Og—Son of Fire

by Irving Crump

Beyond the mass Og could get a partial view of the valley. It was surrounded on all sides by towering palm clad mountains, but there were few trees in the valley bottom. Instead, there was a pleasant meadow overgrown with lush grass through which a broad, lazy stream slipped slowly. To Og, used to the ruggedness of the country further north, it was beautiful and restful.

But he had little time to take in details, for so soon as he sat up a great chattering and squalling and taunting began. The tree folk became tremendously excited and danced up and down, and pointed their fingers at him, and chattered and grinned and snarled and made ugly faces. Some in the trees threw sticks at him and great round hard objects that Og had never seen before. Some stones and clods came from the tree folk on the ground, many of them hitting him resounding thumps.

Then suddenly they left off throwing and began a weird sort of dance that slowly developed into a dizzily whirling mass as the apish beings joined hands and began capering in a huge circle around him. Og knew from their manner, and from some of the squeals and calls, that the whole clan of the tree people were celebrating his capture, and as he sat there looking at them with senses still dulled from the terrific punishment he had received, and the hardships of the long journey, he wondered vaguely what was to be done with him. He knew that had he been one of the tree people, captured by the hairy men of his kind, he would have been put to death ere this. Would this be his end? This thought troubled him greatly.

It was while this strange dance was in progress that Og felt the presence of a warm body close to him and, looking down, he discovered with a feeling of gladness that beside him, torn and scratched, and as hopelessly dazed as he, were the two wolf cubs. They too had been made captives by the tree people. Og reached out and touched them and in that action he found as much comfort as they evinced by the feeble motion of their tails.

Og’s recuperation was swift, and the wolf cubs seemed to regain their strength and alertness just as quickly. Indeed, by the time the tree people had danced themselves tired, and many of them had gone off to seek other diversion, the trio of captives were almost normal once more and Og’s brain was working to puzzle out his strange situation and find, if possible, a way of escape.

The dancing ceased, the great mass of tree people dwindled, scattering among the trees on either side of the valley. All, save a group of formidable looking apish beings, disappeared. Og surveyed with suspicion those that remained. They were all bigger and stronger than he, and all bore innumerable scars. Doubtless, they were the warriors of the clan. And leading them was a huge scar-faced one, whom Og quickly realized was chief of them all. Spreading out in a semi-circle, with Scar Face in the lead, they began slowly to advance toward him, at the same time snarling and showing their teeth and making faces that were indeed hideous.

Og stood his ground and faced them, the wolf cubs flanking him on either side and snarling with as much vigor as their enemies. The hairy boy could not understand it all, but he longed mightily for his stone-headed hammer, or better still, his more recent weapons, a pair of fire brands. The fact that he had lost perhaps, forever, the valuable alliance of the Fire Demon, gave him a feeling almost of despair. The tree men would never dare venture upon him so boldly were he thus armed.

Despite the fact that he was unarmed, Og stood his ground, determined to fight with tooth and nail to his death. He had not the vaguest idea what was about to happen to him, but he determined to go down fighting.

His boldness seemed to disturb even these giant warriors of the tree folk. They did not advance with the courage that they first displayed, although they did continue to make hideous faces and horrifying noises. But old Scar Face was not the coward that the others were. When the rest stopped he came on alone, advancing with a heavy rolling stride, while his long arms dangled clear to the ground. Stooped as he was, Og could see that the big ape man was very much taller than he was, and broader of shoulders and deeper of chest—a formidable antagonist, indeed. Yet such was the courage of the hairy boy that instead of shrinking from him, he advanced a step or two toward him, crouching too, with his long arms and powerful hands spread ready to come to grips.