Chapter 11

Mark started to get worried when he couldn’t find Jean.

He’d told her not to go outside. He called Kia, but he didn’t answer. Bobo came out of their home and pointed to the outside. Mark quickly went into the mudroom and donned his outdoor clothes. He noticed that Jean’s was missing.

The storm had eased off, and his shield had kept the worst of it out. Soft rain and snow could penetrate the shield but if it was forced at the shield by strong winds or was in large clumps like hail it didn’t penetrate and slid or bounced off.

He picked out Jean’s foot prints just outside. She had headed toward the camla’s cave. Its entrance was around the bend and out of sight of the tree that formed their entrance. The snow had deepened and was now nearly knee deep in places.

He followed the small path that Jean had cleared with magic. It already had a new 5cm deep layer of fresh snow covering it, and he wondered how long ago it had been made. He had been gone for several hours. It did not appear that she had come back this way, but he hadn’t seen her in the camla’s cave.

She and Kia hadn’t been in it either. It was getting late, and they would normally have started heading back in as the shadows lengthened. He examined the cave entrance. She had been here, but she had headed further up the gully going by the path in the snow.

He followed. Then he saw the camla, all twenty of them. “Shit,” he said as he looked at the herd that he now had. Those that lived in this area that hadn’t headed down the mountain in time had somehow made it here. As he moved towards them, the wild ones moved further from him, but they didn’t go far.

They all seemed intent on something that they could see, but he couldn’t. As he got closer, he found what had the camla intrigued. Just over a small crest was a parley going on. Arranged in two circles, sat Jean and about thirty-odd flickers. Jean, Kia and three other Primes were in the inner circle, and the rest of the flickers encircled them.

He didn’t even realise there were this many in this area. He approached cautiously, as he didn’t wish to startle them. Several in the outer circled moved to let him through. Jean turned and flashed a brilliant smile at him. She stood and turned towards him. “Come join the party,” she told him.

“You shouldn’t be sitting on the cold ground,” he scolded her after he hugged her.

“Fine, you sit down first, and then I’ll sit in your lap,” she told him. So Mark found himself sitting on the cushion she had been sitting on with his very pregnant wife snuggled in his lap.

“We have a little dilemma,” she explained. “The three new families have known of the shielded area for some time. They also knew that a Prime had claimed the area. Apparently, it is considered prime real-estate.” Mark had to smile.

She pointed to one male, “He has challenged Kia. They all brought their families here when it got far colder than normal. From what I can work out, when Kia found them under the shield, he demanded tribute. A family is welcome to stay in another Prime’s lands for a short visit if they pay a tribute.”

“The Prime, who has challenged Kia, had previously claimed Kia’s old family. Kia was cast out when he was very young. He was the old Primes cub, but he wasn’t old enough to replace him when he died, and this male did. Now Kia is back, and he is a Prime in his own right. This guy would rather challenge Kia than pay tribute.”

“What is normally paid as a tribute?” Mark asked.

“Well, that’s a bit tricky. From what I understand if the tribe are invited, it’s normally food or an exchange of tools. However, because they entered Kia’s lands without an invite, it has to be higher. Kia wants a daughter from each.”

“That’s a bit greedy, isn’t it?” Mark asked.

“Apparently not, He is a new Prime and needs wives. By asking for a daughter, it also provides a sort of truce between the tribes. He is considered very rich from what I understand. The shield means his family can forage all winter. It is also a large area rich in food.”

“Ah! So it’s as much about prestige as it is about claiming wives,” Mark said. He looked at Kia, and he gave Mark one of his grins. Mark then received some mental pictures of Kia screwing all three of his new wives. “Wow! The randy little bugger,” he commented.

Jean giggled. “I think he really wants the wives,” she said with a big grin.

“Hum, yes, I did get that impression. What happens if you accept the challenge?” Mark asked Kia. He then got a series of short scenes from Kia. One was of him and his two pups dead, while the other Prime screwed Bobo. The next was of him with the other Prime’s family surrounding him and bowing to him.

“So it’s all or nothing, my little buddy?” Mark said to Kia.

Kia nodded. So Mark asked him, “What of the other two families?”

Kia held up one finger then made his hands into fists and lifted them up as if he was going to fight. He then pointed at all three Primes and left his hand at the last.

“So only one can challenge you, and he got in first?” Mark asked. Kia nodded. “Can you beat him?” he then asked the little flicker.

Kia gave Mark a nod and then winked at him. ‘Damn,’ Mark thought. ‘The little bugger truly believes he can do it.’

“When and where?” Mark asked Kia. Kia pointed to the ground and then did something Mark had never seen him do. Kia stood on his hind legs and puffed out his chest, he let loose a spine-chilling howl. The two Primes not involved in the fight moved, so they stood opposite each other on the edge of the circle formed by the other flickers.

Mark took this as a sign to move and hoisted Jean to her feet. Kia pointed to two places that would make a square with the other two Primes so, they moved to where he wanted them. Mark was perplexed, as he had no idea how to judge a fair fight between two flickers.

Kia and the challenger, Black, then moved. Black was bigger and older, but he still looked fit. Kia, to the couple’s surprise, pulled a 7cm long bladed knife out of his satchel and his net. He then gave the satchel to Mark. Black had retrieved a 30cm long club that had been on the ground behind him.

They faced each other in the middle. The use of weapons both surprised and alarmed Jean and Mark, but they knew that they couldn’t interfere. Mark had given the Primes permission to proceed. Mark was worried because Kia had indicated that he would die if Black won the fight.

Mark had never felt as powerless in his life as he did at that moment while he watched his little friend circle around with Black. Black swung the club as if to take Kia’s head off, but Kia ducked effortlessly under it. Kia held the stick with the string for the net and one edge of his net in his left hand and the knife in his right.

Kia flicked the net at Black’s feet making him dance back. They circled again, and Black again lunged at Kia going more for a bonk on the head type shot. Kia ducked down before he rolled forward into Black and kicked up when he was on his back. His little feet slammed into the other flickers elbows, jarring Black who was pulled forward by his downward shot.

Black’s arms were forced back up, and he staggered back using his tail to try and keep him from falling on his arse. Kia spun on his left shoulder using his tail to push his arse over his head and rolled back to his feet. As he rolled, his right hand slashed around and across the staggering Black’s right thigh.

Kia righted himself and flicked the net back behind him a little, so it didn’t tangle his feet. He waited. His intense black eyes bore into his opponents. Black was furious that Kia had marked him and that he was bleeding.

He moved his club to his right shoulder and using both back legs and his tail he sprang high and in a forward direction at Kia, letting out a mighty howl as he did so. He planned to knock Kia down with his own weight by landing on Kia’s chest and then beating him to death with the club.

Kia, however, had a different plan. As soon as he saw Black’s tail tense to assist him to push off the ground, Kia flicked his left wrist and rotated his arm as he released the net in a swirling motion so that the net created a wall between him and the Prime.

Black had realised too late, what Kia planned. As he became airborne, he had to hit the net. Kia rolled by dropping his right shoulder, so he went sideways rather than arse overhead. As Black started down, he was now behind Kia. As Kia rolled, his tail twisted around the line and whipped forward, so the net pulled around Black.

Kia grabbed the line in his hands and pulled as fast as he could so the net tightened. Black hit the ground at an awkward angle and started thrashing to get free. The terror of being caught in aracnzi web robbed him of rational thought.

Kia pounced on him, and the blade slid through the loose weave and into Black’s heart. Kia sat on his opponent until he lay still. He released the knife and reared up. He thumped his chest and roared. He was a Prime, and he would defend his right to rule under the magical barrier.

The other two Primes approached on all four and submitted to Kia. The other flickers also approached in the same manner, and all of them followed the Primes and bowed down.

Mark was amused when Kia sat on his vanquished opponent as if he was his throne. He walked over to Jean, taking her hand he headed back to their home. Jean glanced back once and then tucked herself under Mark’s arm as she wrapped an arm around his waist. Mark happily wrapped his around her shoulder.

“We have created a monster,” Mark stated.

“No, he is now an Alpha Prime. I’m quite sure he will negotiate what they can and can’t do and pick the females he wishes to keep. You will probably find the other two tribes will take over the territory of the other Prime, and they will become three strong tribes under his rule,” Jean replied.

I’ll probably have to make his nest bigger,” Mark grumbled, good naturedly.

Jean giggled. “Most assuredly,” she added.

“Actually I have that large area above us, I might make him a new access into it from the tree, and he and his people can do what they want with it,” Mark suggested.

“I think they will like that,” Jean replied. “So did you sort out whatever it was you went to do?”

Mark looked at her sheepishly, “Sort of. I did create more work for myself. I’ve probably upset Queen Robina, too.”

“What did you do?” Jean asked shocked.

“I stole her Guild Lord. We did make sure she had a new one. One of Robina’s flunkies had taken Gralin’s daughter to make her behave. It turns out Grace, the daughter, is also Renita’s child. So Gralin retired, and she and Grace have moved in with Renita.”

“Poor buggers have been carrying on a love affair for the last ten years. It was breaking Renita’s heart that she couldn’t be with them so at least they are now happy. I’ve also agreed to fix some of the broken items. Things in both countries are getting dire. They have even fewer novices and mages than the Queens know about.”

“Palene is the new Lord Guild Mage. She and Renita are planning recruitment drives. Their new bling will help a lot I believe. I plan to get a lot of the one and two gem items fixed so they can at least get people into training. It would be nice if you could help me,” he asked.

“What do you want me to do?” Jean inquired as she opened the door and they entered the mud room.

“Well, from quick inspection most of them just need new crystals. I’ll teach you how to clean the items and replace the crystals. We will then check the spells on them and renew them. We can do them in batches,” Mark replied.

“Well, I don’t see that as being too hard, I’m not as mobile as I was, and I think I’ve gone as far as I can with the immunisations. I just need people to immunise now,” Jean told Mark.

“Good, we can do this project together,” replied Mark happily.

Jean cooked dinner.

Well, Mark had cooked dinner; Jean just had to warm up the left-overs of her choice while Mark worked. He had created 3m high ceilings in their rooms by creating a floor above and lining it. He blinked into the cavity he had left and produced a globe of light. He inspected the area he had to play with.

He had noticed that Kia and Bobo had loved the shelves he provided for sleeping nooks and the nice big open area. They had also used the corners as storage areas for food and other items they collected. He decided to do something similar.

The roof in this space sloped to the back in a semi-circle. Mark shifted rocks and built out the curved wall to a height of 3m. On the bottom, he cut in cubes of 60cm dimensions with 20cm between the cubes in two rows. The spare rock filled in gaps in the ceiling. He then created a ledge that was 80cm deep and high above this wall.

He created a metre cubed entrance into the tree and then a tunnel roughly 60cm in diameter that wound gently down inside the tree following its inner curve to come out in the mud room, 10cm above the floor. He created a second entrance into the rock that curved around the tree as a second access. He placed a flap about a meter in from the entrance inside of the cave and spelled it.

He’d picked up where water that he had blocked coming into his home had been redirected and decided to create a pool on one side. He altered cubicles to leave a pool 80cm deep in the middle and 20cm deep on the edges. He had cut it back the full length of the top ledge, and he added a 30cm wall on the face.