The original message given couldn’t be believed. It came from a gods-forsaken. However, Illan’Klli deigned to demonstrate their infinite wisdom and reveal one of the fated prey to one of the trustworthy scouts. It did not take long to begin our preparations for the Great Hunt. I will lead our people to glory, to the nests and refuse left behind by the ancient prey.
–Notes from the Nyust’taa daily record, spoken by the 19th Nyust’taa Kusi’wi, recorded by Aingin’kalu
Hundreds of keelish thronged, arguing among themselves while they tried to calm the raging hordes of our previously domesticated creatures. Oxfiends thrashed and lowed explosively at each other, but seemed to be held back by the several dozen dead bodies of their own lying in pools of their own blood. Most of the oryxes had disappeared, while the hyenas feasted on corpses of axebeak, oxfiend, and oryx alike. My fangs ground uncontrollably, and I reached out and forcibly pulled the nearest keelish towards me.
“What. Happened?” I demanded, my voice thundering from the subconscious use of my magic.
“I-I-I-I don’t know! They just started going crazy!”
“Sybil.” I commanded, but immediately realized she’d begun her work long before I’d thought to ask her to. “Silf.” I said, turning to the scout. “Do you know where Foire is?”
He needed to think only for a moment before cocking his head and pointing in a general direction. I thundered off in that direction, idly noticing Brutus striding forward and wrenching one of the oxfiends to the ground with a twist of his hips and arms. It didn’t take long for me to see Foire, dodging around the leader of the remaining oryxes. He kept it from escaping while remaining out of its long horns’ reach. I took three long steps, drawing deeply from my magic’s reserves. [Disastrous Discourse] somehow mixed with [Innervating Address] fueled my powerful words as I shouted for peace.
“Remain quiet! Be calm and feel at peace!” Silence didn’t immediately fall, but the herds’ frantic fighting for freedom died down to mere frustrated bellows and shuffling feet. Good enough.
“What happened? Did you see or feel anything? Tell me everything that you know.” I asked Foire as he shoved the oryx back into the general area of the rest of the herds.
“We were moving as quickly as we could, just as you’d commanded. There wasn’t any real warning, just the barest hint of an indlovu presence. Then, all the animals began to go mad, even the wolfstags, a little. At least half of the herds escaped and ran off into the surroundings. We weren’t able to stop them.”
“They wouldn’t listen to any of us either.” Shemira jumped in, glaring hatefully at the calming herds. “I figure the indlovu used their magic just like Sybil, but to piss off and frighten the creatures to flee. One or two of the oxfiends opened a hole in the perimeter, and hundreds followed them. Only when a couple were killed did those behind them begin to slow, but it’s been a close thing.”
“Foire, you feel any of the indlovu nearby?”
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“No, Alpha.”
“Sybil!”
“They are not using their speaking magic at this time, nor can I feel their presence.”
“Suns burn them! The sneaky deceiver Silumkulo kept us there so they could do this! He must have known about Sybil.”
“Or, perhaps he merely retains a confidence in the prowess of his people.” Sybil countered. “We cannot expect our foes to know everything about us, and though we have not travelled especially quickly, we have made good time considering our numbers. Beyond that, this tribe seems to be somewhat antagonistic to the rest of the tribes, so there is a good possibility that they have received no information about us.”
There was no controlling the animalistic growl that bubbled up my throat, but I didn’t want to. Somehow, my vocalized rage touched many of the surrounding keelish and our domesticated creatures, and they calmed in the presence of my emotion.
“Sybil. You said that you didn’t believe the indlovu capable of deceit. Was there something different about him? Why would he be so different?”
“I do not believe that I said that they were unable to deceive, only that they would not lie. I never felt the herdmaster’s true voice, and I cannot speak to the content of his heart as I can with Qaqambi and many of the other indlovu. That they did not speak with their true voices at all with us is, to me, a testament to their natures, however. If there is an indlovu markedly different from the rest of those we have met before, then I would imagine that they came from the Inkulu.
“I beg your forgiveness, Alpha. My presuppositions regarding the trustworthiness of our foes have been proven to be demonstrably incorrect.”
“You spoke and advised as best you could.” I grated out, my anger unreasonably shifting to my Beta. A part of me remembered my dream: beware the forked tongue. I disregarded the sudden memory, instead refocusing on my swarm. “You believed what you said, and it seems you still do, to the greater extent. I still trust you, and your intelligence.”
“How will we strike back?” Took asked, her hands tightly clenched. “Directly at their people, or their herds? Or shall we intensify our hunts in scale and number?”
“We cannot. Not at this time.” The reality settled over me. “There are too many of them, and we’ve seen just how dangerous the soldiers can be, though we’ve yet to test their individual strength. If we marched against their stronghold, even if we could kill every soldier, we can’t do anything to their ufudoluk. That thing could consume most of us in just a few bites, and that without any trouble. We’ll need to suffer through this disgrace.”
“Let it color our futures, but without destroying the present.” Shemira replied, her tone somber. “We are weak now, but we haven’t yet seen what peaks we will rise to. Let’s trust our Alpha. He’s gotten us this far.”
Even with her support, I could feel the slight challenge: you’ve been successful. We follow the successful and the powerful. Looking around, I could see the trust and commensurate requirements in each of my elite’s eyes. I’d led us out of the lands of the Veratocracy, thus probably saving all our lives. However, I’d never slowed since, and if we’d travelled for the better part of a year, then there had better be a final destination worthy of that time and effort at the end of that journey. Somewhat strangely, there was no part of me that disagreed with the sentiment–a mere warrior without the ability to plan or prepare to lead the swarm to victory and success did not deserve to lead.
“I have. And, I am certain that arrival at Nievtra will swiftly lead us to the next stage of our lives. There are things waiting for us there, and we need merely reach them.”
“To the next stage!” Shemira cheered.
“To the Alpha.” Brutus declared.
“To victory!” The rest of my swarm echoed, the voices from the other keelish nearby picking up, rallying faith and surety as they did so, until, with a faster, emptier swarm, I led the way forward, still in the Inkulu lands, ever towards the east.