Read Online Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure by Allan Richard Shickman - Free Book Online

years later when it began again. I was hunting with a favorite kinsman in pursuit of a boar—delicious eating, if the boar doesn’t eat you! We had gotten careless. Myfriend had run ahead, and suddenly there appeared in front of him an enormous, a
gigantic
man. My comrade was of slight build and had no chance against the giant, who struck him dead with his club. I confronted the slayer but he was able to knock away my spear and we wrestled for our lives. I barely managed to escape from the powerful grip of….”
    â€œOf….”
    â€œOf your uncle, Chul.”
    Zan’s heart sank. “Aniah, you know I love my uncle and regard him as a great man. Truly, I would fight with him and die for him, whatever the cause.”
    â€œI do not hate him,” Aniah replied. “Time and advanced age have made me less eager for a fight than I once was. How many good men were lost in needless battles! My kinsman, as I told you, was killed at the height of his manhood. I am old now and have learned to love peace and the company of my grandchildren. But somewhere among the five clans is a warrior who still dreams of revenge, and one act of vengeance gives birth to many others.”
    â€œPerhaps my twin brother was killed for revenge,” Zan suggested mournfully.
    â€œNo, Zan-Gah. To make vengeance good, his body would have been left where your family could find it. Besides, throughout this long war children were never attacked. Never once! Even the detestable Hru would not do that. Still, you should be careful. The wasp people do not spare the young, and I think they have made a slaveof your brother. I would advise you to save yourself and return to your home, but I know you must and you will seek him. That is why I respect you, young as you are. But fear the spirits most when they are excessively kind. So far you have been fortunate.” Zan thought of the lucky invention of his new weapon. “And beware the wasp people. They are a fierce enemy, treacherous, shrewd, and full of guile. If they find you spying on them, you will not escape the touch of their stinging spears, nor the sure captivity that follows. Hate them, if anybody in the world, Zan-Gah, and fear them!”
    â€œMy fear is for my brother, Dael, who never encountered unkindness and was incapable of it himself. What should so gentle a person do among the tortures of the wasp men? I think that all I will find will be his memory.”
    â€œA young man receives a call from the spirits to seek and help his brother, and no brother is closer than a twin. You have a long trek before you, Zan-Gah, a journey of many days. First you will have to cross a deep gorge and pass through the land of red rocks. The wasp men hive in the blue hills beyond. If you go farther than these hills you come to a great waste, a deadly desert. Do not go where none can live.”
    â€œAniah,” Zan said with some hesitation, “let us at least be friends. We drink from the same river and warm ourselves with the same sun. We face the same perils and rejoice with the very same songs. Is that not a beginning? When I return with my brother, we will show our friendship by visiting you.”
    Aniah rose and led Zan to a new fire enjoyed by the younger men. Several of them offered presents to Zan, mostly stone blades, but he told them to save their gifts for the time of his return because he dared not take on any additional weight. The gift of Aniah he did not refuse. It was a kit for making fire, consisting of a straight, pointed stick, a strap, and two small blocks of wood, plus some very dry grass. Robo, Aniah’s youngest son (the man with a dark beard) showed Zan how to use it. What a treasure! Zan had seen nothing like it before. It would enable him to make fire in moments, whenever he needed it. As he had planned, Zan gave Aniah the snake skin, which the old man took with pleasure, for it was very handsome.
    Sitting around the fire, which threw a