Clarity's Doom (Ancient Origins Book 1) (13 page)

Clarity could smell clean air mixing with the aromas. There had to be ventilation shafts somewhere. As long as she could breathe, she guessed it didn’t matter where the air was coming from.

Doom came to steer her toward a group of people who were settling onto large furs. There weren’t many children. She had seen a few playing, but they appeared sullen. She wondered how long they had been here. All wore the same furs and leathers as their parents but Clarity could tell these children were human. Their bones weren’t as dense, their size, like hers, was too small in comparison. Doom’s people weren’t simply robust, their muscle mass was that of body builders in both man and woman. Their phenomenal power years of testimony to the harshness of the environment.

Gazing at the clan of perhaps thirty, it was undeniable all adults were near the same age, with Doom the youngest. The rest were children, ranging in age from five to twelve. There were no teens or young adults. Clarity felt the bile rise in her throat. If Doom sacrificed children, she would find a way to steal every last one of them and find a way home or die trying.

Oh, the irony of ‘die trying’.

Doom stood before his people smiling. He motioned to a man and woman. The couple stood with the small unhappy boy she had spied earlier. The woman appeared happy, the man wary and the boy held charcoal and a strip of birch in his dirty hands. The child was scowling. He gazed up at the woman who had her hands on his shoulders.

“I want to go home now,” the child said. “This junk don’t make planes. And I need crayons.”

“Hush now,” the woman whispered.

Clarity’s heart sank, the boy wasn’t theirs, she was right.

“This isn’t paper, it’s dumb,” the boy grouched, his scowl deepened.

Clarity knew a temper tantrum was inevitable. The boy’s back was rigid, his neck reddening. The vest-like shirt he wore made her lean forward for a better look at his exposed arm. He was inoculated. She peered at the other children, they weren’t. That had her speculating. Either the other children fell into a sinkhole before mass inoculation started or they weren’t from her Earth.

The more she thought on the idea another Earth existed, the more she became positive. The humans Doom spoke of were too docile. Never questioning, never challenging. There were submissive people on her planet but facial features were a dead giveaway when she examined the children closer. Nothing in their faces, subtleties, and nuances. The four other children were apprehensive when the young boy scowled at them as well.

“What have you decided to name your son, Edge?” Doom asked ignoring the boy.

“Flight,” the man said and rolled his eyes. Others in the room chuckled.

“My name is Joseph Jay Junior,” the boy yelled, turned and stomped his feet. “My daddy’s going to fly his plane up your ass.”

The woman looked mortified. Doom’s eyes widened. The other children shuddered collectively. Clarity placed her hand over her mouth and laughed. Edge growled and, grabbing the boy’s shoulders, he swatted the boy’s behind making him yelp.

“You can’t hit me,” the boy raged as tears streamed down his face. “Children’s Aid will throw you in jail. My daddy will sue your ass.”

Clarity doubted these people would understand the concept of Child Services. Though she admitted at times she didn’t either in certain circumstances. As for a lawyer, they might fit in with the raptors.

“The boy will be known as Flight from now on.” Doom hunkered down to the boy’s level. His gaze was stern. “This is where you live, this is your home. These are your parents. Unless you answer to your name you will be a very hungry little boy.”

“I didn’t eat all day,” the boy whined.

“And unless you answer to Flight you will not eat.”

Clarity saw hopelessness seep into the boy’s features. “I want my mommy.”

The woman scooped him up. “I’m right here, Flight.” The boy remained rigid.

Both adults took the boy to another room. Doom faced Clarity. She narrowed her gaze onto him. If he tried to give her another name, she’d taser him. He leaned to grip her hand to pull her to her feet. She stood gazing at the many strange faces before her.

“This is Clarity,” Doom began. Clarity sighed with relief. “The first of many in our salvation. There is no need to petition for her, she is staying with me for the duration.” Clarity heard groans. Menace had his dark glare fixed onto her. “This human has discovered what we need.” Groans turned to gasps.

“She must be placed in seclusion,” someone yelled.

“Maybe she should be turned loose,” said another.

“No not turned loose, but yes seclusion. She will terrify the others.”

Frantic calls continued until Clarity became annoyed. Doom was watching his people, appearing useless. Clarity decided the villagers needed to understand she made her own destiny. She reached into her small bag hanging from the leather rope at her hip. Doom had seen her use a similar pink object to gloss her lips and he looked confused. She wondered if he could tell this was a different tube. This was her personal taser, disguised in a lipstick tube, and Clarity zapped Doom who fell like a stone twitching. Silence followed. Everyone took a communal step back. Doom was groaning. The shock wasn’t high voltage and he was a large man. She was feeling exceptionally smug.

“I’m happy my parents named me Clarity,” she said, she placed the cap back on the tube then slipped the taser back into her little sack. She paced a few steps; everyone watched keeping their distance. “Situations become very clear to me quickly. Unless you change what you’re doing you’ll all be dead, killed by the hybrids. I won’t be one of your sacrifices. I just might be your salvation. In any case, if one person tries to hurt me, dispose of me or any other funky thing I’ll make you shit your drawers. Understand?”

Doom was stumbling to his feet. Hands braced on his knees he gave Clarity a nasty glare. “I changed my fucking mind. Anyone want to petition for this delightful creature?”

Not a single hand rose.

Chapter Seven

Doom sat watching Clarity eat. After her initial exclamations over the onyx plate given her she hesitantly picked at her food, she questioned everything, sniffed everything. Doom wondered if her small stature was due to the fact she never ate. After the initial taste, she dove into her meal with gusto. Obviously a fan of dark meat, she groaned, eyes closed then sucked juices from her fingers declaring the meat melted in her mouth. Then went on to say words such as “succulent” and “tender”.

What was she expecting, raw hide?

She’d eaten with him before but appeared to actually be tasting—everything. Her cocky appearance made him wonder until he tilted her empty cup. He smelled the wine.
She’s half drunk.
She was cocky when not inebriated but twice as bad when tipsy.
A fucking nightmare when drunk I bet
. He poured her some water.

Doom gazed around as his people settled with filled plates. All kept Clarity at arm’s length or more. Edge and his wife had returned with Flight. The boy dutifully answered to his name—and ate standing up. No doubt his father taught him respect. From the child’s demeanor, Doom suspected he’d never in his life been spanked. A catharsis of clarity in a flat, opened hand. Almost all of Earth’s children came with an attitude, none as difficult as Flight. Doom’s people never beat children, but they did demand compliance. The villagers didn’t want the children to fear them. In the world they were dumped in, literally, they needed to listen to survive.

“What is this?” Clarity asked. She held up a hard, small, thin, circular piece of bread with meat pulverized to paste.

“The bread is our version of Earth’s crackers, the meat is liver.”

“Liver from what?”

“Megaceros or megaloceros.”

“I’m guessing either or would feed your village a few meals. Do you have any moose?”

“Moose. The creature has been described. None that I’ve ever seen. At least not on this part of the planet.”

“Is this from the animal hide you have on your bed?”

“No. The animal hide is a mastodon mammoth.”

“And this meat?”

“Casteroities, giant beaver. Not all of our animals are hybrids. If it works don’t fix it.”

“Aren’t they like the size of a car?”

Doom blinked at her searching for the word. “Ah yes, things you earthlings ride in. Ve-hic-les with wheels. We also have giant rabbits, some like the beaver adapted but changed. Like your moon-keys.”

“Moon-keys?”

“A human once told me Earth has a species considered one and yet the same.”

Clarity scrunched her nose while absently chewing. “Monkeys,” she declared.

“Yes. Great apes, spider monkeys confuse me though. What an odd hybrid.”

She laughed. “Great
apes
, and spider monkeys aren’t half-spider or no self-respecting woman would live anywhere near them. And I can pretty much guarantee they’d be number one on the endangered species list.” She smiled at him, sucked on applesauce from a wooden spoon, then appeared to have a thought. “So you have your bulwarks you say keep the village safe. Granted they’re huge, but what keeps out hybrid mammoths? The strange noise you told me of?”

“The noise keeps out the very large dinosaur and doesn’t affect mammals. Our bulwarks aren’t only crossed with dire wolves and cave bears. They are also wolverine. The noise doesn’t bother them either.”

“That’ll do it. Wolverines. Nasty little pieces of work. I’m surprised they let anyone near them.”

“They’re all bred from a long line of hybrids. When the female…”

“Muffin.”

“Ugh, really? Really?”

“She looks like a Muffin.”

“When
Muffin
,” he ground out swallowing the word and making her laugh. “When she goes into heat this year we will breed her with the alpha bulwark. Muffin, is old, almost too old to breed. Once she has her cub-pups we will destroy her and the alpha and raise the babies. Next year we will breed the other female with the beta who will then be the alpha and do the same thing. Only two hybrids, the strongest male and female will be allowed to live from each mother.”

Clarity’s face had slowly been slipping into a mask of horrified outrage. “That’s beyond awful.”

“Their sires will kill the others’ cub-pups. Even a beta will try to kill the alpha’s spawn. The young ones are raised with families who have a child or children. By the time they are too big to house the older bulwarks are dead and the threat is over.”

“So for their long years of loyalty you kill them? You don’t let the mothers raise their offspring. Muffin is gentle.”

“So I saw. Her time is near done. I can’t have a muffin for a safeguard.”

“Don’t you think she’d protect the village anymore?”

“She would protect her offspring first, the village second. Wouldn’t you?”

Clarity sat without another word. Doom could see the flicker of her eyes. A quiet Clarity was a dangerous Clarity. For some reason he found the thought to be amusing. Until he realized he was the one stuck with her.

****

“What are you looking for?”

Clarity cast a fast glance at Doom who was trailing her through the jungle-like forest. In a few days everything green had multiplied and enlarged to vast amounts. It was hard to believe she was walking the same forest. Leaves, some as large as her, graced bushes and trees. Rainbow colors filled her sight at each glance. If it wasn’t for the dinosaurs, the scene would be paradise.

That and the sacrifice part.

Muffin wasn’t too far. The majestic beast followed Clarity, lumbering along, the moment she left the safety of the village but didn’t stop her. She knew the beast irked Doom. Muffin occasionally sniffed her hand and Clarity knew she could scent the chocolate she carried in a satchel at her waist. Clarity carried more than chocolate. Doom eyed her when she packed her tasers and mace as well as a few other items. The satchel wasn’t large, carrying her purse around would be cumbersome so she settled for a few small bags secured at her hip. As she moved, the smaller bags bounced off her ass and hip leaving her hands free.

“I’ve been checking out your weapons. Holy Stone Age. I’m surprised you can dress yourself.”

“We kill dinosaurs,” he reminded her.

“Yes, with something Fred Flintstone might use.”

“Who?”

“Never mind, Barney. What I’m looking for are components to create a stronger material. Something that will give you and that tomahawk you wear big girl pants.”

“Big girl pants? Why would I wear your pants? Why would a weapon wear clothing?”

“I just mean those Neandersauri have razor claws. You need razor claws. Why the hell hasn’t anyone invented a sword?”

“I’ve heard that word. And boolets.”

“Bullets. I can’t make a gun but I can make explosives. Sulfur, coal and saltpeter. For bombs. Diamonds as projectiles. Steel, carbon, alloys from iron.” She stopped when Doom gazed at her in confusion.

“The humans who have come never mentioned any substance except steel. We tried to make heavy swords with the strongest wood we could find but we can’t get within close proximity of the hybrids. We tried to test them on different leather hides but there’s no way the wooden swords will penetrate a hybrids flesh. A spear works better for thrusting.”

“You can penetrate with steel swords. Once you’ve knocked the little bastards to their knees, you can decapitate them. Too bad you couldn’t make weapons from those unbreakable tusks. Then again, it wouldn’t be much good if it was breakable.”

An image formed in her mind of a handful of village men racing at a group of hybrids holding a tusk and skewering shish kabob.
Ew
. Clarity began to weave her way through the foliage. At a small clearing, Muffin began to snarl. Huge fangs protruded while her fur puffed. Doom pushed Clarity behind him and held his massive wooded spear ready. Clarity saw nothing while Doom’s gaze was fixed on something.

“It’s a T-rex,” Doom said.

Clarity pressed her chest into Doom’s arm. Mace and a taser would be useless. Clarity all but forgot about T-rexes. She looked up, way up, her heart pounding. Her breath came in short pants and sweat beaded her forehead. Foliage began to sway and part. She wondered why they weren’t running. Was it true, could T-rex only see a moving object? She guessed she was about to find out. The beast who stepped through the hunter green bushes made Clarity swallow hard, blink and stare.