Published quarterly by Dell Publishing Co
April-June 1964
Artist: unknown?
Having just escaped the Borg, Naza leads the last of the Gairn away from the enemy into a world of constant primeval danger. Their group consists of Naza, the lonely one, Keena, Vang, and the mated couple: Sola and Mair. They desire to go back to the caves of their people. Naza counts on the jackal-dog, Roon Warm-Eyes to help lead them. Naza knows that his people must have a place to grow in or they will simply die in the wilderness.
Vang still desires Keena, and Keena still desires Naza. Naza is acknowledged as the leader of their small band. Vang offers to take up the rear while Naza and Roon find their way home. Vang has an insidious reason for this offer; he marks the trail so that the Borg can more easily follow the fugitives. His hope is that he will become a Borg because he has helped them, and Keena will be his mate when Naza is killed.
After two days, Naza and Roon retrace the path they took to find the Borg in Naza #1. The women slow them down, and Vang lags behind but they make fair time. When they run out of meat, Vang wants to kill Roon, and is stopped by Naza. Even Sola, who is friendly to Naza, states that no beast can be trusted. Naza walks away with Roon stating that the jackal-dog is his friend. After he leaves Vang tries to speak with Keena, but she states that she will not listen to him. It is interesting that when Vang tries to turn her away from Naza by telling her that Naza thinks more of his jackal than her, Keena entertains the thought that if Roon were not around then Naza would turn to her for companionship. A moment later she regrets this thought, as she realizes she must not let Vang poison her mind.
Naza and Roon go hunting. They encounter a gigantic black bull, fully 10 or 12 feet to the shoulder. . The bull is carnivorous, armed with fangs as well as horns. Seizing a leave as large as himself, Naza uses it as a matador uses his cape to distract the bull while he cuts him with his spear. Enraged, the bull charges Naza when he pauses in front of a huge tree. At the last moment, Naza leaps aside, and the bull hits the tree and knocks itself out. Naza kills it while it is helpless.
After cutting some steaks from the bull, Naza and Roon return to the others. On the way night falls, and they encounter a Borg camp. Most are sleeping, but one guard spots Naza and tosses his spear at the lonely one. The Borg misses, then charges Naza with a knife. Naza trips him and kills him with his own knife.
Naza rushes back to the others and forces them back into immediate flight.
They deviate from the direct path home, and spin off in a new direction
to unknown lands.
Running through the night, the jungle turns to desert. Vang complains that Naza has lead them to a dead place where there is no food and drink, but Naza is still confident. He leads them into the desert, not knowing that Vang is still marking the trail. By afternoon they are all tired, hot and thirsty. Naza tells them to rest while he goes on to look for water.
As the sun begins to lower into night, Naza and Roon are attacked by a giant vampire bat. It is man-sized with a 10-12 foot wingspread. On its first attacking sweep, Naza confuses it by commanding Roon to run one way while he runs another. He quickly covers himself with sand, telling Roon to do the same, because he knows that bats have weak vision. The bat cannot see his prey from the air, and eventually lands to find Naza. When he waddles close to them, Naza springs out of the sand and hurls his spear into the beast's chest. It rises into the air and swoops down on them one last time. Naza and run jump out of the way, and the bat crashes into the sand, dead.
Naza sees Roon drinking from the hole the bat had made in the sand and believes that the jackal-dog is drinking blood. Roon guides the Lonely One over to the hole with a muzzle that is not red from blood, and Naza sees that Roon has been drinking water. The hole, created from the bat's fall, dug into a stream under the sand. Now Naza has water. He tries to return to his friends but is stopped by a sandstorm.
Night has completely fallen when the storm is over. Naza is lost. Back at the Gairn camp, Vang councils that he must take over the leadership of the group because Naza is surely dead. Sola, the other man, is not a leader so he opts to follow Vang. Keena resists, though she cannot remain alone and must follow the others. As the retrace their path, Keena calls out for Naza, while Vang follows the trail he had previously cut for the Borg to find.
Vang says that Keena calls a spirit, not a man, but Naza hears her call
and comes. Vang's plans are crushed. He can no longer lead
the Gairn to the Borg where he will take Keena as his mate and turn Sola
and Mair over as slaves. He contemplates hitting Naza with his axe,
but is not ready to take the risk. He attempts to argue that Roon
must be killed for meat again, trying to use the subject as an illustration
that the Lonely One thinks more of his dog than his fellow Gairn.
Naza refuses and they continue on. As they walk, Vang continually
talks to Keena, speaking against Naza, in the hope that she will turn to
him.
After a long day of trekking in the desert, Vang pushes the issue about Roon. He raises his axe to strike the jackal-dog, but is stopped by Naza. Keena asks him, "Naza! You would not spill blood over a beast?"
Naza replies, "Can you not understand? He is a beast, but he is also my friend. My only friend! And so I will spill blood for him. My own, if that...."
His reply is halted by the appearance of twenty savage Borg.
The Borg call upon the Gairn to surrender. Naza, who hates the Borg because they slaughtered his parents, refuses. Vang hits him in the head from behind. It is here that Vang confesses before the other Gairn that he has helped the Borg twice. Once back in the Gairn settlement when he lead the Borg to the Gairn caves, and more recently when he cut a trail for the Borg to easily pursue the fugitive Gairn. The war chief listens and agrees, and offers Vang a place among the Borg for himself and Keena. Vang strikes Keena and forces her to go with him.
Naza rises to his feet, helped by Sola and Mair. He declares that
he would rather die than live as a slave. Then he charges the Borg,
engaging their leader, who claims the right to first blood. Naza
hurls his spear clear through the chief.
Just as suddenly as the Borg had appeared, so do another menace appear. It is a walking army of short, apelike men. They are described as half-men, half-baboon. They had been stalking toward the humans until they had completely surrounded the men. Now they are ready to kill all the men with their sharp teeth and long claws. There are as many as a thousand of them.
The Borg bristle at this new challenge and forget their Gairn victims. Naza does a strange thing. He drops his weapons, and encourages Sola and Mair to do the same. Sola asks why, and the Lonely one explains. When he was a small boy, a strange hunter came to the Gairn. He spoke of the animal men, and how they killed everyone in his party after he and his comrades had been lost in the desert. The hunter had survived because he was a coward. He stood in frozen fear as his comrades fought and died. Naza remembers that the old hunter said, "they kill only those who fight."
And it is true. The animal men pass the passive Gairn and rush to fight the Borg. Vang joins the Borg against this new enemy and a terrific battle enjoins.
Mair mentions to Naza that Keena is lost in the fray. He points out that she did not want to go with Vang. Naza didn't know this because he was nearly unconscious from Vang's cowardly blow when Keena was dragged over to the Borg side. The three Gairn discuss the issue, and though Naza claims that he doesn't know Keena's true heart, he decides to enter the battle to find her. Roon quickly finds her, but just as quickly Vang is upon them. He swings at Naza, and hits the jackal-dog who has leaped in the way of Vang's blow. Two animal men leap on the fighting Vang and drag him away. Naza picks up the injured Roon, and with Keena following him, walks calmly out of the battle. Once an animal man bites Naza on his right arm, but the Lonely One refuses to strike back. He waits until the frenzied beast-man releases him, and then he continues to walk out of the battle. The Gairn escape.
Three days later they reach the jungle. Roon is weak, and Naza's right arm is badly injured. They begin to recognize landmarks and eventually reach the Caves of the Gairn. They have no weapons, having dropped them back in the desert, and are helpless when Vang and two Borg appear.
Vang says, "Because you are unarmed, wounded and weary, we will spare you. Let Keena come with me, give us Naza's jackal for a victory feast, and you can stay here. Otherwise we attack."
Keena's thoughts, "I will go with Vang. he will let Naza and the others live. If not, he will kill them and take me anyway."
She walks toward Vang.
Naza shouts, "Keena may go where she chooses...but Vang must fight Naza! Roon, attack."
Vang laughs, confident that the wounded Naza cannot defeat the two Borg, and leads Keena away. Vang doesn't wish to fight the other Gairn himself. This proves to be an error, for when he returns, hoping that the Borg have killed the last of the Gairn, he finds the Borg dead instead, killed by Naza, Roon, Sola and Mair.
Naza challenges Vang, "Now, traitor, face Naza in battle!." Vang runs off, claiming weakness from his battle with the animal men.
Naza asks Keena if she wants to go with Vang. She explains the real reason she went with Vang, but the Lonely One is too weary to be sure of her. He walks off by himself to stand guard at the edge of the jungle.
Naza turns to his faithful Roon and says, "It is not easy to trust men and women, Roon. Their tongues say one thing, their hearts another. You and I, Roon, we are alone. But we can trust each other, and that is enough."
On that sour note the book ends.
One thing that stands out is the reluctance for the Gairn to fight each other. Even though Vang was a great hindrance to Naza, and later proved to be a bitter enemy, Naza was reluctant to strike him except under the sanction of ritual combat. And there was traces of this civil behavior in Vang as well.
Naza, who is called the Lonely One, is the central theme in this story. Keena loves him, but it is his intelligence, strength and confidence that keeps Sola and Mair with him. It is Naza's tragedy that although he feels responsible for the surviving Gairn, he also feels isolated from them.
The artist on this book was different from all the others. The
artwork is superior, with the Gairn depicted as individuals. Sola
and Mair have light hair, where in later issues their hair is dark brown.
It was this second book that I read first. Its easy to see how
it got me hooked on Naza, Stone Warrior.
Rod H
copyright by Rod Hunsicker 7-5-98
Do not archive without permission.
All rights reserved to original material.
Return to Main Page
Return to Naza page
Rod Hunsicker comments
Get your own Free Home Page