The 'phibians' caves

“Get back you miserable lizard!”  Tarnic jumped to his feet.  “I don’t know what you’re saying to her, but you can bloody well stop.  Right now.”  He snarled at Lok’bri and planted his body squarely between the rapidly flashing ‘phibian and the smaller Tak’ro.

The three amphibians and Tarnic had been sitting around a large rock using it as a rough table within one of the larger caverns; evidently Tarnic had passed some sort of test, for the last two meals the lizards had eaten with him rather than apart.  Raw meat, berries and the ever-present bosa tea were spread out across it.  Tarnic motioned to Tak’ro to pass some  meat, which he began toasting in a torch’s flame.  As she passed some more meat (Tarnic still wasn’t sure about the amphibians’ sex, but he found himself automatically thinking of Tak’ro as a girl and the bigger, more aggressive Lok lizards as male) Lok’bri pulsed half a dozen bright colours through his skin.

Which clearly upset little Tak’ro.

Tarnic braced himself as Lok’bri reared up onto his hind legs, a belligerent move that made him tower over the lieutenant.  With a raging snort, Lok’bri thrashed his tail across the table, scattering the food and smashing the bosa pitcher.  Hot, stinking tea flooded the cavern floor.

Muscles tensed, Tarnic rolled onto the balls of his feet, ready to dive out of the way of that powerful tail or to spring for Lok’bri’s face if the opportunity presented itself.  Eyes or forearms; most vulnerable places.  Underbelly if I can get to it.  Grab the torch, swing it towards the face.  Make him rear up again.

Tarnic narrowed his eye, ready for the leap.



<<Lok’bri!  Control yourself.>>  Lok’yi snapped the mental order.  It flashed a sharp green through its scales to emphasise the point. 

Glaring, Lok’bri twitched its tail in anger.  <<The human made to attack me.>>

<<He did no such thing; he was trying to defend me.  From you.>>  Tak’ro sent a wave of curdled emotion across with its thought.  <Tarnic’Tam thought you were attacking me.  He tried to protect me.>>

Lok’yi suppressed a groan.  Ancestors save me from half-growns.  The human demonstrates a protective nature, and all they do is bicker.  It bit back a retort and motioned them both to crouch back down and begin cleaning the food mess.  With just one more hostile glance at Lok’bri, Tarnic bent down to help as well. 

A protective nature?  Lok’yi took a deep breath and felt the air slowly blow out through its neck, its gills flapping gently.  It contemplated the thought, suddenly intrigued.

What an interesting concept.  Lok’yi already championed the notion that humans were as intelligent as ‘phibians (frankly Lok’yi believed them to be more intelligent, but as its hatch sibling, Lok’dre, advised <<maybe, but lets not upset the elders too much, eh?>>), but the idea they might be emotional creatures as well...  Lok’yi had encountered basic fear and anger in humans, but then, didn’t all animals feel these fundamental emotions?

Deliberately turning its back on the two younger ‘phibians and their prisoner-guest, Lok’yi tuned out the clattering of tidying up, and thought.

It, he, has showed a primitive gratefulness for the food and it, no he, despite Tak’ro’s encouragement, Lok’yi still struggled with the sexually orientated pronoun, has made communicative gestures with Tak’ro.  I think they almost understand each other half the time!  Lok’yi flicked its tail in amusement.  Bad enough it had coerced the elders into accepting the Tak brood orphan twelve floods ago, but if they ever found out the tiny half-grown was now diligently attempting human speech…  Despite itself, Lok’yi emitted a sharp pulse of ultra-violet through its scales in sheer glee. 

And promptly tried to avoid Tak’ro and Lok’bri’s astonished gazes. 



Pulling itself together and trying to think along more sombre lines, Lok’yi tapped its fingers together.  Behind it, its large tail swished a pattern through the air as it walked down the narrow tunnel away from the main cavern.

Now it had thought a little, it was in a quandary; the human had displayed considerably more emotion than the amphibians had previously encountered from the race.  Lok’yi tried to recall; so far, and in just a few days, the human had demonstrated grief for his lost brood, frustration at the language barrier and now even compassion and a primitive sort of protectiveness towards Tak’ro.

Admittedly Tarnic’Tam had not understood the distasteful inter-brood joke Lok’bri had cracked, but he had certainly recognised the bullying body position (if not the colour flashes) and Tak’ro’s humiliated crouch.  If it was brutally honest with itself, Lok’yi was actually astonished at the speed and determination Tarnic’Tam had shown in defending Tak’ro.  Whilst still not as big as Lok’yi, Lok’bri was definitely as heavy as the human and substantially stronger; and the human certainly knew this. 

Lok’yi flicked its tail, had it not stepped in, Lok’bri would have undoubtedly hurt the human.  A lot.

Compassion.  Protectiveness.  Bravery.  Not words one would normally associate with humans. 

Lok’yi was fascinated, but even more so, the ‘phibian was worried.  It was rapidly approaching the time to return to the brood lair and Tarnic was clearly not strong enough to turn loose into the swamp.

No doubt about it though, the impulsive decision to rescue the human found to deep in the Karshi swamp without its protective skin had been the moral thing to do.  But to take it back to the brood lair?  To expose the juveniles to, well, lets be frank, Lok’yi thought, to an alien.  Wouldn’t that be too much? It considered also the reaction of the brood elders on the introduction of such a monstrous creature, and let out another burst of UV in amusement.

Lok’yi tapped its fingers together again and, calling Lok’bri to it, came to a decision.



Tak’ro was standing clear of the doorway in the main cavern, thin fore arms pointing at Tarnic and then at the doorway.

No translation needed there I think.  Time to face the big bad.  Tarnic got to his feet and followed the lizard.  Beyond the door was a narrow tunnel, with the occasional side tunnel or entrance to other caves leading off it, his own cell-cave included.

The lizard seemed unconcerned if Tarnic followed or not.  Tunnels could run for miles in all directions, not really worth the risk of running off, eh? 

The other two lizards were already in the new cave.  Lok’yi sitting calmly on its four strong back legs and watching dispassionately as the younger lizard paced up and down.

<<Why take it with us.  It is humans>> Lok’bri spat the word in its mind, <<that are hunting us out in the swamp.>>

<<Humans with different skins; artificial ones to protect them from the swamp.  This one had no artificial skin, is it so great a leap to think he is not one of the hunters, Bri?>>  Lok’yi flittered the end of its tail.   

Lok’bri snorted abruptly making Tarnic start.  The lizard flashed through a series of colours along its flank.  <<If it is one of the hunters, the brood will kill it and eat it.  And us for bringing it to the lair.  I assume you have considered that Lok’yi?>>

Lok’yi curled its lip back revealing rows of sharp little teeth; Tarnic wasn’t sure if it was a grimace or a smile, but was relieved it was aimed at Lok’bri and not him all the same.

<<The brood is in danger, Bri.  Don’t you think the best way to beat ones enemy is to understand it?  And isn’t the best way to understand something, to observe it?  I trust the elders will exhibit more comprehension than you seem to.>>  It was a petty jab it knew, but Lok’bri was displaying typical half-grown arrogance.  It pained Lok’yi, but it needed to cap such behaviour before it became out and out independence and so a hindrance rather than a help to the brood mind.



“Here, let me.”  Tarnic scooped the bosa leaves into his hands.  He had regained his backpack; the lizards had finally returned it.  Although to his disgust they had also recognised the weapons as such and confiscated them first.

Tak’ro bobbed its head in acquiescence, or at least, that’s what it hoped the nodding motion humans made meant.

Human speech was proving far more difficult than it expected.  Amphibian vocal communication was little more than hisses and clicks, and that was more common amongst the juveniles who hadn’t yet learnt to control their scale colours or their telepathy.  Humans seemed to use their mouths and ears far more than ‘phibians, more like the furry little prey animals out in the swamp.

But Lok’yi was, well, whilst not exactly encouraging Tak’ro’s little exploration into the alien human’s world, but certainly it didn’t seem to disapprove.  Tak’ro would have  given up the whole enterprise rather than risk its mentor's disapproval.

Still, the human was rather fascinating, wasn’t he?  And whatever Lok’yi might hope, Tak’ro was astute enough to recognise its play on Lok’bri.  Observe the enemy my ancestor.  You are as captivated by Tarnic’Tam as I am.

It gestured to Tarnic to keep packing.  Humans, other humans Tak’ro hastily corrected itself, hadn’t yet found this series of caves, but surely it was only a matter of time?  They would leave nothing except the torches, still bracketed to the cave walls.



<<If it is one of the hunters…>> No matter how hard it tried, Lok’yi could not quite shake Lok’bri’s brittle thought.  One human, it consoled itself, what damage could just one single human do?  A ghastly image of the juveniles emulating human behaviour crept into Lok’yi’s mind.  It shuddered and tried again to dislodge the thought.  Look how this one’s behaving though, in all the floods that humans have been here, we never even suspected them capable of emotion.  The amphibian took a deep breath, delighting in the soft airflow over its gills.  Soon, it thought, be back in the brood waters.  I wonder if humans miss their young like we do?



With a calm and deliberate smile, Tarnic forced his hand into the backpack.  To unfurl and drop the leaves.  To not bunch it up again and punch Lok’bri right on his.  Great.  Big.  Snout.

Five days he had been in these damn caves.  Five damn days.  He still wasn’t perfectly sure what was going on between the two bigger lizards, but Tak’ro had explained that they were finally leaving the caves.  Sort of.  They were heading somewhere else, but that somewhere else didn’t appear to be in the direction of the Shadowsail. Oh, and Tarnic was going with them.  Wherever there was. 

Eleven days out of the ship. What had happened in that time?  Could – was it possible? – could someone have answered the comms signal?  Had the Shadowsail crew even been rescued?  It seemed unlikely, but Tarnic decided he preferred it to the other main scenario his head played, that the swamp fever had reached the ship.  Without the bosa tea, they’ll all be dead.

Wherever the lizards were going, Tarnic was determined not to go with them.

He and the bosa tea were heading back to the ship.



Word count: 1865