Man of the Cave Bear by Roman Kate

Author:Roman, Kate [Roman, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Gay & Lesbian
Publisher: Torquere Press, Inc.
Published: 2012-09-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Alone in his hut, Taran made none of the traditional preparations. A pile of white-ash sticks lay ready in his fire-ring, gathered by his mother, but he did not burn them. Instead of lighting the purifying fire, he slipped out of his loincloth and, naked, went outside to his stones.

Taran worked in a grove near the stream that provided the village with water. The trees sheltered a strange small cliff, where the water pooled at its base, deep, green and watchful. It was an eerie place, shunned by the rest of the clan. On the cliff and on the stream-bank nearby, Taran found the finest, strongest and most beautiful quartz for his work.

The strangeness of the place, and its loneliness, chimed with something in Taran's soul. I don't belong here. I never belonged. He turned his back on the pool and knelt, reaching beneath a fallen log. He carefully extracted another knife, similar to the one taken by Ishaia. The quartz glinted softly, pale in the afternoon light, and he ran a finger lightly along the blade. It was honed to perfection; ready for the hunt. With it, he should kill a deer and lay it before Sisa as her bride-price. Instead, Taran reached back beneath the tree-trunk and brought out a larger chunk of uncut quartz, veined with gold and with a deep purple heart. Taran had found the stone more than a year ago and had put it aside, reluctant to use the beautiful, alien quartz for a mundane purpose. But neither would he leave it behind. Holding the knife and the rock, he turned his back on the grove for the last time.

"Taran!" His mother met him at the skin-door of his hut, pushing it aside and drawing him into a hug. "You have returned! You are a man!"

Taran endured the embrace awkwardly and stepped back as soon as he could do so without causing offence. He kept his eyes downcast. "Mother, have you ever seen a savage?"

"Of course. Four have been killed in our valley in my memory -- fierce and ugly beasts! I cannot believe you have slain one in the forest!" She proudly stroked his hair.

"What if I told you they are not fierce? That they are as gentle as you or I... as cultured... as human?"

Kima drew back in alarm. "What foolishness is this? Savages are as dangerous as the saber-tooth!"

"I met one," Taran said in a low voice. "He was not dangerous. He did not attack me. He is--"

"You are a child!" his mother wailed. "If the fanged one passes in the night and leaves the village untouched, that does not make him a friend to man! He's still a killer, waiting until he hungers, waiting until the moon is right! And if you treat him as a friend, he will turn on you, kill you and everyone you hold dear! Savages are all the same. They are predators -- killers!"

"They are people!"

"Taran!" Kima took him by the shoulders and pulled him into the hut, letting the tanned-skin fall back in place behind them.

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