Tiger Lung

By Simon Roy

Straight off, beautiful art, detailed map, Tiger Lung is a young man who learns to be a shaman, and traveled between the eastern Carpathians and Northern shores of the Black Sea, Eastern Alps, 30k yrs BC. Tiger Lung enters a cave with his unc and another relative assuring him it's ok if he wanted to turn back, but he walks forward with a candle he's provided by his unc. The elder man before he'd left again, assures the young man doesn't have to go, the ice deep, and better men than even his father'd not made it, he most likely sharing the same fate. The wax gets on the man's hand scaring him as it looks like blood.

In the past, TL's assuring his unc he'd be fine, and his unc wisely points out TL not being worried enough. The Great Glaciers above the valley they lived in is home to many gods and monsters, and the headman's the Wh. Chief, Lord of the winter-killed, and outcast bro of the moon. The Wh. Chief has plentiful servants and those who die on his mtn are enslaved, whether man or beast, then sends his servants to plague the living with cold winds. Wh. Chief also gives knowledge to those who meet him, so he'd risk dying to gain the ancient magic.

TL recollects being shamed by his pop when he'd accidentally broken a flute, which upon handling realized was delicate. A demon's released, so his pop sends him outside as he handles it. Apparently, his pop remains resentful of him, since TL offers to help his ill ma and again his pop dismisses his ability. His pop vows to knock the Wh. Chief off his throne if his wife doesn't survive.

TL falls down a black hole after hearing his name called, eerily repeated, then sees a skeletal body ahead. TL's about to use his knife when the man chokes him and doesn't recognize him, he IDing as Running Lync, shaman-killer of the Ibex clan. RL summons monster spirits as he fights TL. In the end, TL gets his head, the place empty once more. Outside, TL's unc is readying to pack up camp as TL comes out.

A man wakes to mammoth on the move, he waking TL and the woman in the tent. As the 3 hike onward to get away from the dangerous mammoth passing them much too close for comfort, TL wistfully mentions missing the larger group they'd been staying with due to the old crone dying. Thigh Bone, his bro sees some birds, which makes him think perhaps an edible animal is nearby, TL worrying about the birds flagging a larger predator as they see a hyena sitting near a tree. When the hyena runs off, the 2 see a woman in the tree with a dead Tarpan, he thinking his could mean raiders are on her trail, and kidnapping a new wife.

The 2 argue about whether to help her, Thigh Bone paranoid of even hyena's possibly tracking her, but TL gets his wish to have her tag. They set up camp near a boulder, TB building a fire as TL and the mute young woman search for tinder. As TL gets frustrated after the woman stares as he explains the task in broken Tarpan, she sees a band of hyena. When 1 lunges, TL grabs the woman as he yells for TB, kicking a hyena in the jaw.

When they reach TB, he's even more annoyed, since he'd called it and more hyenas were surrounding them. Then a naked woman creature steps forward asking for the woman, she having killed their chief, the girl sad to see her pop's head fall to the snow. Then, the pop's head speaks ghostly truth when TL wishes to know the woman's intentions with the young woman, this being her demon ma. Then, her ma tells her side, which provides how Ten Livers'd seen her naked and sunning herself, taking her skin and herself as his wife, she going along until the fool tries to marry off her daughter, determining it was time he die, with our without the skin he'd held hostage.

The woman then turns back into a hyena after they'd taken the hide off her daughter's shoulders. TB finally pushes the girl forward to allow her the chance to decide, her ma offerring Little Fang chief of her people or being enslaved among her pop's. Little Fang chooses wisely, but TL still can't help, but blurt of how young she is to be making this decision, she looking back with the large hyena, who says, so?

3 boys horse around til 1 commands Marmot to call his dad. TL is met by a clan led by Kingfisher, he soon going to greet an old woman in a tent with a younger ill woman. She'd lost a baby and hadn't returned to her body, TL tasked with retrieving her soul with the help of the old woman drumming and singing with him. He goes into the spirit world meeting Crow, he flies him til getting tired and to avoid a war party, also sharing of a tree seeing the woman he's after.

Crow then flies them to the dead creature who captured her, TL getting her free and waking in the tent, the old woman updating the woman was breathing more smoothly, now. He leaves the tent after the old woman says his pymt'd be an ivory dagger given by Kingfisher. In the night, Crow wakes TL to the monster having returned per his warning to the old woman, who is shocked as the creature chooses to take her despite TL declaring it wasn't her time yet, the creature stating it didn't matter, since following the song, and couldn't get the other, so she'd suffice. TL spears the creature and the woman reveals later at the site of her baby's grave, she confesses having sung the naming song she couldn't sing for her child, and had left a lock of her own hair, TL noting the power of the kinds of songs sung and when they should be sung, he advising how to cleanse the baby's bones the distraught ma'd moved.

Beautiful art, and engaging short stories. I, among many others only wish there was more!