Chapter 102 - The Battle with the Elders part 1

The thought of sinking my fangs in the necks of those old villains stirred me to passion. I left the boy with a stern admonition to keep out of trouble, then I took to the tree tops and flew through the boughs and branches down the side of the low mountain. I paused near the border of the plains and scampered to the top of a towering spruce, clinging to the swaying trunk to look out across the undulating green landscape. Very far away, the orange light of a couple campfires glimmered on the plains: the warriors the Elders had sent after us. But the warrior camp was kilometers away. They could never hope to cross the distance to our hiding place in the rugged hills before I returned, even if they knew which direction to travel, which I'm sure they didn't.

I toyed with the idea of descending upon them. Without the boy to look after, I would make short work of them, and I'd fed very little before setting off on my mission. It might be enjoyable to take a couple of them for my dinner, send the rest of them fleeing in terror… but my heart shied away from the needless cruelty. The offense did not lie with the huntsmen; it resided with their masters.

Pushing aside my brief fantasy, I took a better grip of the spruce and leaned back, causing the top of the tree to bend earthward. As it rebound, I used the forward momentum to give my leap a little extra oomph. I stretched out like a bird in flight, my arms spread to my sides for a moment, before I twisted around in midair and descended into the emerald canopy below.

I weaved my way through the limbs and foliage, climbing, swinging, leaping from branch to branch. When the forest thinned, I dropped to the ground and sprinted across the grassy plains, pumping my arms and legs at full speed.

Every now and then I look a mighty leap to get a broader view of my surroundings. I made better speed when I stayed earthbound, but it just wasn't as fun.

As I drew near the country of the Ground Scratchers, I slowed my advance.

I flitted past the few scarce huts sprinkled along the perimeter of the strange tribe's territory, those peculiar dwellings made of sticks and grass and stone. I could smell the bodies of the inhabitants sleeping inside, unwashed men and women, curled up with their children for the night. Some of the homes were surrounded by patches of exposed earth with food plants growing in rows within the borders. Other huts were adjacent to enclosures imprisoning sleeping animals: reindeer and more of those great, feathered beasts we'd seen the day we first entered the country of the Ground Scratchers. The gargantuan birds hunkered in dug out depressions in the dirt with their heads tucked under their wings, an outlandish scene.

The sight of the enslaved animals disturbed me. My people were hunter-gatherers, and though my tribe had lived off the bounty of the land, we were children of nature. We had no delusions of its mastery. We did not try to enclose it or possess it… or our fellow man.

These Ground Scratchers are grasping fools, I thought. What kind of madmen think they can possess the world?

Or perhaps I was the fool, and time had moved on without me.

My passage went unobserved. My silent movements did not even rouse the dogs.

I rounded the hill and looked down upon their primitive little city, impressed again by its breadth and the multitude of dwellings therein. The moon gleamed on the surface of the winding river beyond. Torches gleamed and flickered, so many it looked like the stars had fallen into the avenues of the village.

The task of finding the elders among all these homes suddenly seemed daunting. How could I find the old degenerates in this vast settlement without roaming from hut to hut? I was fast and silent, but eventually some sentry or servant would spy my movements, and then I would have to flee once again.

Then I thought of Aioa—beautiful, fiery Aioa—and I thought of Ilio-- his innocence lost forever-- and I gathered my resolve.

Holding my anger close to my heart, I descended unto the village of the Oombai.