Return from Kragdon-ah: An Alex Hawk Time Travel Adventure by Shawn Inmon

Author:Shawn Inmon [Inmon, Shawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Action Adventure, time travel
Publisher: Pertime Publishing
Published: 2020-09-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

A Plague

The word spread from one tribal member to another: “Zisla-ta, Zisla-ta, Zisla-ta.”

Each person that repeated it said it a bit louder. Within seconds, word had passed to everyone in the cliffside.

Alex looked from Sekun-ak to Senta-eh. “What? What is zisla-ta and why is everyone so worried.”

Sekun-ak toed the corpse of the spider and said, “That is zisla-ta.”

“It’s just a spider. Somewhere out there is a godat-ta bigger than ten of us put together. Ronit-ta attack us every time we walk across the plain. There are bugs that live in the trees that are big enough to eat this as a snack. Why is this a problem?”

Senta-eh said quietly, “Zisla-ta means from the clouds.”

“That makes sense. It dropped down like it came from the clouds.”

“That’s not it,” Senta-eh said, and Alex realized that in all their adventures, he had never seen her scared. Until now. “It’s not just that they come from the clouds, but that they are a cloud.”

The dread in her voice made Alex look up into the sky, but it looked exactly as it had before.

Sekun-ak stood straight and tall and said, “We’ll hold a council meeting now.” He turned to Wenta-eh. “Choose two other warriors and ride to Harta-ak and then Rinta-ah. Warn them that the zisla-ta are coming.” He raised his voice and said, “Everyone else, prepare now. Bring everything into the caves.”

Sekun-ak looked at Alex and Senta-eh. “Come. I will explain in the council meeting.”

Senta-eh jogged ahead and over her shoulder, said, “I will bring Drana-eh. She might remember something that can help us.”

Drana-eh? Alex searched through his memory, then the name clicked into place. One of the elders who sits in the upper cave. But that’s not quite right, either. Not one of the elders. The elder. The oldest living Winten-ah.

Everyone scrambled away like they’d had a fire lit under them. Again, Alex looked up at the sky, trying to see what the hurry was about. How could a single bug dropping from the sky be such a cause for concern.

A few minutes later, as darkness fell beyond the mouth of the caves, half a dozen council members gathered around the empty fire pit. A moment later, Senta-eh entered, carrying a small woman on her back.

Alex was sure that Drana-eh had once been as tall and strong as any of the Winten-ah, but time is undefeated in its battle with the human body. She was now so gnarled and compressed that she looked like one of the petrified trees in the forest by the ocean.

Sekun-ak stood and offered his chair to her. Senta-eh placed her gently in the chair with a pillow that helped her sit more upright, as she had a strong tendency to lean to the left. She may have looked ancient, but Alex noticed that her eyes were bright and sharp.

Drana-eh opened her mouth and revealed two rows of pink gums, unbroken by the appearance of teeth. “Would someone light the fire, please? I haven’t truly been warm in at least ten solstices.

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