The Thinking Rocks (43 page)

Lomasi rolled in the
shallow water like the crippled creature he was.  He rubbed mud and water
on the biting insects. He stuck his head under water and shook it from side to
side.  The water entered the ear that held the ant and it floated the tiny
tormentor away.  He pulled his head from the water and gasped for
breath.  He lay in the shallow water covered in black slime from the mud
and sighed.  His body was torn, bitten and bleeding.  As he lay there
he tried to understand what had happened.  He looked the way he had come
and saw smoke and fire coming toward him.  Fire, a big fire was
coming.  His brain was starting to clear, but he was still having problems
understanding what was happening.  Then it came back to him.  The
creature was out there and it was after him.  He sat up in alarm and
looked franticly around.  Maybe the fire had gotten it.  But even
before the hope of escape was born, it was crushed.

A single figure was
approaching in front of the fire.  Lomasi's eyes where swollen from the
ant bites and the river mud, but there were something about the creature that
was familiar.  He blinked his eyes to clear them.  It couldn't be,
but it was. Cano.  How many times do I have to kill him before he stays
dead?  Lomasi sat in the mud watching the figure approach.

Cano stopped short of
where Lomasi sat.  "So this is the great Lomasi.  Sitting in the
mud like a child.  You don't look like a great hunter now.  You look
like what you are, a fool."

Lomasi sat without
speaking.

Cano continued, "We
came in peace, we tried to return what was yours.  But you wanted slaves
and power over others. Your own people died for you and you scorned their
deaths.  Even when we escaped you couldn't accept that you were
beaten.  Now you sit in the mud and you have nothing.  Can't you
learn that there are things that are right and those that are wrong?"

Lomasi continued to sit
silently, but inside his rage was festering itself.  He was planning what
he should do next.

Cano stood silently
watching, waiting for some form of reply.  Then he said, "You are not
only beaten, but you are worthless.  Even your own kind despises you. 
This is the end for you.  Not only are you going to die, but you will also
be forgotten.  It will be as if you never lived."

Lomasi rose from the mud
and faced Cano. "You say that I am nothing and that I'm to die and be
forgotten.  But there is something that you have forgotten."

Cano stood silently
listening and then said, "What is it that you think I have
forgotten?"

Lomasi launched himself
at Cano.  "I still live."  He had lowered his head and
tried to crash into Cano.

Cano had expected
his attack and jumped to the side.  He was armed and Lomasi wasn't. 
Cano swung his Canohawk and hit the side of Lomasi's head.  The blow was
strong and well aimed, but Lomasi's head was down and covered in slippery black
mud, the blow glanced off of his head.  Cano tried for a backhand blow,
but Lomasi had one hand raised and as Cano struck, his wrist hit the raised arm
and it knocked the Canohawk from his hand.  The Canohawk spun through the
air and landed in the water with a splash.

Lomasi's charge
had carried him past Cano. He spun around and dropped to one knee, the blow had
hurt him.  He shook his head; blood was running down his face. He looked
at Cano with hate dripping from his eyes, and then he smiled.  "Now
we will see who dies."

He rose and
rushed at Cano.  There was a fierce exchange of blows as they struggled,
each trying to better vent their fury on the other.  Lomasi was able to
pin Cano's arms to his sides.  He was much bigger and used his size to
crush his foe.  Cano twisted trying to break Lomasi's death grip. 
Lomasi's strength was based on two things, hate and desperation.  The grip
held.  Cano swung his head forward and smashed it into Lomasi's
face.  There was a bloody spray as his nose was broken, but the grip did
not loosen.  Cano swung his head forward again, but Lomasi twisted away
from the blow. The pressure of the arms around him cut off the air as he tried
to breathe. He couldn't get any air in; if he exhaled Lomasi tightened his
grip.  Cano's eyesight was starting to turn fade and he saw flashes of
colored light as he gasped for breath.  He knew he had to do something and
do it quickly.  He twisted and tried to bite Lomasi, but he was lifted
from the ground and spun around.  Cano was almost unconscious.  In
desperation he kicked out with both legs and was able to land a blow on
Lomasi's leg wound.  Lomasi screamed as the pain raced through his ravaged
body, but he refused to loosen his grip. Cano smashed his head forward again
and again, striking savagely with his legs against the wounded leg.
Involuntarily Lomasi lost his grip, they fell to the ground.  Cano was
gasping, trying to regain his breath.  Lomasi held his injured leg with
one hand and tried to wipe the blood from his eyes with the other.

As the fight was ravaged,
so did the brush fire.  The tall grasses yielded to it hungry breath,
licking flames spread to the bushes and trees.  Waves of smoke drifted on
the hot wind the fire was generating.  The fire became a wild thing more
fierce than a trapped animal, charging forward destroying anything in its path.
The two struggling bodies before the raging inferno were nothing more than fuel
to it.

Lomasi was the first to
regain his strength.  Wiping the blood and mud from his face with the back
of his hand he came forward and dragged Cano to his feet. He smashed his fist
into Cano's face and then grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him from the
ground.  Using the last reserve of his strength he threw Cano at the trunk
of a tall dead tree.  His body bounced from the tree and fell to the
ground.  Lomasi started forward, but then jerked back.  The force of
Cano's body hitting the dead tree had knocked some large branches loose and
they fell on Cano, trapping him there.

Lomasi straightened up
and took a deep breath, and then he smiled.  "Now we know who will
die and be forgotten."  He started forward again, but the swamp fire
was closer now, the heat was like a hungry animal.  He still had time to
rush forward and finish Cano. He paused as an idea came to him.  There was
a better way, a much more fitting way for Cano to die.  He smiled to
himself and then turned away from Cano.  He walked back into the water
until he was in it up to his waist.  Then he turned; he would watch Cano
burn to death from the safety of the river.

Cano slowly awoke to
pain; he tried to move but found he was pinned beneath the tree.  He saw
Lomasi standing in the water watching him.  Cano's heart sank; I almost
won.  He looked around for some method of escape, but couldn't see
anything that could help him.  He looked back to Lomasi and that was when
he realized what was going to happen.  It was he who would die and not
Lomasi.  The hungry flames where getting closer and closer.

Death was near and both men
knew it, but neither of them expected it to change form.

Death came in the next
few moments, and it was fast.  It didn't come from the fire, but from the
brown water in a swirling rush.  The gator was more than twice the length
of Lomasi.  It closed its jaws on Lomasi's bleeding legs and crushed them
together. Cano could hear the sharp crack of the bones in Lomasi's legs as they
broke.  The gator spun in the water dragging the still living body into
the bloody foaming water.  A short cry was all that Lomasi had time for
before he was dragged under the red tinted water. As the splashing subsided,
only a "V" on the surface of the water marked his passage from life,
and soon even this was gone.

Cano had watched Lomasi
die.  He didn't feel happy or sad.  The worst enemy he had ever known
was gone.  The only feeling he felt was relief.  Then a thought
crossed his mind, what a waste of lives. Lomasi's life had cost others their
lives, and he hadn't cared.  He was only concerned with his wishes and his
wants.  Other people were less than tools; they were more like fire wood,
than individuals. They were used until they could not do more and then they
were ignored as the ashes at a fire were ignored.

The heat from the forest
fire forced Cano's thoughts back to the here and now.  The fire had
ignited the ends of the branches that held him captive the heat from the fire
was a living thing. It was a creature that probed with an invisible tongue of
heat.  It tested each thing before claiming it as its own. Cano tried to
free his trapped legs, but there were branches in the way and he couldn't pry
himself loose. Try as he might he couldn't break free. The heat was greater now
and the wind was fanning the flames.  Cano had to smile to himself. 
He had told Lomasi that he would die and be forgotten.  Now I am going to
burn to death and be forgotten.

 The smoke was
getting thicker and Cano was coughing, he had trouble breathing.  His head
started to throb and then just as he was slipping into unconsciousness, he saw
Ceola's face again.  His last thoughts were; it was all such a waste. Then
the flames began licking in earnest at the larger limbs of the tree. Lomasi may
have failed, but another executioner had replaced him.

Back at the campsite
Morf was tied to the same sapling where Gennos had been tied.  He lay
quietly; his head had a large purple bruise from Cano's blow.  Dola sat
nearby, a long spear across his lap.

Na'pe came over to
Gennos. She had a haunted look in her eyes and a smile on her lips.  She
stood silently looking up into his eyes.

"What is it,"
he asked.  But his mind wasn't thinking in words, he felt as if he was in
water and was swirling around.  He tried to regain balance, I love those
eyes, he thought.

"I have the spirit
of the smoke in me, everything is slow and the colors of the day are
mine.  I have wanted to say this for a long time, but did not know
how."  She took a breath and said, "I want to be with you."

Gennos's heart almost
stopped.  He had hoped, but now he knew.  He didn't speak; he put his
arms around her and pulled her close.  She snuggled in and fitted her body
to his. Their love for each other was a tangible thing, it not only could be
seen, but it could be felt.

Dola was sitting with
the little wolf who had returned as soon as Lomasi left.  The wolf was
watching Morf's still form.

Gennos lifted his chin
from Na'pe’s hair, and looked to Dola.  "Na'pe and I will mate,"
he said with a smile.

Dola returned the smile
and said, "Well, I'm glad you finally know what the rest of us have known
for days."

Before Gennos could
reply, a large tree fell in the direction that Cano and Lomasi had taken.

Dola took a stronger
grip on the wolf, "Do you think Cano will be all right?"

Gennos looked from Dola
to Na'pe.  "I will go and see," he stated.

Na'pe held him close,
"He will be back soon.  Please don't go into the fire," she
pleaded.

"I will be
safe.  I'm sure he's all right, but he may need some help."

Dola said, "Let me
go, I'm fast and Whiteface can help find him quickly."

Gennos thought for a few
moments and then said, "You could do that, but I need you to take care of
Na'pe while I'm gone.  You must also watch Morf; we don't want more
trouble from him."

Na'pe started to say
something, but the look in Gennos's eyes stopped her. She looked over at Dola
and said, "I would feel safer if you stayed with me."

Dola wasn't
happy; he wanted to go.  "Well, I will stay with you if you need
me."

She rewarded him with a
big smile.  Then she looked deep into Gennos's eyes, "Must you
go," she asked.  "I want you back at my side soon."

He looked down at
her.  "I don't want to go, but I must.  He is my brother, my
blood.  He is here because of me.  He wouldn't leave me to die
alone.  I won't leave him when he may need me," he stated.

Na'pe didn't answer with
words.  She laid her head on his chest and then wrapped her arms trying to
crush him into her body.

Gennos held her for a
few moments more and then he moved off towards the flames, looking for a
passage that would take him to his brother.

The fire raged on
through the day.  Fortunately the wind was blowing upriver and the
campsite was safe.  As the time stretched on and the fire burned itself
out, so did their hopes die.  At first they expected Gennos to return when
he found he couldn't get through the flames, but this didn't happen.  The
more time that passed the more their hopes fell.  They became genuinely
worried when neither of the brothers returned.  They should have been back
by now if they were coming.  Then a horrible thought reared its ugly head;
it could be Lomasi who returned.  It was difficult waiting and not
knowing.

It was almost dusk when
Whiteface stood and faced the burned out end of the island.

Smoke still drifted in
waves across the island, but there was a dark movement at its center. 
Na'pe stood, and tried to see who or what it was.  Dola moved to her side,
and she put her arm over his shoulders and stood silently.

As the figure
materialized, they could see that it was strangely shaped. As it came closer a
cry escaped Na'pe, then she rushed forward.  The figure was Gennos, and he
was carrying the burned body of his brother.  They were both burned and
covered with ash.  Gennos was exhausted, he was dragging his bad leg and
it was plain to see he was in agony.