TheHunt.jpg)
No! Why would they do this to Khochu? He couldn’t kill his own people, even if Nikita’s tribe were trying to survive and test him. There had to be another option—there just had to.
Khochu set Kobe down and faced Priven. “I can’t do this, Chief. They’re my people.”
Priven glared and nearly shoved him down the hill. “You will not disobey orders from the chief, unless…” He snapped his fingers, and the hunters pointed their weapons at Khochu, morning sunshine glistening on their blood-painted faces.
“But they’re my people,” Khochu muttered, looking at Nikita for help.
She shut her eyes and tilted her head.
Fortunately, before the hunters stabbed Khochu, his people fired their bows and arrows, and they struck a few of the hunters.
Instantly, Khochu picked up Kobe again and slipped away from the fray, moving aside.
The tribes charged at each other, and Khochu looked away, too scared to fight or move. What could he do? How was he supposed to unite them? More importantly, where were his parents?
A hand soon grasped Khochu’s shoulder, and he jumped, whirling around.
“Shh! Shh!” Nikita placed her finger to her poofy lips. “Come on.” She tugged Khochu’s arm. “I’ll take you to find your parents.”
“But your father…!” Khochu whispered back.
“He’s distracted,” Nikita said, glancing at Priven, who was fighting with Yerik. “I’ll be okay. I don’t mind if they shun me; I’m tired of my tribe, anyway.”
That made two.
The two sprinted through the battle, dodging arrows and spears, taking cover behind tents, and holding each other close. Khochu followed every “coast is clear” gesture from Nikita and hugged Kobe.
“My tent is on the outskirts of the village,” Khochu explained, hoping that his sickly parents weren’t trying to fight. He didn’t know how much longer he would have Kobe; he couldn’t lose his parents, too.
A screech soon came from the sky, and Eva swooped down, landing before Khochu and Nikita.
Nikita gasped and jumped behind Khochu, grabbing his shoulders. And there he thought he was the only coward.
“Eva!” Khochu shouted. “Where are my parents? Please take me to them.”
“You can talk to that thing?” Nikita hissed in his ear.
“It’s an odd talent,” Khochu replied, stepping away from Eva, who spread her massive wings and took off. He still didn’t know how he did it.
Eva quickly moved away from the battle and headed toward the outskirts of the village, but soon a group of shadows appeared over the hills surrounding the tents.
They waited for a bit, as if communicating with one another.
Khochu’s tent soon came into view. Smoke from the chimney told him that his parents were still in there, thank goodness. How would they react to Nikita, though? Khochu saw his father chasing her away with a spear, shivering at the image.
Eva soon arrived at the tent’s entrance, and Khochu’s mother and father stepped outside.
Nikita stayed hidden behind Khochu.
“Khochu! There you are!” Vika shouted, tears glistening in her deep brown eyes. She rushed toward him, and Khochu peered back at Nikita.
“It’s okay, Nikita. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” His voice was gentle, and he felt his face heat up.
Nikita gulped, but eventually came out, right when Vika reached Khochu and hugged him.
She squeezed his cheeks and kissed each one three times. “You need to stop running off like that, baby! The cannibals! What if—?” That was when Vika’s eyes landed on Nikita. “Who is that?” Instantly, she pulled Khochu and Kobe away from Nikita and stepped in front of them.
Khochu pulled Vika’s arm away from him. “Mom, that’s Nikita.”
“Is she a cannibal?” a voice suddenly boomed from behind. Sasha, spear in hand, hurried over to Khochu and Vika and threatened Nikita, who raised her hands.
“Dad, stop!” Khochu begged. “She’s not like the others! She helped bring me back here.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Vika said, tugging him away again. “She’s a cannibal, and you know we can’t be friends with them. A cannibal snuck in last night and killed one of the guards. Yerik found him.”
What? But that couldn’t have been… Could it?
“Nikita.” Khochu’s face drooped. “You killed one of our guards when you got me last night?” She was the only one he could think of.
“Khochu, I’m sorry.” Nikita stepped back. “I was only doing what Dad trained me to do.”
“I knew it!” Sasha’s brows furrowed, and he poked Nikita with his spear. “Out, out! You brought your people here to kill ours!”
Nikita sniffed and rubbed her nose. “I was only doing what Dad trained me to do.”
“To survive, you must kill.” There had to be a way to bend that rule, but how? Khochu thought for a moment, then an idea came to mind, and he stood up straight. Of course! His being captured by the cannibals and Nikita leading them there must have been a sign from the ancestors—a sign they tried to tell him in the cave. They had to return to the battle and get the chiefs.
Khochu opened his mouth to speak, but Eva suddenly screeched, and Kobe barked.
Instantly, Khochu’s mother and father stopped glaring and looked at them.
“What is it, Eva and Kobe?” Khochu questioned. Then… He saw them.
The shadows from earlier crept down the hills, closing in on Nikita, Khochu, and his parents. A rush of cold Arctic air swept through their fur, and they began to growl.
Great, just when Khochu thought things couldn’t get worse. He reached for Nikita, but Vika and Sasha ripped him away, wrapping their arms around him in a circle.
The three Saber-toothed cats lowered their bodies to the ground, showing off their massive front fangs. They circled Khochu’s group a few times, digging their titanic paws into the snow.
Khochu sweated, as did his parents and Nikita.
Within minutes, the cats roared, unsheathed their claws, and lunged at his group.
Khochu, Nikita, and Khochu's parents ducked under them, and the cats crashed into one another, allowing them to escape.
Nikita took the lead, and Khochu snatched his mother and father’s hands, pulling them away from their tent toward the battle.
The Saber-toothed cats tussled in the snow before realizing they hadn’t caught any humans. Their eyes then caught Khochu’s group running away, and they licked their lips, seeing and hearing the battling humans.
The second Khochu’s group entered the battle, Khochu yelled at Yerik and Priven, “Predators!” Now was a good time for them to work together.
“Oh, please, boy!” Priven shoved Yerik off him, reaching for his leg. His eyes widened as, one by one, the cats attacked tribe members and sank their fangs into their flesh.
Limbs were ripped off, and people shouted as they tried to fight off the animals.
“Khochu!” Yerik grabbed his arm and shook it. “You’re the animal whisperer! Do something!”
“Me?” Khochu’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “But you’re the chief. Why don’t you and Priven work together to save your people, huh?”
“Forget it!” Yerik stepped back from Priven. It was sad when adults acted like kids. “He’s the reason we’re in this mess!” He tightened his fist and threatened Priven.
“Excuse you!” Priven retorted, glancing at Nikita. “I didn’t kill my family! The cold did!” He paused briefly. “My dear Nikita was the only one who survived.”
Khochu’s eyes widened. Was that why he got along with Nikita—both of them being the only children to survive in their families? While he didn’t want to believe Priven, Nikita’s face clearly showed that what he said was true: that rumor never happened. But now wasn’t the time for internal conflict.
Khochu stepped forward and signaled to the cats. “They’re coming! Please, Chiefs, just this once, can you work together?”
The chiefs sighed and exchanged glances, but only briefly. “Fine,” Yerik muttered through his teeth, raising a finger to Priven. “But just this once, because we need to save as many tribe members as we can.”
“Fine,” Priven huffed, “but that’s it.” He and Yerik yelled at the tribe members still standing, “Get the women and children to safety!”
Women and children were always first. It looked like that was tradition in both Khochu and Nikita’s tribes.
A few tribe members spread out and herded women and children into small groups, guiding them toward the village’s exit.
Khochu remembered the place where he first met Eva all those years ago; there was a large frozen lake that the tribes might be able to use—if they could somehow break off a piece of it for the cats to fall into.
“Nikita!” Khochu said, looking at her. “I think I know a place where we can escape the predators. Eva, Kobe, and I will lead the way. You monitor things here.”
“Forget it!” his father fought. “You will not work with a cannibal, son. She’s a woman. She can’t fight.”
“A woman?” Nikita’s face reddened, and she puffed out her cheeks. “My mother was one of the greatest warriors in our tribe! I’ll show you!” She muttered her next sentence to Khochu: “You have a very welcoming family, Khochu.”
“Now’s not the time for this, Dad,” Khochu said. “We need to save as many people as we can. I also know a place where we’ll be safe, at least until we start our journey toward the land bridge.”
“Land bridge?” Sasha inquired. “What land bridge, son?”
Only the one that the ancestors had told Khochu would give them another chance at life.
Despite his parents’ protests, Khochu and Nikita parted ways. Khochu guided the tribe members toward the lake, while Nikita stayed behind to fend off predators and tend to the wounded. One cat, though, escaped the rampaging tribe members and headed for Khochu and Kobe.
They gasped upon seeing them, and Priven stood in front of the group, bellowing, “Leave them alone!” He yelled and dropped to his knee, reaching for his leg.
Khochu left Kobe behind and stepped in front of him, shouting, “Eva!” into the sky.
The tribe members gasped again as Eva swooped down, screeching and brandishing her claws at the cat.
It, however, jumped onto its hind legs and swiped at her, catching her leg.
“Eva!” Khochu shouted again as the bird fell from the sky and landed in a pile of snow near one of the village’s tents.
Priven’s eyes widened. He simply stared at Khochu—and then the cat, who inched closer.
Now what? What could Khochu do? He wasn’t as strong a fighter as Nikita, but she was too busy with the remaining cats and people. So much for proving he was the key to everything. He was too young for his rite of passage, and that was final.
Khochu nearly gave up, but then something whooshed past him and Priven, sliding through the snow and ice toward the predator. He limped and moved slowly, but was still the great partner Khochu had for fifteen years.
“Kobe!” Khochu yelled. “No, Kobe!”
The old dog and the predator faced each other, growling and glaring, just like Yerik and Priven had ten minutes earlier.
Kobe leaped onto the cat’s back, digging his claws into its fur, but the cat threw him off, and Kobe landed in the snow near Eva, who rested motionless on her pile, wings outstretched.
“Kobe!” Khochu shouted again, but Kobe gave him a quick look and a nod.
To survive, you must kill, read his eyes.
Khochu lowered his voice—“Kobe”—but then he nodded, too, and helped Priven up. On his way back to the tribes, he glanced at his friend one last time. “This is why you weren’t ready in the cave,” he muttered, remembering Kobe’s eyes when he threatened him with his dagger.
Kobe and the cat circled each other, still growling, while Nikita continued fighting off the remaining two predators.
Without hesitation, Kobe and the cat unsheathed their claws, scratching each other's shoulders.
The cat smacked Kobe with its paw, and he whined as he slid through the snow, leaving a trail of blood behind, and landed on top of Eva.
“Kobe!” Khochu yelped, tears streaming down his face as he dropped to his knees. “No, Kobe!”
Now he knew for sure that he wasn’t ready.
ns216.73.216.98da2
and then Add to home screen.