The first night, no one slept, except Saber. None of the boxes of food broke, so they used them as a defence against anything that may have attacked. Nothing did. The next morning, Aaron and George went to the tree line and picked branches off the ground. When they got enough they came back and gave them to Adam and the girls to sharpen. They grabbed sharp rocks and started.

“Saber come with us.” Said Aaron.

Aaron led George and Saber into the forest. Aaron would occasionally stop and look at the ground.

Eventually they came upon a river, it was shallow, only reaching George’s chest. Aaron grabbed a branch and used it to make a small hole.

“George, put enough water in this to fill it, please. Saber, come here.”

George started to fill the hole with his hands. Aaron led Saber further down the river, until they reached a clay reserve.

“Saber, take a flat rock and scoop as much of this as you can carry.”

Saber had absolutely no idea what this material was or why they wanted it, but he trusted Aaron.

Five minutes later, Aaron came back with a large leaf.

“What is that for?” Asked Saber

“This is to carry the clay and mud.”

Saber put his clay on the leaf. They both walked over to George, who was mixing the mud. George put his mud on the other half of the leaf, and went to grab the leaf.

“Let Saber do it. It’ll be a good time to build more muscle.”

Saber grabbed the leaf stem and started to drag it. The leaf was surprisingly strong, because the weight was at least as heavy as Saber.

It took thirty minutes to get back, when it only took seven to get to the river. When they got back, Adam and the girls had finished, and done more.

While Aaron, George, and Saber were gone, they finished sharpening the sticks and had started to collect rocks.

“Let’s start a fire.” Said Adam

“Won’t that attract Vermi?” Asked George

“No. They are attracted by light, sound, and movement. It is already light out, so a fire won’t bring them.”

“Yes! I’m getting cold.” Exclaimed Evelyn

So within two minutes, they had a fire. Everyone huddled around it, but Aaron walked over to the pile of rocks and picked out a few.

When he came back, everyone saw that he had selected a large, flat, stone, a thick rock, and a lot of small pebbles.

Aaron took a handful of pebbles and placed them on the large flat stone. He then sat there, waiting. After a few minutes, the forest erupted in sound.

In that exact moment, everyone jumped, while Aaron slammed down the thick rock on the pebbles. The forest’s outburst only last a few minutes, and Aaron had pounded the pebbles into a fine dust.

“What was that?” Asked Sarah

“That was Noon.” Said Aaron

“What?”

“Everyday, at Noon all the animals go on the attack. Most only eat once a day, Noon.”

“How did you know?” Asked Adam

“I noticed in the city. When it rained and no one was in the market, everything was quiet, I always heard a sound coming from outside. It always happened at Noon, and only lasted a few minutes.”

“Why did you crush the pebbles?” Asked Saber

“To make sure the clay doesn’t stick to the stone.” Said Aaron as he placed two handfuls of clay over the dust that was the pebbles.

He slowly and carefully molded the clay into a bowl. When he was done, Aaron carefully placed the bowl next to the fire.

“Don’t touch it.”

The bowl had a six inch opening and was a foot tall. It was about half an inch thick.

Aaron then motioned Saber over. He sat Saber down in front of the Stone and placed the mud on the Stone.

“Form it into four bricks of equal proportions.”

“What?”

“Make four mud bricks of the same size.”

By the time Saber had finished, the clay bowl was hard. Aaron replaced the bowl with the bricks. Aaron took the bowl and ran into the forest. When he came back, the bowl was full of water.

He sat down at the Stone, and washed it off with a quarter of the water. When it was clean of the mud and clay, Aaron took one of the flatter rocks and started to grind it against the stone, occasionally wetting the Stone.

“Why are you putting water on it?” Asked Grace

“To make it quieter and to make it smoother. The rougher it is the more likely it is to chip and break.” Replied Adam

“Hand me a straight and thick branch.” Requested Aaron

Saber grabbed it and passed it over. Aaron took his sharpened rock and placed it at the top and center of the stick. He then took another thick stick and motioned George over.

“Hit the rock into the stick, with that stick. Quietly!” Commanded Aaron

George did so, it took multiple, but quiet hits. When it went into the stick, the stick broke in half.

While George was hammering it in, Aaron had gotten Grace to sharpen another rock. This one was long, slender, and was flat.

Aaron told Evelyn to go into the forest and bring back thin strips of cord. When Evelyn got back, Aaron took the cord, which were weeds, and started to make rope.

Everyone was watching, wondering what was going on.

Aaron took his new rope, sharpened rock, and two halves of branch, and put them on the Stone.

Aaron placed the rock Grace sharpened and placed it at the top of one of the halves, leaving about three inches on the actual branch.

He then took the other half and placed it on top. Aaron used the rope and tied it very tightly in three places. One at the top, where the rock was. One at the place for the hand to go, also being used for the handle. And one at the very bottom.

“You made a knife!” Exclaimed George.

“Be quiet!” Ordered Adam

George apologized

“We need to make more of these.” Said Aaron

“But we have the Bayonet knives you made.” Said Grace

“Yeah, but those are meant for stabbing. They will break if we use it for slicing or cutting. These are much more durable.” Answered Adam

And so, they made one for everyone. They then started to lay a foundation for a hut. By the time they were done, it was getting dark.

“Put out the fire!” Ordered Adam

Aaron poured dirt on the fire. George used a stick to make sure the fire was out. They instantly started to feel the chill. To keep warm they huddled together.

This time, they kept a guard while everyone else slept.

When morning came, everyone had a turn at keeping guard.

Aaron assigned George and Adam to divert the river, to come to where they were.

The girls collected more rocks.

Aaron and Saber worked to make more Stone weapons.

By the end of the day, George and Adam had brought the riverbed to the tree line. The girls had collected a pile of rocks taller than Adam, the tallest, and twice as wide as George.

Aaron and Saber had made dozens of spears, and planted them into the ground facing the tree line.

Again, they kept a guard, and again they worked at what they were doing the day before.

George and Adam brought the riverbed into the center of their home and had started to make a well.

The girls had started to help Aaron and Saber to make weapons.

The next morning, George and Adam opened up the dam they had made, and water flooded the riverbed and well they had made.

After that, everyone worked to make mud and build their hut.

They would cover the rocks with mud, making it square, let it dry, place another layer of rocks, cover with mud, and repeat.

By the end of the day, They had made the walls of their hut. They went to sleep in their hut. When they woke, they started to make a roof and door.

For the roof they made an A frame, slanting the roof, out of wood.

They used rocks and mud to cement it to the rest of the building.

They placed branches across the A frame and tying them to it. To make it waterproof, they placed tons of leaves, weeds, and grass on it, and placed more mud over that.

For the door, they took thick branches, and tied them together. They placed thick leaves over that and made three layers of that. Instead of mud or clay, they used they sap they had collected from the trees. When they put in the door, they tested to see if it was see through or soundproof.

George stood in the hut and slowly raised his voice. Aaron was outside with everyone else and told George when he could hear him.

They found out that while inside the hut, they could talk with slightly raised voices. The door made for a good insulator.

“Problem, guys.” Said George as he stepped out

“What?” Asked Sarah

“There is no light inside.”

“That is a problem.” Stated Adam

“Adam, we know, so shut up and use that brain of yours to figure out a solution.” Ordered Grace

After a few moments of silence, Adam perked up, “We could use Dorom!”

“What is that?”

“It is a plant. It glows in the dark. It is a soft blue light, so the Vermi have to be closer to notice it. It doesn’t scare animals, but most of the dangerous ones don’t approach weird lights in the night.”

“Where is this?” Asked George

“It had many different shapes and colors. The only way to find it is to look at night.”

And so they did. While fire would have worked for light, it would attract Vermi and would have to be constantly maintained.

They found plenty around the original riverbank. When they got back they tied all of them together and hung it from the ceiling.

The next morning, Adam worked to make a cover so at night they could “turn on or off the light.”

George to the thickest branch they found, and started to carve it.

While they did that Aaron, Saber and Sarah worked on making shields.

The Grace and Evelyn worked on getting more branches.

When George was done, he had made a shovel. He had halved the branch, taken one of the flat rocks and made that into a point.

He had made two notches into the rock and used that to attach it to the branch.

When he was done showcasing his “Masterpiece” he started to dig a trench.

He started to make the trench in front of the spikes, but Sarah told him to dig it behind it. That way, after the Vermi get impaled, they fall in.

If they had fallen in and climbed back out, they wouldn’t have enough speed to get impaled.

Adam came out of the hut with a proud look on his face. He had simply made a “board” that would go below the Dorim lamp. With that, they would still be able to see in the hut, but it wouldn’t be too bright to make it hard to sleep.

Adam started to collect more clay. He then started to make a wall behind the trench that was being made.

“George don't go past this line!” Said Adam as he drew a line across

The line would allow the trench to be five meters wide. Adam started to build the wall two meters from the line.

When George asked, “Won’t the wall give handholds?”

“Yeah, but I was going to use clay to hold the stones together, so why not put clay on the sides to smooth it.”

“Alright, but use mud, we need the clay and it would be bad if it ran out.”

Adam started the wall by digging a meter down. After he had done that, Adam started to stack rocks in the trench. One layer, cover with mud, layer, mud, layer, mud, make more mud, repeat.

For three days, Adam stacked. By the time he was done, he had made a wall that was over four meters high, and one meter thick.

George had made a trench that was five meters deep, and needed help to get out.

Aaron and Saber had made four layers of spikes. Sarah, Grace, and Evelyn had made a bow, a quiver of fifteen arrows, a ladder, and had make a cooking fire outside.

“Hey, Adam!”

“Yeah?”

“Can you also make battlements at the top of the wall?”

“Yeah I was planning to.”

“Sweet!”

After the girls had made the bow, Aaron started hunting, which was important because they were starving.

They had been eating berries, but that wasn’t filling and the boxes of food they had brought with them, was running low.

Everyday, Aaron would bring home some kind of animal.

One day, he brought back an animal with extremely hard scales, they carefully peeled off the scales, ate the meat, and made armor out of the scales.

Adam and George worked on making a gate in the wall, and Saber helped the girls with whatever.

One night, while Aaron was standing guard outside and everyone was inside, he saw something. He went inside to report it.

“Sarah, Saber, come with me.” Said Aaron, as he peeked a look inside

Sarah and Saber looked at each other, then walked out.

“Yeah?” Whispered Sarah

“Look.” Replied Aaron pointing at the tree line.

Saber looked.

“What?” Asked Sarah

“It’s a Wolf!” Exclaimed Saber, while whispering

“Yes.”

“It’s huge!”

“Yea, I’m going to follow it!”

“Why?”

“I want to see it’s cave!” Then he ran off.

“We forgot something.” Said Saber, watching Aaron run.

“What?” Asked Sarah, also watching.

“When he will be back.”

“Shit!”

“I’m going to sleep.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Same.”

They walked back into the hut.

“Where is Aaron?” Asked Adam

“He is going to hunt a wolf.” Replied Sarah

“Why?” Asked George

“He wants a pet.” Sarah then fell asleep on the girls’ mat, next to Grace and Evelyn.

“Why?” Asked Adam

“I have no idea.” Said Saber

“Well, he has always loved dogs.” Said George

“Yeah, when is he coming back?”

“Don’t know.”

“So for all we know, he is already dead.” Said Adam, who got a slap on the back of the head from George.

“Shut up. If anyone can survive out there while hunting, it is Aaron.”

“Oh well. Let’s go to sleep as well. Saber can you help me tomorrow?”

“Sure.” Said Saber as he collapsed on the boys’ mat.

Nights were cold. It was fall, and they couldn’t make a fire. To keep themselves warm, they huddled together. Grace and Evelyn had wanted to sleep next to George, due to his size, but Sarah didn’t let them, saying, “Girls are not to sleep with Boys, until they were married to them.”

Saber didn’t understand, but it seemed like the others did.

The next morning, the girls worked on making blankets, from the fur of the animals Aaron hunted.

George took a thick branch, and sharpened it in a way that would make the end flat. George took his makeshift shovel and started to dig a trench. Saber and Adam were in the hut working on one of the rifles.

“What are we doing?” Asked Saber

“We are going to reverse engineer it.”

“What?”

“We are going to take it apart to figure out how to make it ourselves.”

“What about the ammo? Aren’t they made out of metal and chemicals?”

“Yeah, but I think I can make a substitute.”

“What is a Substitute?”

“Something to replace the original.”

“How do you place to replace it?”

“For the bullet, we can just use stone pellets. For the Blackpowder, there is a plant that I saw had leaves that is highly explosive when under pressure.”

“Where are we going to get the leaves? And won’t stone hatter under that much pressure?”

“I told Aaron that if he found any during his hunting trips, to bring it. When he gets back he should have a lot. And not if we treat it correctly.”

“So how will use them?”

“We crush them.”

“Won’t that cause them to explode?”

“No. The leaves require extreme and sudden pressure.”

Adam and Saber spent the entire day working on taking apart the Rifle.

While Saber would take it apart, Adam would memorize where, what, and how each part worked.

By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted.

The Girls had made blankets, so they used them that night. The next day, George continued to dig the trench, with the girls’ help. Adam worked on making bows.

Saber went looking for the leaves that Adam was talking about.

Saber was looking for two hours before he found them, but that wasn’t the only thing he found.

Aaron followed the mother wolf for the entire day. It didn’t stop, not once.

Which Aaron found very concerning. If the Mother was apart from the pup, then it would be hunting, but it didn’t hunt anything.

“It seems like it is avoiding all the other animals.” Thought Aaron

The Mother wolf started to slow. The wolf slowly approached a cave. Before it entered, it turned and looked right at Aaron, who was in a bush.

Aaron nearly ran away at that moment, but the wolf just looked.

It didn’t growl, it didn’t take a fighting stance, instead it just looked at Aaron with calm eyes.

It’s eyes were white against it’s pitch black fur. The only thing that was interfering with it’s animalistic beauty was its injuries.

The injuries were obviously caused by another animal.

The Mother Wolf slowly entered the cave. Aaron followed, not bothering to not be seen.

As he went further into the cave, the wider the cave became. Soon the tunnel instantly narrowed. It only allowed for one of the Wolves to go through at a time.

When Aaron walked through, he saw the Mother Wolf in a corner of the cavern, it was huddled over something; something white.

When Aaron approached, The Mother Wolf turned to face him, revealing the thing it was protecting.

The pup was at most a week old. It already had its fur, which was white, but couldn’t stand yet.

Aaron slowly put down his bow and his quiver of five arrows. He slowly walked over.

The Mother Wolf didn’t growl, nor did she do anything to impede Aaron. When Aaron got close enough to touch the pup, the Mother Wolf slowly grabbed it with it’s mouth and lowered it into Aaron’s arms.

“What?”

Aaron had thought that the Mother Wolf hadn’t stopped him because it was too weak. The Mother Wolf obviously wanted Aaron to take the pup.

“Why?” Asked Aaron

“She trusts you.” Aaron whirled around to face the voice. In front of him was a Vermi.

Aaron quickly, but gently put the pup down.

When the pup was down, Aaron jumped to his bow, rolled and drew an arrow, all in one motion.

“How can you speak?”

“Because I'm old.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“The older we get, the smarter we become.”

“How old are you?”

“I stopped counting at five thousand. Could you put down the bow?”

“Will you attack?”

“Have I yet?”

“Me first.”

“No, I won't attack.”

Aaron had no idea why he trusted it, or him, or whatever, but Aaron put the bow down.

“Thank you. If I was hit by an arrow, they would never let it down.”

“There are others like you?”

“None as old as I, but yes.”

“Would they attack me, or my friends?”

“No, in the village I’m talking about, the youngest is three thousand years.”

“At what age do they stop attacking?”

“Never, but around two thousand five hundred years, they realize that they have a high chance of dying if they attack.”

“Why should I trust you about any of this?”

“To tell the truth, I have no idea. I approached you because that Seon didn’t tear you apart instantly.”

“Why does that matter, and what is a Seon?” Asked Aaron

“Seons are what you call Wolfs. Seons are incredibly intelligent creatures. Why do you think the Mother Seon would approach your encampment, let you follow it, and not attack you when you were trapped in the cave?”

Aaron sat down.

“Seons are different from Wolfs, due to one difference. Seons are able to see the past events of a person, for one day.”

“How?”

“Everything you see, for the past twenty four hours, is imprinted on your eyes. Even something with vision capable of seeing your molecules, wouldn’t be able to see that.”

“What are molecules?”

“What everything is made of, but you have no use for that. Seons are special because, while they don’t have the vision required to see molecules, they have a special affinity with eyes. Their eyes are able to see the past, tell whether something is friendly are harmful, and have one to ten vision.”

“Isn’t that poor vision?”

“Oh, I mean they can see things at ten miles what most other living things see at one.”

“Why did you approach me?” Asked Aaron

“Because I am curious. I found your little settlement within a day of you falling from your city. I must say, I am impressed. You are but children, but you have already built a defence that would take dozens of Vermi to take down. I have seen other Humans, all adults, and they usually take a day or two to overcome the shock of being on the ground.”

Aaron adjusted to be more comfortable.

“If fact, I remember that there was one group of Human adults, I think there were twenty of them, and it took a week for them to figure out how to build a grass hut. Meanwhile, you seven children have made a stone and mud hut, walls, spikes, trenches, and weapons. I am intrigued.”

“So why show yourself?”

“Because I have taken a liking to you younglings. I wish to give you help. Ideas, blueprints, locations, and I also wish to tell you that there is a Vermi group of twelve coming to your settlement. They will be there in two days time.”

“Aren’t there Vermi everywhere?”

“No, they follow the animals, and your cities scare away the vast majority of the animals, and the Vermi follow them.”

“So then why are there Vermi coming?”

“They are just wandering with no purpose, but the direction they are headed, they will come in contact with your friends in two days. I recommend you handle them quietly.”

“Don’t you want to protect your own kind?”

“Yes, of course. However, I don’t count those mindless fools as my kind.”

“We can handle the small group, but how long until the large Vermi groups return?”

“After a city passes over, it generally takes two weeks for them to return. Listen well child, Vermi are mindless, but they work together. They hunt you Humans for food as well as for sport. They will work together and round up all the Humans they find in one area, then slowly hunt them down. They will start their hunting ground with your settlement in the middle of it. This means that while there will be an increase of Vermi, there will also be an increase of Humans. If you are able to find them and join together, I believe you can survive the Hunting Circle.”

“So with the added risk of death there is also a chance of gaining more allies?”

“Yes,” Said the Vermi as he stood, “Bring the pup and your gear, and follow me please.”

“But what about the mother?”

“She died a few seconds after you held her child.”

Aaron placed the bow over his shoulders and held the baby in his arms. It was a large baby, filling up his arms completely.

The Vermi lead Aaron to a grove of trees. Inside there was moss covering the ground. This moss was black.

“What is so special about this moss?” Aaron asked

“This moss is called Dark Moss. Obvious name, but also because it lets no light through it. You can stretch it over large distances and no light will pass through. Also, if you place it over your mouth, you would have to scream to be heard.” Aaron bent down and laid the sleeping pup on the moss and felt it.

“Wow, this feels like silk!”

“It is also very warm. Your friends already made blankets, but I suggest that you attach this to the inside.”

“Thanks.” Said Aaron as he wrapped the pup in moss and collected as much as he could.

After a few minutes, Aaron had collected as much as he could carry, and there was still so much more.

“Hurry back, and prepare. Not only for the dozen Vermi coming, but also for the hundreds.”

“Thank you again. Will I ever see you again?”

“Yes, if significant danger is coming, or if I think you are advanced enough for something. Goodbye youngling.”

The Vermi said as he turned and walked into the forest.

Aaron picked up the pup and started the walk home. It was a little before noon when he returned. He noticed that George had finished the gate in the wall, and that there were many more spikes in front.

George came out to help with the moss. Once Aaron was in, and the gate was closed again, everyone surrounded Aaron and questioned him.

Aaron showed them the pup, to which Evelyn screeled.

“Why do you always bring back babies?” Asked Sarah

“Hey! I am not a baby!” Exclaimed Saber

“You’re right,” She turned back to Aaron, “Why do you always bring back toddlers.”

Everyone laughed. After a few minutes of joking, Aaron told everyone all about his trip, including the Vermi and what he told him.

“So we have two days to prepare for our first Vermi Defencive?” Asked George.

“Yep.”

“Good, I have been wanting to test our defences. Saber follow me.”

George stood up and walked to the wall, Saber jogging to keep up.

“How do we know we can trust this Old Vermi.” Asked Adam.

“Well for one, he showed up this moss. With this, we can easily have a fire at night.”

“Fine, we have other things to worry about. Did he tell you how old these attacking Vermi are?”

“No, why?”

“Because according to him, the older they are, the smarter. Plus, we already have knowledge that there are some Vermi that had strong bones that acted kind of like an armor.” Explained Adam

“That’s right! I remember this!” Exclaimed Grace.

“Back during the Land Wars, there were records of Vermi that had bone sticking out that was really strong. Those Vermi also clumped together and some carried crude weapons.”

“I just made a breakthrough.” Exclaimed Adam

“Of course you did.” Muttered Evelyn

“The older the Vermi are the smarter they get right? And the Ancient Vermi you met didn’t have any armor? So my hypothesis is that the older they get, the smarter they get and they get bone armor, but over time, they lose the body armor. And the older they get, the smaller numbers they will have.”

“But, there are records of some Vermi with crude iron weapons with fifty Vermi, while there are records of spike Vermi with only ten.” Stated Sarah

“That’s right. I just don't have enough data!” Sighed Adam

“Hey, that information might be important later, but right now we need to focus on the immediate threat.” Aaron said, trying to cheer up Adam.

“You’re right, but we need to know what type of Vermi we are facing. From the incomplete data I have, we could be facing Spear Vermi or Stone Vermi, both have bone armor.”

“Then let’s just focus on dealing with them. What level in intelligence do they have?”

“Based on data, still mindless. The spikes we have in front of the wall should take down two or three, but with their bone armor, we will have to kill the majority of them ourselves. With their armor, I suggest we use blunt weapons.”

“So then lets just throw rocks at them from the top of the wall.” Aaron suggested

“Yeah that should work, but we should still prepare further.”

“Then let’s go!” Called George from the wall.

“How does he hear us from over there?” Asked Sarah.

“Now that I think about it, in the city, his ears must have hurt like hell.” Said Aaron.

Sarah slapped him over the head, “No swearing.”

“Ow. Still, he slept most of the time. He can probably sleep through anything.”

Adam walked toward the wall, saying, “Come on, we need to go. After all, we have this warm up round, before the real fight begins.”

With that they continued to fortify the cliff.

By the end of the day, they had put spikes in the trench, doubled the froward spikes, added a knee high wall, and placed the Dark Moss around the edges of the cliff.

“And with that, we should be able to have a fire during the night.” Announced Evelyn as she attached the last part.

They all looked at their work. It was crude but it would work.

They had made a fence out of branches and hammered stakes through the Dark Moss into the top and bottom of the fence. They discovered that the moss was strong enough and airy enough that during a mild storm, it should still hold.

The base of the fence was imbedded nearly a foot into the solid rock, and had a base the extended five feet inward. They placed rocks at the end of the bases to help hold them down.

That night, they had their first hot meal and warm night.

The next day, George said that the dozen Vermi would be here today.

“Why do you think that?” Asked Adam

“I don’t know. I just have a feeling.”

Before Adam could say anything, Aaron intervened, “It doesn’t matter. George stay up on the wall and be ready for them. Everyone else, let's get to making better weapons.”

Aaron and Sarah worked on making bows for everyone. Grace and Evelyn made more arrows. Adam and Saber made stone head spears.

Bows require strong, durable, and flexible wood for the body.

For the string it requires it to be stronger than the bow.

The wood for the body is plentiful in the forest, but without the proper tools it can be very hard to aquire string.

To make string in the wilderness, one would require some sort of stringy plant.

One would need to carefully rip apart the plant to get string, but this string is very weak and thin.

To make this string suitable for use in a bow, one would have to strengthen it.

A simple was to do this, is to twist and wet it.

One takes three, preferably long, string, and fold it in the middle of all three.

Take two of the three strings, starting at the fold, and twist it.

Then taking the two twisted string, twist it together with the third.

Then repeat, making sure to keep the loop that appears at the fold.

Now the second part, throughout the twisting, make sure to keep the string wet, but not soaked.

Once the twisting is done, tie the newly made rope tight, but too tight that it breaks, just tight enough to prevent the rope from undoing itself in the middle.

Then soak the rope, keeping it tight, and let it dry, while tight.

Soak it once more, then it is complete. Keep in mind that the rope should never be completely dry. Keep it lightly damp.

Wetter, and it might mess with use. Dryer, and it will break easily.

As Aaron would attach the string to the bow, Sarah would make the rope.

Sometimes the rope would break, so Aaron had to be prepared to catch the wood, before it injured him.

If the rope didn’t break during the bow stringing, Aaron would examine the string.

If it was fraying, it was bad, and couldn’t be used in the bow.

If it wasn’t fraying, then Aaron would slowly draw the bow to full draw.

If it didn’t break during the draw, then Aaron examined it again. If it was fraying, bad rope. If it wasn’t fraying after all of the tests, it was a good rope, therefore a good bow.

It took them nearly seventy failed ropes to get one bow for everyone.

By midday, Grace and Evelyn had made ten arrows for everyone.

Adam and Saber had made two throwing spears and one combat spear for everyone.

While everyone helped make lunch, which was some meat and berries, Aaron went up to check on George.

Aaron climbed up the ladder to the top of the wall.

George was standing there, vigilantly watching the tree line ten meters away.

“Hey, lunch is almost ready.”

“Thanks, could you just bring it up here?” Asked George, not taking his eyes off the trees.

“George, what weapon do you want to use?”

“What?”

“Well, I doubt that you would like to use a bow, and you would shatter a spear. So what weapon?”

“...Hmmm… probably an axe.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, plus eventually, we will need to use entire logs, and for that we need to chop down trees.”

Aaron sighed. “Yeah, I guess we haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“That’s not a bad thing. We should focus on what is in front of us. It is just that standing here, watching, has given me time to think.”

“Well, if you are going to have an axe by the time they attack, I need to get to work. I will have Grace bring over your lunch.”

“Ok, thanks.”

Aaron climbed back down and asked Grace to take George his lunch. After Aaron had finished his lunch, he asked Saber and Adam to help him make George’s axe.

“Alright then, while I make the axe head, I need you and Saber to make the handle.” Aaron said to Adam

“Ok, but how do you expect us to do that?”

“Go to the wood pile, get a stick you think is strong enough for George, then carve out a handle. Make the handle comfortable, but without harming the strength of the stick. After that, carve out a small indent at the near the top, and burn through the other end. We will shove the axe head through that hole and somehow secure it there.”

Adam and Saber agreed and got to work. Aaron went to the rock pile and selected a flat, but large rock.

Using the Grinding Rock, Aaron ground the future axe head into the desired shape, switching out with Saber every few minutes. It took two hours, but Aaron and Saber had made the sharpest and best fit axe they could.

After hardening the wood over the fire, being careful not to burn it, placed the axe into place and hammered it into place with another stick, actually hacking the stick in half with the axe.

Once they had it hammered in, they glue it in using some of the horn glue they had made previously. The girls couldn’t stand the sight of it, and everyone couldn’t stand the smell of the boiling horns.

Once the glue had dried, they sharpened the axe again, and presented it to George.

“Sweet! I love it!” He exclaimed as he grabbed it.

“So you going to use it to hack apart the Vermi?”

“Well, if they have bone armor, then I think I will just use a large branch, but this axe will be my main weapon, and tool.”

After that the Children worked on little things while Aaron, George, and Adam, regularly switched Guard duty.

The day was coming to an end when Adam, who was on Guard duty at the time, spotted movement in the trees.

As much as he wanted to write it off as a little critter, he knew how much was at risk.

“Guys, I see movement!” He called down to everyone.

They all instantly rushed to get to the wall. They had previously placed their weapons on top of the wall, as well as a pile of large rocks to throw at their enemy. Once everyone was in place, they stood there, waiting.

They waited for what felt like an eternity, before they saw movement in the trees, but the undergrowth had prevented them from seeing the cause.

Everything had quieted down, before a dozen Vermi came sprinting out.

The Vermi were naked, genderless, and ripped. No bulky muscles, strong, ripcord like muscle covered their bodies from head to toe.

Their faces, while human looking, were howling, screaming, and snarling like dogs.

With their male bodies, you could easily mistake them for human, except for their white hair, nakedness, and genderlessness.

Protruding out of their chests were bones that protected from their chests.

“Hold your fire!” Aaron called

“Why?” Shouted Adam, “We can hit them!”

“Yeah, but we are terrible shots. Save your ammo.”

Everyone drew their bows, except for George who held up a small boulder.

Once the Vermi had reached the spikes, Aaron shouted, “Arrows!”

Everyone released their arrows. Out of six arrows, only two hit, each in the chest of two Vermi, who continued running.

Three Vermi impaled themselves with the spikes, while the rest continued on.

Everyone managed one more volley of arrows before they reached the trench.

Howling and screaming, they all fell in.

Howling and screaming, seven climbed out.

Howling and screaming, two were crushed by a boulder.

Howling and screaming, two more were shot with arrows.

Adam and Evelyn stabbed down at them with longer spears.

Due to the height advantage, it was much easier to take them out, and they each killed one.

The last Vermi, did something no one expected, attempted to run.

“Take it out!” Shouted Sarah

Everyone shot at it, but they all missed.

Saber walked forward and took aim. He took a deep breath and released. The arrow sailed straight towards its target.

Just two feet from the tree line, the arrow pierced right through its neck.

“That severed its Brain Stem!” Exclaimed Adam

The Vermi fell forward and slid forward into the tree line.