Once Upon a Caveman (26 page)

“There
are different kinds of eruptions.”  Lucy got out, following his gaze.  “Hopefully,
this one isn’t like Pompeii.  Those poor bastards were cooked alive by
superheated ash called a pyroclastic flow.  Vesuvius didn’t even
need
lava to kill them.  Their brains just boiled inside their skulls.  If that shit
starts coming out of your volcano, we aren’t out running it.”

Rattling
off facts seemed to bring her some comfort.

Rhawn
did not find it nearly so reassuring.

“And
I can’t believe I’m
hoping
to see lava.”  Lucy continued, holding
Rhawn’s hand as he led her across the river.  “I swear this island is making me
crazy.”  They were stepping from rock to rock and Lucy’s eyes instinctively went
upstream.  “Hang on…”  She stopped walking, an amazed expression on her face. 
“Rhawn, do you see that?

“Yes. 
There is a waterfall.”  He dragged her forward.  “We must hurry, Lucy.”

“Not
the waterfall.  The cave.  There’s cave
behind
the waterfall.”

“Does
it matter?”  He lifted her onto dry land and kept going.

“Well,
it does if…
shit!
”  Lucy tripped over a tree root and fell to the
ground.

The
forest floor was teeming with small creatures, some of which ran right over her
in their panicked flight.  A
boga
scampered across her hand and Rhawn’s
heart stopped.  One bite could kill her and Lucy didn’t even seem to comprehend
the danger, as she shooed it off.  Miraculously, the rodent scampered away
without sinking its fangs into her, but that had been far too close.

“Do
not touch that!”  Rhawn bent to pick her up and slung her over his shoulder,
barely slowing his stride.  He fastened an arm around the back of her legs,
holding her with one hand and his spear in the other as he ran.  “Why must you
always try to
touch
things?”

“I
didn’t touch that mouse.  It touched
me!
”  She shouted back.

People
from Newyork clearly did not understand the dangers vermin presented.  Like
with the “wooly rhino,” they did not even call
boga
by their proper
name.  Rhawn tried to put it into words she would understand.

“Lucy
you must be more careful.  Hamsters are very deadly.”

For
some reason, the woman found that hysterical.  She was all but crying with semi-crazed
laugher by the time they reached the beach.  Rhawn didn’t mind.  They were
almost safe!  Never had he been so glad to feel sand beneath his feet.

He
headed for the
ragan
, shouting out orders to Warren and the others. 
“Get all the
ragan
into the water and…”

And
that’s when he spotted Skoll.

The
other man was standing right in the middle of the beach, a torch in his hand. 
He stood above the completed
ragan
, preparing to drop the flames and
ignite their only means of escape.  The vessels were made of thick tar and
drying wood that would burn beyond repair in a matter of seconds.

If
fire touched the
ragan
, they would all die.

Rhawn
very slowly set Lucy on her feet, trying to figure out what to do next.  “We’ve
been looking for you, Skoll.”  He said in a soft and humoring voice.  “Uooloa
is erupting.”  He gestured to the mountain, in case the other man had somehow
missed it.  “We must go
now
.”

“This
is all
her
fault!”  Skoll snarled and there was something not sane
shining in his eyes.  His face was bruised from the fight with Warren, giving
him the look of a demon from myth.  He jabbed a finger at Lucy.  “
All of it
is her doing. 
She
is the one who brought this upon us.  The gods are
punishing us now, because the rest of you followed her and believed her lies.”

“The
ground was shaking before Lucy even arrived.”  Rhawn argued in a reasonable tone. 
“She did not cause this.  She is trying to save us.”

“She
will have us killed out in the sea!  I would rather die here on land, than perish
lost and at her mercy on the waves!  I won’t let that bitch win!”

Rhawn’s
grip shifted on his spear.  If he threw it from this angle, he could hit Skoll,
but the other man would drop the torch on the
ragan
as he fell.  If he
changed angles, Skoll would no doubt drop the torch anyway.

They
were at a stalemate.

The
rest of the Clan was filling up the beach, everyone terrified of what Skoll
might do if they pushed him and even more terrified of what Uooloa would do if
they waited much longer.

“Skoll!” 
Anniah made her way to the front of the crowd.  “Put the torch down.  Please.” 
She held up her palms in a gesture of peace.  “I will be your mate, if you just
let the others go.  I swear it.”

Warren
seized hold of her wrist as she started forward.  “No freaking way.”  He
dragged her back, away from Skoll.  “You are not going
near
psychos with
the fire, Anniah.  Are you out of your mind?”

She
turned to give him a desperate look.  “But it is the best chance to save you
and my father, Warr-en.  I
must
go to him.”

“Forget
it.”  He pulled her behind him.  “I don’t even
have
to understand your
language to know that’s fucking crazy talk!”

Skoll
cut off the argument.  “I would
never
have you now, Anniah!”  He
roared.  “You have sullied yourself with that pretend god and I wash my hands
of you.  The rest of you will
beg
to have me back, though.”  He jabbed
the torch at the Clan.  “You will all see that I’m right!  I was right all
along.  I will kill Lucy the Destroyer and then Uooloa will stop its rage.  
I
will be Clan leader, as is my fate!”

“No
one will harm my woman.”  Rhawn said quietly.

Skoll
smirked.  “Then we will all die.  None of us want that.  Hand her over to me
and no one else will have to suffer.  The Destroyer’s death will put everything
back in balance.  The island will be spared.”  He held out a palm.  “Give her
to me.  You know it is the only way.”

Lucy’s
gaze was swinging back and forth between them, piecing the argument together. 
“Rhawn…”  She began in a serious voice.

He
cut her off, knowing what she was about to say.  “
No
.”

“If
I go over there, it will at least be a distraction.”  She insisted.  “Maybe
he’ll put down the torch.  I’m obviously not saying to let the son of a bitch
kill me or whatever crazy, violent thing he’s planning.  But we have to try
something
here.  This will give you an opening to beat him to death.”

Rhawn
shook his head, his attention on Skoll’s smug face.  “He will kill you the
second he gets his hands on you.”

“No,
he won’t.  You won’t let him.”  Lucy said with utter faith.  “You’ll keep me
safe.”

“Yes,
I
will
keep you safe.”  Rhawn agreed harshly.  “I love you.”  He spared
her a quick scowl.  “There are not words in my language to say it and I don’t
need
them.  What I feel for you is beyond words.  Which is why I will
never
hand you over to that maniac.  Not for any reason in this world or any other. 
There is no point in even discussing it.”

Lucy
stared up at him, matching him glare for glare.  “Oh, we
are
discussing
it.  I love you, too, jackass.  Which is why you
have
to get on one of
those boats.  I didn’t just Choose your adorable little ass to watch it burn up
in a volcano.  So, I
am
going over there to distract him.  Deal with it.”

Rhawn’s
eyebrows climbed up his forehead.

She
loved him?

She
Choose
him?

She
thought his ass adorable?

Despite
everything, Rhawn’s heart filled with joy.  Happiness rushed through him.  Peace. 
Belonging.  Gratitude.  He felt all of it and more.  In that second, he had
everything he’d ever dreamed of.  “
Vando
, Lucy.”  He whispered.

“Surprisingly
enough, saying ‘lungs’ at me isn’t going to change my mind, Romeo.  We need to
do something to distract Skoll and this is our best…”

Notan
solved the problem by hitting Skoll with his cane.

The
old man was crafty enough to sneak up behind Skoll and catch him by surprise.  In
his youth, he had been the Clan’s best hunter, after all, and Skoll wasn’t expecting
anyone from the Clan to stand against him.  The heavy wooden stick slammed into
Skoll’s head, knocking him sideways.

Skoll
gave a furious roar.  His body whirled around, preparing to strike the Clan’s
leader down.  As he moved, though, the torch shifted from overtop of the
ragan
. 
The second it was clear of the vessels, Rhawn threw his spear with all his
weight behind it

The
projectile slammed into Skoll’s neck and came out the other side.  The point on
the end was designed to go through the tough hide of a mammoth.  Skoll’s flesh
put up no resistance, at all.  According to one of Lucy’s lectures on the
topic, obsidian spearheads from the Ice Age could be made shaper than medical
instruments in her world.  Rhawn wasn’t
exactly
sure what that meant,
but he believed it was true about his weapon.  It pierced Skoll like he was
made of water.  He collapsed to his knees, his mouth opening and closing, but
no sound coming out.

“You
will
never
lead our Clan.”  Notan pronounced, his cold eyes.  “You have
been judged unworthy.”

Skoll
fell to the sand, already dead.

“Whoa.” 
Lucy blinked over at Rhawn.  “Nice throw!  Forget Cal-Tech.  If we ever get
back to reality, I’m going to sign you up for the Yankees.”

Anniah
raced over to check on her father, beaming with pride.  Tammoh and Ctindel were
already congratulating him.

Notan
shook his head, refusing their praise, his eyes locking on Rhawn.  “Rhawn the
Accursed!”  He called.  “You have never been accursed, at all.  Your Clan
thanks you.”

Everyone
present nodded, smiling at him.

Rhawn
inclined his head.

Warren
stepped forward to kick the torch into the sea.  “Bad guy’s dead. Yay, Rhawn. 
Now, we gotta
go!
”  He shouted, gesturing to the
ragan
.  The rest
of the Clan was already racing forward to drag them towards the water.

Rhawn
moved, so he could stare down at Skoll.  He didn’t regret the kill.  Still, he
had never taken a life before.  It was disheartening to stare down at the other
man, knowing that he had been alive just moments before.  Knowing that he would
never be alive, again.

Rhawn
sighed and looked back a Lucy, worried that she might view him differently
now.  She cared for mammoths and
tandar
, refusing to see them harmed. 
Now he had ended a human life, right in front of her.

Rhawn
met her eyes, looking for signs of disgust.  “I had no choice.”  He said
softly.

Lucy
nodded.  “I know.”  Her perfect green gaze stayed on his, never wavering.  “You
saved me.  You saved
everyone
.  You have no reason to feel guilty.”

Rhawn
crossed the sand to stand in front of her, one of his hands coming up to cup
her cheek.  “Do you truly Choose me?”  He asked, studying her face.  “Truly,
Lucy?”

“I
Chose you when I was eighteen years old, Rhawn.  You know that.”  She gave him
a tender smile.  “You are the only man in the universe I could ever love.  And
--trust me-- I know for a
fact
that it’s big, damn universe.”

His
mouth curved into a smile.  “It
is
big.  And I am happy to be in any small
part of it, so long as I am with you, goddess.”  He swept her up into his arms,
holding her tight.  “I would never be anywhere, than by your side.  You are my
heart and soul.”  He lowered his head to kiss her.

“Can
you two idiots make out
later?
”  Warren bellowed, ruining the moment.  “Come
on, already!  There’s a fucking volcano exploding, in case you fucking missed
it!”

Lucy
and Rhawn turned to glower at him in perfect unison.

He
had a point, but neither of them appreciated his timing.

Most
of the Clan were in the
ragan
, now.  The men were pulling them into the
waves and paddling out into the ocean as fast as they could.  According to
Lucy, they needed to get at least several miles out to be safe.  Rhawn did some
quick calculations and wasn’t sure they’d make it far enough before Uooloa
blew.

And
even
then
it might all be for nothing, if there were no other islands
out there.

Anniah
helped Notan into one of the vessels and then turned back to check on Warren. 
“Warr-en!”  She shouted and beckoned him to join her.  “Come.”

“Get
in the boat!  I’m right behind you!”  Warren helped push the largest
ragan
into the water.  It was loaded down with the fresh water and fruit they’d
gathered earlier.  His head swung around to look at Lucy.  “You coming or what?” 
He demanded, apparently not willing to leave without her.