Free Aftershocks: Ice Planet Barbarians: A Slice of Life Short Story by Ruby Dixon Page B

away.
    I sigh and crawl after him—and a shiver swells through my legs. I sway, rolling to my back, confused. Is it me? Why is my body trembling? Why do I have no strength? But then Rukhar lets out an angry wail, and I realize it is not me.
    It is the ground.
    It shivers again, and then begins to roll and tremble. I scoop up my son, ignoring his frightened screams as I stare at the world around me. Everything is shaking. The trees in the distance move back and forth like they are caught in a windstorm. The ground shakes beneath my feet. I hear the sound of ice cracking, and a massive gorge splits the earth a short distance away. It starts out small, and then grows wider and begins to snake across the snow, widening as it does.
    Har-loh. My mate.
    “Har-loh!” I scream, looking to the Elders’ Cave. As I watch, the crack moves toward the cave. I race after it, but then the ground shifts away under my feet and I lose my balance. I roll carefully, cradling my son close so my weight does not crush him, and protect his body with mine. All around me, the world groans and shudders, and the snow shakes wildly underneath me.
    What is happening?
    The world grows dark, and I hear the groan of something new. A crunching sound. A thick fall of snow cascades over my body, dumping from above. I shake it off like a dvisti and look up. The cave has grown in size, the strange rock it is made from uncovered. And it is…moving. I frown at it, surprised. Did Har-loh do this? Did she learn how to make it move?
    The ground at my feet shakes harder and gives a strong shift, and I am knocked backward. Dazed, I pick myself up off the snow. Rukhar is wailing, his face flushed with anger, and he raises his arms for me to pick him up again. I do so, crouching low in the snow. I dare not stand and be knocked down again.
    As I hold my frightened son against my chest, the shadow rises. The crunching sound gets louder, and as I watch, the cave slides into the gorge.
    NO. MY MATE. She’s inside. She’s trapped.
    “Har-loh!” I scream so loudly that I feel something burst behind my eyes. I want to approach the cave as it slides, but my son is in my arms. I am torn—can I save my mate? What if I put Rukhar down into the snow and wild metlaks grab him? I cannot! I race forward, plunging through the newly deep snow, praying it does not cover new cracks or hidden dangers. All the while, the cave slowly slides backward into the gorge. As I watch with horror, the entire thing tilts and upends like a bone disc, revealing the guts of the cave on the underside and leaving a black scar underneath it where it used to be.
    The entire thing is going to disappear into the ground and carry my mate with it.
    I must do something.
    I race forward with Rukhar, holding him tightly. With every step I take, the sick feeling in my gut grows. I wait for this moment to get worse, for the cave to slide away entirely into the ground and disappear.
    It heaves upright, like a finger pointing in the air, and then gives a great shudder. It stops.
    Everything stops. The ground no longer shakes with anger.
    “Har-loh!” I bellow again, pushing forward. I must get to her. Is she hurt? Is she waiting for me to rescue her? Is she…
    I think of my father, his dead body lying so still as I put rocks over it.
    No.
    No, not my Har-loh. Not my mate.
    My thoughts are growing wild. Rukhar screams in my arms, but I put a hand on his head to calm him and do little else. I am focused on my mate. I must get to her. Now.
    The entrance to the cave is now high in the air. I can climb it. I set my wailing son down in the snow at my feet…and then immediately pick him back up again. I cannot climb with him in my arms…but I cannot leave him, either. I howl with frustration, and he howls with me. I must do this. I must.
    For the first time, I wish the people of the tribe were here to help out. Normally I am glad to leave them behind because there are so many. Today, I would do anything for an extra