HORSE  to readers. HORSE to readers. Do you copy?

I just can't stop releasing ready chapters, and my pool dwindles too fast. This chapter is the first to reach my criteria of magnitude. I hope to keep next chapters at least as big.

Let me know if it's easier to read with spaces between replicas. I'm experimenting with visual...no,...how shall I say it?.....externals?...

HORSE. Out.

_______________________________________________________________________________

 "A long, long time ago, far before any beastmen, elf, dwarf, or human walked this woods, a mighty race populated our planet. This race, glorious in it's wisdom and intellect, but weak physically, is known as Ancients. Some say Ancients were much like us, curious and passionate beings. Others claim they were cold and calculating, but one thing is clear, nothing but legends remind us of our glorious ancestors.

   No legend is born without struggle, child. Many hardships stood on their way. They struggled, crawled and invented , they persisted until they reached the pinnacle of existence. Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing, after all. They stopped waging wars, they stopped to look down on each other and, believe me or not, they stopped aging. They understood, that the most precious resource is time, and with all the time in the world in their hands they couldn't get happier. Many historians say it was the time, when magic was discovered."

   He paused for a short while, then said, "Akillah, look at the window and tell me what you see."

   A little bit confused I threw a short glance at the window and replied with a shrug, "Trees, leaves and birds."

  "Hmm. Is that all? Let me tell you what I see. I see a khuru bird prepare a nest for it's children in anticipation of monsoon. There is no male to help her, so she may not finish in time. I see a cocatrice clean its beak after hearty snack. Khuru's male might have become one of such snacks not too long ago. I see ripe akebia fruits lose their silver color because someone failed to gather them in time," he gave an accusing glance to mom and dad, "akebia alcohol is my favourite, you see? I see a rooting trunk of a tree that might fall on your house in a year or two," another accusing glance, "and much more," he finished and looked at me in anticipation. "You were so hasty to give an answer that you failed to notice a good half of what surrounds you, Akillah. Let me tell you, that perception is crucial for magician.  Did you think my question was less important than my story?"

"Yes, elder," I replied. He caught me there.

"There is always something more important than the scenery in the window, little one.

Only with abundance of time did Ancients manage to stop and give their surroundings more thought," he continued with the story. "They were able to see what can't be seen with eyes and hear what can't be heard with ears. A new branch of knowledge made them excited, proud, and, as a result, sloppy. Historians tell that ancients tried to merge their inventions with magic. All the artifacts that were digged out from dungeons are a proof, solid enough to call their statement true. You probably don't know about adventurers, dungeons and artefacts much just yet. What you need to understand is next. Every power should be handled with prudence. The absence of prudence became a signal of their downfall."

  He stopped to talk, took a knife in his hand and finally touched his steak. He shoveled a good piece in his mouth without using a fork and started to chew thoughtfully. His eyes danced all over the house, stopping for a brief moments here and there. One second he looked at uncle, next his gaze and entirety of his attention fell on our ceiling, then his own nose. A minute has passed, then another. He opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, then decided against that and ate another piece. I looked at mother, but she only rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Huuh, ghood shtuff, ur steaks, Gareh," he finally swallowed, "it lacks good alcohol, though. Don't you have akebian purple? No? Now where was I, Akillah?"

"A downfall" I answered quickly. If I didn't know better I  could think he purposely made a pause to check if I keep up.

"Ah, yes, a downfall. To keep things short, no one knows what exactly happened. The weather destabilized and one cataclysm followed after another. Earthquakes, eruptions, flood, all kind of nasty stuff. Ancient's civilization got destroyed and Dark Ages have started. But before going down, they launched one last try to save their legacy, - dungeons. They digged deep holes, built systems of tunnels all over Grandilia, grabbed what they could and sealed the entrances. Some of the dungeons are much like cities themselves!" he said while raising his index finger. "On the surface, however, things were grim that days. Any single creature struggled to survive and to survive they needed to change, to adapt, so to say. Predators grew stronger and herbivores bigger. We, sentient beings, descendants of Ancients, changed too. Dwarves grew shorter to fit in tunnels and inherited Ancient's tinkering nature. Elves got lighter and more lanky to climb the trees. Over centuries their sight got better to shoot off flying abominations, that hunted them on the crowns. Elves inherited Ancient's longevity of life. We, beastmen, grew physically stronger to hunt on the ground, retreating on trees only during the nights. From Ancients we got our volition to raise to the top with our own strength. Humans are the most cunning ones. It's said that physically they didn't change all that much and what they got from forefathers was either adaptivity or endurance. I'm not sure about them. Bastards grew too full of themselves, I think they inherited pride." he wrinkled his nose."Anyway, when Dark Ages came to an end, our cursed life proved to be blessing in disguise. By constant fights for our lifes we secured our future. Our habitation area grew larger along with population. In the end we were strong enough to step outside the safe zone. Since then more than ten thousand years have passed " this last part he muttered barely audible. "Any questions?" he asked and resumed to stare all around him.

"What happened to forefathers in dungeons?" I already guessed, but had to ask to be sure.

"What'll happen to you if I were to close you in this house for a decade?"

"I would go crazy?" Mother squeezed my hand.

"Exactly," he focused on me again, "what became of those poor creatures is not the story for a little girl like you," he gave a short smile to Galena, "all I can say is they're alive, in a way. But don't be sad about them, in a long perspective survival is only an exception. Anything else?"

I wanted to ask a ton of questions but held my tongue. Being impatient could bring a backlash. I decided to go all out on my questions when I'm four, just like in my previous world.

"Then, I'll be the one to ask," he brightened and sat up straight in his chair. "We'll play a game, Akillah. Some of my questions may be confusing but don't worry, just answer quickly. Who am I?" he started without warning.

"You're an elder of our tribe."

"Then who are you?"

"A girl?" I glanced at mother again. was he mocking me?

"What makes you a girl?"

"Age and gender?"

"Am I an elder for the same reason?"

"Hmm. No. Social stan—"

"Can you cry under water?" he asked even before I answered previous one.

"By "cry" do you mean shout or weep?

"Why can't we tickle ourselves?"

"I...don't kn—"

"Are you happy with your life?"

"Yes!" I finally managed to keep up with him.

"Final and most important question. How can you defeat an orc?"

Since it was last question I took a pause."What's an orc?" was my answer. Phew. That was short, but intense.....and weard.

"Good, good" he said cheerfully while showing all twenty eight to all of us, "Galena, gentlemen, it's time for me to retire for today. I'll leave the rest of the story to you," he stood up and left like a storm. Wait, what did his test mean? He left all of us confused and speechless.

"Let me escort you," father was first to recover. He stood up to close the door, but elder Shanahan was already outside. With a sight father went to the fireplace to make some tea.

"I swear, all elders are nuts," Bertram has spoken. "Shanahan is more or less ok, though. You should have seen old Nostus. One time I had spoken to him, he was poking in his nose the whole time. He even tried to poke into mine!" Bertram's eyes widened meaningfully. "Old man died the year Graven was born."

"What about the story?" I joined the conversation. Can't let them drive off too far.

"Yes, the story. It's getting late so we better hurry?" Mother nodded to Bertram so that he could continue, "You see, originally beastmen lived not in Feral Forest, but on the island in Hidea’s Ocean. That island is our holy land, the sanctuary of our genesis. Basically this island is either a small crater or huge old volcano. It’s thick walls protected us from wind and weather for thousands of years and it's forest and lake fed us just as long. When Cataclysms came to an end we all wanted to leave, but didn't know which way to go. During the first Council of Elders it was decided to send one tribe as scouts.... your tribe, Akillah." he patted my head with a smile. "For another thousand years we stayed on our island before one single boat came back. A figure in tattered robes, an elder just like Shanahan, told us the direction to dry land, to Feral Forest. On the shore we were met by descendants of scouts we sent, but they were not the same. All of them had bloody red eyes." He took a pause to take a breath.

"Wanna some tea, brother?" father arrived with boiled mixture of flowers and leaves.

 "Yes, please," he took a sip before continuing, "...red eyes, yes. But that was not the only change. Our brethren have gone....wild. They did not speak much, they always kept distance from us and each other,.....they hunted alone. You see, in old days this forest was much more dangerous. Our brethren fought for thousand years to make the shore habitable for all of us, but in the end they turned into battle crazed animals who couldn't differ friend or foe. A sad tale it is. We named this forest "feral" not because it was wild and dangerous, but because of what it did to our kin." He looked into his cup for a while, than took another sip. "We couldn't live with them side by side any more. As we occupied more territory they moved further to the edge of the forest. That's when troubles really started. After reaching the edge they encountered another sentient beings… humans. Fights had broken right away. We joined the fight to protect our kin and won the war, but from humans point of view we became more like animals than a race. Many more conflicts flared up here and there over the history. Our red eyed brethren grew scarce in numbers and less uncontrollable, but the damage was done. At some point humans started to take our kin in slavery to fight on arenas and coliseums. When it became clear that not all of our kin are fit for battle, they started to enslave us for household purposes. Slavery and wars. That's what our race recalls when they see red eyes. Very few remember how your tribe fought for us and led us from durance.  I heard this story from previous chief. It's one of those that shall not be forgotten, but I'm afraid not many red eyed beastmen are left to remind of it. Only two, in fact," he looked at me and mother with pity, then smiled and drank the rest of his tea. "Is everything in this house tasty? I could use another cup, please."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Sure, dear." this time mother went to the fireplace. For some time we sat in silence.

"But I'm not getting angry easily, mother ain't mad too. Where is the problem?" I don't seem to get it.

"Of course you're not. Ferocity decreased over the time and now it's almost all gone. There are exceptions though. If you were to receive an injury, for example. The look of your own blood will make you angry, little Akillah," Bertram exhaled. So that's what's the case? I won't be able to control myself if I'm injured?

"Is that the reason for me to not become a warrior?"

"Yes, that is," uncle answered with sadness.

"Can something be done?"

"No, not to my knowing," he shook his head, "you could become tailor like your mother, or gatherer. Your mother may not look like it but she lived alone in woods for a long time. She can teach you herbalism. How about that?"

"Mom, have you ever had any such...issues?" I decided to ignore Bertram for a while.

"Oh yes she did," the one to answer was my father, "and she was the most beautiful creature in entire universe in that moment. That's when I fell for her." He talked for the second time today. "I was but a stripling, trained in the garrison. One day we were patrolling and found a trace of slavers. After catching up with them we saw a scene I won't ever forget. Among slavers stood Galena, holding the side of her face, her blood dripping in her basket with flowers. She was breathing so hard we could hear it behind the trees. We already encircled slavers by then, and were ready to launch an attack, but next moment Galena let out the most dreadful battlecry I ever heard and began to shred slavers into piec—."

"Graven, you're going to sleep outside today if you won't shut up," Galena returned with another teapot. Here she goes again. On the most interesting part.

"Ahemm, let's just say it was a miracle none of us got injured. We were safe because we ran away just like slavers. Some of them were even faster than us. Do you imagine a human running through jungles faster than trained beastman? Not all of us returned to the garrison the next day, though. Nirav swore to newer take anything sharper than scissors in his hands, works as gardener until today. Can't blame him, my own hands trembled for three days too. Also, Credell suddenly got interested in transportations. Those were such a nice times," he steeped in nostalgia, "I started to train twice as hard when heard Shanahan let Galena stay just barely outside the village...." he continued to talk nonstop.

  It was good to see him energetic again, but my own thoughts have gone heavy. I do not want to become a gatherer, or tailor....or gardener. While reading those folklore books I have already decided to become strong. No, I decided that even before I was born. There is no television here, so how can I see everything this world can offer without being there, without traveling? How can you travel in the world full of slavers without being able to protect yourself? I already knew what could happen if you're defenseless, my past life plays a good example. Now I have another problem....a severe one. The stronger I'll become, the more endangered those close to me will be.

"Father, who stopped mother's rampage?" I asked. I wanted to know how strong a person needs to be to calm her down.

"No one did, she bled out and fell unconscious. Elder claimed her afterwards. Bertram could stand up to her now, but not back then. And what's up with "father" and "mother"? Are we not your "papa" and "mama"? Didn't we give you what you wanted?" he reached and pulled on my cheek.

"Ok,ok,dad. I got it," my last straw broke miserably......or not the last?

"Uncle Bertram? Can someone in this village except of mother and father injure you?"

"Nonsense! There are less than ten thousand beastmen who could hold even a second against me. I was a Branch holder after all." He seemed very confident. "Branch holder" did not tell me much though, I made another mental note in my imaginary list of questions to ask later.

"Uncle? Are there many beastmen you can't injure?" I asked again with a thought that my next question will decide everything.

"Ngh. I don't know. Probably around eight hundreds are stronger, give or take a hundred. But being unable to injure," he fidgeted in his chair. "Two...no, three hundreds."

"Uncle? Is there someone who could beat those warriors without even an injury?"

"Hmmm, Old Duncan coul......wait, you don't think..? You better leave that trail of thoughts, young leady!" he narrowed his eyes, "Old Duncan trained until his death at one hundred and fifty four."

  My ears dropped down in despair. That was it. Mother grabbed me and hugged from behind while sobbing quietly. She didn't say much, and probably felt guilty all the time, since she knew I wanted to become strong. In my past life I encountered many handicaps. I knew how to tear down obstacles. I always knew how to set goals and how to reach them. But now, for the first time in my current life, I didn't know what to do. I used to fail many times before succeeding, that's just how life works. This time, however, I was robbed of the chance to even try. Tears already found their way on my cheeks.

"Wha...hic....what am I?..a cripple?....am I a cripple?" It hurt bad. I hugged mom and started to cry for real.

"I'm sorry Akillah, we didn't mean to...," uncle said with worry on his face.

"It' is late, brother," father's voice was grim, "you should go.... Galena, try to put her to sleep. I'll talk with Bertram outside for a short while."

"Hush hush baby girl....hush," she swayed her hand in direction of the door telling them to leave.

Graven's POV

  We stood outside leaning on handrails I installed this morning. Was that really today? Some days are longer than others, especially this one. "She is so smart, brother. You saw it yourself, she understands everything. Ancestors are my witnesses, she didn't deserve it."

"Yes, brother," he said sorely, than added, "She won't need anything, I promise. As long as I am chief of this village. No, even after that. You know we don't leave behind those who can't hunt."

"Not all the riches of whole village are worth this girl's single tear, gentleman." rang cheerful voice behind us. I turned right away but Bertram stood still. Did he hear elder coming?

"Elder Shanahan, we thought you left." I couldn't hide my surprise. Well, I'm generally bad at hiding things so no wonder.

"No, you thought I left," he emphasized "you". "An interesting cub you have there, Graven, truly a wonder. So smart, so persisten—"

"Did you hear the rest of our conversation?" Bertram's tone was firm as a rock.

"Oh yes, I did."

"You asked her your questions. Can she become a magician?" he thought for a second, then added, "she needs something to hold on to."

"Hmmm. Both yes and no. From one side she is perceptive, and, as I told before, perception is crucial for magicians. From another side she is extremely logical. She goes from the point A to point B using the shortest line, obvious to the fact that sometimes straight roads are not the shortest ones," he raised his finger and showed it first to me then to Bertram. "She considers options and gives logical answer on questions that have some meaning and has no answers on meaningless questions. She actually plans and reflects on her life! Have you ever seen a three years old girl that gave some thoughts to the concept of happiness? She doesn’t get amused or surprised by the world. Life for her is not a mystery, but a line of decisions." He looked at us with his brows raised, than his face got thoughtful. "My answer is such, she can become a decent mage. Anyone with guidance can, in fact, the only difference is time spent. But she would be peerless...matchless as a warrior," he looked at us mischievously, "you know the saying, "there is only logic behind the sword...," he started.

"...and wins the bout not strongest one, but the one who moves less." Bertram ended.

“How do you know about her so much? You talked to her for a while and asked like what? Five random questions? What so special did she tell you?” I mused.

"The importance lies not in what she told me, but how did she do it, hehehe. I mean intonations, pauses....reactions on unpredictable. Anyway, there is but one thing left to say. Three years ago I told Galena that Akillah's fate has something to do with humans and I am obliged to say, that nothing has changed since then."

"What? She never told me!" I raised my voice. "Then we need to hide her, protect her better, no human will catch even a glimpse of my daughter! We shall move deeper into the woods!" I won't let that bastards near her.

"No, Graven, that won't do." Shanahan told quietly.

"Why?!"

"Because we meet our destiny on the road we took to avoid it," he smiled. Why does he smile in all the wrong moments?

"True" Bertram told with a sight while holding his chin.

“How do you even can tell about humans? Maybe there is some kind of mistake? Is there no way for my daughter to stay safe from them?”

“How can I tell? A good question. I could tell for the same reason I came here today. You could call it luck, intuition, coincidence, instinct or whatever. Believe me, all of those are nothing more than an ability of a man to be on his rightful place. Life is like a puzzle, you see. Some pieces fit you more than others. With time and experience you could tell more certain about others dispositions, so to say. But, to be honest, my proof is but a feeble feeling I have ‘bout her. The same feeling brought me here today,” he gave a meaningful pause. “What we need to do, Graven, is to make her prepared to face her destiny on the road she'll choose......no, the road she has already chosen. You could see it in her eyes, Graven. Her entire being screams of her decision."

“Are you certain that’s the only way?” I’ve never felt so many doubts. It’s an agony of a parent to decide upon their child. Will my decision make her happy? Will it doom her?

“Nothing is certain, nothing is eternal. I can’t guarantee my rightfulness, but let me help you. Try to remember Ingrid’s three daughters…”

“But I was young and stupid!”

“Then how about mice and beverages?”

“But that was not my falt!”

“Then let’s move to the most recent one. What would you do without rope I exchanged for your hat?”

This day is already too long, but it seems it’s going to become even longer.

"What do you suggest, elder Shanahan?"