Rough hands startled her awake. An old woman knelt beside Elza. “The hunters are back.”

Elza sat up to assess her situation. The captives huddled together while the returned men harassed the assimilated women and wrestled with one another. A chill crawled across her flesh as she watched them stir one another towards violence. Suddenly, she understood the purpose of the captives. The bonding ritual of the brutes required victims.

She instinctively sought the refuge of the herd, grasping at the other women, seeking a sanctuary from the wolves circling their perimeter. The barbarity of the tribe made sense to her now. Their culture reinforced violence through the deliberate dehumanization of the weak. The words of Hess came to her. I know what will happen to these women. You want no part in it.

Elza hardened her heart. Pain was fleeting and there was no injury her body would not heal. She would endure whatever these monsters did to her. Experiencing creation first-hand was her purpose.

The rowdiness of the camp increased as the sun’s angle descended. Meat roasted on spits until hungry men carved charred, bloody slivers free. Women cooked squash and made fresh bread from acorns while in their midst captives starved. The tribe was like a fire escaped from its pit, consuming everything in its path as it spread death.

A woman assimilated the previous night screamed in the distance. Throughout the camp, the brutes released a chorus of laughter at her distress. Elza buried her face in the back of another captive. I just need a moment to compose myself. Just a moment of peace. I can face this.

Kallig’s voice boomed from nearby. “Tonight we have our way!”

She flinched when the brutes roared in anticipation.

“Why do you do this, Kallig? Are you so afraid of helpless women?”

The roar died out, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. Kallig’s deep voice responded to the challenge. “Go away, coward! You are afraid of the women! I deal with them like a man!”

“I fear nothing, Kallig. Nothing. Everyone knows I am no coward. I let deadly snakes live when they cross my path. You fear women more than I fear vipers!”

“We fear nothing, coward! We want our fun!”

Elza held her breath, waiting for Hess to respond.

After a moment, Kallig spoke again. “Sit on your rock and watch real men, coward!”

Elza looked up as the men surrounded them. There was over an hour left in the day for their ordeal, assuming sunset marked its end. If not, then she could only imagine how long it would last. All night, maybe. Longer if they discovered she did not stay dead.

Rough hands seized one of the captives, a woman covered with pox scars but possessing a shapely figure. She squealed and tried to slip free. A man with a pronounced limp slammed his fist into pox-scar’s belly, then pushed her face-first to the ground. Before the prostrate woman could recover enough to scream, the limping man drove his spear through the back of her hand into the ground.

Hands seized Elza’s hair. She found herself forced onto her back with a man’s knee pressing on her middle so that she could not take a breath. The man on top of her spit directly into her face, then slapped her without warning. As Elza struggled for air, more hands began to rip at her clothing.

Screams and dark laughter came from all around. Elza swung her arms and legs. In that moment, all that mattered was escape. The man above her shifted his weight, letting her fill her lungs with a gasp, then a fist smashed her nose flat. Her arms and legs were pinned in rapid succession. Elza released the precious air into a raw scream. Meaty fingers grasped her jaw and shook her head.

The ordeal was more real than she had believed possible. It was happening and she had no control over it. She didn’t even have enough air for a second scream. Every touch of the brutes inspired fresh revulsion. Her every sense became raw, highlighting the experience.

And then the weight was gone from her. Elza rolled into a ball, covering as much of herself as possible and hiding from them. The volume of the jeers dropped. “Touch her again and I kill you!” Elza flinched at the hands on her, then recognized the gentle touch of compassion and latched onto them. Her chest heaved rapidly and she couldn’t see through her tears.

“You can’t take her,” one of the brutes said. “You didn’t go to fight.”

“I will kill you, coward, ” Kallig roared.

The voice that responded snapped with an authority beyond the bravado of the others. “Don’t you dare touch me. When I die, I come back angry. If I decide to kill you, no one can stop me. Not your whole tribe together.”

“Fight him, Kallig!”

“He can’t take a second woman! He didn’t fight!”

“Quiet,” shouted Kallig, silencing the other men. His tone was milder when he spoke again. “You know the rules. You only get one woman. That one is ugly and fat. Go see Dalana.”

Elza squeezed his arm tighter. Hess sighed. “I will give up Dalana.”

“You trade Dalana for this one? No. You will take Dalana back and have two women.”

“Yes. I give up Dalana forever and you let me have this woman.”

“Do you trick me, Hess?”

“I give up Dalana. I promise.”

“Take the ugly one, then! You are a stupid one, coward!”

Hess squatted and transferred Elza onto his shoulders in a rapid movement. They were away from the brutes in twenty steps. Hess paused to tell Dalana she had to go see Kallig, which sent the beauty into a panic. Elza rode passively on his shoulder until they reached his rock, where Hess dropped her to the ground.

She took a moment to compose herself. “I told you not to interfere.”

“You’re lucky I don’t follow your orders.”

“You ruined my observations.”

“You’re welcome.”

“This isn’t a game! I have a sacred duty!”

Hess pointed to the gruesome scene. “I will let the Creator know all He needs to about what happens here. Those men don’t have to touch you.”

“I could have endured it without your interference.”

Hess spun to face her. “Stop it! I don’t care what you can or can’t endure! The purpose of an Observer is not to endure torments. You think my participation interferes with my observations, but what value does the viewpoint of a victim hold for the Creator?”

“You are a horrible Observer.”

“Stop talking to me, woman.”

“I don’t follow the orders of a coward.”

“In this tribe, a woman obeys her man.”

“You are not my man.”

“I just traded Dalana for you. The least you can do is shut your mouth.”

Elza glared at him. “I don’t like you.”

“I never asked you to like me. I just want you to stop making noise.”

“You are going to regret interfering.”

Hess stood up. “I hope you’re quiet when you eat.”

“Where are you going?” She scrambled to his side before he made five paces.

“Someone was interfering with my observations on the rock, so I’m done watching for the night. I’m going to eat and sleep and pretend you’re not beside me.”

Elza ignored the screams as she shadowed him to the cooking fires. “I really don’t like you.”

“I miss Dalana already.”