Sapien Loop Short Stories: The Twelfth Loop Begins (Part Two)

The members of the Bramley tribe gathered in the main cave. Elder Leo and Elder Bisko wanted to address the tribe.

‘I want to thank everyone for their extraordinary effort over the past few months,’ said Elder Bisko as he looked around the cave. ‘It is now the moment of truth. We are surrounded by Sentray on all sides. We are cut off from our food supply, and once we run out of berries, we will starve. However, the thousands of Sentray, who are waiting to kill us when we emerge from our caves, are gradually and unknowingly poisoning themselves. We just need to outlast them.’

‘Are you sure we have enough food to outlast them?’ called out a member of the tribe.

‘I am confident we will win,’ said Elder Leo. ‘It just depends on how messy things need to get.’

Matilda began to grit her teeth; his words made her feel very uneasy.

Three weeks passed, and the reserves of berries and other edibles were almost exhausted. The Sentray were still standing between the mountain caves and the lake. Even though they had been drinking the water and hunting and killing Water Sapes, none of them had died.

Derek approached Elder Bisko, who was sitting at the back of the cave.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Derek. I feel I may have too quickly jumped to conclusions.’

‘We needed a way out,’ replied Elder Bisko. ‘I made the decision to act based on what I saw. You are not to blame for anything. In fact, you have inspired so many.’

Elder Leo approached them. ‘This is not over!’ said Elder Leo to both of them. ‘We must keep waiting. They will start to fall. They must.’

‘We might wait, but I’m pretty sure the other tribes will not,’ said Elder Bisko.

‘So be it,’ replied Elder Leo as he walked away. ‘That’s their choice.’

Several more days passed. Elder Bisko was correct. The other tribes sent out gatherers to pick berries. Many of them were spotted and were picked off by Sentray. However, many still survived and managed to bring back some food.

The elders called a meeting to discuss their predicament with the other tribe members.

‘As most of you know, we have now run out of food,’ said Elder Bisko.

The tribe members remained silent.

‘We need to decide as a tribe what we do next,’ continued Elder Bisko. ‘We either keep waiting and hoping the Sentray start dying or decide to leave, or we send out small parties to forage for food.’

‘We want to give you a vote,’ added Elder Leo. ‘If more than half of you vote in favour of foraging for food, that is what we will do. However, if you vote in favour, you are also volunteering to be in these parties.’

The tribe members began to groan and complain.

‘If you vote against foraging for food, you have to accept that we will have to rely on other means of survival,’ said Elder Bisko.

‘What might they be?’ called out Matilda.

‘Most likely cannibalism,’ replied Elder Bisko.

The members of the tribe erupted in anger. Elder Leo looked at Elder Bisko and shook his head. The other elders immediately attempted to calm them down. A few minutes later, the cave became quiet again.

‘Let the vote begin!’ called out Elder Bisko. ‘Raise your hands if you believe we should go out and search for food.’

Derek and Matilda immediately raised their hands, and several others followed. However, it appeared it was less than half of them.

‘Come on!’ shouted Derek. ‘This is better than killing each other.’

Several more hands went up as the tribe members who had not raised their hands were frantically looking around the cave, hoping more would raise their hands so that they would not be forced to go out and gather food.

‘Are you so selfish that you only want others to risk their lives for you?’ shouted Matilda. ‘You’re all better than that, I know you are.’

‘Shall we count the hands now?’ said Elder Leo as he turned to Elder Bisko.

Elder Bisko nodded; as he did so, several more hands shot up. ‘Those with your hands raised move to the right of the cave, and those with your hands down move to the left,’ called out Elder Bisko.

He quickly counted both sides. ‘It looks like we have a tie,’ said Elder Bisko, shaking his head.

‘No, we don’t,’ interrupted Elder Leo. ‘You didn’t count me.’

‘Okay, fine,’ sighed Elder Bisko. ‘It looks like…’

Elder Leo raised his hand and smiled.

‘It looks like we’ll be foraging for berries,’ said Elder Bisko as he smiled at Elder Leo.

The tribe members began to cheer. The cheers abruptly stopped when they heard the roar of a Sentray outside the cave.

‘Let’s form groups,’ called out Derek. ‘We’ll depart in staggered intervals.’

They began to form groups. To Derek’s surprise, Elder Leo joined one of the groups.

‘Elder Leo, you are too valuable to lose,’ said Derek as he rushed over to him.

‘I’m old,’ said Elder Leo. ‘The young are the future of our species. Besides, what value am I if I don’t lead by example?’

‘I understand,’ replied Derek. ‘On that basis, please join my team.’

Elder Leo looked around. He could see that the other groups had now formed. Then he looked at Derek and smiled, ‘Sure, I’ll be honoured to work with you. It’s been a while.’

‘I’ll make you proud,’ said Derek.

‘I know you will, son,’ replied Elder Leo as he rubbed Derek’s head.

Early the next morning, the first team was prepared to go out and search for food. Sadly, they did not get far. The Sentray used their powerful roars to force them to lose concentration. This enabled the Sentray to attack and kill most in that group. A few managed to keep close to the rocks, which enabled them to escape. In fear, they retreated to the caves. When they arrived back, the second group was about to leave.

‘It’s a nightmare out there, Sentray everywhere,’ said one Linap from the returning party to Derek. ‘Once one of them catches our scent, the roaring and stomping begins. It’s so hard to remain unseen.’

‘How many of you can become completely invisible?’ called out Derek. ‘When I say that, I mean you cannot be seen, heard, smelt, or detected through any sense.’

Only a dozen raised their hands. Matilda and Elder Leo were among them.

‘Gather around, I have a plan,’ said Derek as those who raised their hands approached him. ‘We will go out and scout the area for safe passage to any areas that have food. I suggest we also arm ourselves with spears in case we run into trouble.’

‘Are you serious?' retorted Matilda. 'We can’t fight the Sentray!’

‘It might be a little different this time,’ said Elder Leo. ‘They might be sufficiently weakened to give us at least some chance.’

‘If they aren’t weakened at all at this point,’ added Derek. ‘Then we have failed. We can’t entertain this idea.’

Matilda frowned and then nodded.

The dozen of them armed themselves with spears and then headed off. They searched for over an hour but could not find any bushes with berries on them. They either had already been picked or had been targeted by the Sentray.

Members of the group were beginning to fatigue and struggled to remain completely invisible. Derek used the secret finger tap to inform the others they needed to head back. Unfortunately, this decision appeared to have come too late. A small male Sentray had detected them. He began to roar loudly, and many others joined in while stomping their feet.

One of the team fell over. In doing so, he became visible. The Sentray was about to move in for the kill when the other members of the team attacked with their spears. The violent prodding from the spears did not even penetrate the hard scales of the Sentray’s lower body. However, the Sentray was knocked slightly off-balance. This is something that prodding with spears would not normally achieve. Several other Sentray joined this one, but they could not attack because of the lack of space.

They continued to thrust their spears at the Sentray. This eventually knocked the Sentray off his feet. The team could now attack the Sentray’s slightly vulnerable underside to his neck. They began thrusting their spears into Sentray’s neck. It soon became clear that the Sentray was in grave trouble. A larger Sentray from behind grabbed the badly injured Sentray and dragged him away from the attacking Linap. The team used this opportunity to become invisible again to escape the larger Sentray.

Within ten minutes, the team had managed to return safely to their cave. They flopped down on the ground in exhaustion.

‘There’s no doubt, they are weaker!’ panted Elder Leo. ‘We know the combination is definitely poisonous to them.’

‘The massive amount of water in the lake has diluted its toxicity,’ said Derek as he sat up. ‘We just need to be patient.’

‘We’re also running out of time,’ said Matilda. ‘Without food, we’ll also become weaker.’

‘When we’ve recuperated a little, we’ll head back out,’ said Elder Leo firmly. ‘I suggest we move to higher ground to get a better view of things.’

‘You’re as fit as ever,’ chuckled Derek.

Matilda flopped face-first on the ground.

Three hours later, the team departed again. This time they headed up. It was not an easy climb. They had to climb some of the steepest parts of the mountain to avoid the Sentray. The more experienced climbers, such as the scouts and messengers, helped those who were less capable climbers. Elder Leo needed the most help, but his experience and determination made up for his diminished physical capability.

After just over an hour, they had climbed significantly higher in the mountains. They believed that they were out of the reach of the Sentray. From this position, they had a good view of the surrounding area and even the lake. They could see some edible plants growing in hard-to-reach places. They took note of these locations so that they could inform the other teams. They were also able to observe the Sentray. Many of them appeared uneasy while others were resting. Elder Leo believed it was an indication that they were becoming significantly weaker.

They returned to the cave with the information they had found about the location of possible food sources. The next day, several teams were formed. They were made up of the better climbers. Derek joined one of these teams, and Matilda joined another. Elder Leo remained in the cave this time.

The day was a success; nobody was killed or injured, and they had managed to collect enough edible foliage to feed them for two days. Every day, teams went out to gather food. Within a week, the food supply was almost exhausted. Their options for collecting more food were extremely limited. They had also reached a pivotal point with their waiting game with the Sentray. Hundreds of Water Sapes were now floating dead on the lake. It appeared the Sentray had figured out that the water was toxic to both them and the Water Sapes, as they were no longer eating them or drinking the water.

Elder Leo saw this as an opportunity to act. He sent out messengers to the other tribes, informing them that they were planning to attack the weakened Sentray. The Sentray had also changed their strategy. They had become more aggressive. They were attacking the caves directly in an attempt to cause them to collapse.

The Linap ascended the mountains. They brought with them whatever tools and weapons they could carry. Some of the elders from various tribes met in person. Eventually, they all agreed they had to attack the Sentray. They had no food left, water was more limited than ever, and since they had abandoned their primary caves, most had no shelter. Starvation, dehydration, and the cold would rapidly weaken the Linap. They would fall to the elements much faster than the poison could kill the Sentray.

Members of the Bramley, Yensid, Wolf, and Carvaress tribes had gathered on a huge ledge. Elder Leo and Elder Bisko were at the front of the ledge.

‘I need several brave, athletic volunteers,’ called out Elder Leo. ‘I want you to lure the Sentray up the mountain.’

Derek immediately raised his hand, and then he grabbed and raised Matilda’s hand. Matilda quickly pulled her arm away from Derek.

‘I would like to hear more of the plan before I throw my life away,’ said Matilda angrily to Derek, who was still enthusiastically waving his arm.

Elder Leo looked around; there were very few hands raised. ‘We need to destabilise the mountain,’ continued Elder Leo. ‘I want this ledge to crumble beneath their feet. Then we will come down on them, and we will attack as many of the injured as possible.’

‘That’s insane!’ called out an elder from the Wolf tribe. ‘I like it.’

Many members of the Wolf tribe raised their hands to volunteer to bait the Sentray.

‘What makes you think the Sentray will fall into this trap?’ asked an elder from the Yensid tribe.

‘They are desperate and sick,’ replied Elder Leo. ‘They have also never been challenged by the Linap in a fight. They know they are far stronger than we are, and they know they will win.’

‘They are wrong, right?’ called out a tribe member from the Yensid.

‘We will make sure they are wrong!’ shouted Elder Bisko.

More hands were raised as the tribes began to chant. The roars of the Sentray could be heard. It appeared they did not need to be lured. They were already ascending the mountains, most likely in response to the noise the Linap were making.

‘Well done!’ shouted Elder Leo as he looked over the edge at the dozens of Sentray that were now rapidly ascending the mountain. ‘Looks like we have all managed to get their attention. Now, let’s knock them off the mountain.’

The Linap began picking up rocks and hurling them down at the ascending Sentray. The rocks hit the Sentray hard, knocking them off balance, but none of them fell.

‘Let’s go!’ screamed Elder Leo as he and Elder Bisko sprinted away from the edge towards the other Linap. They all turned and ran towards the rock face at the back of the ledge.

A few seconds later, the Sentray began leaping up onto the ledge. They roared as they approached the Linap, who had their backs to the rock face.

‘Spears out!’ called out Elder Leo. ‘We need to force them to stay in place.’

Sentray charged forward as more and more of them leapt onto the ledge. The Linap drove their spears into the Sentray; some of them went down while most others overpowered them. The Sentray lunged forward, biting and killing many Linap. The Linap closest to the rock face were crushed by the sheer force exerted on them by the Sentray.

The number of Sentray on the ledge continued to increase. Despite continuously thrusting their spears, the Linap were now being killed quite easily.

Then, all of a sudden, the ledge collapsed under the Sentray, causing them to fall. This caused a huge chain reaction as they crashed down on the Sentray that were following them up.

‘Keep on them!’ shouted Elder Leo, who was on the ground exhausted. ‘Hit them with everything and anything.’

Dozens of Linap began to climb down towards the injured and distressed Sentray. They hurled their spears at them, and then they pushed whatever rocks they could down on them.

Derek was one of those leading the way. He leapt down on top of one of the Sentray with his spear pointing down. The spear pierced an injured Sentray’s eye, causing her to squeal in agony. All the remaining Linap from the four tribes climbed and leaped down onto the struggling Sentray. The Sentray struggled to gain their footing. This made them vulnerable to attack.

Most of the Sentray who could regain their footing decided to retreat towards the lake.

The surviving Linap cheered at their success. This celebration was short-lived when they realised how many of them had died in this battle. Derek and Matilda climbed back up to what was left of the ledge. Elder Leo and Elder Bisko were still there. A Sentray had killed Elder Bisko, and Elder Leo was badly hurt from when they were squeezed against the rock face. Derek, Matilda, and several others helped Elder Leo down the mountain to their main cave. They placed him down on some furs.

Elsewhere on the mountain range, the other tribes had caused significant rockfalls. These killed several dozen Sentray.

Most of the Sentray had now retreated to the lake. The largest Sentray roared loudly. The other Sentray responded to this roar by leaving the lake and mountainous area.

The news of the Sentray’s departure soon reached the Bramley tribe.

‘We did it!’ said Derek as he smiled at Elder Leo. ‘The Sentray are leaving.’

‘I feel this is only the beginning of a very long struggle,’ replied Elder Leo with a slight smile on his face. ‘We lost so many today, but I feel they have lost much more. I have never known of the Sentray to ever retreat.’

‘We will finish them off,’ said Derek as he grabbed Elder Leo’s arm. ‘I want to work on your next plan.’

‘You, your children, and maybe even grandchildren will have to do that,’ sighed Elder Leo. ‘I’ve played my role. My time is done.’

Several hours later, Elder Leo died of his injuries. On that day, all of the elders from the Bramley tribe died. Their children took their place as the new elders. They would continue the fight against the Sentray.

The Linap had turned the tide against the Sentray in a way most could not imagine. The Sentray who had been poisoned were permanently damaged. They were sickly and considerably weaker and could no longer reproduce. It did not take long before the Linap realised how the poisoning had affected them. They made every effort to continue contaminating the water supply with the algae and the pollen from the Roo flower. They were using this as a shield to keep the Sentray away. In doing so, almost all remaining Sentray had become damaged from the poisoning. The Sentray grew wise to the Linap’s tactics, but by then it was too late; their species was in serious decline. The Sentray tried to maintain their populations by breeding the weak Sentray with the few remaining strong Sentray. However, this seriously backfired as the offspring were now weakened, sickly, and mostly infertile.

Around four hundred years after the battle in the mountains, it appeared the Sentray had been defeated. The population of Linap had massively expanded, and the population of Sentray had greatly shrunk and continued to rapidly decline. The Linap, through their control of the water supply and superior numbers, forced the Sentray to leave the mainland. They headed far out into the great ocean in an attempt to survive somewhere else.

During this time, the Linap society had greatly evolved. They had built small towns all over the continent. These towns were located in what they referred to as districts. Each district had a chief. The chiefs were direct descendants of the elders who started the revolution against the Sentray.

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Images were created with the help of Bing Image Creator

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Sapien Loop Short Stories

Sapien Loop short stories explore the adventures of some of the characters from the Sapien Loop series. These stories are intended to reveal more about individual characters and the events that have helped shape them.

Currently, two books from the series have been published on Amazon; see links below:

• Sapien Loop: End of an Era
• Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time

All individual chapters can be found on my @captainhive account.

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