'I think you should tell me everything,' Danug says as I pass him a bowl of the rabbit stew I've been eating for eight years.

I nod. 'Well I guess I should begin by introducing myself. I'm Shana and the little girl is Shala, my little sister. This is our hearth, we used to share it with our mother, but she died not long after everything happened.'

'And what did happen?'

'Well, I'm not really sure. My people were a normal sort of people, probably not too different to your Mamutoi. Just a collection of caves that met every summer for meetings and spent the winters surviving because enough food had been collected. This cave was an old one, one of the very first established. We were well respected amongst the Pripyia.'

'The Pripyia?'

'My people. This cave used to be the third cave of the Pripyia and I guess we still are. Though we have had no contact with the rest of them since it happened. Since the sky burned. I remember playing with a friend, when there was a noise above our heads. We looked up to see the sky had gone a weird colour. We were frightened, everyone was, so we ran back to the cave. The leader shut the barrier when everyone was inside, and didn't open it for at least half a day. When she looked though, the sky had turned back to blue. Seeing that beautiful sunny day made me forget about what I'd seen, so I ran from the cave, shouting my friend to come play. I ran into the barrier.'

'And what about the strange ones?'

'Ah,' she smiles. 'They are just that, strange. But you will see them for yourself tomorrow. They come every morning.'

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Druwez woke up to find he was alone in the cave. Looking around, he saw a cup of cold tea but no Danug.

'He's probably outside,' he reasoned. 'Or in that little cave.' He picked up the tea and started to sip it until he felt the urge to empty his bladder. He stood up, and put on his outside clothes and went outside.

Deep snow filled the valley but he could see footmarks in the snow.

'Stupid fool,' he muttered to himself as he emptied his bladder. 'He's gone hunting. He should have woken me, and I would have gone with him. Far safer like that.' He entered the cave again, and put some more kindling on the fire, realising they were already getting short and he would have to go and find some more. He'd seen some trees not far from the cave, and knew he'd be able to cut some of the lower branches with a hand axe.

But first, he ate some of the dried meat and made some more tea. Then dragging himself back up, he shuddered as he went outside again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I leave Danug to think while I tend to the needs of the cave. As I thought, many of them have morning after headaches and a few are also feeling sick.

'We're dying Shana,' they moan, their eyes only opening into slits.

'My head hurts.'

'Shana, I need you.'

Some of them though, just keep drinking. That is the way of life in this cave now. Some are perpetually drunk, the only way to hide from the reality of our lives.

But the children are different.

'Is it true that there's a stranger?' one asks.

'And he isn't a strange one,' another adds.

'Has he come to save us?' a little girl whispers. I remember my mother delivering her during the first days. She doesn't remember life as it was, only this abnormality.

'I don't know,' I answer truthfully, rubbing her little head.

But now, no one is calling me so I go to my favourite place and I stare out over the valley. And I see two sets of footprints in the snow.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Druwez' pack was filled with cut up branches, and he was just heading back to the cave when he heard someone in nearby bushes.

'Danug,' he shouted, but saw a girl walking toward him.

She stopped when she saw him and said something he didn't understand.

'I don't know your language,' he said, shaking his head.

'Ma- Mamutoi?' she asked, stuttering over the word a bit. 'You speak Mamutoi?'

'Yes.' He smiled.

She smiled back at him. 'My mother is Mamutoi. She taught me to speak it.'

'She is? What's her name? Maybe I've heard of her.'

'She was known as Beytie back then, but everyone calls her Beytia now.'

'Beytie?' he frowned. 'Beytie?' he shook his head. 'No, I've not heard of her. What camp was she from?'

'I can't remember.' She grinned. 'So you are Mamutoi?'

He nodded. 'I am Druwez of the Lion Camp of the Mamutoi. And who are you?'

'Oh,' she blushed. 'I should have told you that right away. I am Bretie of the Fourth Cave of the Pripyia. I am very pleased to meet you Druwez.'

'And I'm pleased to meet you.' He stared at her for a while, but then remembered Danug. 'You haven't seen a big brute of a man wandering around have you. I'm travelling with my friend Danug, but I think he's gone hunting.'

She shook her head. 'Maybe he went with one of the people of the cave you are staying with. What cave are you staying with? The Fifth?'

'No, he's gone on his own. We haven't met any of your people before. We stayed the night in a cave up in the cliff.'

She paled. 'You stayed in the Third Cave,' she stepped back away from him.

He nodded. 'But from the look on your face, I guess we shouldn't be. Is it a sacred cave to the Pripyia?'

'No.' she was still backing away. 'Are you a spirit?'

He laughed.

'You are, aren't you? You've come to trap me but I won't let you take me.' She turned and started to run.

'Hey, come back, he shouted as he sprinted after her. 'I'm not a spirit; I'm flesh and blood like you.' He managed to grab her by the hand.

She shrieked but then looked down at his hand holding hers. 'You are flesh,' she said. She still looked frightened.

'Of course I am, why would you think otherwise?'

'Because you are staying in that cave.'

'Is there a problem with the cave?'

She nodded and gulped. 'That cave is filled with the spirits of the people of the Third Cave. No one knows what happened to them. One summer they just didn't arrive at the meeting, some went to find out where they were but found the cave emptied, all the hearths and the belongings of the people missing. Ever since then, lights have been seen coming from there, and if you get close enough, you can hear the people.'

'But…' he remembered the mysterious light that Danug had seen the night before. 'The cave is haunted?'

She nodded. 'You and your friend shouldn't stay there, or the spirits will take you. You could come and stay with my people, in the Fourth cave.' She blushed.

Druwez nodded. 'Yes, I don't want to stay in a cave of spirits. I will have to go back and get our things and my friend but could you wait here for me?'

'Okay, but I'm not going to come any closer to that cave. And you need to hurry.'

Druwez left his pack with her, and headed back to the cave.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

'Is that Druwez?' someone says next to me.

I turn to see Danug pointing into the valley.

'It is, it's Druwez. Druwez,' he shouts. 'Druwez.'

'He can't hear you,' I say.

Danug shakes his head. 'He has to hear me. Druwez.' He screams his cousin's name. 'I'm here Druwez.'

'It's no use Danug.'

'But… Druwez,' he shouts again.

I watch as the other young man reaches the path, and starts to climb it toward the cave. Toward us.

'He's coming,' Danug grins.

The young man is coming closer and closer, and Danug is shouting so fiercely, his face has reddened. But Druwez shows no sign that he hears him, and as he walks closer, he starts to disappear. Slightly at first, like the colours blending together on an evening, but suddenly, I can see right through him. And then he is gone.

Danug stares at the spot where we last saw his cousin and then turns to me. He frowns. 'I don't like it here,' he says.

'Neither do I,' I comment. 'And I've been stuck here for eight years.'

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Druwez left Bretie in the valley, and started to walk back to the cave. As he came to the small path, he thought someone shouted his name but kept walking, thinking it was only the wind.

As soon as he entered the cave, timidly this time after hearing that it was haunted, he saw that Danug hadn't returned. Shaking his head, he headed to his furs and started to pack them. And did the same with Danug's. That was when he saw Danug's spear shooter.

He picked it up. 'If he'd gone hunting, he would have taken this with him,' he said to himself. 'As it is here, then he can't have gone hunting.' He looked toward the back of the cave. 'Danug,' he said as he stood up and started to walk toward the small cave. 'I bet he's fallen asleep in there,' he grumbled. 'While looking at the painting that looks like Ayla.'

He stepped into the small cave and found it empty. He frowned and was about to turn around when he noticed the painting. Next to the girl who looked a bit like Ayla was another figure now, a big brute of a man who he recognised immediately as Danug.

'What the…'

He stepped closer and reached out to touch the image. But at the last moment, he pulled his hand away as a light seemed to flash in the cave. He stepped backward and then stumbled out of the small cave. Running to the packs, he grabbed both, and their weapons and ran from the cave.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I give Danug my mother's old furs to sleep in, thankfully they are clean enough. But throughout the night, I keep being woken as he tosses and turns. I'm relieved when he finally takes the furs to the mouth of the cave. I join him there just as the sun rose in the east.

'Good morning,' he says, his voice heavy with tiredness and worry. 'When can we expect the strange ones to appear?'

'Any time now,' I answer, already listening out for the first screams.

I don't have long to wait.

'Shana,' voices shout. 'Make them go away.'

I sigh.

Danug stands up and walks into the cave, right up to where the bear like man is standing.

'Who are you?' he shouts. 'Why are you doing this?'

The strange one lifts up his arms and reaches toward us.

I grab Danug's hand and try to drag him backward but at the same moment, he touches the strange one.

And there is a flash of light.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The light blinds my eyes, so I've squeezed them tightly shut but when I open them, I realise I am no longer in the cave. But everything around me looks so strange, that I have no idea where I am. Next to me, Danug is looking around, a frown on his face.

And I'm still holding his hand.

'What happened?' he asks.

'You touched a strange one,' I say, snatching my hand away and blushing. 'You touched one, and there was a flash of light and now we are here.' I shiver as a wind blows around me. 'This place is…'

'Strange,' Danug finishes for me.

And indeed it is. There seem to be stone shelters lining a stone pathway, but stuff is peeling of the shelters and the pathway is full of plant life. There are what looks like cave paintings nearby, hung in the air, and a big thing, round like the sun, but white, it has little boats around it. And there is no one around. Or a sound, except for the constant wind, and flapping noises. There's birds, and other small animals but nothing else. And there seems to be debris littered around. What looks similar to a leather doll lays discarded by the side of the path, bits of white stuff flutter in the wind, and there are weird shaped objects, big things, in lines along the path, they have brown stains on them.

I turn when I hear a noise and see a horse, the kind my people used to hunt, walking along the path. It stares at us, and then turns away, seemingly not frightened about seeing two humans. It stops by a bush and starts to chew at the leaves.

And over everything is the only familiar thing, a greying sky, with white clouds skittering pass.

'Where are we?' Danug asks.

I shake my head. 'I do not know.' I start to walk to one of the stone shelters, stepping over what looks like a hide boot. 'Let's look around,' I say.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

We walk down the path, toward some of the stone shelters. There's a painting next to what I can only assume is an entrance, and Danug reaches out to touch it.

'Don't,' I say. It's just a feeling I have, but I don't think he, or I, should touch the painting which is red on white and shows no scene, just loads of joined up lines. I stand in front of the doorway and shudder. 'I don't think we should go in either,' I decide, speaking this out loud.

'Why?'

I turn to look at Danug. 'Just a feeling I've got, there is something dangerous in that shelter and all the others. I think it would be better if we stayed outside for now.'

'What? Like a bear?'

I shake my head. 'I don't know what like, it's just a feeling. Maybe the Mother is warning me not to enter.'

He nods, and stride off down the path.

Soon we come to a small meadow, well that's what it looks like to me. There isn't so much debris here, the grass is green, and tehre's a little pool of water. I watch as Danug goes toward some bushes wehre wild berries grow.

A loud voice shouts out something behind us, and I turn to see a man dressed in strange clothes and pointing a stick at us. He says something again.

'I don't understand you,' I say, shaking my head.

But Danug seems able to understand. 'He said, don't eat the berries,' he tells me. 'He's speaking in the language of the Sharamudoi, more or less.'

'But…'

The man says something else.

'He says we shouldn't eat or drink anything and should come with him. He said something about a tour and it being late but I don't really understand what he meant by that.'

'Okay,' I respond, frightened as the men that were standing behind the man surround us.

'He wants us to walk,' Danug explains after the man says something else.

We walk back down the pathway, passed the shelters and more shelters until we come to one of the box shaped things, but this one doesn't have brown stains over it. One of the men climbs in, and puts out a hand toward me.

I shake my head, with fear. 'It's some sort of animal or monster,' I say, trying to back away, but one of the other men sticks one of the sticks into my back.

The man shouts.

'He says we have to get in it.'

I nod, swallow hard and take the man's hand and climb into the belly of the beast. He ties me down against a seat and does the same to Danug when he gets in. And then ties himself down and smiles at me.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This animal that I sit in runs fast, I can see the shelters and trees whizzing pass the see through barrier that separates us from outside. Danug asks the man about this, and told me the van, that's what he called it, runs on something called wheels. Circular shapes. Strange as it is, it certainly makes us go fast. He also told Danug that it isn't an animal, but something called a machine but I can hear it growling, and feel it through my body, so I know he is wrong.

We soon come to more shelters, with more people scattered around. Getting out of the animal, we are taken into a shelter and told to sit down.

Then the man starts asking us questions.

'He wants to know if we lost our tour,' Danug says, frowning as he tries to understand what a tour is.

I don't understand the word either, but don't really care because someone, a woman I think, though it is hard to tell when they are wearing such strange clothes, brings us food and drink.

The cup is made out of some sort of hard substance that Danug says is clay. And so is the platter. The cup has some sort of hot tea, though it tastes strange, and there are white things, on the platter. Some sort of grain substance made into bread, the man told us that word, filled with thin slices of meat. I must say, it is nice, especially after eight years of rabbit stew.

And while I eat, Danug talks to the man.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I continue to eat the food, the things they call sandwiches but when the man says one word, I splutter.

'Pripyia?'

He shakes his head. 'Pripyat,' he says, and then other words I don't understand.

'He says we were in Pripyat. From what I can understand, no one lives in Pripyat, not now anyway. Not for a long time. There was some sort of accident, I don't know what, but it made the city not liveable in. He says we are in a camp outside the…' he stops talking and says something to the man who answers.

'Outside something called the exclusion zone. No one is allowed to live in Pripyat but sometimes people visit. He thought that's why we were there, that we'd wandered off from a group, but I told him what happened.'

'And?'

'I think he thinks I am mad, but has sent for someone else to talk to us.'

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

'Where are they?' a man rushes into the room, a white open tunic on his skinny body, and wild hair. 'Where are they?'

'He's speaking S'Armunai,' I say, looking at Danug. 'I can understand him.'

'Is this them? Yes, I can see that they are. Are you really from the Ice Age, or is this some king of trick?'

'Ice Age?'

'When the glaciers spread over the land,' the man says hurriedly. He steps closer and peers down at us. Putting something on his face, so they dangle over his nose and ears. They have two sun like cirlces over his eyes. 'And what do you mean, I'm speaking Sarmuna?'

'S'Armunai,' Danug corrects him. 'The S'Armunai are one of the people Druwez, my cousin, and I met on our travels. You are speaking their language.'

The man shook his head. 'I am speaking English, but maybe…' He grins. 'Interesting. I would like to hear more about the S'Armunai.'

'Who are you?' I ask.

'Yes, yes, quite right,' he says. 'We should introduce ourselves first. My name is Professor James Ridling, I'm originally from England but have been studying something here since the disaster. You can call me James.'

'I'm Shana,' I tell him. 'I am from the Third Cave of the Pripyia. But from what you tell me, the place where we were found, that is where my people live, the city called Pripyat.'

'And I am Danug of the Lion Camp of the Mamutoi, Flint Knapper and son of Nezzie, who is the mate of the male leader of the Lion Camp, Talut, of whose hearth I lived growing up, brother of Latie, Rugie, Ranec and Rydad.'

'And,' I ask, half joking because everyone knows that the Mamutoi are into their ties.

Danug frowns. 'And traveller from the Mamutoi to the Zelendonii and to here,' he adds with a serious expression on his face.

All introductions done, I get to the point. 'Can you get us home?'

James sighs. 'I don't know.' He sadly smiles at me. 'The Ice Age was thousands of years ago.'

I frown.

'More seasons that you could count,' he adds. 'More than the visible stars in the sky.'

I gasp, and look around.

'This is your future, though I think we have more ties to you than we should. I have something to show you.'

He leads us down what to me looks a bit like a narrow cave, into another room. Then he presses something in the wall, and a barrier opens with a sucking sound, and we walk through. This room is big and it is divided by more of the transparent barriers that the animal I sat in. The van. On the side of the room we are in, are seats, and on the other side are people, in what looks like little caves.

I grip Danug's arm. 'That's them,' I say. 'That's the strange ones. The more human ones.'

I run over to the barrier and press my face against it. In her little cave is the woman, with white scars on her face.

'This is Irina,' James says as he walks up to the barrier. 'She used to work in the Chernobyl Power Plant, and was there on the day of the incident.'

I turn to look at him. 'What incident? What happened?'

He sighs. Chernobyl used to make electricity to make things run using radioactive materials…'

'I frown. 'I don't understand.'

'Electricity is invisible, as is radiation…'

'Like spirits?' Danug asks.

'Maybe,' James replies. 'Yes, a bit like spirits. They used the spirits to make life easier for people…'

'But that's terrible,' I comment. 'The spirit world is a sacred place and shouldn't be used by us.'

'I agree,' James says. 'I didn't used to, but that was before the incident when everything went wrong. You could say the spirits got free and made a lot of people ill, people like Irina. Radiation is a bit like invisible fire, it burnt the people who came into contact with it. Burnt them inside and outside. Many of them died. Irina was initially lucky though, until she, along with the others here, started disappearing every day.'

'And appearing in my cave, scaring the life out of us.'

'Yes, they have told me about the cave people they've seen. I guess you are one of them.'

'Yes, but…'

'It has been twenty five years now since the incident, but I think Irina and the others are in some sort of time warp. They haven't aged or changed in all those years. For them, everything has stayed the same.'

'Like in my cave,' I gasp. 'Outside, the seasons change, but inside, the food is renewed every day. We do get older but have not been able to leave the cave. We've been trapped there.'

James shakes his head. 'Like these people.'

'But where's the bear man?'

James blinks. 'Who?'

'The bear man. He looks like a white bear, but has no fur. He has a bubble on his head.'

'There is no one here like that. But…'

He walks over to the see through barrier and presses something. 'Irina, have you ever seen a man in a hazard suit when you've visited the cave people.'

'Yes,' she says. 'Yes, I have. He comes here every day and touches us, and then we disappear and go to see the cave people for a while.'

'But I have never seen him, either in here or on the videos.'

She shrugs.

'Why have you never said about him before?'

'I thought you knew.'

'No, I didn't.'

'So,' I sum up. 'You have never seen the bear man, but he comes every day and touches them. But what I want to know is why? And where is he now?'

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bretie took Druwez back to her cave, where he was welcomed. When the people found out where he'd spent the night, they were initially a bit frightened but soon saw he wasn't a ghost and still welcomed him.

But they wanted to know all about the cave.

'It seems pretty normal,' he said. 'Well at first anyway. It was a bit dusty, but that didn't bother us. But the small cave at the back was different. There is a…'

'Painting,' the leader nodded his head. 'Yes, we have seen it. It seems to show those that lived in the third cave. The ones that are spirits now.'

'Yes, I thought that but…'

The leader arched an eyebrow, while Bretie leant in nearer.

'When I went back to the cave after meeting Bretie, I realised my cousin couldn't have gone hunting so I thought he was in that small cave. I went to find him, thinking he had fallen asleep, but he wasn't there but a painting of him was. I reached out to touch it, but I felt I shouldn't and that was when I saw a flash of light. I ran from there.'

The leader nodded. 'It sounds like your cousin has been taken by the spirits and that cave and that painting are some sort of way into the spirit world. I'm glad you managed to get away.'

Druwez shuddered. 'So am I, but Danug didn't.'

'No,' another voice said.

Druwez turned to see a limping man walking toward them, leaning on a worked tree branch.

'You have to go back and save your cousin,' the man said.

'But Pripyiah,' the leader stood up, and let the man sit down. 'Pripyiah, it would be dangerous.'

'Yes,' Pripyiah said. 'It would, but if he doesn't, then he will never see his cousin again. I have meditated on what happened with the third cave for a long time, and I do not believe that their disappearance has been caused by spirits. Something else has caused it, and that something has to be retified. I feel someone, somewhere, is calling out for help, but none is coming.'

Druwez gasped. 'Danug?'

Pripyiah shook his head. 'No, another but not one of the third cave, someone else, far removed from us. He is the cause of what has happened, and he needs help. Once he is free, then everything will go back to normal. But for that, you have to go back to the cave, and help him.'

'But…'

'There is no other way.'

Druwez gulped and then nodded.

'I will go with him,' Bretie said. 'Let me help him.'

The leader started shaking his head, but stopped when he saw the look on Pripyiah's face.

'He will need help.'

'But it's so dangerous.'

'The Mother is with her, she will keep her safe.'

'So I can help him?' she smiled at Druwez.

Druwez shook his head. 'It is bad enough that I have to go there, but I don't want to bring someone else into this situation. She could be lost to you forever.'

Pripyiah smiled. 'She needs to go but do not worry. I have a plan.'

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

'Why do you keep those people in those little caves?' I ask as we leave the room.

'Caves?' James laughs. 'Oh yes, I see. I suppose to you, they are a bit like caves. We keep them in there because of the radiation, the spirits that burn. The levels fluctuate throughout the day, but there is always dangerously high levels surrounding them. But it's strange, because they don't get any worse. They don't just not age, but health wise, they stay the same too. They aren't in pain, not much anyway, and the radiation does not seem to hurt them but it would hurt us, if they were allowed to leave the cubicles. The radiation has been building up over the years, when they first came here, they had quite low levels of exposure but now, it is much higher. I don't know why, it's a mystery.'

'The bear man.'

James turns to look at me. 'What?' He scratches his head.

'The bear man brings the spirits.' I frown. 'But if he does, then he is bringing it to my people too. But no one is ill.'

James stares at me and grabs my hand. 'You're right,' he says. 'You're right. All these years, all the mystery surrounding the levels of radiation and it took two people from the past to tell me it is caused by…'

'But you didn't know about him.'

'No.'

'So you couldn't have known.'

James smiles. 'No, I couldn't. But now I do and that means that maybe we can sort it out. If we find the man in the hazard suit.'

'But where could he be?'

James sighs. 'With that much radiation around him, there is only one place he can be. Chernobyl.'

OOOOOOOOOOOOO