Beneath the Darkness

Beneath the Darkness

By

Archie Oliver

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

World Castle Publishing, LLC

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright © Archie Oliver 2015

Smashwords Edition

Paperback ISBN: 9781629893303

eBook ISBN: 9781629893310

First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, December 14, 2015

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Smashwords Licensing Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

Cover: Karen Fuller

Editor: Maxine Bringenberg

Prologue

Iridescent blue-black eyes blinked twice and then slowly closed. Ten heartbeats later, the lids opened to a slit again and stayed open. She watched in intervals like this while she napped. Her breathing sounded ragged and forced. Several days ago, she had been in a fight with another meat-eater over the remains of some less fortunate animal. She had won the rancid flesh, but suffered severe bite marks that still pained her. The ripped skin around her left nostril would probably never close. At the end of each breath, a gravely sneeert sound issued from one of her nostrils. Ragged edges of a terrible tear vibrated and flapped. Each breath would be a constant reminder of the encounter. Shhh…sneeert, over and over again.

***

Mother observed and recorded the large animal from about twelve feet directly above it. Mother was a time traveler from another world whose people had discovered this planet many years earlier. They had the capacity to not only visit other solar systems, but to voyage through the past…forbidden to change anything, but recording everything. This was Mother’s favorite creature in this time period. The animals were slightly similar to her people’s evolutionary tale. They were admittedly more primitive than any of her ancestors, but there was a small connection to their appearance and sense of family.

Although she was not supposed to be here now, she was concerned enough that she felt the voyage necessary. Her people had moved on to a later time in the planet’s progression to start new observations, and would be furious if they knew she had disobeyed them. Her request for one last look had been expressly denied. She and several others were due to meet up with the main body of observers sometime in the next three rotations of the sun.

Mother had slipped away from the other observers for a last look at Sneert before her own birthing pains became too much to ignore. She thought she had at least two more days before it would be necessary to begin seriously thinking about the birth of her child.

She had sentimentally nicknamed the large beast Sneert, because of the sound of her frayed breathing. Mother wished she could reach out and heal the big animal—she had the capabilities and was sorely tempted—but the damage had already been documented and she could not interfere, even though it would be such a simple thing to do.

It would be pointless, in any event. This planet was about to go through abrupt and pronounced changes. Everything would change, and death was inevitable. Very few of this planet’s species would survive if the future was to be as it should. She often wrestled with this no-interference philosophy. It would be so very easy to step in and keep everything as it was. They had the technology to do exactly that. This was not a planet they intended to use for anything except research. Why not let the current species survive, and damn the next evolutions?

Mother and the other observers had been studying this particular planet for many years. Several of the other scientists were in the near future, observing the animals who eventually would inherit this planet from the current masters. They had started with its origin and worked through its demise, recording all that happened. Their first scan was primary, an overview with no real details. Now they were working on the specifics. Her specialty was this particular era, and she had been doing it long enough to become emotionally attached to some of the animals, even though logic dictated against it.

She had a real fondness for the large beast in front of her. Sneert seemed to register something familiar in temperament and her nurturing behavior. Mother realized that once her own child came, it would be a long time before she could visit the large beast again, if ever. She would be reassigned to another timeline after her birthing, and this may be the last opportunity to see her old friend. Her next assignment would be to observe and record the small surviving animals that endured and subsisted in the small places of a soon to be ravaged world.

These small creatures, as far as she could tell, were not very inspirational and would test her attention span. They lived in the mud, filth, and dirty holes of the world, scabbing out their diminutive existences, snarling and tearing at each other in the back shadows of desolate places, where once stood monumental forests, rivers, and plains. These were only the backs of animals over which a new species would evolve that might achieve some prominence and significance worth chronicling.

Mother’s mind was filled with the bleak despair of leaving her beloved animals. She realized through observation that these large beings only killed to survive. They were not vindictive, nor the malevolent executioners she had once thought them to be. Instead, they prized life. Often tender and gentle with their own, they were furiously protective of their family and would sacrifice themselves if necessary.

Mother’s vehicle was soundless and invisible to any animal below. Remaining overhead, she cautiously maneuvered a little in front of the large animal, closer to Sneert’s face. She reached out and lightly dragged the back of her hand across the viewing screen, which was filled with Sneert’s face. Emotions of love, respect, and reverence flowed over her. She patted the screen, knowing that Sneert had no idea that Mother and her ship were now within touching distance. Sneert had remarkable senses, but none detected that she was not alone.

***

Sneert was forty feet in length, and when she stood was a little over fifteen feet in height. At the moment, she was balanced on her two feet and tail, leaning forward on a large dead tree that had fallen long ago. Her two useless arms hung in front of her with her thick, muscular neck resting on the tree, barely hanging over its edge. This was her favorite place to rest. It was dangerous for her to try and lie down because of the difficulty in getting six tons back on her feet, even with her immense tail to counterbalance the large head and chest. Leaning on the tree gave her a comfortable position and allowed her to stand quickly if needed.

Flies and other insects were entangled together, swarming in clouds around her mouth, each trying to taste the pale yellow pus that leaked from the corner of her left eye, or the left over pieces of rotting meat that hid between her six-inch serrated teeth…morsels left over from her last meal. Sneert belched and shook her head, scattering the insect clouds.

Sneert looked over the edge of the tree and confirmed that her two young nippers were where they were supposed to be. They were about six weeks old and resting in a scratched out nest of compost and mud that Sneert had commandeered from another, much smaller animal, which had surrendered the nest with no fight. It was a well-protected haven. A severe cliff with a long drop into water framed the background behind the nest, allowing for no attack from that direction.

She began to softly rumble deep in her throat, a sign that she was comfortable, content, and safe. Urine, dark yellow and brown, began to run in steaming rivulets from beneath her feet and tail. Sneert propelled a miasma of fetid gas and slightly changed positions. Several hours passed. Midday gave way to approaching darkness.

***

Unseen by either Mother or Sneert, another set of eyes peeked out from behind brush held back with clawed fingers. The eyes were black, fringed with red, set above a brownish orange mandible. About eight feet in length and about two hundred pounds, the animal clenched its claws and nodded in anticipation and desire. Sneert was far too big and dangerous to even think about, but her offspring…they would do just fine.

His kind hunted in packs, and this one was no exception. It silently backed out of the bush, hunkered down, and went to find the rest of his deadly little friends. The pack soon surrounded the sleeping mother and her children, hiding in the dense brush but staying well down wind. The problem that needed to be worked out was a diversion. It was impossible to attack Sneert or her sprogs directly. To confuse and briefly disturb Sneert’s attention, two of them positioned themselves away from the pack and began to make scrabbling noises in the foliage…not really aggressive, but just loud enough to get Sneert’s attention.

***

The large beast contentedly half slept, only vaguely registering the noise. Her eyelids slowly parted to thin slits, and she almost imperceptibly swiveled her head just enough to look in the direction of the noise. As of yet, it was only a noise and not a threat. She softly inhaled air, trying to identify the sound. Nothing. She again closed her eyes, but kept alert.

***

The pack separated into two groups. One group drew as close as possible to the sleeping young while still staying downwind. They quietly settled in the brush, every head pointed in the direction of their quarry. The other group went in the opposite direction, positioning themselves behind and to the side of Sneert. Instinctively they all knew they would have to be a little bolder if they wanted to pull Sneert’s attention away from her young.

***

Mother was oblivious to everything except her own thoughts and feelings for the large animal in front of her. She continued to zoom in on Sneert’s face and think about how she would miss all of this. Her instruments registered everything, mutely acknowledging the nearby scene and its players, giving no audible resonance or suggestion of what was about to happen.

***

The divided pack was in position. Those closest to the great beast skulked even nearer to the ground and made their way forward, exposing themselves ever so slightly out of the brush. They held their breath, bunching their muscles, ready to spring forward. In a synchronized moment, they leapt out of concealment and growled their challenge. They boldly snarled and gnashed their teeth in quick mock attacks, moving at Sneert and then backing off, challenging the much larger animal to attack them, hoping she would think them enough of a threat to respond. While this was happening, the rest of the pack watched, ready to rip the young animals’ throats out. Given the opportunity, they would kill and carry them off in less than ten heartbeats.

***

Sneert immediately responded. As she struggled to quickly gain her feet her head shot up and hit hard against something she could not see. Undeterred, she bowed her head and with all of her strength, threw her head up again. This time, whatever she hit gave way and she struggled to her feet. In a fast spin she turned on the intruders, her mind black with rage. The seemingly gentle giant thundered her fury in a deep rumbling roar that stopped the pack in their respective tracks. Her teeth chewed the air, shaking large globules of saliva as she converged on the smaller predators.

***

Mother was thrown backwards hard and to the floor of her vehicle as Sneert’s head came up. Before she could regain her feet, Sneert again hammered the ship, this time upending it momentarily. Mother, now on her knees, was sent sprawling again. Still on the floor, she reached up for the maneuvering wand, jerking it violently in an attempt to pull herself up. The vessel spun backwards and to the left. In an instant, her ship slammed into a large tree, pushing it over enough to expose the roots.

Sneert turned to the sound of this new menace, but saw nothing, so she spun around to face the pack again. By this time they had separated, and were all trying to get to her litter while avoiding those vicious teeth. Counterbalancing her spin, Sneert’s massive tail smashed into Mother’s ship.

Still trying to gain her feet, Mother pulled again on the maneuvering wand. In a spin of her own, she collided with Sneert, and both went over the edge of the cliff. Sneert gave voice to her anguish as she hit the small ledge about half her body length down, and bellowed in pain. One of her legs broke from the sudden enormous weight and angle of the fall, the bone protruding through the meat of the leg in an angry wound that pumped blood onto the ledge.

Mother’s ship hit the bottom and sprayed a fountain of water into the air.

The pack, always the opportunists, moved as one toward Sneert’s offspring. There was no hurry now. Once they had crippled the young beasts, they ate at their leisure, killing their quarry one bite at a time.

Mother, knowing her ship was damaged and going down, reached for the timeline control and pushed it forward in a blind attempt to reach her friends. She knew the bottom of the chasm was coming up. There was no time for an accurate line, just a push and a hope. She hit hard and darkness swallowed her.

***

Sneert writhed on the small ledge, unable to regain her feet. She smelled the stench of her own blood and feces, and knew she was dying. The desperate sounds of her children tormented her soul. She screamed her rage and impotently thrashed her legs, causing the blood to flow faster. It took most of the night for her to die. Long after her children’s cries had quieted, Sneert lay helpless in her sorrow.

***

When the pack was sure the large beast was dead, they spent most of eight days eating her. Her bones, bleached white in the sun, were scattered by scavengers and became buried in the mud run offs from above.

***

Mother awoke in the dark. A haze filled the air, making it difficult to see. Only a few thin beads of blue lights blinked here and there. She could smell the working fluids of the ship, and debris was everywhere. Attempting to stand on the tilted floor, she had to grab makeshift handles wherever she could. She dragged herself to the controls, where everything was silent and black. A choked gasp of despair issued from her lips when she ran her hands over the screens and nothing responded. She ranted against her stupid decision to share one more moment with her beloved creature, because she had told no one where she was going or when. In desperation she pounded her fist against the blank view screen, hoping to jar it back to life. She could not tell where she had landed, or more importantly, when. The chance that she had pushed the timeline controls to a time when her friends could find her was bleak. There had been no time to be specific, and now, looking at the controls, she knew it was too late.

Sitting down to think, she physically took inventory of herself. She was in pain, but no visible wounds could be seen. As her eyes became accustomed to the gloom, they came to rest on a compartment housing emergency supplies.

Mother crawled over to the manual handle and spun it to the left. A hiss sounded as air escaped the compartment and it opened, revealing three bundles. She knew what all of them were, because it was mandatory that she did. Each of these packets held vital supplies to heal, give light, and provide sustenance. She pulled the parcels out of the cubicle, as well as the weapon stored below the packets, which would also be prudent to take.

Assuming the atmosphere on this planet was respectable, she might still survive. Mother pushed in the code for the emergency opening to her ship. There was a whisper of sound from the skin of the ship parting, and almost immediately, water surged in, pushing Mother to her back. There had been no way to check the outside, and as her luck would have it, the ship had crashed in a ravine with deep water at the bottom. She grappled for her packets, but the water was too strong. Losing her breath and with the inside filling with water, Mother fought her way through the opening. Being in water was not an experience she had ever had, but, frightened for her life, she instinctively struggled upwards, finally reaching the surface. Gulping great mouthfuls of air, Mother flogged her way to shore.

One of the bundles leaked a stream of orange powder that floated to the surface and danced in a path toward the deep water’s edge. The bulk of the powder came to rest against a large rock. It congealed and rubbed against the bank as an eddy of water softly swelled back and forth. An orange residue began to scab on the gray surface of the rock.

Mother made it to the closest shore and pulled herself onto the wet sand. Anguish spread across her like the red wind of fire as she sobbed for breath, gulping air in great mouthfuls. Rolling over on her back, she mentally checked for damage. Something was wrong…terribly wrong. Just below her sternum, pain began to tear at her in earnest. Bones were definitely broken and organs damaged. How bad, she could not yet tell. When she tried to come to her knees, the pain screamed no, so she gingerly lay back on the sand and took in more air.

Mother looked around her. The deep ravine that she had landed in did not look that much different than it had earlier that day, when she was in the past with Sneert. But there were differences. There was now a more pronounced cave further ashore. How far into the future she had come she did not know. Mother was not optimistic that she would ever be found, and being rescued was probably a desperate hope. Her wrecked vessel was unreachable and full of water. The present was her reality. She beat both of her fists down on the sand in frustration and gave voice to a deep, Ooooruh.

Immediately the pain ratcheted up, threatening to make her lose consciousness. Mother closed her eyes and tried to think. The pain subsided into a throbbing ache that was tolerable. Some of her ribs were undoubtedly shattered and probably had pierced her organs. She moved her head right and left, looking for the first aid bundle. It might have popped to the surface and floated ashore. She saw nothing, and a new bit of panic picked at her. She closed her eyes again.

A stream of soothing wind began to wash over her as the sky darkened. As the night enveloped her, her perception of the world grayed and then there was nothing when she lost consciousness and slept. Like a shadowy, damp cocoon, the night protected her. No animals disturbed her.

Mother opened her eyes and could tell where the sun’s influence colored the top of the ravine gold. It was midmorning, she told herself. She flexed her waist. Yes, the pain was still there. She could hear the broken edges of bones grating against each other. It wasn’t as excruciating as it had been last night, and that alarmed her. The damage was still there, but the pain had dulled. Mother knew she was going into shock. She leaned her head toward the sand and threw up blood and bile, then passed out again. This time the memory of Sneert and her children played against a backdrop of dread. Logically, she knew that the large beast was now nothing but a few shards of petrified rock. Mother’s mind cried for Sneert, her children, herself, and the unborn infant that she instinctively knew was about to be born.

When Mother became conscious again, she knew that she had given birth. The squirming infant was lying across her legs intuitively slurping up some of the blood that had pooled. She reached out and lovingly patted her child. They laid together for most of the day. Sometime just before darkness shrouded the ravine, Mother died.

***

The male child squirmed in tighter to his mother’s flesh, trying to find the warmth that was quickly waning. Instinctively he began to chew the meat around her breast, sucking the juices from the pulp. Mother’s body nourished him for the next several days until it became rancid and unpalatable. He grew fast, reacting to the stimulus of the forest and the small creatures around him. Although he was frightened, lonely, and unsure of how to survive, he began to adapt to his environment. He eventually asserted his dominance, causing the smaller animals of the immediate forest to flee and fear him. The larger animals would soon learn to do the same.

***

The American hemisphere saw nothing of the slow, distressful evolution of man. The man-apes in all their uncouth variety never set foot there. The brownskin people were the first form to enter the area. They came from the rain-soaked lowland jungles north and northwest of the Guatemalan highlands. Moving slightly north and west out of the Yucatan Peninsula, they settled in the lower area of what would eventually be known as Mexico, and claimed a high rise overlooking a lush valley of forest, wildlife, and water. Fifteen hundred years later this site would be known as Palenque and be one of the most valuable sources of early man’s history. (Current Time line: 800 BC)

Chapter 1

Lethal Transgressions

The bruised and tattered edge of darkness slid with ever increasing speed downward, pressing heavily on a small sliver of luminous blue-gray resting on the horizon. The forest seemed to hold its collective breath. And then, in a slow blink, the sun’s last bit of dominion was gone. Night had come. It was time to feed.

The small nub of hoary flesh that had once been a tail quivered with excitement. Sparse body hair became erect across his back as his eyes narrowed and became fully dilated. His senses were on full alert although he felt no immediate danger. In fact, he had never felt real fear in the two-hundred plus years of his life. There was no animal in the forest that could match his strength, speed, or killing capacity. He had dominated his world as chief predator since he was born.

Having no real language or anyone to share it with, his thoughts were in images that flowed across his synapses. He was capable of abstract thought; he just lacked the words to express them. His world was one of shape, color, touch, taste, sound, and above all, a piercing loneliness. The animals of his forest all had some type of companionship; he had none. He was uniquely singular. What he felt now was the excitement of discovery. Something new had entered his domain; something never before seen.

It was dusk when his senses had first scanned their presence. Three animals, bipedal by nature with similar though inferior characteristics to his own, had invaded his domain. It appeared that their skin was a smooth brown from this distance of about five hundred strides. He raised his muzzle to the air in an attempt to use his considerable olfactory talents. Just a hint of their smell was available, enough to say this was something he had never encountered. Heavily muscled legs lifted over the dense undergrowth with almost no sound. He sinuously flowed over the ground toward the new animals, using every available cover to conceal his presence. He settled in motionlessly in a thicket of fronds a hundred strides from his quarry.

Patiently he watched the intruders as they camped. He had seen fire before but had instinctively avoided the phenomenon. The animals were crouched before the flames eating flesh from sticks they had cut earlier and placed above the flames. His heightened senses could now smell and taste the air currents that wafted toward him. An image of a small pig came to him. This was apparently what they were eating. He could detect the clump of bushes near which the pig had been cleaned. Small scavengers were even now scurrying away with small morsels left over from the butchering. He was neither repulsed nor interested in the meat. His sole source of nourishment came from the blood of his prey.

His muzzle jutted out from beneath black, intelligent eyes. Triangular teeth with serrated edges filled his mouth. At the back were three large molars on each side, above and below, for masticating juice from meat. Two fanglike canines dominated the top. These were equipped with special evolutionary tubes that could siphon blood in a forceful flow that eventually slid down the back of the esophagus, piercing the dorsal aorta.

All of his life he had been ruled by two basic and driving needs…to feed and to find another being similar to him. Now in front of him were the closest examples he had ever found to being like him. Yet they were so alien at the same time. Where he had plates of hard bone, they had an almost hairless, frail looking brown skin. Their muscles were weak looking and they moved erratically, with no real grace or economy of movement. Their flat faces seemed intelligent, though, as if they too understood the forest as he did.

Curiosity overcame him. He moved closer and was incredulous that at this short distance they still seemed oblivious to his presence. There was a musk about him that other animals smelled, and their reaction was always quick and unmistakably born of fear. These beings did nothing. They did not even look in his direction, but rather continued the sounds that were rhythmical and pleasant to listen to. The large animal moved closer, to where he could be among them in half a heartbeat if the need arose.

Time passed quietly as he continued to watch. One of the brownskins got up and headed toward him. Amazement. The brownskin loosened and lifted a flap of red color and urinated in a steaming flow not ten feet from him. He, too, urinated in a similar fashion, but never had to uncover himself first. Confused, he tilted his head in concentration. Heat radiated from the brownskin. The blood just beneath the skin of this frail newcomer to the forest pulsated faintly. More importantly, he could smell the nourishment just beneath the skin. Over a day had passed since his last feeding, and he was beginning to feel the pangs of hunger.

Mother’s child was still curious about these new beings, knowing they were may be distant kin, but different. But the closeness of so much sweet blood was too much to resist. Closing his eyes and raising his head, he inhaled the brownskin’s scent. Instinct took over. In one smooth and deadly rush he was on his prey. A savage bite and a wrench at the base of the brownskin’s neck severed the spinal cord. Blood roared into the creature’s maw, and he gulped greedily as he pulled the meat closer.

The sound of his dying prey alerted the other two, as he knew it would. They jumped from their sitting position with spears already in their hands. Surprisingly, they rushed at him instead of away. These were indeed strange creatures.

***

Thinking their comrade had encountered a large cat of some kind, they ran to the sounds. They were not prepared for what they met. Their friend was obviously dead. His head leaned at an impossible angle to his torso, attached by meager shreds of muscle. The campfire illuminated black eyes that peered at them above a gore splattered mouth still holding a large chunk of their friend’s spine. The rest of the creature’s body was still hidden by the darkness. If this was a cat, it was the biggest they had ever seen. Surely it must be standing on something.

Their spears instinctively were out in front of them. In a jabbing motion, they pushed forward with all their strength, hoping to hit a vital spot in this nightmare of the dark. Obsidian points broke on dense plates of bone, and shaft wood splintered half way back from the tips. With no time for them to react further, he was on