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Kong the Untamed
On Silent Wings of Hateby libbylawrence
(Kong's origin originally written by Jack Oleck.)
Lural -She Who Is the Moon- smiled down upon the bamboo huts perched in the massive trees that served as the homes of the Lanktor Tribe. Within each hut the various tribe members slept with rare security. They knew that they would enjoy a rare if fleeting peace that night since they had slain their nearest enemies who served the dark goddess called Dra! Their sleep was made sweet by the fact that they had feasted earlier on roasted meats and assorted nuts, roots, and berries. Unlike most of their neighbors the Tree Dwelling Lanktor -riders had mastered the great secret of producing fire! They had no need to desperately fight to preserve the burning embers that were occasionally cast down from the heavens to ignite trees or start blazes within the tall grasses of the People of the Plains! Thus, they cooked their meat and ate well. They also rested secure in the sense that their tribal leader Baras the Old had stationed the bravest of their young hunters around the Tree Village to protect them should any of the thunder lizards venture too close. The only sounds that filled the peaceful night came from the screeching cries of the flying lizards or Lanktors within their pins. The mighty leather winged creatures created little awe among these tribal warriors who had mastered them and trained them to carry the Lanktor people aloft at will.
Still, not everyone slept contented within the village. A lithe young boy sat against the thick heart of a tree and clutched both bare legs up to his chest. He rested his chin on one knee and stared out into the night with eyes both keen and sensitive. He clearly had a perceptive and inquisitive mind and while others snored blissfully, the boy named Kong was troubled by much that had occurred during the previous day. He was new to this odd community. Kong was clearly different from those around him. The Lanktor tribe shared his smooth skin and Cro-Magnon features; however, they were alike in being uniformly dark or fiery in hair color. Kong was the only one who had hair the color of Lural Herself. That was fitting since She Who Is the Moon had stared down upon him the night of his birth. She had marked him forever as one born apart from others.
He stared up at the Moon and he remembered the words of Attu. Attu had been the only one who ever loved the boy. She had given birth to him on such a moonlit night and she had been filled with pleasure at the sight of the healthy infant. That pride had been shattered when the attractive young woman had carried him to the new hunting grounds claimed by the members of her tribe. She had rushed past the place set apart for the women and those men no longer considered fit to act as warriors or hunters. She had ignored the cries of the other females. She had been carried by pride into the presence of the tribal leader himself.
Kong had heard this story from his mother many times before her terrible death. He knew that his own imagination had added details that the less creative Attu could not have noticed or understood. Still, the story was one he viewed as his own because he had made it so!
"Trog! I have born a man-child! He will be a fine warrior someday! He carries your blood as well! I have brought him swiftly that you might accept him into the tribe!" Attu had said as she faced the burly tribal leader who had fathered the baby, as was his right!
Trog had scowled. He had looked out through his dirty mane of tangled black hair to glare at the woman with his remaining eye. The scars of battle that had robbed him of his other eye seemed to glow in the light of the faint campfire as he saw his child for the first time! Trog the One -Eyed showed no parental pride nor did he offer Attu any sign of concern or interest. He scowled as he perpetually did except when he was engaged in some primitive act of feeding or satisfying himself through acts of violence or cruelty. "I have need of warriors now, woman, if I am to keep our hunting grounds from the beast men! Take the whelp away!" he had said.
Kong's first glimpse of his father and his tribal leader had brought only malice and contempt into his infant perceptions of the world. Thus, might it all have ended had Trog's loyal Shaman Magl not stepped out of the cavern shadows with his ceremonial antlers and cloak proclaiming his status and his wisdom.
"Trog, no! The whelp is cursed! See, his hair? He has the mark of Lural's full face. She marks him thus to foretell his future. He has the look of the fair-haired warriors our people once encountered many, many tribal councils ago! Recall, the words of one Shaman to another and to another over time. A warrior called Kong with hair like the pale fire above will one-day return to conquer us all! This child carries the spirit of that other earlier Kong within him. Notice how he offers no cries. He is a brave one. He will be a mighty warrior since Lural has given him the spirit of the other Kong. He will be a hunter and unbeatable!"
Trog listened to the other man and his evil heart knew a touch of fear. He raised his head and drew closer to the woman and child. "You say this pup will one day be strong enough to challenge my rule, Sorcerer? Others have tried and failed. So be it! The matter may be settled easily. I will end this threat now with a swift thrust of my blade!" he said.
Attu fell to her knees before the brute and she implored him to leave the child unharmed. "No! Please! Do not be fearful of him! He is your child as well as mine!" she said.
He had raised his sharp ax high above her and he had spoken words of a grim and certain finality. "Stupid woman! Who spoke of fear? I should kill you for challenging my decisions. I will not slay you since the touch of woman's blood would rob my ax of its prowess. I am not afraid of your stripling. Still, I say you and your child are not part of the tribe. From this moment on, you are outcasts and you shall have no part in our food or our shelter!
Magl had reached one rough hand within the fur pouch he always carried. He had produced a foul smelling powder and had hurled it at the fleeing Attu and Kong. "Our chief has spoken! With this magic powder made from the teeth of the He-bear who lives ever alone, I proclaim you both to be accursed! Now, go!" he cried.
Attu had fled with Kong. She had been condemned to a hard life as one cast out from the security of the tribe. From that night onward, she could not take part of the food or fire of the tribe. She could only survive on the roots, nuts, and berries she could dig up. She and the infant came to know cold, darkness, and isolation. Yet, that solitary life made them close to one another and Kong became more of a partner to his mother than merely her child. He learned to help provide for their daily meals and he learned to stand the hardships of being hungry and cold many nights. Kong, who was rejected by all the members of his mother's former tribe, used his solitary hours to become a skilled warrior with the spear or knife. Perhaps, more remarkable was the fact that the bright youth learned a secret denied to Trog and his Shaman! Kong figured out how to start a fire with two stones! He gained the comfort and warmth of a fire for his mother and did so after a brave but foolish night quest to steal some fire from the carefully preserved fires of the tribe of Trog One-Eyed! That initial acquisition of the fire led the quick-witted boy to eventually learn how to create the vital red source of so much that was good! Attu had been so proud.
He recalled her words again and he sighed as he wondered why he had been rejected by his own tribe? His own father had thrust him out. Still, there had been others in the young world to offer him friendship. He knew that he owed his very life to the bond he had formed with an unlikely ally. Gurat the Neanderthal or Beastman had become a blood brother to Kong and had protected him after Attu's sudden violent death. Kong had wrongly assumed that his beloved mother had been murdered in his absence by one of the stronger, hairy primitive beings known as Beastmen. However, his eyes and ears were keen and he soon spotted the footprints that indicated that Attu's slayer had worn shoes. The Beastmen did not wear shoes. Thus, only one of his own kind could have ended his mother's life so brutally.
Kong's anger and desire for revenge had filled his young soul and had motivated him to seek out Trog in order to kill him. He knew that Trog had threatened Attu more than once after casting her out of the tribe. He was correct in thinking that any murder could only have occurred with his sanction.
Kong had wept for the first and last time in his young life after finding Attu's body. Those tears had initiated him into a new life with a new goal. He wanted to kill Trog! Still, his rash impulse would have ended in his own death had Gurat not chosen to defy his own kind to rescue the "smooth skin" as the Beastmen called their Cro-Magnon rivals!
Gurat was a hulking brute with massive strength and an impressive appetite. He also had the primitive instinct to admire courage and to reward it with loyalty. Thus, Gurat saved Kong when his desire to avenge Attu's murder led him directly into the clutches of the Beastmen who only saw him as one to be slaughtered in payment for the pain others of his kind had caused them! Gurat had rescued him and in their flight the odd couple had battled the animals of the wild world beyond the tribal fires. They had remained loyal to one another when faced with temptations from each of their respective peoples. It was in their flight from such enemies that they had stumbled through the cursed Caves of Doom. The mysterious caverns had many tunnels and one such passage led them into a valley that could well have been a whole new world! It was full of people like them but it also had huge lizards. Some of these beasts could fly while others rampaged across the world like armored giants! The dinosaurs had survived the doom that befell the rest of their kind by escaping into the time tossed valley beyond the Caves of Doom. Still, Kong did not know the word dinosaur. He only marveled at the giant monsters and faced them when necessary with the same courage and resourcefulness that had enabled him to survive in such a harsh world!
Now, Kong looked up to see Gurat himself emerge from within one of the tree huts. "Blood-brother! Why do you stay awake when we are safe here? Ginny and Errus are good friends. I know we may trust them and their people. They tended my hurts when first they found me. They allow me to rescue you from their enemies when you were taken by the people of Dra! They ride the flying lizards called Lanktor and they will accept us as part of their tribe!" he grunted.
Kong stood up and said, "Gurat, I do trust them. Still, I saw how they used the flying lizards to bring death to all who served Dra. Not all of them were deserving of such death. I lost a friend there just before you arrived. He died because he tried to make the Dra people realize that men and women did not need to master each other. The women of Dra ruled their men like the men of Trog's tribe rule their mates! I have seen both ways of living and both bring pain. I have seen my kind try to kill me. I have seen your kind try to kill you. I have learned that we all should think and act for ourselves. The ways our peoples embrace are wrong. I would have a tribe of people of many ideas and many different ways. I would see them work together to get food, warmth, and hunting grounds. This vision kept me awake."
Gurat scratched his head. "You think too much, little brother! For now, we should be glad the people of the Flying Lizards let us live in their tree village. We will be happy here."
Kong said, "Yes. Still, when I am older and stronger I will return to our old land and find Trog. He killed my mother and I will avenge her loss. That is owed to her!"
Gurat nodded. "Yes. I will help you. Still, now is not the time. You must wait. You must become stronger. Remember, Magl said you would be a mighty ruler someday. His magic can not be false!"
Kong said, "His magic made us outcasts. I will pay Trog back for all we suffered."
Gurat said, "All in its own season, my blood-brother!"
They glanced down to the huge series of pins in which the winged Lanktors were kept. Loud cries echoed from below and Kong looked at Gurat in concern. "Surely, the Lanktors don't make such a noise normally! Is something wrong?" he asked.
Gurat began to climb down the tree via a thick rope of hanging vine. "Errus should be there. He is Lanktor Master. Let us see!" he said.
Kong followed the agile Beastman down the vine until the pair reached the ground below and made their way through the night to the pins where a scene of horror awaited them. The Lanktors were struggling furiously with their keepers and the brave Errus was fighting for his very life as one of the huge creatures ignored his commands and raked his skin with its talons!
Errus and his sister Ginnie had welcomed Gurat and Kong into their community. This act was not merely one of kindness. Errus had said that they needed all the allies they could find because of their continual war against the Children of Dra the goddess of Darkness! Now, however, it was not the other tribe that threatened their safety but it was a rebellion among the creatures known as Lanktors!
Errs, a brawny warrior with a habit of deferring to his sister Ginny, was the most skilled of all the Lankford trainers; however, what good was his skill and experience when the creatures were going berserk! He saw Kong and Guard and said, "Get back! They are mad without reason! I can not get them to hear the command tones!"
He fell again as a sharp beaked Lankford snapped his bonds and swept the warrior aside like a rag doll!
Guard rolled forward and grabbed the fallen trainer and hauled him to safety even as Kong gasped at the sight of every Lankford breaking free and soaring skyward! Guard said, "The flying lizards! They are leaving!"
Kong jumped forward and caught a trailing bridle that fell loosely from the back of the nearest Lankford as its leathery wings flapped and carried it overhead. He clung to the bridle with both hands as Guard cried out to him. "Kong! Let go! You will fall to your death!" he said.
Kong swung both legs upward and managed to fall across the Lankford's back. "No! I can ride it! I will try to stay on it and find the source of their panic!" he said.
Errs leaped up and grabbed a bow and arrow tossed to him by an approaching tribesman! "I must kill it before it takes the boy too high!" he said.
Guard pushed him aside and said, "No! Kong is very smart! He is brave too. He may be able to help you. If you lose all the flying lizards then your enemies will gain the advantage!"
A woman with long red hair entered. She said, "Errs! You are hurt! What happened to the Lankford?"
Errs said, "I am fine, Ginny. I cannot answer your question. Never have I seen the Lankford act in such a manner. They seemed to act as one. Dora's evil spreads across the world. That can be the only reason for their behavior!"
Ginny touched the hairy Gurat and looked up at him with expressive and tender eyes. "Gurat, are you hurt? Surely, you seem sorrowful!" asked the woman.
Gurat said, "It is Kong. They have taken him away and I fear for my blood brother! Let us follow them!"
Errus said, "I will assemble the other Lanktor riders. We will leave at once. If the boy survives, we will find him."
Meanwhile, Kong felt an odd rush of exhilaration as he clung to the Lanktor. He gazed down over the creature's back to see the world below him. It was frightening, beautiful, and thrilling at the same time. "The Lanktors are all going in the same direction. They are heading for the village Errus and his men destroyed before. That was where I was taken by the Children of Dra when Gurat and I first came to this valley from the Cavern of Doom. I see the smoke from the fires they started still rises to Lural!" he said,
He shook his head sadly. The burned out village was not a sight to make him happy. He felt no warrior's pride at the scene of death and loss. "The Children of Dra were mindless in their devotion to the teachings of their Priestess Jelenna! She was evil and she made the women enslave the males and treat them like animals. Her daughter Sharra was pretty and kind. Her lover Rolen was my friend too. When he spoke out against Jelenna, she had him burned at the stake. Her daughter Sharra wept even while she helped her mother. She was that devoted to Dra that she could do nothing else though her heart was breaking. I felt sorry for her. I mourn for noble Rolen."
He gasped as the entire flock of Lanktors dropped down to land within the center of the smoking ruins. A huge clearing remained free of the rubble.
Kong jumped down and ran around a broken hut to watch the creatures from a distance. The bodies are gone. Someone has cleared this spot. Someone has commanded the Lanktors to come here too. It must be a Shaman like Magl from Attu's old tribe, he thought.
Soon, a figure emerged from the shadows and approached the creatures with a casual manner that showed no fear or surprise. She was wearing a brief animal skin and a white bone mask that hid her features. Kong frowned. She controls them. Not even Errus and his men could tame them so completely. It is magic!
She reached out a hand and caressed one of the huge creatures before she turned to stare directly at Kong. "Come out boy! I sense you. Mother Dra hides nothing from her servant!" she said.
Kong stood up and stepped out around the ruins to face her. He knew the voice all too well! "Jalenna! I saw you die. I saw you fall to a spear tossed down from one of the Lanktor riders!" he whispered.
She laughed in the bitter tone habitually used by the old woman who ruled the village so cruelly. "You saw the death of my body. My spirit still walks. I was given the power by Dra herself. She gave me the power to touch the minds of the flying lizards and control them. I shall use that gift to avenge the loss of my tribe. I shall use that power to kill all those who sheltered you as well."
Kong shivered and drew out his knife. "I will fight you! You killed my friend Rolen!" he shouted.
He charged forward and swung at the woman only to hesitate and freeze in his tracks as she removed the white bone mask to reveal not the withered features of the crone Jaleena but the beauty of her brunette daughter Sharra! "You are Sharra? Yet, you are also Jalenna! She speaks through you!" he said as she laughed and ordered one of the winged Lanktors to knock him flat with a weep of its wing!
Kong rolled away and ran back to avoid the beast even as the possessed Sharra darted aside and ordered them to attack. "I ordered Rolen to kill you. He refused. He rebelled against my will which was the will of Dra. He paid for his sins and now so shall you!"
Kong dodged the nearest Lanktor and gasped as the creature lifted itself into the air and swooped low after him. He saw a fallen hut and cried out, "You can't catch me!" He dived through the remaining window and rolled across the floor to emerge by smashing through the weakened straw that formed the walls. He coughed and struggled to keep moving as the screams of the huge birds filled the night.
"I can not avoid them all. I must follow Attu's words to be when I was a child. She said if you have no claws then you must make claws! I will use the Lanktors against Sharra and one another!"
He allowed the birds to get closer and he turned to run back toward the center of the village. He felt his heart beat as they drew closer and he almost slipped as he raced through the night.
He burst out of the shadows to charge at Sharra and he leaped forward to hit the ground at her feet even as the first Lanktor crashed directly into her. "The birds could not stop in time. The knocked her flat before her commands could take effect. Now, to make her stop controlling them!" he mused.
He tackled Sharra and pinned her to the ground. The Lanktors circled them and did nothing more. They could not attack him while their mistress was stunned and so close to the boy. He counted on this to help him triumph. "Sharra! You are Sharra! You are not Jalenna. She hated everyone. Her hate killed the love you and Rolen knew. Let her hate die. Let her spirit rest. Live and honor Rolen in all you do!" he said as he fought with the enraged woman.
Sharra gasped and her eyes widened as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "Rolen? Oh, Rolen!" she sobbed as she broke through her late mother's mental and physical bond.
Kong said, "Sharra! It is well. You are free. " She held him and he embraced her as the Lanktors circled warily. He looked up to see Gurat, Errus, Alamar, and the other Lanktor riders rush forward.
"Kong! We followed their flight as quickly as we could. They seem tame again. They obey our commands again!" said Errus as he and his men calmed the Lanktors.
Kong said, "It was magic. It was a lingering hate from the past. Sharra's mother took them over but she is gone now. Sharra is not your enemy. I want you to let her live with us all in the Tree village."
Gurat said, "Little brother, you amaze us. You alone saved our new home. I believe that Magl was speaking truth when he said you would be a great hero."
Errus smiled grimly. "I will accept the woman into our village if she will join us."
Sharra said, "I can not. I still serve Dra. I reject the hatred my mother her priestess embodied but I do not reject the teachings of Dra. I will go and find a home elsewhere. I will not oppose you but neither can I join you." She turned and walked away as the night began to fade into dawn.
Kong picked up the fallen bone mask and tossed it on one of the fires that lingered in the ruins of the village. "Her life has been ruined by her mother. Trog One-Eye will not ruin my life. I will not live for hate. He and I will meet again someday but until then I will live and breathe free from hate. Let us go home!"
Gurat nodded and led the boy back to the waiting Lanktors. Lural She Who is the Moon could no longer be seen as her sibling Raral the Sun rose and warmed the day; however, the boy touched by her light at birth stood tall and his courage, wit, and compassion promised great things for his future.