Thuan

By Hay van den Munckhof

"The first winter storms will soon come, and the herds will migrate south," said an old hunter. "If the hunting continues to go poorly, many of us will not survive the winter. The young mothers' breasts will no longer produce milk, and before spring arrives, all their babies will die."
The other men stared silently into the fire. They knew the old man spoke the truth, and they felt ashamed because today's hunt had yielded almost nothing. They had returned dead tired by evening with nothing more than a few meager Arctic hares.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hay van den Munckhof
• Release date: Apr 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224331581

Book preview

Table of Contents

THUAN

THUAN'S PLAN

USHI

THE TUNDRA

THE ICE

THE SNOWSTORM

BLOOD

FIRE

THIARI

THE MAMMOTHS

TUSKS

USHI’S SON

THUAN

In a dark corner, at the back of the roundhouse, Thuan listened to the conversation of the hunters sitting around the fireplace. The glow of the flickering fire colored the men's faces red. Their heads cast erratic shadows on the walls of mammoth leather.

Soon the first winter storms will come, and the herds will move south, said an old hunter. If the hunting continues to go so badly, many of us will not survive the winter. The young mothers' breasts will no longer give milk, and before spring arrives, all their babies will die.

The other men stared silently into the fire. They knew the old man was speaking the truth, and they felt ashamed because the hunt had yielded almost nothing today as well. By the time evening fell, they had returned exhausted with nothing more than a few meager arctic hares.

Orrik, the new leader, was the first to break the silence.

Someone has offended the spirits of reindeer, musk oxen, and mammoths. Now they are warning the animals about our arrows and spears, he said. That's why we can't get as close as before to use our weapons. Whose fault could that be?

Orrik looked around the circle. When no one answered, he snorted loudly and spat a big glob into the fire. A loud hiss followed.

I know the answer, he continued. Thiari has taunted and challenged the spirits all his life. Do you remember when his wife gave birth to a deformed son and died immediately afterward? Now the spirits have finally become so angry with him that they have abducted him. They are also punishing the tribe by causing the hunt to fail.

Thuan felt his blood boil. How could Orrik tell