Chapter 20

As we hid in the shadows, I though about how proud I was of my extended family.

Family.

That is what we had all become and those feelings had been instilled in each other. We were not just a community. We were a family. I had included Malok as part of this family. After explaining my plan, he had provided us with the resources to repel this invasion in the most non-lethal way we could. Despite their actions, the tribe was not as much to blame as Jeremy, so I wanted to mitigate the situation. This would allow me to end their hostility without having to wipe out their community.

I had to hand it to Urgork. He had managed to convince his people to attack us when they knew what I was capable of doing to them. Also, he had managed to keep them all as quiet as possible, considering that while they were mostly capable hunters, they were not used to stalking prey at night. While they were fairly quiet, they could not see well enough to avoid making a fair amount of noise as they stepped on twigs they could not see. As they arrived at the clearing, I knew they were there and fired the flare gun into the large trench we had dug.

The dry kindling and wood that had been soaked in diesel fuel ignited and Amber turned on the 500 watt sound system with the massive speakers from the house, while Maria turned on the bright spotlights that were typically used for performances on the basement stage.

The first invaders were now greeted with a trench of fire with the fetid smell of burning diesel. They quickly became blinded by the bright lights that were aimed in their eyes and they were stunned by the almost deafening sound of gunfire, grenades and mortars, downloaded and looped from World War Two sound effects. The Mp3 was cranked to the loudest that the powerful sound system would allow. Sonya and Hogat then began to open up with the Remington rifle and Gloc respectively, emptying them of their ammunition about a couple feet or so over the would-be invaders’ heads. This caused debris, consisting of chunks of wood, to fall on them.

The panic and fear then began to run rampant through our adversaries. Several invaders almost fell into the trench, as their blinded brethren bumped into them and chaos ensued. Soon, an uncoordinated retreat took place. Quickly, the woods were filled was the sound of screaming, as frightened men were bumping into trees and each other as they fled through the dark woods and into the night.

We waited about ten minutes and then we used the spotlights to light our efforts as we filled in portions of the trench to put out the fire. While this was happening, I led Tygar, Corok, Yorak, Jonab, Nomat and my wives, Nahla the healer and Rina, the nurse into the woods to attended the wounded. We aimed our flashlights as we walked, listening for moaning. Within an hour we had found eight of the would-be invaders, mostly suffering from concussions, somewhat severe injuries to limbs (mostly ankles, knees or ligament damage). We figured that there were other wounded who managed to escape, but my guess is that we managed to make our point to the Cro-Magnon tribe.

We had set up a triage center in the woods for the wounded. With the help of Tygar, Corok and the others, we had managed to identify each of the wounded men. I approached a man with a severely sprained knee. He was somewhat curled up in a fetal position, obviously scared to death from what he had just witnessed, in addition to him being in severe pain.

“You are Denak,” I said to the cowering man.

“Yes ... please don’t hurt me, Your Worship,” he cried piteously.

“I mean you no immediate harm, but I should probably kill you for coming to hurt those I love,” I snarled.

“Please ... I...” he started.

“But I won’t harm you. I know you are a warrior who was acting under orders. You must now know how foolish Urgork was to listen to the False One. He is no god, nor am I, but I am a powerful man who has found favor with the Spirits. If I wanted all of you dead, you would all be dead.”

I could tell I had Denak’s attention. He was still afraid but I had also piqued his interest.

“Why do you not wish us dead? We came to kill you and the others,” he admitted.

“Because that is not my way. You’re already a victim of the False One’s treachery. He has destroyed your women and your way of life.”

“My mate ... Lona ... she ... lay with all who would take her ... I ... was disgusted ... I ... hurt...”

“Foolish man, your mate and most of the others were poisoned by black magic from the False One. He, Urgork and some others of your tribe, conspired to pervert your mates.”

“Then ‘The Change’ was not the women’s fault as Urgork said?”

“No. Your mates are blameless. They are suffering from a disease caused by evil magic, but if you wish to have your mates back, I can help.”

“You can ... you can give me back my Lona?”

I shook my head sadly. “She will never be the Lona that you knew before the ‘False One’s’ treachery, but I can make her much like she was before, Lona will still burn, but only for you and you alone. She will never lay with another man, if that is your wish.”

I saw a tear run down the man’s cheek. It was clear that he was in a lot of physical pain as he had damaged a ligament in his right knee and twisted his left ankle. The tear though, was associated with the loss of intimacy from his mate.

“I have lain with others, I have even lain with Lona, but it was never the same.”

“It probably never will be, but that does not mean that it can’t be good again between you. I can at least help to bring back much of her affection for you.”

I saw a smile and then a look of intensity appear on Denak’s face. “Then I am yours to command,” he said, while I smiled having earned the loyalty of yet another.

After assuring that the eight men in question were now loyal to me (after convincing the six who had mates that I could help them and the two unmated that I could help find them mates), we finished treating their minor injuries. Then got them back to the combination kitchen/dining area of the house, where we had set up a small infirmary. Malok had provided us with a couple of devices that could accelerate healing.

In the case of Denak and a couple of others, minor surgery would have normally been required. The healing devices healed the ligament damage almost as well as surgery and strengthened the surrounding muscle and tissue to make up for the uneven healing of the frayed ligaments. Several of the men would have a small limp for a while, but other than that, they were improved. The two concussed men made full recoveries. Most lacerations were healed quickly (the deeper ones took a little longer). After falling asleep, we all awoke the next day, looking for revenge. This included eight men who had just joined us, as they had seen the wonders of living in my community and were now firmly on our side.

A week later I led a force of twenty strong to Urgork’s village. Aside from the eight new men, I had Hogat, Nomat. Corok, Yorok Ganor and Tygar. I also had my wives, Geeta, Rona, Reg and Nahla and my children, Jontar and Sula with me.

What we found at the camp was chaos. Most men were walking around in a daze. The women were all in the “extra mates” tent. Most of them were sick with withdrawal symptoms of the Taint and were malnourished. It turned out that a hunting party had just returned and the men were starting to cook the meat over the fire (as the women were in no shape to do anything). Strangely, our presence was mostly ignored.

I looked around and did not see Urgork. I addressed one of the men milling around.

“Where is your leader?” I asked.

The man pointed to one of the hunters. The man he identified was not Urgork. I walked over and addressed the man. His name was Bontar and seemed relatively content to talk to me.

It turned out that Urgork himself, had been wounded in battle and his own men had taken it upon themselves to use his weakness to engage in a process that was common in my old world: regime change through assassination.

“Urgork was a fool to attack you. No profit in it,” said the man. “His deal with the Evil One destroyed our women, too. He had to die, so I killed him.”

I nodded. Wholesale death in this world was common and often senseless. In this case, it was warranted. In fairness to their deceased leader, Urgork was afraid of Jeremy and had seen first hand Jeremy’s powerful magic (what I would call technology). Jeremy had threatened to destroy the village.