An Emerging Threat
I. The Morning After
Yavin awoke lying next to Cora. They had fallen asleep in each others arms after the previous nights celebration and feast. He removed her arm and quietly made his way out of the hut. As he exited he walked to the front entrance of the habitat and let out a large yawn as he stretched in an attempt to accelerate waking up. He stood in front of the wall and began to relieve himself as he leaned forward and pressed his head against his arm. He was more tired than he should be, he couldn’t explain it but he knew there was something off with him this morning but couldn’t quite place it. He shrugged it off and tried to convince himself it was nothing as he pulled his pants up after finishing.
As he made his way back inside he noticed footprints leaving the habitat. He knew he should go and get someone to accompany him but his curiosity got the better nature of him. He grabbed a nearby spear and made his way out the habitat, following the footsteps. He was seen leaving by Dreanna who grabbed a spear as well and followed Yavin unbeknownst to him.
Yavin made his way cautiously following the footsteps while observing his surroundings. He braced his spear ready for whatever might be around the corner but ultimately not ready for what he found. As he arrived the scene of the prior night’s battle he saw a couple wolves biting into a motionless body. He chased them off only to discover it was his best friend G’an’n. The wolves hadn’t done much damage to the body, Yavin had arrived just in time to prevent the maiming of the body.
He was frozen.
Unable to move even a muscle.
He was lost in the moment. Time stood still.
It was just yesterday he and G’an’n were laughing and joking around. The laughter and fun was gone from him. He was a stiff frozen corpse but he still retained the look from the prior night. Eyes open, looking up. Though for Yavin, it was almost as if they were pleading with him. Asking him why didn’t Yavin save him? At least that’s what Yavin was thinking. After a long moment he finally gained his bearings, he rushed to his fallen friends side and tried to rouse him but it was pointless, he was gone and there was no going back.
“G’an’n! G’an’n!” Yavin was cradling his friends body as Dreanna came from the same path Yavin had. She gasped at the sight before cautiously approaching Yavin and placing a hand on on his shoulder.
“Yavin…”
Yavin was startled but remained cradling G’an’n’s body, he looked up at Dreanna tears streaming down his face.
“It doesn’t make any sense.” Yavin buried his face in G’an’n’s chest and sobbed.
Dreanna looked around and noticed the trinkets on G’an’n’s body.
“Yavin…”
Yavin didn’t respond.
“Yavin!” Dreanna grabbed him and pulled him away. “Look!”
She pointed to the trinkets on and around G’an’n. “We need to let your father know what happened.”
“Tell me! What happened?!” Yavin demanded.
“G’an’n was killed and we aren’t safe. We have to go now Yavin. Please.”
Yavin reluctantly rose to his feet and left G’an’n behind, he and Dreanna returning as the others had already begun to go about their daily duties. Badan and Gunthry were already at work on the Saber hide that Baku had killed. They were in the process of fashioning it into a hooded vest to wear beneath his regular furs. No one had indeed noticed that G’an’n was gone yet. Baku, Cora and Poli had not yet awoken so they had yet to notice their missing brother either.
II. The Unspeakable
Yavin and Dreanna ran up to Badan and Gunthry, Yavin still wiping tears from his eyes.
“Son, what’s the matter.”
“It’s G’an’n.” Dreanna interrupted.
“What about the boy?” Gunthry wondered.
“He’s…” Dreanna didn’t want to say it.
“Out with it.” Badan demanded.
“He’s dead father…” Yavin spoke up weakly, the strength in his voice gone.
“What?” Badan asked with surprise in his voice. “Speak up, son.”
“He’s dead, sir.” Dreanna offered up in order to prevent Yavin from having to say it again. “Yavin followed a trail of footsteps out the front gate. I saw him and followed. When I got there Yavin was already holding him. He had been dead for a long time. The blood next to him was frozen.”
“Thank you Dreanna. Gunthry, get Dhiig and Farin and get Vivae and Li on watch immediately and find out whose job it was to be on guard last night. I would like to have words with them.”
“Aye.” Gunthry took his leave in order to do as Badan requested.
Badan turned back to Dreanna and Yavin, both in a state of distress, though Yavin was seemingly shut down in a state of shock over having lost his best friend.
“I told him we needed to grow up.”
“What?” Badan inquired.
“Last night. Before he left, I told him we needed to grow up. We played a trick on Baku yesterday, but…”
“None of that matters. You are not to blame. G’an’n made a choice, why he made that choice I don’t know but we will find out who did this and I promise you we will make them pay.”
“We better.” Yavin looked up, the thought of vengeance beginning to take over his thoughts instead of the sorrow that had been filling his heart.
“Let’s get ready. I’ll need you to take us back there as soon as Gunthry returns.”
Badan, Yavin and Dreanna walked over to the weapons hold. Badan and Yavin grabbed a spear as did Dreanna, at which point Badan looked at her puzzled.
“Um…”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, you’re not. You should not have gone out in the first place.”
“If I hadn’t, Yavin would still be holding G’an’n and he might be dead too.”
The response angered Badan, but he knew she was right. Even though women weren’t allowed to be warriors, had she not been there who knows what would’ve become of Yavin. He was stuck in not wanting to admit she was right, but also not wanting to go against their custom that kept women from being fighters. He was at a crossroads but not ready to make the decision.
“Dreanna, I need you to do ask you are told right now. We will revisit this on another day soon.”
Gunthry had gathered Dhiig and Farin as well as Vivae and Li. They all grabbed their weapons and made their way out the front gate as Li and Farin stayed on guard.
III. The Missing Body
Yavin had steadied himself enough to point his father and the party towards where he had found G’an’n. They followed the footsteps, through the snow into the treeline and through the forest until the reached the clearing where G’an’n was. Except he wasn’t.
“He was…” Yavin looked around in disbelief, he pointed to the tree where he was leaning, “…he was right there.”
Vivae walks over with Dhiig as Gunthry and Badan look around the forest, seeing if there’s any sign of anyone else, but they find nothing.
Vivae crouches over where the body was and sees the frozen blood. Dhiig walks around the clearing observing the disturbances on the ground where the battle took place. He can almost visualize the scene, but he doesn’t know who the stranger was.
“Any idea what happened Dhiig?”
“G’an’n fought fiercely. His footwork was impeccable, but his opponent had experience and knew each attack before G’an’n did. He fought well, but he never had a chance. Whoever this was, I do hope they are gone.”
A twig snaps in the distance.
Badan and Gunthry remain at the ready, they can sense it in the air.
Badan quietly but sternly states, “We are being watched. Be ready.”
Yavin had been looking around and a little further ahead of the clearing, back deeper into the forest he found a trail of footsteps.
“Father, look!”
Badan and the others cautiously made their way down the trail Yavin had discovered. As they continued down, the trail had again disappeared.
“Halt!” Badan ordered as everyone else circled up back to back with one another. They readied themselves for an attack that would never come. After Badan felt secure they
weren’t at risk of imminent attack they again continued forward looking to find a trail once more. They would find another trail, this time one made of fresh blood. It was obvious they were walking into something, but what exactly they did not know.
They continued cautiously moving forward, following the trail of blood to the end and seeing where it took them. As they crept forward they could swear they could hear howls and laughs in the distance. It was not that of an animal, but it had the distinct tone of man.
After a long and uneasy journey they would arrive at the end of the bloody trail.
IV. The Sign
What they would see when they arrived shook them to their cores, each man there was not ready for it. As they had reached the end of the trail of blood it would turn into a pool of blood. The ground was saturated. Badan took one step in and felt it soak his foot, he took a step backward as he saw what had become of G’an’n.
G’an’n was propped up on a fallen tree at the center of the pool of blood. He was seated as though he were someone of royalty. His arms were in front of him wrapped around a spear and in the center of the pool of blood.
Yavin went to run and grab the body but his father had restrained him.
“G’an’n of the Bone Herd was a great warrior.”
“Who are you? Show yourself!” Badan commanded.
“It’s a shame your people did not value him.”
“You don’t know what you speak!” Yavin screamed.
“Had you, he might not have died.”
“Dhiig, any idea where it’s coming from.”
“The voices are coming from different places. We’re surrounded…how many is another matter. It might be an even fight, but it may not. What would you like us to do?”
Badan takes a moment to think about the situation, knowing that whoever is out there is playing with them, trying to see if they react foolishly or make smart decisions.
“Everyone, we’re going back now.”
“Father?!”
“I’m sorry…we have to leave him.”
“Listen to ye father boy. We’ve no choice.”
As they warily made their way back the trail they could hear the laughter echoing in the distance. It was a tense journey back to the safety of the walls of the habitat, but they made it back without incident.
“Shoulda rushed em. We had the numbers. No way’ll be back if they had the numbers.”
Badan reflected on what Gunthry said, and although he was right, they all made it back without incident. All except G’an’n. He knew the peaceful times were over, that the good times were now in the past and that they had to ready themselves for a coming war. It had been so long since their last battle, their battle with the Patac. They had gotten comfortable in their lives hunting and enjoying the warmth of The Fire.
He wondered if they had perhaps gotten lazy. Soft. Had he? He was older and not as nimble as he was then. Nor was Gunthry. While they were still the leaders, he knew it was wise to admit that they had lost a step. They were not the men they were when the founded the Bone Herd.
“We must gather everyone and prepare. These times will be trying.”
V. Gathering
The whole Bone Herd had gathered around The Fire except those one watch. Badan was uneasy and the feeling was spreading among the people, he could sense it and knew he had to speak up and do what he could to quell the concern.
“I have some hard news to tell. Some of you already know, but most of you do not.” There was a series of quiet whispers going through the crowd.
“G’an’n was killed last night.”
Cora could be heard wailing inconsolably as she and Poli embraced. Baku was shocked by the news, unable to react in any way. In one sense he was happy because G’an’n wouldn’t give him trouble, but he was conflicted, even though he was considered a man as he passed his test, he was still a boy in his mentality. He understood death, but he couldn’t see the big picture and as he had constantly been at the butt of G’an’n’s pranks, he would admittedly feel happier than he would care to admit.
The crowd had become more uneasy as Cora’s wails had gotten louder. Truset and Drea had moved towards her to comfort her and calm her.
Badan continued “Now, what we saw out there…I need you to know that we are on alert, we don’t know who is out there or how many there are, but we need to be on guard at all times now.”
“I’ve been telling you this would happen!” Gova chimed in. Gova had often been an obstacle in Badan’s plans though he had never been a danger to his leadership.
“Yes, you have Gova. But would you rather life in freedom or under strict guard. What way do you wish to live?”
“That’s it, I wish to live! You all know that there are dangers out there. Dangers we don’t even know about.”
“Gova.”
“Let him speak.” An unseen member is heard from the background as several others agree, “yeah!”
Badan concedes to Gova who continued, “We know that although Badan and Gunthry founded this great home, at what point do we protect this home? Too often Badan allows strangers passing through here for trade without worry of consequence. It was probably from one of them this threat comes. We need to be ready. Every able bodied man needs to be at every entrance and exit.”
“Yeah!” The crowd agreed.
“And the women need to be supportive and provide the guards with anything they need without question.”
Most of the men agreed “Yeah.”
“Are you finished Gova?” Drea interjected.
“Am I finished? Gunthry, get your woman.”
“Aye, she’s right. Ye finished.” Gunthry stood beside Gova imposing himself on him, Gova being the coward he was did not wish to challenge Gunthry, backed down.
Drea continued, “Badan is not perfect. None of us are, but he has protected and provided for us. He has helped us all have a life here. None of us are here without him.”
“There is some truth in what Gova says. We do need to be on guard. We are on high alert moving forward. Every man is on duty. I ask that you women support those on guard however you can.”
“That’s bullshit Badan.” Truset spoke up.
The crowd hushed.
“You are making us servants. We have every right to defend our homes too.”
The women in the crowd agreed although they remained silent, not wanting to stir up conflict.
VI. Ifko
The commotion had become so loud that it could have easily gotten out of hand. Gova played up the crowds insecurities as Badan continued his approach of letting everyone get a chance to say their peace, a democratic system, he would rarely ever go against the will of the people but sometimes a leader must lead. This was not that moment, however as an unexpected source would quell the talk.
Ever since he had been injured during Yavin’s first hunt, Ifko often remained in his hut more often than not. It had become difficult to get around as his legs had lost almost all their strength, he could still move them, but with great difficulty. He had been fashioned wooden supports to help him get around but due to his large size, it would prove incredibly difficult as in the years since the injury he had gotten a bit softer. His arms were still incredibly well defined as he would often crawl around his hut, but when it came time for food, Yavin would often bring him whatever he needed whenever he needed. And if Yavin wasn’t there, he always had a backup plan.
Things had become too disorderly for Ifko to remain inside this time. He knew he had to get out there. He pushed himself into a seated position and grabbed his wooden supports that helped him walk little by little. It took him a long time to reach the crowd, but by the time he arrived Truset had just interjected.
“My friends” Ifko’s voice, much like he had once been, was larger than life and boomed loudly over the commotion and caused the conflict to cease as the crowd took a moment to listen to what he had to say, “there is no reason for such a commotion. What is the problem?”
Badan walked over and looked Ifko straight in the eyes, “G’an’n was killed. There’s someone out there.”
“Is not jus tha’ tell ‘im…”
“The way we found him, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Farin added. “He was seated on a tree trunk. Holding a spear and surrounded by a pool of blood.”
“I wish you could’ve been with us my friend” Badan looked at Ifko seriously.
Ifko after hearing about the scene sighed deeply. The crowd was anxious to hear what Ifko would say as it had been so long since he made his way by The Fire. He positioned himself where one would if they would tell a story to the tribe.
“Badan, it’s time. I’ll tell them my story.”
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