to her, and pointed to the men on the ridge line three hundred paces above. ‘WE’VE GOT TO CHARGE THEM,’ she yelled in out-loud speech – there was no time to risk thought-talk not working – ‘CROWD THEM. GET THEM OFF THE HIGH GROUND OR THEY’LL SKEWER US ONE BY ONE.’
She’d already snatched a jagged stone out of the sodden earth and was sprinting up the steep side of the glen. She could see one of the attackers aiming a shot at her, waited until he let fly and threw herself to the ground. The whistling spear missed her by a hand’s breadth and as she sprang to her feet twenty Ugly braves pounded past her, their heavy footsteps shaking the earth, roaring incoherent defiance at their attackers.
More spears smashed into their ranks, bringing down four more Uglies with horrific injuries. Blood spurted, bones broke, there were cries of pain and shock, but still the tough uphill charge didn’t falter. The big yellow-toothed leader was ten paces ahead of everyone else, waving a massive war axe, but before he reached the ridge line Ria hoped to kill one of the spearmen herself. Her grip tightened on the stone she’d picked up. It wasn’t of ideal size and weight. But it would do. She was less than fifty paces away and already drawing her arm back to throw when the spearmen turned and were gone. By the time she reached the ridge line they were nowhere to be seen, as though some sorcery had concealed them.
Ria didn’t believe in sorcery.
The men were there, slithering on their bellies like snakes throughthe bracken, gorse and tall tussocky grasses packing the downslope below.
‘Put your guys out in a long line,’ Ria yelled to Brindle, still using out-loud speech. ‘Beat the bush. We’ll find them.’
There was some confusion but soon almost the whole Ugly column, still more than fifty able-bodied males and females, plunged into the thick undergrowth in a ragged line, each separated by only an arm’s length from the next. They beat the bracken with spears and clubs, stabbing and probing, but the two attackers could not be found.
Finally Brindle called off the search. ‘Not good waste more time here,’ he said. ‘Better get to Secret Place fast.’
Ria considered her position.
She’d been about to head back to the Clan camp but now it wasn’t so simple. The moment she left the protection of the Uglies she would be vulnerable to the two killers lurking out there. They’d be watching and if they saw her alone they’d hunt her down.
On the other hand, if she stayed with the Uglies then the important intelligence she bore – that armed strangers with devastating new weapons had infiltrated Clan lands – would be delayed. She wasn’t clear yet on the fate of Grigo, Duma and Vik. Were they working for the strangers, as she suspected? Or had they been murdered by them? Both alternatives were possible but, whatever the answer, something bad was happening and she had to warn her brothers.
‘Won’t be able to warn them if you dead, Ria,’ Brindle’s thought-voice reminded her. ‘You must stay alive. Come with Uglies to Secret Place. Will figure out how to get you home safely tomorrow.’
What Brindle was saying made sense. Earlier, Ria had been horrified when he’d asked her to spend the night at the Ugly hideout. But everything had changed since then, and she had to adapt. ‘OK,’ she said after only a brief hesitation, ‘I’ll come with you. Just don’t kill me and eat me when we get there!’
Brindle’s brow ridges puckered, his deep-set eyes clouded over, and a look of horror crossed his face.
‘Well, I don’t mean it, of course! It’s a joke!’
However, it wasn’t exactly a joke, and Brindle’s ability to peer inside her mind meant he must know that. The truth was Ria couldn’t quite rid herself of a nagging fear that the Uglies could still turn out to be cannibals.
* * *
Three males and a female had been killed by the strangers’ spears. There was nothing more to be
She’d already snatched a jagged stone out of the sodden earth and was sprinting up the steep side of the glen. She could see one of the attackers aiming a shot at her, waited until he let fly and threw herself to the ground. The whistling spear missed her by a hand’s breadth and as she sprang to her feet twenty Ugly braves pounded past her, their heavy footsteps shaking the earth, roaring incoherent defiance at their attackers.
More spears smashed into their ranks, bringing down four more Uglies with horrific injuries. Blood spurted, bones broke, there were cries of pain and shock, but still the tough uphill charge didn’t falter. The big yellow-toothed leader was ten paces ahead of everyone else, waving a massive war axe, but before he reached the ridge line Ria hoped to kill one of the spearmen herself. Her grip tightened on the stone she’d picked up. It wasn’t of ideal size and weight. But it would do. She was less than fifty paces away and already drawing her arm back to throw when the spearmen turned and were gone. By the time she reached the ridge line they were nowhere to be seen, as though some sorcery had concealed them.
Ria didn’t believe in sorcery.
The men were there, slithering on their bellies like snakes throughthe bracken, gorse and tall tussocky grasses packing the downslope below.
‘Put your guys out in a long line,’ Ria yelled to Brindle, still using out-loud speech. ‘Beat the bush. We’ll find them.’
There was some confusion but soon almost the whole Ugly column, still more than fifty able-bodied males and females, plunged into the thick undergrowth in a ragged line, each separated by only an arm’s length from the next. They beat the bracken with spears and clubs, stabbing and probing, but the two attackers could not be found.
Finally Brindle called off the search. ‘Not good waste more time here,’ he said. ‘Better get to Secret Place fast.’
Ria considered her position.
She’d been about to head back to the Clan camp but now it wasn’t so simple. The moment she left the protection of the Uglies she would be vulnerable to the two killers lurking out there. They’d be watching and if they saw her alone they’d hunt her down.
On the other hand, if she stayed with the Uglies then the important intelligence she bore – that armed strangers with devastating new weapons had infiltrated Clan lands – would be delayed. She wasn’t clear yet on the fate of Grigo, Duma and Vik. Were they working for the strangers, as she suspected? Or had they been murdered by them? Both alternatives were possible but, whatever the answer, something bad was happening and she had to warn her brothers.
‘Won’t be able to warn them if you dead, Ria,’ Brindle’s thought-voice reminded her. ‘You must stay alive. Come with Uglies to Secret Place. Will figure out how to get you home safely tomorrow.’
What Brindle was saying made sense. Earlier, Ria had been horrified when he’d asked her to spend the night at the Ugly hideout. But everything had changed since then, and she had to adapt. ‘OK,’ she said after only a brief hesitation, ‘I’ll come with you. Just don’t kill me and eat me when we get there!’
Brindle’s brow ridges puckered, his deep-set eyes clouded over, and a look of horror crossed his face.
‘Well, I don’t mean it, of course! It’s a joke!’
However, it wasn’t exactly a joke, and Brindle’s ability to peer inside her mind meant he must know that. The truth was Ria couldn’t quite rid herself of a nagging fear that the Uglies could still turn out to be cannibals.
* * *
Three males and a female had been killed by the strangers’ spears. There was nothing more to be
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