will not let you have her!” Day’s sword whirled as she viciously attacked what she thought was a demon who had entered Morning and taken her late husband’s form.

“Mum, it’s me! What are you doing?”

“You’re not my daughter,” Day screamed. “You look like my dead husband!”

“What?” Morning yelled back, evading her mother’s attack. “You mean it worked?”

Day stopped. Holding her sword ready, she asked dangerously, “What worked?”

“I was imagining Bull as clearly as I could, and I felt something shift. Then, suddenly, you freaked out and attacked me.”

Day dropped her sword and grabbed a handful of her daughter’s long black hair. Knowing demons hated being made to see their image because it revealed their true identity, Day dragged Morning to a portion of the stream where the water was relatively calm. The two women peered into the water, seeing the exact image of Day’s mate and husband, वृषभगर्जनम् (Bull Roaring), reflected back at them.

“You’re not a demon,” Day gasped. “How? What? How is this possible?”

“It worked!” Morning exclaimed excitedly. “Daddy is the man I know best, so, naturally, he was the first one I tried to shift into.”

Day dropped her hands and burst into tears. She stalked away from her daughter and began packing up the camp and her meagre belongings.

“What is it, Mum?” Morning asked.

“Your mate and husband killed mine, Morning,” Day sobbed. “I miss him. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and miss his presence. But, it’s the way of the tribe, and your father was much older than me, so it was inevitable that when his strength waned, one of the younger warriors would challenge him for the chieftaincy.

“Your grandfather, who, if you remember, was chief before your father, lived so long that your father was already past his prime before he took over. In fact, your father didn’t want the position. He was a great hunter and warrior, and that was enough for him. But the tribe demanded, and Bull agreed. Then we had trouble getting with child. In reality, one of the younger warriors should have challenged him years before Eagle did.”

The white light enveloped Morning again, and she shifted back to her natural body. “I’m sorry, Mum,” she whispered. “I wasn’t thinking of the pain seeing Dad again would cause you. He was simply the strongest male image I had in my mind, so when I wanted to change, it was he who I morphed into.”

Totally amazed, Day looked at her daughter and said, “You can shapeshift? Change yourself to look like another? How? When? Why?”

“A gift given to me by Light when he died, I think,” Morning answered. “I believe he has bequeathed part of his powers to me.”

“If you change yourself to look like a man,” Day said excitedly. “We can travel more safely, with much less likelihood of being attacked. A warrior travelling with his mate is common, and no one will think anything of it. It would only be gangs of three or more that would try to take me away from you.” She laughed, “Won’t they be in for a surprise when they try.” The grin dropped from her face. “Just not your father, please.”

“Who, then?” Morning asked.

“ऋक्षहन्ता (Bear Killer),” Day suggested. “The strongest man either of us knows.”

Morning brought an image of the warrior called Bear Killer (literally because he’d killed an attacking sun bear) to mind. Imaging the six-foot, two-inch (188 cm), ebony-skinned fighter as clearly as she could, Morning ‘told’ her body to shift into the image. The white light that Day had seen before surrounded her daughter and glowed like the sun burning off a foggy day. When the light faded, ऋक्षहन्ता (Bear Killer) stood where her daughter had a moment before.

Terrified and cautious because Bear Killer had fallen in the battle against the slavers, Day whispered, “Morning?”

Moving back to the still water, Morning replied, “Yes, Mum, it is I.” She looked into the water and saw a thickly muscled, immensely strong, glowing-black warrior looking back at her. Grinning at her mother, Morning said, “Only an idiot would challenge such a warrior!”

Day gathered hers and Morning’s belongings. Because a warrior had to circle his mate to protect her and hunt to provide for her, the woman was expected to carry the skins used for blankets and any food supplies the pair had gathered. Day bundled their belongings together and began walking more to the north than to the northwest as they had been.

They walked for another month, every step moving them closer to the approaching winter. With Morning’s shift into a warrior resembling Bear, the pair suffered no more attacks. One day, as they neared the region where Day believed the Negrito clan had inhabited, Morning heard a woman weeping.

The piteous cries hurt Morning deep in her soul. Understanding that this could be a trap, Morning slipped through the sparse trees and luxuriant grasses, searching for the source of the sobs. Coming to a small clearing surrounded by low trees, Morning hid beside a black ebony tree and looked into the clearing. In the middle of the tree-surrounded circle, a young, beautiful woman sat, cradling a dead warrior’s head on her thighs. The woman’s fingers instinctively stroked the dead man’s face as she keened her sorrow to the winds.

Morning carefully circled the clearing, looking for a trap. She found nothing. Then, banging her axe against a tree to announce her presence, Morning strode towards the woman/girl. At the rattling sound, the woman’s head snatched up. Terrified and wanting to flee but unwilling to leave her mate, the woman watched Morning approach.

“What happened here?” Morning asked.

“Slavers,” the crying woman responded. “They didn’t want काकस्य क्रन्दनम् (Crow’s Cry), so they hit him with a poisoned dart. However, Crow carried me to safety before he died.” She looked intently at Morning. “You’re not from our clan or tribe,” she stated. “Are you with the slavers?” She added fearfully.

“They’re not looking for you?” Morning asked.

“They were five,” the woman said dismissively. “Without their darts, they were no match for Crow. He killed three before fleeing with me. They did not follow after us.”

“You live alone out here?” Morning questioned.

“No,” the woman replied. “My tribe, the Negrito, live in a valley seven days in that direction,” she pointed virtually north, “Crow was taking me to his people, about a month’s journey southeast of here.”

“We’re looking for your tribe,” Morning informed her. “Will you guide us to your people?”

“Yes,” the woman replied. “I am named सन्ध्याकाशम् (Evening Sky). You have saved my life, and my life is yours to command. Will you take me as your wife?”

‘Saved her life?’ Morning wondered. But then the young woman shifted, and Morning saw her lower leg was broken. ‘No wonder Crow had to carry her,’ she thought. Morning examined Evening’s leg. ‘A clean break,’ she thought. ‘No dislocation of the fracture. Splint it to keep it in place, keep her off it, and she should be ready to walk in a month.’ Morning sniffed the air and turned her face to the north. ‘I don’t know if we have a month before the snows,’ she thought. Knowing it needed to be a joint decision, Morning put her fingers to her mouth and whistled, beckoning her mother.

“Of course we have to help her,” Day stated after Morning had explained Evening’s situation. “She’s young, beautiful, and otherwise healthy. She will make a fine mate for one of the tribesmen.”

The clearing they were in was too exposed, with nowhere to set up a defensive perimeter, so Morning left Evening with her mother and left to scout for somewhere they could hole up and wait for Evening’s lower leg to heal.

Unable to find a cave, Morning decided another rock wall, similar to the one beside the stream they’d stayed at earlier, would have to suffice. A stream was close enough to provide water, and the overhang would provide at least some shelter. Because they were travelling in the late autumn and it was still quite warm, neither Day nor Morning carried hides to make a tent. However, they had enough cured skins to keep warm overnight. They’d have to weave some of the plentiful grasses into sheets to provide cover when it rained, but game was abundant in this area, so food wouldn’t be a problem. Satisfied, Morning returned to the clearing where her mother and Evening waited.

Morning returned, and, working with her mother, she stripped bark from the trees and cut some straight branches to create a cast and splint for Evening’s leg. Tying the makeshift splint securely to the young woman’s leg, Morning and Day took a pair of sticks and wrapped the ends of their largest skin around them, creating a workable stretcher. Day and Morning placed Evening on it and carried her to the overhang Morning had found. With plenty of daylight left, Day gathered as much suitable, long-bladed grass as she could so she and Evening could begin weaving rain covers. Morning left to hunt for food, so, sitting side-by-side and weaving, Day and Evening started to get to know each other.

Day first had to correct Evening’s assumption that she and Morning were a mated pair. Evening quickly accepted that Day was Bear’s mother, which raised another problem as the young woman asked if Bear (Morning) was betrothed to another. Day answered “no’ before she realised that replying “yes” would have prevented the obvious problem—Evening was a young woman, recently mated, and now widowed. Her family and tribe would expect her to mate with another quickly. This would be done to prevent problems if Evening was already pregnant because if she quickly joined with another, her new mate would accept the child as his. If she waited and it became apparent she was pregnant, the males may refuse to marry her, leaving her child fatherless.

It was swiftly becoming impossible, Day realised. She and Morning had planned for Morning to shapeshift back to herself before entering the Negrito village. Two women would be welcomed eagerly. However, a strange male entering the village, even with his mate, would be viewed suspiciously, and although he would be greeted courteously and fed, as per the clan’s traditions, it was unlikely he or his woman would be asked to stay. This was because the newcomer would be viewed as a challenge to the other warriors and a possible threat to the chief—especially a warrior as mighty as Bear Killer. Unless Morning was prepared to shift in front of Evening, revealing her powers, she needed to stay as Bear, but remaining as Bear created the problems described above.