Chapter 30

De-lah POV:

The first thing you notice is always the stench. It’s not particularly revolting, not overly strong nor does it have a specific scent. The smell just feels wrong. The next thing you notice is the bugs, little pests, feeding on the blood or the sweat or the flesh, perhaps a mixture of all three? After that you notice the heat, the fact that you can see this person burning up right in-front of you, yet they seem so… so cold. I’ve gotten used to it though, the damp and heavy feeling when you know death is imminent. Looking at his barely open eyes, his sunken cheeks, his raspy breath, as if every draw of air were a struggle to survive, I clenched my fists. Something that I’ve done a lot of lately, if not for him, we wouldn’t have escaped the slavers. We’d have been “servants” for Aki knows how long.

“How can we simply allow some outsider to take charge of our clan?! Has he suffered with us? Sacrificed with us? Experienced loss with us? Is our pride so cheap, have we fallen to the level of servants? If so, then why did we run from the Lakri in the first place?!” Thamil orated with indignation.

Thamil, my sworn brother, was born in the Golden Lands. They're taught many things there, ‘khounting’ and ‘wreeting’, whatever that is. I quickly learned that he was much wiser than I. It's for that reason that I asked him to speak on my behalf, rather than letting myself get torn apart by the hunger-crazed women.

As if on cue, a string of belligerent outrage burst from the mouths of the women gathered in the tent. “What is pride worth when we are hungry? Will we just watch the children starve and die?! If you are so great, go and hunt more prey, who would we need then??”

Although Thamil tried his best, it wasn’t long until he too lost his temper at the incessant yelling and insults, and the debate devolved into a yelling match. “WE’D BE ABLE TO FEED OURSELVES IF IT WASN’T FOR YOU WOMEN AND ALL OF YOUR KIDS!!” Thamil roared as he stood up, as if ready to pounce. Refusing to back down, the de facto leader of the women fired back, saying, “IT WAS ALSO ‘US WOMEN’ WHO HELPED YOU TO ESCAPE IN THE FIRST PLACE! MOREOVER, WHO FORAGED FOR FOOD WHEN ‘YOU USELESS MEN’ COULDN’T BRING BACK A SINGLE HARE?!”

This entire time I tried my best to remain silent, sinking into my thoughts to avoid interjecting, but I couldn’t take this, I wouldn’t! “It must be very easy to judge when not one of you has spent a single akigi on the hunt! Any of us can pick berries, or weave a basket. Which of you can grab a spear, head into the wilderness, and return with anything other than an empty stomach?! There will be times when prey is scarce! That’s the way of the forest, only you women who haven’t known struggle can dare to shift loyalty when times are hard.” I spat in disgust.

Surprise flickered in Thamil’s eyes, and scorn and rage lit in the eyes of the two women across from me. The older of the women, Saha-mi’s, nostrils flared as her hand whipped out and slapped me squarely across the face. “Don’t know struggle?! You’re still a sparkling! How dare you-”

Before she could finish a tired and weak “Enough!” sounded from the center of the tent.

Immediately everyone, myself included, quieted down. Ignoring the pain that ebbed from my cheek, my head snapped to the man as Thamil cried, “Father!” quietly, while edging closer to the weak man.

“Thamil!” Shah-mi said, whilst fixing her clothing, a maneuver to calm her nerves. “You have to convince these … boys, to see the bigger picture,” She said while looking at the frail person in front of her. “We have no direction, we have no experienced hunters, the kids are starving, and there are predators all around us! How will we survive the coming great white with these conditions? These outsiders offer us food! Clearly they’re better hunters than us, because they followed the trail of De-lah and your son after they stole from them.We can’t think with our hearts here, rather with the wisdom that the ancestors instill in our heads.” She finished with an air of righteousness

Just as Thamil the younger took a deep breath, ready to interject, Thamil the older said, “She’s right,” as he let out a haggard cough, “The trail has gone cold, and we need to make a decision.” He continued while breathing heavily. “What these outsiders seem to be offering is an alliance rather than servant status, let’s at least hear them out… completely, before deciding what is good or bad for the tribe.” He sighed before sinking back into the folds of the hides that surrounded him. As he returned to a comfortable position he said, “When they return… bring him… Pino, so we can have a talk.” Scanning the room one last time, Thamil the older closed his eyes, adjourning the meeting and prompting everyone to leave his tent.

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Thamil the Younger POV:

De-lah and I strolled the perimeter of the tribe slowly as we independently digested everything that's happened only a little while earlier. After collecting my thoughts I said, “De-lah… Father is right, you know that.” while looking vigilantly into the surrounding forest.

His lack of response caused me to follow up hesitantly, “If you truly thought we didn’t need them, you would’ve turned down his offer then and there, instead you sought the opinion of the council… you know what’s good for the tribe.” I said. Pausing a moment while I released a deep sigh, I finished with, “You’re my oath-brother, I love you and will support you, because I owe you my life. But I wouldn’t be able to face the ancestors without saying, this might be our last chance at survival… and I think we should take it.” After I finished speaking, a deep silence ensued. We simply walked, keeping our eyes on the tree line and maintaining the quiet atmosphere.

A lifetime seemed to have passed before De-lah finally said, “I can’t forgive him, or what he caused, but I can pretend to forget… for the sake of the tribe.” A small smile played on my face, “Thank you, I’m sure that-” Before I could finish my sentence, De-lah put his hand up to stop me, “I’ll take the first rove.” Then he turned his back and stalked away.

Pino POV:

As we made our way through the forest, avoiding snagging branches and trying our best to not ruffle the duff, I turned to Attila and asked, “Do you remember the plan?” as I grasped my spear and readjusted the sack on my shoulder anxiously.

“Yeah, yeah!” He responded in annoyance, “This is the third time you’ve asked bro!” I smiled at his use of ‘bro’ . It annoyed me how much he says brother. ‘Bro’ is much more my era, and to my taste. “Just repeat it for me one more time, then I promise I won’t ask again.” I said softly. This was a pivotal part of the plan, right now I have to suppress all the other emotions and focus on what matters long term. Population was a problem I was concerned about even before we left the forest, and now a population pie dropped into our lap. I can’t let this opportunity pass by… but of course this comes with its own risks. They’ll outnumber us and… “HELLO!” Attila screamed into my ear.

Jerking my head away and shaking the ringing from my ear I cried, “What the hell was that?!” completely flabbergasted. “That was me getting your attention, so I wouldn’t have to repeat myself for a tenth time!” He said pointing an accusatory finger at me. “Anyway, you will go in alone with no weapons. We’ll pretend like I didn’t follow you because I’m guarding prey from thieves.” He said pointedly. Ignoring his choice of words, I nodded for him to continue, “If the negotiations become violent, I’ll take one of the women or children hostage so that we can make a clean… and hopefully bloodless escape.” he sighed. After hearing him regurgitate my plan essentially verbatim, I finally let the tension escape from between my eyebrows. Now the only thing left is to convince these people to join the Tesr banner…

….

Exiting the brush, I saw the other ‘hunter’ who helped De-lah steal our food, patrolling vigilantly around the gathered tents. ‘At the very least I’ll give them points for effort,’ I thought. Not wanting to startle him, I called out while slowly walking forward to make myself known.

As I approached, the small clan quickly woke up, the children and the younger of the two women swiftly hid in their tents. At the same time De-lah, the other boy, and the older of the women walked forward together to greet me at the entrance of their encampment. “This won’t be easy” I muttered to myself as our two groups closed the distance between each other.

The ground was slightly wet from the morning dew, the grass was a hardy and vibrant green, the color of spring. We stopped, just outside of spear thrusting, or sudden dagger charging range. The wind rustled, picking up the damp leaves and causing the trees to whistle and sway.

I held my spear up horizontally in both hands, then slowly, symbolically… I cast it on the ground in front of their feet. “I come before you alone, and defenseless.” I said while motioning at the spear at their feet. “I come in peace, and want to talk about a future that will benefit all of us equally!” I declared.

There was a silence that I felt crept into awkwardness, but luckily the woman stepped forward to respond to my words. “I am Shah-mi, the mother of our young tribe. We are a people who only seek peace, full stomachs, and freedom.” she said. Although she sounded accommodating enough, the emphasis she put on the word freedom made it clear that they desired freedom over food or a lack of conflict. Through those words alone she made clear their clan’s bottom line, and the negotiations hadn’t even begun. She’ll be a tough cookie.

Her and I held eye contact for a moment, finally I smiled and extended my hand towards her. The three of them tensed, I was startled and also readied my body for battle, but then I realized my mistake. Laughing I explained, “Ah, among the Tesr we shake our hands together whenever we meet someone for the first time, or even just as a greeting.” After that I demonstrated the handshake a few times before successfully shaking hands with Shah-mi. With that taken care of, I was led to the central tent, where the true negotiations began.

The Tent of Thamil the Older

There was a vague scent in this place, as if some ghastly smell had been shooed from the room recently. When my eyes adjusted to the interior of the tent, the first thing I noticed was the large man in a seated position. His hair was golden and tinged with red, his eyes a piercing sea green with bluish hues. He wore thick furs and sat in a relaxed and confident manner.

My first impression of him was that he was imposing, but as I walked closer, I began to see under the facade. His eyes held deep and dark bags, his brow was tinged with sweat, and his face held a sickly paleness. This man was sick, injured, or both. Regardless, that wasn’t the point of this meeting.

Shah-mi, who’d proven herself to be quite the diplomat, began the introductions. “This is our Chief, Akii (1) Thamil of the Golden Plains, and Akii, this is Pino Tesr of the Tesr tribe.” She said smilingly.