Continued from last issue, Anthro is still on the run from the Horse Tribe for having not married the eldest daughter of Chief Tugg: Ita. Anthro had his eyes set on the chief’s youngest daughter Embra instead, and when he was forced into a marriage with Ita, had decided to flee.
Anthro runs across a bear, who corners him up a tree. Before the bear can get Anthro, however, the bear falls to a spear attack. Anthro finds out his savior is Embra, the woman he loves. She also followed him out of her camp. She understands Anthro’s frustration, and says that he must wait for Ita to be married before she can be his. She gives him a small tribal carving to bond to him, and then leaves.
Anthro returns home, where he regales his family with the story of how he escaped Chief Tugg’s camp. Lart, Anthro’s brother who recently became lame due to a wolf attack, listens sadly. Lart is sad that he will never have a life like Anthro’s. The next day, when Anthro and his father Ne-Ahn return from hunting, they find Lart is gone. Based on some cave drawing Lart has done, Anthro thinks he has gone to the cannibal tribe.
Anthro goes to the snow-covered pass of the cannibals to find Lart. Lart is going to sacrifice himself to the cannibal tribe, but Anthro catches him. Anthro gives Lart a wooden crutch he has built, that will help Lart in his walking. Lart learns how to use the crutch on the way back home. Upon returning home, the two find their cave under assault from a tribe of “sub-men:” prehistoric apes.
Ne-Ahn is defending the cave from the sub-men, but he is outnumbered. Larty comes up with the idea to use a rockslide to defeat their foes. Lart uses his wooden crutch as a lever to pry out a boulder. With Anthro’s aid, they set a rockslide that forces the sub-men’s retreat. Lart is welcomed back a hero for his strategy.
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