The Chronicles of Tanis: Chapter One
It must have been a solar flare that knocked the COM systems down.
Oh, great, Tanis thought. He had landed in another hazardous time zone. Not his destination. If he survived, his only option was to return to point of origin 01 and risk arrest for unlawful time travel. He had traveled to countless places in time, but he still could not find Reta.
COM, he thought. There was no reply. Tanis looked around him. He was standing in a jagged cliff; the sky was blue, but the land appeared dead and lacked anything distinctive to life. Alright. The gate will automatically open about a week. Need shelter, water, maybe a bit of food and a weapon. Even though Tanis was not from the point of origin 01, he had become accustomed to all the fancy augmentations. Now he was trapped somewhere in time, dangerously vulnerable: no heat control, extended sight, increased strength, shifting and most regrettably, no means of escaping.
Heavy breathing behind him made the hair on his skin stretch out. He swallowed heavily and the fear-driven adrenaline awakened his mind. He turned slowly to face a Scimitar Cat, a relative of the Saber-toothed Tiger—the feline equivalent of a hell hound.
Its two massively built hyper sharp dagger-teeth with serrated edges for ripping flesh was the first thing Tanis noticed. The smell of death on its breath penetrated his sense of taste—humid with a scent of blood. The beast's shoulders stood as high as his own and the head, covered with a light gray mane, hung far below. Tanis had seen saber-toothed carnivores before, but not this kind. It was tawny like a wolf. Its black eyes appeared to glow in the shadow of its long shaggy fur.
It took one step closer to Tanis. He could see the bloody muzzle. Tanis held his ground, trying not to act as prey—though he probably smelled like prey with the fear and adrenaline running in his blood.
The roar came in three sequences—something Tanis would not have noticed if not for his heightened senses. The prelude was a soft and low moan, escalating into a high-energy roar, ending with staccato grunts. The roar knocked him back onto the rock strewn ground. He tried to refrain from wiping his face clean of the drool spat at him, or perhaps coughed up.
Stay completely still and it will go away, he thought. The beast moved in slowly on Tanis, elegant with its catwalk, drooling and growling softly.
With the beast standing over him, flight was no longer an option. Fight: Tanis picked up the rock he had fallen onto and smashed it into the beast's mouth, breaking one of its dagger-teeth. The beast howled and backed off, shaking its head back and forth in pain, brushing its large paws against its mouth.
Taking advantage of the time he had bought himself he picked himself up in panic, crawled a few steps and ran as fast as he could down the cliff-side where the terrain was unforgiving with its large jagged rocks, deep pits and thorny bushes. He felt no pain and kept running, falling and rolling down the cliff.
Exhausted, Tanis stopped running and looked behind him, then to all sides. I must have been running for hours. I lost him, he assured himself.
Weapon, fire and shelter, he thought. *The beast probably just finished a meal, maybe he will think I'm too much trouble and leave me be. *
He scanned the mountainous terrain he had just ran past. I'm sure I saw a cave, I need fire. It's going to be cold and the beast might keep its distance from the flames.
He backtracked and found shelter. It wasn't much; it had room enough to lay down, he could start a fire and he would only have to worry about being attacked from one direction: the entrance.
After gathering twigs, sticks and dry grass to start a fire, he remembered that it wouldn’t be possible. He had no COM systems, lighter, or fire starting tools of any kind. He grabbed a rock and smashed some dry twigs into plant fibers and dust. Then nested the fibers with dry leaves, tore up his shirt to braid a rope and tied it to the ends of a stick in a bow.
Using his teeth, he sharpened another stick at one end for a drill and fashioned a socket out of a rock to apply pressure on it. He twisted the drill in the cloth of the bow, placed it on a flat piece of bark and began sawing into it.
The adrenaline was wearing off. Tanis could feel the scrapes and cuts on his body and he started to think more clearly. He even laughed at how many times he fell face first scaling the back-end of the cliff and how long he ran. Where, or what time am I in now? He put down the poorly devised bow and looked up at the sky. The stars could always hint at what time he was in, but not much more than that. 800,000 BC? Maybe? I should have killed that traveler and yanked the time coordinate system straight out of his head. Calibrating a time gate was much harder than he expected. He picked up his bow and drilled into the bark for almost an hour before successfully starting his fire.
Need water, weapon and definitely need food, he thought to himself. He laid his head on a leafy pillow he managed to put together and swam in the memories of his past until he fell asleep.
As Tanis opened his eyes he saw the beast; it stood in the distance observing, not too close, yet not too far. He wasn't frightened at first, he almost felt sorry for the cat, now missing one dagger-tooth. I wonder if it will survive. Why is it here watching me? I must be in its territory. That thing is going to hunt me. He pictured himself being tossed around like a rag doll, gripped in the beast’s razor-sharp teeth.
He felt around for a good-sized rock, keeping his eyes on the beast. Maybe I can scare it away, he thought. One or two direct hits.
Tanis crawled out from the cave. “Go away! Get! Be gone!” he yelled and threw the first rock. It landed just in front of the beast.
The beast stood still, like it made the conscious decision to show no fear. Tanis, feeling emboldened, dared to take his eyes off the beast and found a more suitable rock to throw. “Raaaooouuu,” Tanis roared at the beast as he threw the next rock. A Direct hit on the shoulders, yet the beast still did not budge; it only seemed to get more tense and angrier where it stood.
Tanis retreated to his cave and fed the fire, he shrugged his shoulders, I'll wait it out,he thought.
As nightfall came, Tanis could no longer see the beast in the distance. There were sounds and slight paranoia-driven hallucinations which tricked his mind into thinking it was closing in on him, but it never did.
Fuel for the fire was scarce and he was forced to leave the cave. While scanning the area before the sun fell, he had spotted a pile of dried-out sticks and bush branches about fifteen to twenty steps away from his sanctuary. Tanis moved as quietly as possible, keeping as low as he could to the ground. His muscles were tense and prepared to dart back to the cave. Just make it quick, he said to himself, I can't see it, but its demon eyes are probably watching me now.
His eyes, no longer attuned to the light of the fire, were adjusting better to the dark; there were a few stars out, but the clouds hid the moonlight. He searched for the beast, but could only scare himself into believing bushes and large rocks held the characteristics of it. It was no where to be seen.
Ok, move! Tanis ran as fast as he could to the pile, scooped up as much as he could in his arms, ran back and dumped it all straight on the fire, while making his way as far back as he could inside the cave. Eyes stinging from lack of hydration, he forced himself to blink, one eye at a time.
Once comfortable again, Tanis put his time into sharpening a stick by burning the tip of it and scraping off the coal and ash with a rock to create a sharp edge.. Despite being hunted, Tanis started to find peace in the situation, like he always could. The fire was warm; it cracked every now and then. With the exception of a few moments of stomach turning memories and sounds from around the cave, which made him hold his breath for maximum sensory perception; Tanis began to enjoy the moment. He laid his finished spear beside him, admiring his work and the symbols he had etched on it with a sharp rock before falling asleep.
Few more days, Tanis thought as he woke, still alive. The fire was not burning and seemed to have gone out hours ago. The air was cold.
Where's my spear? Tanis wondered as he looked around. He couldn't find it. That sneaky bastard took my spear! “Hey!” he cried out as he crawled out from the cave. “Hey! Come and get me, you freak!” he shouted, breathing deeply.
After the frustration and anger wore off, Tanis noticed not one, but three or more Scimitar-Cats off in the distance. He fantasied running at them and going on the attack, but his better judgment stopped him and he started on the fire again. His stomach began to talk and his tongue no longer held sufficient moisture to keep his lips from drying. He backed up from the fire as his lips began to sting and sat himself up against the rocky wall within the cave, his neck ached from slouching down from insufficient space. Reta, don’t you worry. I will find you and save you. I promised I would not be gone long. Please forgive me, he said to himself.
Eyes closed tight, Tanis entered a state of mind that allowed him to ignore the cries of a malnourished body. His meditation turned from a silent mind to a wakeful sleep as his subconscious handed the torch to his imagination and he began to have short forgettable visions and dreams. Within the lucidity of it, Tanis reminded himself that sleeping during the day was a good idea and that the cat probably did most of its killing during the night.
He woke from the clamor of scimitar-cats running close enough to the fire and scattering the hot ash on his face. Furious and mentally off balance he ran out from the crave and was able to grab the tail of one of the beasts. The force of the creature was so great that before he could even register it, it had pulled him several feet away from the cave.
He rose to his feet and spat out the sand and dirt in his mouth before noticing he was surrounded by the scimitar-cats. He was not afraid this time and he moved violently at the closest one, hitting and kicking it. The beasts growled and backed off. That's right! Get lost! The beasts seemed confused as to what Tanis was, and how to approach killing him.
He took a mental note of the cats around him. , two, three . . . all look ugly, big, dangerous. I am not going down like this . . .
He then saw a flash of light up the cliff. The time gate? Oh no, oh no! It hasn't been a week, has it? “Reta!” he screamed and tried to run.
The first strike from the cat was directed at his right knee from behind. Tanis heard the cat running from behind him and just barely managed to avoid the death-grip of its jaws. It ripped off a large portion of his pants and he felt the warmth of his own blood running down his leg.
The second, from behind, was a rough, playful push that knocked him off his feet and left him in front of the more familiar scimitar cat; the single-toothed alpha. The two other cats were trapping him up against it.
Tanis first saw its legs and paws; which were covered with lacerations and battle wounds—probably from broken bones and deep cuts. The beast was looking down at him as Tanis managed to lift his head high enough to look up at it. "Y—you . . .” he said, noticing its one-toothed smile. “So you're the boss?” he asked the growling beast. Looking over his shoulders, he saw the other scimitar cats hold their distance, hanging around only to make sure the alpha made the kill on Tanis, who was a foreign threat in their territory.
Tanis rose to his feet and spit in the beast’s face. “Did you think you would get away with that?” he said. Revenge felt good. He took a few steps back into the middle of the cats, who assured his escape would be difficult.
Three deep breaths in, three deep breaths out (as his fighting trainer from his younger years taught him) and two large, but not too large, rocks in both hands. He extended his arms outward and held his head high observing the sky for maybe the last moment of his life. “Reta. I won't fail you,” Tanis said. His back and neck electrified sending chills up and down his spine as he turned his attention to the alpha male and gestured to it. “Let's go.”
The cat lowered its posture to ready its muscles for an attack. Tanis immediately threw one of the rocks, striking the cat directly on its forehead. The cat kept inching forward, hardly noticing the rock that bounced off its head. “Pissed, I guess?” Tanis asked while talking a few steps back, before being pushed in front of the alpha again by the other cats. They hissed and kicked up dirt with their paws.
Frustrated, Tanis wasn't sure if he had the strength to stand again and he contemplated laying in the dirt. Exhausted; his mind was shutting down, his body felt weak and the time gate, which had opened, was calling him. Subconsciously the call was of Reta's calm and soothing voice. “Come, Tanis . . . come.”
The alpha ignored Tanis as he lay on the dirt in front of him and moved quickly to strike and dominate over the scimitar-cat that knocked Tanis to the ground. The alpha feared the others would kill Tanis, who had managed to cripple him by breaking one of its dagger-teeth. The alpha’s role as leader would be gone immediately if his aspiring successors took the kill.
Observing the alpha attack the other scimitar-cat gave Tanis the idea to try to start a fight with the remaining scimitar-cat, hoping to anger the alpha and give him a chance to escape. He ran towards the scimitar-cat, confusing it. With a closed fist, he hit it as hard as he could on the nose. It wasn't enough. With an open hand, he slapped it so hard, he was sure he hurt himself more than the cat. It still wasn't enough. He grabbed its mane and pulled and kicked the scimitar-cat until it growled and flung its head with such a force that it knocked Tanis back to the ground. It was truly angry now.
It slowly moved towards Tanis as he scooted backwards in the dirt. The alpha was still busy teaching the other cat a lesson in rank. He kicked dirt at the encroaching scimitar-cat, it roared at him (success!) and grabbed the attention of the alpha. The alpha pounced immediately and Tanis capitalized on his chance to run. As the cats fought, he managed to get a lengthy head start, his head turning to look back at the cats while each of his steps landed on the ground firmly.
Once the scimitar-cats noticed their kill had escaped, they chased after him, gracefully running up the cliff, clearing the rocks and pits, running directly into the thorny bushes like they were soft feathers. Tanis, while running almost as gracefully as the scimitar-cats, managed to pick up a large stick and picked out a large rock that he had to hold up against the side of his chest and cradle in his arm.
Tanis’ lungs began to sting and his muscles burned from lack of oxygen. Adrenaline kept him at top speed. He glanced to the right; one of the scimitar-cats pushed forward ahead of him, preparing to pounce on him. As the beast leaped, he stopped and swung at it, striking it on the head. From behind, another scimitar-cat jumped and knocked him on the ground face-first. Tanis rolled onto his back and tried to shift his hips under the pressure of the beast's weight, but couldn't. He pushed himself farther beneath it and struck it in the ribs and on the feet with the rock. The big cat jumped backward with a howl and Tanis jumped to his feet, continuing his run towards the time gate.
The two scimitar-cats, probably ordered by the alpha, ran ahead of him to guard the time gate. As Tanis approached the bright yet mellow light circulating pulsating rays and beams within it, he closed his eyes and ran straight into it, the alpha cat following him into it.