4. Rod of Power

Fonatos knew exactly what his parents were going to say, and he agreed, so he still listened intently. He would not be the stupid Euchambersia who let himself be eaten by a crocodile. If possible, he would be the one to finally defeat a croco and bring back the Venomous Bite. Which was necessary, for fewer than a hundred of their kind were left.

The large asteroid that hit—wiping out the dinosaurs—didn’t help matters either. That was all in the past, but nature was still healing. It had taken a while to finally get out of the ice age that followed it.

They weren’t just fighting crocodiles now, they were also fighting for the little food that remained on the ravaged earth.

“Stay close,” his mother said. “No dark places. No biting animals bigger than you. Never leave territory without at least a group of five. And …”

All children yelled at once: “The creature to win a crocodile fight, will finally bring back the Venomous Bite!”

Fonatos was nearly an adult, yet he yelled loudest of all. Then he immediately went back to training. He ran ten circles through their territory at top speed. He attacked a tree that looked at him angrily—after scratching the angry face in it himself—and tried to bring it down with tooth and tail. Years ago, he could barely chip a few flakes off the trunk. Nowadays he was almost able to knock down the entire tree.

He was strong. He was ready. When the crocodile came, when his time came, he’d win and save them.

Or so he told himself, time and time again, to mask his ever-present fear. When evening came, he almost crawled into his parents, claiming he was protecting them. In the pouring rain, he sidestepped every puddle of water. Even if his mind knew no crocodile would fit in there, and they fortunately didn’t fall down with the droplets.

As he ran his final round, his heart jumped at seeing a crocodile’s face.

Upon closer inspection, it was just a frayed leaf with brown dots. Let the fight come sooner than later, he thought. I can’t take this much longer.

A different group of Euchambersia walked in the distance. He knew they were family, but when he asked about it he always heard: “we don’t talk about them”. And the longer the different sides of the family didn’t meet, the more they grew … different. Every child in his family seemed to be smaller, with duller teeth and weaker paws. Fonatos was an exception, with his thick muscular legs, which meant he carried the hope of all. Still he feared his family would soon be little fish once more.

But that other family branch? They only seemed to grow stronger. They received bright colors, while his were dull and almost camouflage. They—did that one miss his front paws!?

A thought. An idea he should’ve seen before. He ran to the other family in the distance, but was stopped at the edge of the territory by his own parents.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Look! They are strong and big! They dare wear bright colors, because they don’t fear being seen! I think … I think they already found the Venomous Bite!”

“No. No no. They’re too cowardly and too stupid for that.”

As a child, it surprised him that his parents would talk about family with such derision. Later he learned pieces of what happened, about losing the Book of Meaning and refusing to fight crocodiles. So now he nodded and growled with them.

“Yes, yes, but maybe the gods …”

“You think?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Fonatos complained. “They keep moving closer to the Throne. They must already be friends with those stupid gods. The next time Ardex decides to suppress or exterminate animals, they are surely safe, because they’re best buddies!”

His parents shared a glance. They decision was made with a lot of effort, but without a word. “Son, you have our permission to leave the territory. Follow those traitors and discover if they already have the Venomous Bite back. Be back at the nest before dusk.”

This is what he’d trained for. He felt strong, big, powerful. He knew every danger on his path would not be a danger to him. Or, well, that’s what he told himself, for he expected never-ending dangers on his path.

He left his safe home and followed his other family along the river. They laughed and played—he hated it with such fire that he missed walking right into a trap.

His front paw was stuck in a thin wire.

Hij verliet de veilige plek en volgde zijn andere familie langs de rivier. Ze lachten en speelden—hij haatte het met zoveel vuur dat hij niet zag dat hij in een valstrik liep. He kept on limping for a while, a wooden stick hammering his back, until he simply couldn’t move anymore. His heart jumped again and he stopped breathing. Frustrated, he bit at the wire and broke it quickly.

Four light paws landed all around him.

He wanted to run away—then he heard the whispers.

“Have you ever seen a fish like that?”

“That’s no fish, man. Maybe it’s one of those new … new … birds.”

Fonatos turned around. “How could you think I am a bird?”

“How could you destroy our rod!?”

Two Gosti tried to glue the broken ends of their rod together with not much more than spit and hope. They were small ape-like creatures, colored like trees. They usually stuck themselves to branches with all four paws, which earned them the nickname of Ghost Creatures. One was long and gray-haired, the other shorter. “We worked on this for weeks!”

“Fortunately we have a second one.”

Fontatos didn’t undersand. This “rod” didn’t look natural. They had “worked for it”?

“Did you have to fight to win that rod off someone?”

The Gosti frowned, something only they could do just as well as the gods. “Win? We made this ourselves. With our feet and teeth. Man, be a little impressed.”

He was impressed. But during the conversation he could only hear mother’s voice in his head. Don’t trust strangers. Don’t go alone. Everyone wants to eat you.

These little creatures seemed afraid of nothing and joked about how he was stuck in their wire. They didn’t seem dangerous in the least. He was even tempted, somewhere deep inside, to protect them. They stood here, naked and vulnerable, and had no claws or sharp teeth.

“Are you not afraid of crocodiles?”

They whispered to each other. “Should we be scared of crocodiles?”

“What is a crocodile?”

The longer one looked back at him, questioningly. “What is a crocodile?”

Fonatos’ jaw almost sank to the floor. The family he was supposed to chase was almost out of sight. “You don’t know what crocodiles are? How have you not been eaten yet?”

The Gosti shrugged. “Never ran into them, apparently. The fortunes of living in a tree.”

“Can that rod catch crocodiles?” He was ashamed to ask it. If he defeated a crocodile with such tricks, would the prophecy come true? Wasn’t that cheating?

“Well, this one isn’t catching anything, thanks to your clumsy paws.”

“Show me how it works.”

The smaller Gosti took the piece of wire that was left. Thorns and sharp leaves were stuck to the end. He threw it in the water, waited a while, then pulled it back up.

The sharp end had skewered several small fishes. Without any effort, they’d caught almost a school of fishes.

Fishing was normal, dear reader, for it was easy. An animal on land could run away or bite back. An animal in the sea couldn’t see what came for them from above. And once they were pulled out of water, they could wiggle all they want—it was over. So few animals actually hunted on land, while most sauntered past the river and fished for their meals. But as quickly and easily as the Gosti did it …

A memory. His parents always told him they were almost extinct because animals had conspired to aggressively fish his ancestors from the sea. He looked the Gosti over once more. They seemed too stupid to survive—then they caught tens of fish with no effort! _It must be an act, that’s it! A trap! _

Screaming, he ran away, until remembering his training. He fell silent, scanned the environment, and walked on with a body full of stress and taut muscles. When he was sure nobody followed, he tried climbing a tree. Of course he couldn’t. But it was good training, so he decided to try every day from now on.

First crocodiles, now Gosti, danger was everywhere.

Which was confirmed when he rounded a large stone and animals were waiting for him.

His family had heard him and now blocked his path.

They looked … hopeful?

“Did you do it? Defeat a crocodile?”

“I …” Mother’s voice echoed. We don’t talk to them. You can’t trust them.

“Why else were you yelling? Why else would you—”

They weren’t angry, just disappointed. They also didn’t send him away. They continued their journey as if Fonatas had always been part of the group.

Those traitors weren’t so treacherous.

Four large Ghost Eyes popped up behind the stone. The longer one pointed a gray-haired hand. “Is that what you meant with a crocodile?”

A yellow-green creature slithered over the dirt like a snake and reached for the first legs he saw. Fonatos jumped in front of everyone, assuming fighting posture. Teeth sought his front paws. He jumped up, pushing off the stone, and landed on top of the crocodile with his full weight. He growled and almost folded, then waved his tail like a whip and smashed Fonatos to the floor.

The fight went silent for three heartbeats.

Fonatos rolled onto all fours and jabbed with his left claw. The crocodile turned his snout like a shield. It was a good shield, though now it carried three deep cuts. As Fonatos recoiled from the hit, the crocodile spread his front legs like pincers and clamped them around his attacker’s shoulders.

Nobody helped. Somewhere they still believed in the prophecy—ten against one would be cheating. But two animals did not know the prophecy.

Fonatos stared death in the eyes. Wide, yellow eyes with a narrow pupil, above a row of teeth that drew closer, and he couldn’t leaves, stuck in the crocodile’s grip, unable to break it with all his muscles and strength. He never wanted to feel that way again. All that fear, all that hate.

A rod came from above and hooked around a crocodile tooth. The creature was pulled back and lifted up. He thrashed until he broke free, while also breaking this second rod.

“I return when fight is fair,” he growled.

“Agreed,” Fonatos said instantly. The Venomous Bite only returned in a fair fight, right? That’s why they did this, right? “Because of prophecy.”

The crocodile grinned and flashed his teeth. “I have a prophecy for you. Connido meat will taste even better once we eat the last one.”

He slipped into the river. The group sighed.

Fonatos stared death in the eyes, but it did not come today.