- Ar'ox -

I lie there and just stare at the sky, strewn with stars of every color. Is this a dream? Or did I really just worship a woman?

Things happened so fast today. It feels as if one moment I was on my way to find Bune, and the next I was sharing my terot with a mythical being.

A mythical being who speaks my language and smells like flowers and has long hair and warm skin and the fast heartbeat of a varb cub, even when she sleeps.

I half turn and stroke my hand gently down her soft back. Yes, she's clearly real. Definitely. In the best way anyone could imagine. Those sounds she was making when I used my mouth as we were taught when I was much younger ... I had no idea she would do that, but it just made my soul soar. Surely that was the most extraordinary thing that has ever happened on Xren.

She said she comes from the stars. I suppose that makes sense. The Plood did take our women in their metallic vessels. Perhaps they will all come back, and this is just one of them? I remember the old shaman taught us about a Woman Messenger many years ago. This could be her.

There's a pebble right at the small of my back, but I don't want to move so much that I disturb her sleep. She's much more important than my comfort.

Is this what all women are like? So round and pleasant and just plain luxurious? So light and small and delicate and alive? So sweet-smelling and so smooth to the touch? And will they all have this effect on my manhood, making it stand proudly to the sky for hours? If so, we lost even more than the old shaman was able to convey to us.

I lie still and just listen for a moment. The fire has burned down, and now only some embers are still smouldering there. I can hear some Smalls foraging not too far away, but that's all.

I long to stand up and look around for dangers and threats, but that would mean disturbing Emilia's sleep. She makes me want to hold her and protect her from everything that can even get close to hurting her in the slightest.

I've never felt anything like this before. Certainly we feel something somewhat similar about newborn babies that come straight from the Lifegivers, and we take good care of them for many years until they come of age, but that feeling has a different color. And it's less intense than this, less rich. This is burning itself into my mind and my soul and everything else.

What was it the old shaman told us about women? Most of the things he said about the Ancestors and the Darkness and the Plood and so on went unheeded. Young boys have other things on their minds than learning about the ancient myths that seem to have no bearing at all on our lives. I was never the most attentive student in the first place. To me, the most remarkable thing about the lessons was the wooden effigy of a woman, of course. That caught my attention and that of every boy having to endure the lessons. But the things the shaman said at the time? I'm not sure I can recall it all. Or even most of it.

But now I really have to try.

The women were taken away by the Plood. That's easy enough to remember. But the Ancestors have promised to give them back to us. At some time or other. There was more, I'm sure. A prophecy of some kind?

Emilia changes her position a little in her sleep and I take my hand off her to allow her the position she wants. Then when she settles down I take the loose edge of the blanket and wrap it around her and half of myself. The air gets cooler as the night goes on. The blanket is made of gerc fur and will keep the moisture off the impossibly smooth skin of this woman I found.

A woman! Again the thought fills my mind and makes it hard to think straight. I seem to remember something about a prophecy and a gift. Yes, that was it – we have to give the women a gift so that they will agree to come back. When we find them. In return, they will give us some other gift of great value.

Or was it the other way around? I don't have anything of any value at all. Definitely nothing that a woman will find valuable, certainly. Surely-

There's a noise from the tall grass behind the dying fire and I stiffen. If a predator were to attack us now, in the dead of night, while we're lying down and I have a woman on top of me, needing protection ...

I carefully lift Emilia off my chest and quickly roll her into the blanket. She whimpers softly, but I don't think she wakes up.

I stand up and scan my surroundings for beings that might be preparing an attack. And sure enough, there are several pairs of luminous eyes all around. That doesn't bother me too much – a campsite like this, with a fire and everything, will always attract curious creatures. It's the lurking dangers I can't see that would be worrisome.

I stand there with my hand on my sword for many long breaths, but everything seems calm. The river clucks harmlessly behind me. The stars have grown blurry behind a layer of clouds, and ...

In a flash I remember the Prophecy! Only one woman is to arrive. She's a messenger. She will carefully pick a tribesman to find her. He will worship her, the way I just did with Emilia. Then he gives her a gift of great value, and in return she gives the tribe a gift of her own. Which surely means that all the other women will arrive, too. There was more to it, I'm sure. But that was the basic thing. The gift.

Huh. I don't like it so much. I would of course give Emilia any gift she'd want. But I don't have anything! My sword is old and worn and my cave is pretty bare. I'm only a simple hunter with nothing to offer.

I look down on Emilia. Even when asleep she calls to me. She looks so innocent and vulnerable with her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted. I would do anything to keep her safe.

What happens when she discovers that I have no gift to give? Will she leave again and tell the other women not to bother coming back? Will I doom our tribe to eternity without women because I have no gift to give?

I sit down again beside her, even more worried than before. Am I the wrong man?