Crystal Gorge (Page 71)
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 117
- Page 117
Then her screams began to subside, and Tlantar was sure that the worst was almost over.
After the women of the tribe had summarily turned him out of his lodge, he stayed in the lodge of the elder Tlerik, who spent most of the next two days talking about Dahlaine’s “Nation” concept. “It does make good sense, My Chief,” he said. “All this bickering and wars between the tribes don’t make much sense when we’re right on the verge of being invaded by the creatures of the Wasteland. We need to set our differences aside and start preparing for a real war.”
“Do you suppose we could talk about this some other time, Tlerik?” Tlantar said. “I’ve got something else to worry about right now.”
“I was trying to take your mind off that, Two-Hands,” Tlerik replied. “Quite often, childbirth is harder on the men than it is on the women. Don’t worry so much, Tlantar, Tleri is young and strong. She’ll come through this just fine.”
Tlantar awoke with a start. It had seemed to him that going to sleep while Tleri was in such pain would have been an act of profound disrespect, but all those sleepless hours had finally overwhelmed him. He had no idea of how long he had slept, but peculiarly, it had been silence that had aroused him. There were no screams now, and Tlantar heaved a vast sigh of relief. Tleri’s suffering was over, and he was now a father. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” he asked the elder Tlerik.
“You needed some sleep, My Chief,” the old man replied.
“Is the child a boy or a girl?”
“Well, it was a boy, My Chief,” Tlerik replied rather somberly.
“Was? What are you talking about, Tlerik?”
“Things didn’t turn out well, My Chief. The birthing took too long, and Tleri was too weak to complete it. I’m sorry, My Chief, but your son was born dead.”
Tlantar felt a sudden wrench in his heart. “Was there no way he could have been revived?” he asked in a choked voice.
“None, My Chief. As nearly as the women who were helping Tleri could determine, the child died before he left Tleri’s womb.” There was a somewhat evasive quality in Tlerik’s voice.
“There’s something you’re not telling me, old man,” Tlantar accused.
Tlerik sighed. “Your son will not go alone into his grave, Two-Hands,” he said very quietly.
Tlantar stared at the old man in horror as the full meaning of what he’d just heard came crashing in on him. Then he threw back his head and howled in his grief.
3
Your mate’s hips were too small,” the stout woman who had tried to help Tleri said a few weeks later when Tlantar had partially regained his senses and questioned her about his mate’s death. “They were so small that the baby, who was quite large, couldn’t come out. Tleri tried very hard to force him out, but then she started to bleed, and much more blood came out than is usual. There was nothing we could do to stop the bleeding, so we couldn’t save her. I’m very sorry, Chief Tlantar, but these things happen all the time. More women die in childbirth than most people realize.”
“I’d heard that it happens now and then,” Tlantar conceded.
“‘Now and then’ isn’t too accurate, My Chief,” she said in a grim voice. “I’d say that almost half of the women with child die during the delivery.”
“Half?” Tlantar exclaimed.
“She’s right, My Chief,” Tlerik agreed.
“That doesn’t happen that often with animals, does it?” Tlantar demanded.
“No,” the stout woman said. “I asked Dahlaine about that once, and he told me that it happens to people more often than it does to animals because we walk on our hind legs instead of all four. Our hands are more useful than paws or hooves, but our bodies aren’t as strong as they should be, since the muscles in our lower bellies haven’t switched over from four legs to two yet. He told me that it might take several thousand years for our belly-muscles to change over and do things right.”
“Couldn’t Dahlaine just—” Tlantar left it hanging.
The stout woman shook her head. “I asked him about that myself, but he told me that he wasn’t supposed to tamper with us that way.”
“You might want to consider something before too much longer, Chief Two-Hands,” Tlerik said, pursing his lips. “Not right at once, of course, but after your grief has subsided, you should probably consider finding another mate.”
Tlantar shook his head. “No. Tleri was my mate, and in my heart she always will be.”
“I just wanted to raise the issue, My Chief. You absolutely must have a son who’ll become Asmie’s chief after you pass on. If you don’t have a descendant, arguments about who’ll be our next chief will break out before your body even turns cold, and those particular arguments are the ones that usually lead to bloodshed. There have been many tribes in the past that aren’t around anymore for exactly that reason.”
Tlantar firmly shook his head. “I won’t betray my Tleri for all this political nonsense, Tlerik. You should know me well enough by now to realize that.”
“You could just choose somebody else’s child,” the stout woman suggested. “That might even be a better way to do this than hanging the title on a son who might not be bright enough to tell his right hand from his left.” She hesitated. “No offense intended there, Chief Two-Hands—but just because you’re intelligent, it doesn’t really follow that your son will be as well. If everything I’ve heard about Atazakan is true, that’s the perfect example of what happens when leadership is handed off to a long succession of descendants that are increasingly incompetent—or insane.”
“She has a point there, My Chief,” Tlerik said, frowning slightly. “Sometimes bloodlines grow weaker and weaker with each passing generation, and what began as genius slides down toward idiocy eventually.” Then he looked appraisingly at the woman. “You seem to have an unusually firm grasp upon a fair number of unpleasant realities, good lady,” he observed.
“How nice of you to say so, honored elder,” she replied with a little curtsy.
“For some reason, I can’t remember ever having seen you before here in Asmie,” Tlerik said with a slight frown.
“That’s probably because you weren’t looking, old man,” she replied. “If that’s everything we have on the fire for right now, I have some other things that need my attention.” And then she turned and left Tlerik’s lodge.
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 117
- Page 117