The Stone God Awakens

The Old Being's wiliness, his avoidance of traps, his deadly ambushes, his ability to disappear, were legendary.

"He has far more intelligence than you would expect from a nonsentient," Ulysses said to Ghlikh. Awina stood near them.

"Who said he was one who had no speech?" Ghlikh said.

Ulysses was surprised. "You mean, he can talk?"

Ghlikh's eyelids lowered. He said, "I would not know, of course. I was merely pointing out that no one actually knows whether or not he can talk."

"Is he the only one of his kind?" Ulysses said.

"I would not know. There are those who say that there are many of his kind many marches to the north. I do not know."

"You should," Ulysses said. "You get around a lot. You fly far, and even if you do not go north, surely there are others of your people who do."

"I do not know," Ghlikh said, but Ulysses thought he detected a barely repressed amusement on his face.

He shoved down his anger, however, and said, "Tell me, Ghlikh, have you ever seen ... ?" and then he halted. There was no word for metal in the Wufea speech. Not as far as he knew, anyway. He proceeded to describe metal. Then, remembering his knife, he brought it out and unfolded it. Ghlikh, his eyes wide, breathing harder than he should, asked permission to handle the blade. Ulysses watched him while the long ski

The Neshgai, he continued in response to Ulysses' questioning, were a race of giants who lived in a giant village of giant houses made of some strange material. Their city was on the southern coast of this land. On the other side of Wurutana. The Neshgai walked on two legs, and their tusks were only two and very tiny compared to those of The Old Being. But they had big ears and a long nose that fell to their waists. They looked as if they were descended from a creature something like The Old Being.

Ulysses was so full of questions he did not know which to ask first.

"What is your idea of Wurutana?" he said.

His question was phrased thus because he did not want Ghlikh to know how ignorant he was of his ancient enemy.

Ghlikh, startled, said, "What do you mean? My idea?" "What is Wurutana to you?" "To me?" "Yes. What would you call him?" "The Great Devourer. The All-Powerful. He Who Grows." "Yes, I know, but what does he look like? To you?" Ghikh must have guessed that Ulysses was trying to get a description of something which he did not know. Ghlikh smiled so sarcastically that Ulysses wanted to smash that thin skull.

"Wurutana is so vast that I ca

Ghlikh drew a rough map of the land’s outlines in the mud of a creek bank. North was land marked Unknown. Below that was a crude triangle with the northern part forming the broad base. There was ocean or sea on all parts except the northern unknown. Ghlikh said rumours were that the sea was there too. Ulysses wondered if the land was all that was left of the eastern part of the United States. The level of the ocean could be much higher. Thus, the Midwest and the Atlantic coastal plain would be submerged. This land might be all of what was left of the former

Appalachian Mountain Range. Of course, while he was in his "petrified" state, he could have been taken to other continents and this might be all that was left of a certain part of Eurasia. Or he could be on another planet of another star. He did not think so, but it was possible.

If only he could find something that would identify this place. But after many millions of years, everything would be gone. The bones of men would have perished, except for a few fossilised skeletons, and how many humans had a chance to become fossilised? The steel would have rusted away, the plastic would have deteriorated, the cement would have crumbled, the stone of the pyramids and the Sphinx, of the marble statues of the Greeks and the Americans, all would have been eroded to dust long ago. Nothing of man's would remain, except possibly for some flint tools made by Stone Age men. These might survive long after man's history had perished with his books, machines, cities and bones.

Mountain ranges had been born, lifted up and fallen again. Continents had split and the islands drifted away from each other. Ocean beds had been emptied, new lands risen, old lands become oceans. What was rough and elevated was now smooth and level. What was smooth and level was crumpled and raised. Great masses of stone ground against each other and rubbed man's remains to dust. Billions of tons of water roared into suddenly opened valleys and swept everything out or buried it in mud.

Nothing except the land and the sea was left, water and earth in new shapes, new containers. Only life had gone on, and life had taken some new shapes, though there were still old forms around.

But—if Ghlikh could be believed—humankind still survived!

Man was no longer lord of life, but he still lived.

Ulysses would go south.

First, he had to kill The Old Being With The Long Hand to prove his godhood.

He questioned the bat-man more. Ghlikh became uneasy and even irritated at times, but he did not become openly angry. Finally, Ulysses said, "Then there are volcanoes and hot springs up north which give out a strong and sickening stench?"

"Yes," Ghlikh said.

Ghlikh knew more about the north than he had intended to reveal, but Ulysses did not wish to delve into the reasons for his reticence at this time. All he wanted was information.

"How far to the north?"

"Ten days' march."

About two hundred miles, Ulysses reckoned.

"You will guide us there."

Ghlikh opened his mouth as if to protest but then shut it.

Ulysses called in the chiefs and priests of the Wufea and the Wagarondit and told them what he wanted done while he was gone.

The officials were puzzled about his instructions for the collection and treatment of excrement and the making of charcoal. He told them that he would reveal the reasons later.

In addition, he wanted as big a war party and as many juvenile males as could be spared to go with him to the north. On the way they would look for The Old Being, although this party was not primarily to track him down. But it was very much involved with the killing of The Old Being.

The chiefs were not happy about his demands, but they went ahead and put them into effect. A week later a big party of a hundred adult warriors, two hundred juvenile males, several priests, Awina and Ulysses set out for the north. Ghlikh was of them, though not always with them. He flew ahead and scouted the territory, and many times spotted game for them and three times hostile scouts. The hostiles were a people who seemed to be a variety of the Wagarondit. Their fur was black and they had auburn bars across their eyes and cheeks but otherwise were the same as their southern cousins.