Someone is watching at the edge of the light where the torches failed to reach. Sometimes Teā could make out the eyes, shining for him. He crawled to the cage opening and leaned his back against the boulder, blocking his escape. I can hide behind this rock again. In the dark, safe from watching eyes, he cried. There was no splitting of the day from a night down in the cave. When he woke from any sleep, he cried. After crying, he prayed. After praying, he waited to eat. And after eating, he slept. It was his day and night. Teā looked forward to the tears because it was for his mother, and she reminded him of home and someplace else.

  It was the third or fourth cry after waking. Each time afterwards, Teā felt better, restored. He was less angry now, accepting his condition, and he wondered, if captured in battle would it feel the same? Am I now ready to be a slave, and have I lost my mana forever? When he finished, he began to pray.

  "My name is Turuturu," said the girl, from up somewhere higher up the cave.

  He refused to answer and continued his silent prayers to his father.

  "What's your name?" She asked, closer now, no longer above the cage, perhaps on the cavern floor somewhere.

  Teā reached for the gourd left for him by her, laying between the dripstone spikes. He splashed his face with water and sighed. Should I tell her who I am? Will it help me or hurt me? He remembered when they had first met. He had tried to introduce himself formally, and failed, shamed by his shyness. Why didn't I just run if I was so ashamed? Why did I follow her? He decided to speak, telling her, "you know my name already."

  It was silent for a long time. Teā crawled from behind the boulder to lean his back against the spikes, facing the wall of his cage.

  She laughed before hissing, "Teaaaaa! Son of Wateaaaaa!"

  Her voice was even closer now, the only voice he'd heard since the last baby. He shivered from the memory of the screaming. That is how he found out about the boulder and how he could remain out of sight and see even less.

  Her voice whispered behind his shoulder, "Teaaa, son of Waateeaaaa. Are you born of the gods?"

  He ignored her question, repeated whenever she was in the cavern, but mostly while the Baby Eater was away. It seemed to him she was as much afraid of Baby Eater as he was, despite her saying he was her father.

  "I like your skin. It's like mine. And I am born of gods too."

  "Takali Foto. I know. You told me already."

  "But my god is under the mountain, and yours is in the sky, and they will never meet." She imitated a babies cry, "Waahwaahwaah."

  "I see my father every night when I look up at the stars."

  "And when you look up to the cave ceiling, can you see him then?"

  He knew not to reply. The sky above him was not real but suspected she the cause somehow, or at least knew the truth of this place. It made no sense to him. No moon, and stars in all the wrong places, as if a completely new sky. It was magic, but he didn't know if it was strong or weak. Could these creatures possess mana that allowed them to form a world underground? Or was it the work of the gods. Did Takali Foto put that sky up in the cave or was it Watea, to remind those who live in caves of the outside?

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  "I don't like your name Teaaaaa. I'm going to call you White Robin instead. Because that's what you are to me. A white bird trapped in a cave, blind and scared not knowing where to fly."

  Heavy footsteps quieted both Teā and Turuturu. Teā turned to watch and soon the massive shadow of Baby Eater, holding a torch ahead of him, emerged from the gloom. Over his shoulder was the body of a woman and Teaā began to tremble, afraid for his mother. Baby Eater made his way down to the cave floor. Teā dreaded the thought that somehow Baby Eater had snatched away his mother also and that he was finally doomed, with nobody to rescue him.

  Teā looked for TuruTuru, but she had returned to the darkness. Baby Eater made it down to the floor of the cave and walked over to the large flat boulder he used to cut up the bodies, laying the woman down on top, before stripping her naked and dumping the clothes on the ground. Next, he re-lit all the torches in the cavern, and when passing in front of Teā, he searched the cage and said, "You alive pale boy. I have something for you to see."

  Baby Eater went back to the woman's body and turned it on its side, facing Teā. He was relieved to see it was not his mother, but someone else. Her face smashed in.

  Baby eater held the jaw and moved it, mimicking her voice, "Boy! I was supposed to save you—a master hunter. But I became the prey instead. There were two others, just like me. All trying to slay the Baby Eater but all failed. The best of Kafiki failed. So tell me, boy, why are you so important that Kafiki is sending out warriors after ten years of leaving Baby Eater alone?"

  Teā spoke up, "because I am the son of Watea, the god of the cosmos. I am Matavai's most important son. Greater than a Chief! You need to free me now, or else more will come."

  "More?"

  A high pitched giggle erupted from the giant monster. Turuturu laughed somewhere from above at the same time. Baby Eater searched for her, moving the mouth of the dead woman again, "I hear Turuturu needs a mother. Can I be your mother girl? Come, give your mother a cuddle aye?"

  "Yuck! No."

  Baby Eater moved the head back towards Teā. "Can I be yours?"

  Another fit of giggling erupted from the pair.

  "Teā. His name is Teaaaa. He is the son of Watea! That's why his skin his white like our father."

  "Are you a child of gods too?" He spoke again through the corpse.

  "Then you should know all about sacrifice and ceremony and the power it holds."

  Baby Eater undressed and leaned his giant axe against the wall of the cave. Then he carefully climbed on top of the rock slab to lay over the dead woman.

  Disgusted, Teā watched as Baby Eater spread her legs and put himself inside the woman. Soon he was moving awkwardly, back and forth, until he was all the way in and breathing hard. Teāa turned away, but an arm reached through the cage and grabbed him by the throat.

  Turuturu hissed, "Watch. It is an offering to Haumea, the goddess of childbirth."

  He watched the monster move over the body, a flabby blur. Turuturu moved her hand down from his throat to his groin and began to rub his penis. "We need to help my father too."

  He couldn't stop her as the rubbing turned into holding and moving in time with Baby Eater's motions. I should move away, he thought, disgusted with himself. But he didn't, and he let her finish while Baby Eater grunted and finally groaned, extending himself before collapsing over the corpse. Turuturu left him and rushed to where they kept the gourds and other provisions. She returned to her father and unrolled a mat over him. The monster began to snore. Next, she put wood on the fire and stoked it until it was roaring and the warmth made its way to Teā.

  Then she was gone, up the path around the cave towards the entrance, high above where the false sky waited.

  Teā sighed and cleaned himself up then leaned back on the cage wall, counting the dripping of water from the false sky above down to the cave floor below. He got to fifty before Baby Eater rose and slid off the woman's body. He put on his loincloth and tied his top knot before walking over to the gourds and emptying one over himself. After washing off the blood as best he could, he returned to the body with an obsidian blade in hand and began cutting the skin at the joints. Elbows, knees, around the neck, thighs, underarms, before picking up a small hand axe from off the floor below him among the bones.

  Teā hid behind the boulder holding his hands over his ears to block the sounds of chopping, hating this part of his day.