Epilogue

EPILOGUE

- Alba -

“Go the secret way,” Anter’az instructs. “The one only you and I know about.”

“Yes, Anter’az,” Tren’ax whispers. “And then I will ask the other boys who the chief is and if you have been cast out. I don’t talk to any men, and I try to not be seen by them.”

“Exactly. But if you get caught and they force you to say where I am, tell the truth. And remember that I may be cast out, but you’re not. If you must take sides, your side is the Krast tribe and the new chief, not me.”

The boy frowns. “But…”

“It is honorable,” Anter’az tells him mildly. “You will not be betraying me. I am ordering you to do this.”

The boy sighs. “Yes, Anter’az.” Then he runs into the jungle and is gone.

“No need for him to get in trouble for my sake,” my husband tells me. “It’s bad enough that he’s been gone from the village for this long. But I’m not sure if anyone noticed, with all the things that have happened.”

I squeeze his hand. “I think he’ll be fine. He’s a smart boy.”

“Smart and adventurous,” Anter’az says. “A dangerous combination.”

“I wonder how you know that,” I say innocently.

“Well, it’s because I’ve seen the trouble they can get into— oh, you mean I am both those things?”

“Perhaps.” I shrug. “Or maybe. Either one.”

“Hmm. Some would say it’s not smart to return to a tribe that’s almost certainly cast me out.”

“But it is adventurous. And that side always wins, yes?”

He gives me an orange glance. “You speak as if you know from your own experience.”

“I can’t imagine why you think so.” I sniff.

He snorts. “It’s another great mystery.”

We’re quiet for a while, just waiting for Tren’ax to return. I’m fine with that. I could wait for years, just as long as Anter’az is with me. There’s a lightness to me now, a brightness in my mind that I thought had been permanently dimmed by the years in the tunnels. But Anter’az has reignited it and turned it all the way up. And it’s the kind of light that just gets stronger the more it’s used.

“At least it doesn’t smell of rotting food anymore,” I say into the silence. “Or burning.”

“I rarely smell of rotten food,” Anter’az replies absentmindedly. “But I sometimes burn.”

“Not you,” I explain. “The village over there.”

He sends me a mischievous smile. “I know.”

“I can’t slap your shoulder now, but I will when we’re safe,” I threaten him. “How dare you joke with me.”

“I’m adventurous,” he says with a smirk that send light tingles down my front. “You said so.”

Finally Tren’ax returns, red in the cheeks and breathing hard. “They say… that… you’re not… cast out,” he begins.

Anter’az puts a hand on his shoulder. “Wait. Breathe. Breathe. Keep breathing.”

The boy bends over and stands like that for a minute, just panting, before he straightens. “The boys say that you’re not cast out.”

“I see. Who is the new chief?”

“Popret’ax,” Tren’ax says. “He decided that you’re not to be cast out.”

“Ah!” Anter’ax gives me a satisfied smile. “The best man for the job. Then everything is fine. Are you sure the boys told the truth?”

The boy scratches his leg. “I asked three of them in different places. They wonder where you are, though.”

“How do they feel about women?”

“I don’t know,” Tren’ax says. “You didn’t tell me to ask about that .”

“I didn’t,” Anter’az admits. “What does the village look like?”

“Good. Like before. The forges have been built again and the burning barricades are gone. The Lifegivers are strong, they say. And everyone has gone hunting again. There’s a lot of food now.”

“Sounds like a paradise,” Anter’az says to me. “Tren’ax, if I were to walk into the village with Woman Alba right now, what do you think would happen?”

The boy shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Of course you don’t know . But you’ve been inside, seeing the mood in there. Give me your best guess: what will happen?”

I can’t help but love how he talks to the kid like an equal. I can almost see Tren’ax growing from sheer self-esteem. What a father Anter’az could be!

“Nothing,” Tren’ax finally says. “Popret’ax was never against women in the village. That was just some of the old men. I think Alba will be safe.”

Anter’az looks down on me. “What do you think? Do we risk it?”

“We just decided that all three of us are adventurous and smart,” I remind him. “Do you think we’ll choose to leave now? ”

He chuckles. “The adventurous side of us wins against the smart side again. Very well. But stay close to me.”

We make our way to the deadly alley with the traps. Anter’az walks in first, carefully checking if it’s safe for me to follow. We walk through the maze and then stand before the gates.

“Tribesman Anter’az requests the gates to be opened!” my husband thunders.

Someone inside must have seen us coming, because the gates swing open right away.

We stand there and look inside.

It looks like a regular, peaceful village. Smoke rises from fires, and men walk to and fro.

“At least nobody is trying to kill us yet,” I point out.

“That’s always something to be cherished,” Anter’az says thoughtfully. “Well, they know we’re here.” Holding me with one hand and touching the hilt of his sword with the other, he walks into the village.

I half expect the gates to slam shut behind us and a bunch of angry Krast to surround us, but nothing happens. Nobody’s coming to greet us; nobody even seems to care much.

“This is promising,” my husband says as we walk towards the Hill, with its Swiss cheese design.

I notice Krast men we pass stop and look, and some turn on the spot and walk back where they came from. The mood is weird, like some kind of quiet before the storm. Except there’s not much tension, so it’s more like the quiet after a storm.

Anter’az pulls the curtain away from his cave opening, glares up at the side of the Hill, and quickly pushes me inside. “Can’t be too careful.”

Inside the cave it’s just like before. The cages are neatly stacked, the venom pots on the shelves look all innocent, and the desk-like table is all a mess. But I notice a stack of swords in the corner. “Are you collecting those?”

Anter’az sighs. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. For now…” He pulls me close and looks down on me. “... I just want to be happy.” He kisses me with the passion I’ve come to expect from him.

And I return the kiss with all that I am. I owe him all that I am now. So much of it is because of him.

“I love you,” I tell him when we come up to breathe. “I’ve never been this happy.”

He pushes a strand of hair out of my face. “Neither have I, my wife. But I have a feeling it’s only going to get?—”

“Anter’az?” comes a call from outside the opening.

My husband turns, growling in annoyance. ”What is it now— oh, greetings, Fabur’iz.”

It’s an old man, skinny but standing tall. His eyes are milky and unfocused.

Anter’az goes out, takes the man’s arm, and leads him inside. “Healer Fabur’iz, I don’t think you’ve met Woman Alba of the Borok tribe. Now my wife.”

The old man reaches out his hand.

I carefully grab it. “Honored to meet you, Healer Fabur’iz.”

“Wife, you say?” he creaks. “You just went and got married, Anter’az? But I’m not surprised. If any of us Krast were to get a wife, it would be you. But this is wonderful! Does it mean that you will honor us by staying with us here, Woman Alba?”

“We’re not sure about that yet,” I tell him carefully. “The tribe was… strange last time I was here.”

“Strange and shameful,” the old man creaks, looking straight past me with his blind eyes. “It’s not honorable what happened then. But I think you’ll find our tribe has healed from that. Anter’az?”

“Yes, Fabur’iz?”

The old man draws a big knife from his belt. “If you decide to stay with us and be our healer, I will never harm any woman nor raise my blade against any tribesman. This I swear.”

I pull back a step, worried about what he’s going to do with that knife. But the old man simply curls his other hand around the blade, then shows the palm, where blood is flowing from a cut.

“Fabur’iz!” Anter’az exclaims, horrified. “Of course I would never ask you to…”

The old man holds his knife out, hilt first. “Take it and put it with the others. I never had a sword. It’s either all or nothing with this, Anter’az. Everyone must decide. Now I’m going home. Don’t worry, I can take care of the cuts myself.”

Anter’az helps him find the cave opening, and the old man leaves, walking so surely I’d swear he had perfect eyesight.

“That was weird,” Anter’az says as he puts the knife in the stack of swords. “I never meant for him to?—”

Another man stands in the opening, sword drawn. “Healer Anter’az! If you will stay as our healer, I will never harm any woman, nor attack any tribesman. This I swear.” He cuts his own hand with the sword, then comes in and puts the sword with the others, turns and marches out.

Another comes in and does the same thing. “This I swear.”

I look out. A long line is forming, all Krast men waiting to come inside the cave.

“This I swear.”

“This I swear.”

“This I swear.”

I glance at Anter’az. He’s standing there, very straight, nodding silently and slapping the hilt of his sword for each man. Clear tears are running down his cheeks.

“I think you cured them,” I tell him, choking up myself. “Maybe now they deserve you.”

“This I swear.”

“This I swear.”

“This I swear.”

Even the two former half-chiefs come and swear their oath. I see no anger in any of them, just determination to keep their healer in the tribe.

It goes on for a long time, and I start to worry about all these hundreds of guys needing Anter’az to treat their self-inflicted cuts. That would take hours. But none of them ask for that.

Finally the last man comes in, probably in his early fifties, tall and thin. “Healer Anter’az. I’m happy to see you back, and I do hope that you are back.”

“I am back for now, Chief Popret’ax,” Anter’az says. “But it’s gratifying to be this wanted by the tribe.”

“Oh, we want you,” the new chief says. “Or rather, we both want and need you. Things went out of hand recently. Every man was shocked when we saw our village after that, and we all realized that we don’t want to be that kind of tribe. We want to be a better kind. An honorable tribe, the way we were before. The Elder Council talked a lot about women, and they agree that we shall allow them in the tribe, and that we shall treat them as friends and equals. Which I understand is the way in the other tribes. Am I right, Woman Alba?”

“You are,” I tell him. “Friends and equals is what we are.”

“Indeed. You are of course free to come and go as you wish. And I understand that you two are now married. If you don’t mind, the Krast tribe would like to arrange a small feast to celebrate it. Tonight, I think. Would that suit you two?”

Anter’az looks at me, raising his eyebrows.

“That would suit us well,” I reply with a smile. “Perhaps the Krast tribe can get to know me as I am, not as they fear I am.”

“Exactly,” the chief says. “Please allow me, on behalf of the Krast tribe, to apologize for the treatment you received last time you came to see us. As Healer Fabur’iz says every chance he gets, it was shameful. We are a better tribe now. You’ve healed us, Anter’az.” He draws his sword. “If you decide to stay and be our healer, I will never harm women or tribesmen. This I swear.” He cuts himself and adds his sword to the heap.

“Was that the last one?” I ask softly as he leaves.

“The last but one,” Anter’az says. “You can guess who’s not been here.”

“Tarat’ex,” I state. “What will you do with him?”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Chief Popret’ax says, turning around outside the opening. “Tarat’ex has been cast out of the tribe. It was revealed that he tried to kill a guest in our village first with a rock, then with a spear, causing grave injuries each time. He confessed willingly and even gleefully, thinking the tribe would honor him for trying to kill Woman Alba. But the Elder Council thought differently. Our deeply felt disgust with his actions was one reason why our tribe has changed its mind and heart so completely.” He turns and saunters away.

I take in the huge heap of swords. “You’re the best armed man on Xren. Do they do this a lot in your tribe?”

Anter’az scratches his chin. “No, this is the first time. We should leave the cave and give them a chance to pick them up again. If we’re suddenly attacked by a band of outcasts, we don’t want our tribesmen unarmed.”

He lights torches and places them above the pile of swords, showing that he appreciates the tribe’s gesture.

“They gave up their swords for you,” I point out. “That must mean a lot.”

“It means they really want me here,” my husband says. “I will settle for that.”

“Before we go, Anter’az…”

“Yes?”

I point to the black curtain. “Can I see what’s in there? Or still secret?”

He tilts his head. “Are you sure you can handle it?”

“Well… I know it’s something that alive. Is not a baby, is it? Or something gruesome?”

He walks over and pulls the curtain aside. Inside it’s dark, so he lights another torch and holds it aloft.

There’s a big spider’s web in one corner, but it’s incomplete and nowhere near as symmetrical and perfect as the vral’s web in the jungle. A snake-like creature is busy making it, dark green and lithe in its movements.

“Ah!” Anter’az exclaims. “It’s started to change. Now it’s making a web!”

I stay behind my husband, bravely looking past him. “What is it?”

“It’s a vral,” he says with satisfaction. “Some time ago I found a cluster of eggs near the Vral’s Cave. I stole one of them and cared for it until it hatched. I always wanted to try the vral’s venom, you see. But I was afraid of challenging the big one in the web. I thought that a small one would be easier to deal with and take the venom from, once it matured and became a full vral. It’s taken a long time, but now I think this one is about to become an adult. Look at the web! It’s learning!”

My skin creeps at me being anywhere near that thing. “Are you going to… keep it?”

He thinks about it. “I kept it secret because nobody would agree with me keeping a vral in the village. And yet, vral’s venom is extremely powerful, it seems. It can be used to cure festering wounds, if the dilution is right. But if it escapes and hides in someone else’s cave, or makes a big web inside the village, it might become a nuisance.”

“ A nightmarish horror, you mean,” I say to myself in English. “Yes, a nuisance,” I add in his language. “I was just thinking that.”

He frowns. “What was it you muttered before that?”

I give him a sweet smile. “Just alien things, my love. It’s one of the things about marrying an alien: you will have to listen to some strange muttering.”

“Mhm. I suppose I can live with that.” He closes the curtain to the cave. “Perhaps I should put the vral somewhere else while it’s still this small. And before it grows a stinger.”

I nod thoughtfully, keeping my face neutral. “Perhaps you should.”

We leave the cave and walk into the sunlight outside. Anter’az looks up before he ushers me out of the opening, and I get the feeling he will be doing that every time I enter or leave a cave. I’m surprisingly fine with that. If he wants to protect me, I’m not going to stop him.

“You know this village,” he says as we wander aimlessly past iron forges and pottery kilns. “And you heard the oath the men took. Would you be willing to live here with me?”

“That oath… do they mean it? They will never harm any woman?”

“You’ve been living in another tribe for a while now,” Anter’az points out. “What do you think?”

“I know that you kept your oath perfectly well,” I ponder. “But keeping an oath like that is not the same as not being angry about seeing me in their village. If they really think that women are agents of evil. But I was thinking about something.”

“Yes?”

“You’re a healer. And I think you are the best healer on Xren. The Borok tribe doesn’t have a healer like that. Only Astrid and Piper, and they don’t have your experience or your medicines. What if you become the healer for the Borok as well? And for the Tretter tribe? Spend a few days in one village and treat them, then move on to the next. You’ll spend more time here with the Krast, because this is your cave and your cages. And the Krast is the largest tribe.”

He thinks about it. “That will mean a lot of walking in the jungle. I will need a cave or hut in each of those other villages. But I can bring the medicines with me.”

“And me,” I tell him, squeezing his hand. “I’ll go with you and help. Sometimes I might want to stay in the Borok village with the other women for a few days, but I mostly want to be with you .”

“There’s not an injury every day,” he keeps thinking aloud. “Maybe one every ten days. But sometimes many more days go past and I sit in my cave, bored. This way, there will be many more injuries and illnesses to learn from and to try things out on!”

“There you go,” I tell him, liking my idea more and more. “Those men who need constant help from you can get it when you visit their village. And you can teach your tribesmen to handle sudden injuries, the way they do it in the other tribes. So that the men survive until you get there.”

“The tribes will give us an escort through the jungle each time,” he says with growing enthusiasm. “And we will tell each tribe where I will be at all times, so that if one man gets too sick to wait, he can be carried to whichever village I am in at that time.”

“Yes! And sometimes…” I bite my lower lip, looking up at him.

“Sometimes we can go to Vral’s Cave and be alone,” he finishes my thought. “For a few days. I think we can do that tomorrow.”

“Our honeymoon,” I tell him. “Every married couple needs that.”

“The hunimun is of great importance,” Anter’az agrees. “It’s the time after the wedding, when the couple can travel somewhere and be alone to enjoy each other fully.”

I stare. “How do you know that?!”

“We have the same thing here on Xren, and the same word for it. Hunimun.”

I chuckle “Nah, see, that makes no sense. Someone told you before. Astrid, I would guess.”

“Maybe. But I know what it is, and we will have one. Also, it’s fun to say. Hunimun.”

“It is,” I agree as we make our way to the common table, the center of the village. “Say it as much as you want.”

The totem pole looks better than before. The tribesmen have used some kind of paint to color it in red and green and yellow, and it looks very nice. Even my profile near the top has the right bob cut.

I point up. “They made my nose too big.”

Anter’az takes hold of my chin and turns my head to the side to check. “No, it’s about the same size.”

“Yes, exactly. It should be more flattering! Is art! It should make me look prettier than really am.”

“That would be impossible,” Anter’az rumbles as he looks up at the totem pole. “Your beauty can’t be improved.”

He’s so sincere that I just accept it. “Thank you. So the tribe must not think I am an agent of Darkness anymore, then?”

Anter’az nods, looking away. “It appears they changed their minds.”

There was something reserved about the way he said that.

“And you?” I ask. “What do you think? Really? The scientist?”

He takes a deep breath. “As a seyetis , having been close to you for several days, I think that women do appear to be agents of Darkness. I must be truthful about it, my love. I wish you hadn’t asked.”

I frown. “Really? You think I’m evil?”

His orange eyes pierce me in that icy way he has when he’s in his scientist frame of mind. “Not at all. You’re the least evil creature I’ve met. But I’m sure those who brought you to Xren are evil. And they had a reason for doing it. The reason I think was the chaos and trouble you caused in our tribe when you first arrived. I don’t mean that you caused it on purpose! But simply by being a woman. I’m sorry, my love. It’s just too obvious to ignore. You were placed on Xren to cause damage. Like a bacteria in an open wound. And it nearly destroyed this tribe.”

I’m shocked, but we girls have wondered a lot about why we were dumped on Xren in the first place. I guess Anter’az’s explanation is as good as any other. And Korr’ax’s plot is another indication. He must have been pretty sure I’d cause some trouble here.

“You think everything is bacteria,” I tell him, squeezing his hand to take the edge off my words. “Even your wife.”

He laughs. “You’re right! I’m seeing bacteria everywhere now. You should never have told me about them. But you’re the most alluring and beautiful of them all.”

I give him a lopsided smile. “All right. I will be sure to tell the other women what you think of them. Bacteria! They may not like it.”

He shrugs. “I’m a seyetis , you said. I just want to see the truth. I would never tell you if you hadn’t asked. Because it means nothing. All that matters is that you’re mine.”

“And you’re mine.”

He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses it. “It’s the only way it can work.”

We wander slowly back to the cave. The swords are all gone, but the torches are still burning.

“The feast will be at sunset, right?”

“That’s the usual way,” Anter’az says as he opens a cage and checks whichever horrible giant insect he keeps in there. “Ah, the boys have already fed them all. Good, that frees up some time for us.”

“Time to talk about science!” I suggest brightly, wanting no such thing but having fun teasing him.

He towers over me, casting me in shadow. “I was thinking we wouldn’t do much talking.”

“Then we’ll be silent about science.” Tingles start shooting down my body, ending up at the right place.

His eyes narrow, and he places a huge hand on my cheek. “You’re usually not silent when we do what I’m thinking of.”

“Oh, you mean cutting your hair. I think still looks good.” I reach up and push my fingertips through the golden curls above his ear. “But getting long again. Soon you need a hair clip to keep it in order.”

He looks me up and down. “Where is it?”

“Oh, I left it in the Borok village. I’m thinking of growing my hair long.”

He touches my hair in a mirror image of my movement, tickling my neck. “I would love to see that. But growing hair is usually not loud.”

“That’s true. I know! Eating Bronwen’s bread is loud. So much complaining!”

He glares at my pack on the ground. “Did you bring some of that?”

I smile sweetly “Of course. It’s some of the best food on Xren.”

“I see. It also wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“Oh. Then I give up.”

Anter’az tilts my face up so he can kiss me. “You usually prefer to guess wrong and then make me show you what I mean. So I will show you again.” One of his hands slides down my back, lightly over the now quickly healing wound and then firmer when he reaches the softer part below.

“I’m just not a good guesser,” I breathe as the tingles shoot through me.

A strong hand lifts the hem of my dress over my hips. “I prefer you like that.”

“With my butt bare?” I misunderstand on purpose.

“Well, yes. And as a bad guesser. I enjoy showing you what I mean.”

I stick my hand up under my husband’s loincloth and find all the hardness I expected. “Someday I will make you guess, too.”

He lifts me and carries me into the other room with the bed and places me in the middle of it, on top of furs and sheets of various dinosaurs and other wildlife. The walls are full of strange items, interesting rocks, mysterious jars and dried flowers.

I could get used to a place like this. The tunnels were cramped, dark and humid, smelling of dirt and rot, while this cave is airy, sweet-smelling and warm. And safe.

It’s full of promise, and for the first time on Xren I can see my future stretching out ahead of me, bright and warm, lit by the deep love Anter’az and I have for each other. It was hard-fought, but it was worth it a thousand times over.

“There was a light at the end of the tunnels,” I rasp as he drops his loincloth and his magnificent cock stands skywards, full of even more promise. “And it was you .”

? Calista Skye 2024

D ear reader,

thank you for reading Caveman Alien’s Cure!

We needed a bookish caveman about now, I think. And if books had existed on Xren, I think Anter’az would have had shelves full of them. Medical books, probably, because his life revolves around healing. He even sets out to heal his whole tribe from their misguided and dangerous behavior towards Alba.

He has the mind of a scientist, and if you’ve read the earlier parts of this series, you know that he’s actually right about women being put on Xren to cause disruption and wreak havoc with the tribes. But that plan by the Plood backfired badly because Earth women are much more capable than they ever thought.

Alba certainly is. Her adventurousness slash craziness keeps getting her into trouble, but she’s good at drawing Anter’az out of his dour shell and help him come alive. She cures him, too, just like he cured her, but in a way that’s less obvious.

On Earth, using diluted venom from animals as some kind of antibiotic medicine would be extremely dangerous and almost certainly ineffective. On planet Xren, it works differently, and venoms are the strongest chemicals they have there. So testing them for use as medicines must be tempting for someone like Anter’az.

I hope you liked Caveman Alien’s Cure!

The next book is Astrid’s story. Despite being a shaman, she’s still feeling guilty about Cora being lost while the girls were living in the tunnels. And I fear she just might do something rash…

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If you want to contact me, I can be reached at [email protected] .

Thanks again for reading Caveman Alien's Cure! I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you in the next one!

Calista