Clarity's Doom (Ancient Origins Book 1) (5 page)

Talking to each other.

Above her head were small indents. The tree was hollow higher up. The leather of her purse strap was slung over her head and a shoulder. Clarity would need her hands free for the climb. She reached up and began to pull her way deeper into the high tree using the slippery indents to crawl upward. The higher she rose, the darker the inside became until she could only see with her hands and the touch of fingertips. Every second her concern grew she might inadvertently touch some hidden unsuspecting creature. Her body hugged the smooth dampness as her heart pounded and handholds became less frequent. She was terrified she could slip and slide down to land in a heap and give herself away.

At a small ledge she stopped. The bottoms of her shoes and calves were still visible when she peered down, and she was covered with tiny tree bits and moss which added to her bedraggled appearance. Her clothing and flesh wore spatters of sticky sap and mud.

A massive head poked into the hollow from below and Clarity froze when the beast growled showing off the protruding fang teeth. A scream caught in her throat. The creature sniffed the air, face raised and she was positive it could see her and she could see it. Hard human features became distinct. The white teeth amidst the fangs were visible. Closer, she determined they looked like overlarge human teeth. Intelligent eyes blinked. The nose was broad and flat the eyes tucked under heavy brow ridges. A spatter of coal dark hair covered its head in places. But there was no mistaking the creature beneath her wasn’t human, and yet it wasn’t a dinosaur. It was decidedly both. The idea made Clarity shudder.

It could enter no farther as it was too large. The bulk of its rounded frill caught on the bark. The massively muscled back filled the entry. The hollow was deprived of light, except for two bright rainbow eyes softly glowing. The eyes blinked, everything went dark. Clarity was certain her heart stopped beating. When the eyes opened the beast had moved a fraction closer. Eyes blinked, darkness. Opened, it had moved no further. The eerie lights turned as it tilted its head. The creature stopped growling and whistled a soft tune. Each sound rolled with undeniable words. Nothing she understood except it was trying to communicate.

Clarity couldn’t breathe, she didn’t remember how to. The creature pulled from the tree, the soft sunlight was welcome. The unmistakable sound of razor talons slicing into the bark caught her attention and she crept higher, reaching, stretching, above her head, her fingers a tenacious grip on the last moist, slick, hardened protrusion. Another head poked under to stop her. Her ass pressed against the back of the tree; her hands and feet rested on small indents.

The whistle from this creature was demanding. Its hands made odd gestures. The thing was interacting with her, or trying to. It wasn’t possible. Clarity closed her eyes. As unreal as it seemed the creature signaled for her to come down.

‘Come down so we can eat you’ just isn’t working for me.

Her head shook slightly, a quick no. Though she didn’t have a hope it would understand the gesture. The creature snorted and ducked back out. From a tiny crack higher up Clarity struggled to press her eye against the incoming light. The creatures were moving away, strolling as huge men would on a summer day. Their loincloths swayed with each step, giving her a slight visual of hard ass cheeks, humanoid ass cheeks. They whistled and gestured to each other. Each tone, every pitch different and similar. Clarity tensed when she was positive one laughed and shoved the other against its shoulder.

Laughed?

Soon the foliage swallowed them. Only then did her jaw relax so her teeth could clack together. Her breath expelled in a whoosh. She placed a hand over her thundering heart. She wasn’t on Earth, of that she was certain. The urge to cover her eyes and sob was hard to resist, but the sappy substance on her fingers and palms gave her pause.

She couldn’t stay where she was. As frightening as the idea was she had to leave the relative safety of the tree. There was nowhere to sit comfortably and if she fell asleep, she’d fall. Eventually, she would need water and food. There could be stranger, larger creatures that might find her and knock the tree down to get to her.
Just move.
Her climb down was hesitant, what if the creatures backtracked or were hiding? Clarity clutched each individual handhold for leverage as her knuckles turned whiter in the reappearing light. Fingers aching, she poked her head out of the opening and pulled back, poked out, pulled back. The bushes were unmoving. The directions she could see were clear.

With trepidation she crawled on all fours from her hideout. The sun was low, evening approached. As she stood, Clarity leaned back against the trunk, the surface a deceptive safe haven. The creatures could reach in after her if she stayed inside on the ground. Her heart pounding, her first step was the hardest. Soon one foot followed the other as she walked, half-crouched, wary, her gaze traveling everywhere. Each breath escaping her tortured lungs sounded ominous in the quiet.

Clarity came to the indentation, the outline of the walking creature’s footprint and placed her foot next to it. The footprint was massive and clawed, but on further inspection she narrowed her eyes. Within the outline was another outline…of a human foot. Five toes, a heel, and the ball of the foot were unmistakable. The human foot size was close to fourteen inches. For a moment her heart skipped a beat wondering who else was here. The human foot went deep into the surface; whoever it was must weigh hundreds of pounds. Clarity had seen impressions when on nature walks with her father. Something strange stared back at her. Clarity realized the two impressions were in fact one. The human bones made up part of the erect dinosaur’s feet. A foot within a foot.

How is that possible?

Not a fan of horror stories, Clarity decided it was worse to live one. If erect dinosaurs wandered the place she landed on there could be far worse creatures living here. Scientists hinted the numerous sinkholes appearing might lead to a different planet or dimension. The rumors were brushed off, quieted. Clarity knew the doomsday sayers were correct. But if she was taken, where were the others who fell with her? Shouldn’t they all end up in the same area? The children in the car, did they land here? Where was the car, the kids? On impulse she glanced left then right but saw no other signs of life. Her mind raced to the last seconds of her fall. She had been snatched from a strong pull. Was it possible time stood still in sinkholes?

The idea of traveling to other galaxies in one year and sent back taking another year to return boggled her mind. Was that how the dead had returned? Some humans might never have set foot here. Was her destination fate? More than likely something else played a factor. Whatever the reason, here she was. Here she’d stay if she didn’t get moving.

The gloom of the overcast sky made Clarity look up. The wind whistled through the trees making her gasp, wondering if for a second it was a creature. The air filled with the scent of a shower. The way she looked and felt, Clarity wouldn’t mind being wet. The sticky substance of the sap covered her, and her hair was pinned to parts of her forehead. Her fingers fused together and she despised the tug as she separated each digit, stretching her skin.

Clarity stood, waiting for the first spatters of rain to fall. Arms out at her sides, palms up, watching the heavens, she frowned when the wetness hit the back of her hands. She stood there, now staring down as her runners became saturated. Her palms turned down and the coolness of each drop hit her skin with a
pat pat pat
and slipped through her fingers.

Single droplets floated up as she watched wide-eyed with wonder. Water bubbles stretched, separated, again elongated, and continued their ascent. Eerie, massive clouds, gray and unwelcoming overhead moved in. Sharp thunder, rocking Clarity to the core, commanded the grounds to release the moisture in words unheard but heeded. The sogginess dampened her ankles, then calves, snaking up her thighs, over her hips. Tickling lines of wetness caressed her. Swirling, rising, her shirt blew up to her midriff. Her hands swayed as her neck twisted to see the rain rise
up
to the sky, left and right. Foliage ruffled, puddles emptied. The scene surreal to the human eye. Drops trailed their way up her skin, against her inner thighs disappearing to stop at her panty line.

Dripping could be heard as the rain spattered the underside of leaves. The storm grew in intensity. Ground lightning, a sizzling zigzag, toppled trees making Clarity jump. Thunder roared overhead. Precipitation from a pond rose into the heavens. Huge black-gold frogs climbed down trees to slither into dark holes as snakes. Clarity blinked hard wondering if her eyes were deceiving her.

A frog snake?

A roaring filled her ears as she became saturated. The novelty of the strange happenstance quickly turned to panic. Rain flew up with intensity to fill her nostrils until she thought she might drown. Covering her nose and mouth she began to run. The ground grew slick beneath her feet, tripping her, covering her knees in small red marks she knew would bruise later.

Clarity raced terror stricken through the forest looking for shelter. Any opening exposed to the sky gave up its water supply. The gray sky overhead swirled with massive amounts of rain, hovering, swarming. She was at the mercy of the wind. Her arms pressed against her head trying desperately to shield her face. The intense foliage she battled through, now crawling on a hand and knees, dragging her purse behind her, dumped sheets of water to run in rivulets first down her body then changed haphazard in their direction to race upward.

The vulnerability of being assaulted from beneath and sideways dropped Clarity to her belly where she remained. Lightning crackled and zipped over her, racing through the trees. A sharp explosion sounded when a bolt hit a target, the tree shattered. To add to her fear, the rain mixed as droplets landed from the sky as the heavens opened to return rain to ponds. Bombarded from both land and sky, Clarity screamed and choked as water flushed her mouth. Condensation and infiltration run amok. She was drowning on land.

“Help,” she screamed, then choked.

Strong hands on her shoulders made her cringe and cry out. She peered up under an arm, gasping, her face sodden with rain and tears. A beast didn’t have her. It was a man. The biggest man she had ever seen. He pulled her into his arms and ran. The pounding deluge continued from under them, above them. She didn’t know how the man could see where he was going. She pressed her face into his bare chest, her arm snaked up to clasp around his neck. She cupped her hand against her mouth and nose trying to form an air pocket to breathe. When it didn’t work, she muscled her purse up to her cheek to try the same. His powerful grip crushed her to his warm skin. Strong legs pumped beneath him as his feet flew across the terrain.

Nature’s assault stopped and Clarity heard the man’s deep intake of breath when he stood motionless for a moment. Instinctively, she knew they were no longer outside. With a few long strides, he settled her down atop a lush mound of leaves within a shelter of rock and moss. Her purse slipped under a leg. With his warmth and protection now gone, the chill in the air brought goosebumps to her arms. Blinking, she gazed at her surroundings. The blowing of wind beyond the entrance scattered more leaves in her direction. Foliage wasn’t placed strategically for comfort; it was a natural occurrence.

The man squatted on the balls of his feet before her. The heavens no longer a daunting force, the rain dripped down his features. Fine moisture drizzled from his forehead to slip from the tip of his nose. He wore earthy, rugged-looking moccasins hugging his feet and ankles to below mid-calf, and tanned hide pants covered him to his knees. The simple garment had numerous strange deep pockets which bulged with their secret contents. A thick, braided woven rope strung round his hips held simple tools, a crude hand axe, the handle made of beautiful deep purple quartz, a long ivory-handled stone knife, and a rustic leather pouch.

Rugged, powerful, intricately tattooed, he gazed at her. She would have expected a cocky glance from a man of his size but he seemed thoughtful. Sad and hopeful. Clarity wiped her face with her hand and pushed strands of hair behind her ears. It took effort to settle her clattering teeth. He continued to stare at her, study her.

She knew her hair when dry was so blonde it looked white when wet. Edward claimed her eyes were a mad hazel of all colors. The man before her dwarfed her five foot five. Many men did, but she had never encountered the sheer beauty of one so well proportioned. There was something prehistoric in his features in a fascinating way. Ancient, his gaze was primeval as though he’d lived a thousand lives over a million years. If he were primitive man, he would be considered the epitome of the best there was, the alpha male. This man hadn’t fallen in a sinkhole to get here. He belonged. The surroundings complemented the man and vice versa.

“My name is Clarity.” The moment of truth. She doubted he’d eat her, she doubted he’d understand her, but a name was a simple place to start. “Clarity.” She pointed at her chest then motioned to him.

“Doom.”

It occurred to her that although his tone wasn’t that of the voice in her living room, the word was as frightening. Was he Clarity’s
Doom?
Would she die here in this cave filled with green vegetation, with a man who saved her life only to take it?

“I’m afraid,” she whispered.

He reached to cup her chin. His hand, though callused was gentle, his look sincere, his tender smile earnest. He gave her chills.

“You should be.”

Chapter Three

Doom’s voice was deep, his words clear and not threatening. Clarity could have been knocked over by a feather.

“You speak English.”

“I speak talk.”

“No I mean you talk like me.”

“No, you talk like me.”

Clarity wondered at the evolution of speech. Where, how did it originate? Ancient origins? Scientists would have a field day here. First, communicating dinosaurs, and now a male who spoke English. What other languages were here? Clarity didn’t know where she was, but she definitely knew she wasn’t anywhere near home.