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  It was Lavinda who replied. “They are not coming. They knew they had a choice to make. They could have fled with us and fought the Yaki on these trails, in which case we would all have died, or they could try to slow the Yaki down long enough for us to escape. They cannot slow the Yaki down by shooting a few arrows at them and then come running after us. No, they will fight the Yaki until the last man is dead. Why do you think they had these big strong boys lead us into the forest, when the boys could fight almost as good as any man? These boys are here in our men’s place. They are now the men of the village. We are all that is left of our village and we must press on if we hope to survive.”

  The whole encampment was silent. Here and there you could hear a woman’s sob or a young child’s whimpering as the truth sunk in. Suddenly, Kara wiped her eyes and stood. She walked over to Alex and hugged him and without a word started walking up the trail. One by one, the rest of the women and children rose and followed. Several nodded to Alex or patted his shoulder on the way past.

  There were no stragglers during the night. Alex stopped the group each hour for a rest. There were no more questions and the rest stops hosted only quiet whispers. A couple of hours before sunrise, Alex began noticing signs of forest life, scant at first, but increasing as they went on. At the next rest, he decided it would be safe to let the group sleep for a while. Alex let Kyle and Laman sleep as well, while he stood guard. It was quite chilly up here in the mountains and Alex cursed himself for not thinking about blankets. Women and children were huddled together, trying to keep warm. Alex realized that it was going to get a lot colder as they ascended further. The next night he would have to allow time for gathering wood for campfires. Alex reflected on the day’s events. He had guessed that he would not see his father again, even before Kyle brought it up, but his mother’s speech brought it home like a smart crack on the head from a walking stick. He would miss his father greatly. He had spent every day of the last five years working by his father’s side. When he thought of it, Alex realized that he had not only lost his father, but his best friend as well.

  A little after sunrise, Kyle awoke and offered to stand guard while Alex got some sleep. Alex’s sleep was fitful. He dreamed of his father felling a tree and of the split going bad. The tree was falling in slow motion and was going to crush his father. Alex sprinted over and put his back to the huge tree, holding it up while his father slid out from beneath it. The strain on his shoulders was incredible. His father was free, but he could not let the tree down. It continued to press down on him and then started shaking violently. He couldn’t hold it any longer; it was going to crush him, but his father just looked on and said, “Never doubt your abilities, son.” The pressing and shaking continued until Alex opened his eyes and saw Laman leaning over him, shaking him to wake him up.

  “Whhaat?”, stammered Alex.

  “Alex come look,” said Laman. “Kyle can see smoke from the valley. He thinks it might be the village.”

  Alex and Laman scampered up the ridge and peered down into the valley. The village was burning. This was not the smoke of the fire barricade the men were talking about, it was the whole village. The buildings would have been torched only to kill the Yaki inside searching for prey. Alex knew the Yaki would be on their trail now. The villagers didn’t move as quickly as the herds of animals that were trying to escape the Yaki, so the group would be the Yaki’s next meal if they didn’t move out quickly.

  “Okay, friends,” asked Alex, “What do we do now? We have half a day’s lead on these creatures and they can move a lot quicker than we can.”

  “What makes you think they can even find us?” queried Laman.

  “Oh, they’ll find us all right,” answered Kyle. “They are probably half way here already. We’re doomed now. I can feel it.”

  “Look, we’re not dead yet and we’re not going to be,” stated Alex. “What do we know about these creatures and how can we use that knowledge to stay alive?”

  “Well,” offered Kyle, “My grandfather was around during the last attack thirty years ago. He used to tell us stories of the Yaki, but I’m not sure if they were true stories or just something to scare us. He told one about climbing a tall tree and shooting Yaki until his arrows ran out. He said that the Yaki couldn’t climb trees very well because of the way their rear legs are jointed.”

  “Yeah, and my father said they are terrified of fire,” added Laman. “That’s probably why the men set up the fire barricade.”

  After a moment Alex said, “Okay, if they attack like most meat eaters that travel in packs, they will try to distract us while one or two come in for a killing blow. So, what we need is a place for a lot of people to hide. It should have a narrow opening that we can defend, such as a cave. I think I know where we are going to defeat the Yaki! There is a large cave about four hours from here, maybe longer with the wagon. Outside the cave are several large trees that we could shoot arrows from. Laman, I want you to sit in the wagon for this trip. Make arrows, as many as you can. Kyle will gather wood as we travel and keep you supplied. I know you don’t have anything to use as tips, so just sharpen the ends of the arrows. When we get there, we will only have a couple of hours to gather wood for fires. We’ll need to gather as much as we can. We must keep a fire going at all times in the mouth of the cave. The women and children can help gather the wood.”

  “Do you really believe that we are going to stand a chance against a horde of Yaki with a bunch of pointed wooden sticks?” groused Kyle.

  “Sure we will,” smirked Laman. “We’ll trounce the little critters and be wearing fur gloves by morning!”

  Alex left his two friends battling it out and returned to the camp. The women and children were already stirring. He informed them of the village’s fate and their plan to use the cave. There were no responses.

  Alex was still tying ribbons to the trees each time they changed direction. A portion of him refused to accept the obvious fate of the village men. He was seeing more and more animals as the group progressed. Maybe Laman was right. Maybe the Yaki wouldn’t follow them, but go a different direction instead. Alex couldn’t afford to stake their survival on a guess. Just as likely, Kyle was correct and they were all doomed. Alex started to get his first hint as to why he was chosen to lead the group. He must not make the mistake of leaning too far in either direction. Let Laman and Kyle be the right hand and the left hand; stay somewhere between them. Don’t be cocky and don’t give up.

  After four hours on the trail, Alex called a halt by a small marsh. They could see the cave now above them, but the trail to it was difficult and would probably take another half hour. He thought it would be better for the group to savor this last bit of fresh outdoors before he shut them up in a cave for who knows how long. After just a few minutes, the children seemed refreshed enough to be running around and playing. Laman was cutting reeds and giving them to the children to use as shooters for small seeds until one of the children shot a seed at the farmer’s wife. She was not amused and the children quickly moved to the other side of the clearing. Kyle was still out searching for wood for Laman’s arrows. Lavinda and Kara were taking the small children into the bushes to relieve themselves. Alex lay down on the grass and closed his eyes. The sun felt warm on his face and it felt good to relax. Soon they would all be busy again.

  The scream startled Alex and he was up in a flash. He heard a bowstring sing and knew there was trouble. Alex raced towards the commotion and saw Kyle pushing a little girl out of the woods. The girl was crying hysterically and her mother ran over to comfort her.

  “Kyle,” screamed Alex, “What is it? Are we under attack?”

  “No, No,” yelled Kyle. “No attack, but..”.

  “But what?” demanded Alex as ran up to where Kyle was standing.

  On the ground lay Lavinda, Alex’s mother. Even as he neared her, her body was turning blue. Next to Lavinda was a dead myric with an arrow through its head. The myric was a large marsh animal whose quills were extr
emely poisonous. The scream wouldn’t have come from Lavinda because the poison works so quickly that she would have been dead before she hit the ground.

  “There were dozens of little ones,” said Kyle. “She must have disturbed their nest and the large one attacked her. I was so close, but couldn’t do anything but shoot the large one.”

  Alex said nothing. He knelt beside his mother and held her. His whole world was being destroyed in a single day; his father, his home, his mother. Alex started crying uncontrollably. Kyle left Alex alone with his mother and walked back into the camp. Everyone was whispering and the children were no longer playing.

  Laman started getting everyone ready to move on. Larc, a sturdy twelve-year-old boy, went over to Kyle and offered to help dig a grave. Laman led the procession up the mountain, while Kyle and Larc readied the gravesite for Lavinda. When the grave was complete, Kyle started to get Alex, but stopped. Alex’s large muscular body was still kneeling down holding his mother. He imagined what damage Alex could do in a rage and decided to wait. Larc could see the villagers approaching the cave and knew they must go, so he walked over to Alex and gently laid his hand on Alex’s shoulder. Alex looked back and saw the boy and the grave. Gently he picked up his mother and carried her over to the shallow pit and carefully laid her down. While Kyle covered the grave, Alex walked back and picked up the myric by its mouth and headed up the trail.

  Laman entered the cave first and was startled to find an old man with thinning gray hair and a tall slender golden haired girl already there. “Who are you?” asked Laman.

  “I am Jenneva,” answered the fourteen-year-old girl. “And this is my Uncle Hasra. He is not feeling well so we decided to rest here. Do you own this cave?”

  “No,” replied Laman, “we are from a village in the valley that was being attacked by Yaki and are planning to stay here until we can finish them off. They should be coming soon and then the fun will begin.”

  “The Yaki will not be fun, my young warrior,” stated Hasra. “I was going to ask if you had fought the Yaki to get here, but from your enthusiasm I can tell that you have not yet set eyes upon one. There is no pleasure in killing Yaki; only death. Whether it is your death or theirs will depend upon your comrades’ skill. How many warriors have you?”

  Laman pictured the women and children of the village as they started pouring into the cave and suddenly felt very foolish. “Well, we don’t actually have to kill them all, just scare them away.”

  Hasra watched the villagers enter and asked, “Where are the men of your village?”

  Laman replied, “They stayed in the village to delay the Yaki.”

  “While you got the women and children to safety,” quipped Hasra. “They were brave men indeed. You honor their memory by being bold, young man, but do not be foolish. The Yaki are fierce warriors and will not be scared away. They will leave if you can deny them meat for a period of time though. Your idea of holding up in this cave is a good one. It may work.”

  “Actually, that was Alex’s idea,” offered Laman. “His mother just died from a myric quill and I should make sure that he is coming. You and your niece are welcome to our food and supplies.”

  Laman left the cave and surveyed the surroundings. Alex did choose well. There were two large trees just outside the cave entrance and the path leading to the cave was too small for the cart to pass through. If the Yaki decided to charge the cave they could only come two at a time. Laman decided that they would have to hide the cart and bring the horses inside. He called out to two of the older boys in the group and instructed them on hiding the cart. After it was emptied, they would take the cart back to the marsh and push it into the pond, bringing the horses back with them. Laman could see Alex, Kyle and Larc coming up the path. Alex walked like a puppet; eyes down, feet shuffling, shoulders slumped. He realized that Alex would be worthless if it came to battle. Laman and Kyle would have to take turns up in the trees. Laman grabbed bundles of arrows from the cart and climbed one of the trees. He placed the bundles near a large horizontal branch and attached them to the tree with two of Alex’s tree ribbons. He repeated the procedure on the other tree.

  When he came down, Kyle was just coming out of the cave. “How is our fearless leader doing? Will he survive?” Laman quipped.

  “Not funny,” Kyle retorted. “He hasn’t said a word since he saw her lying there. I’m worried about him. I mean, if he goes berserk, he may just run out of the cave and throw that damn dead myric at the Yaki. He actually brought it with him. He carried that poisonous thing up the path and into the cave. If somebody brushes up against it, we’ll have another body on our hands.”

  “Why not just tell him to get rid of it?” asked Laman.

  “You try to ask him,” answered Kyle. “He hasn’t said a word. He doesn’t even know we exist. Remember the merchant who used to come to the village a couple of times a year? Do you remember the old man who used to ride the wagon with him?”

  “Yeah, sure, we used to call him, ‘The Statue’.”

  “Well that’s pretty much what he was. He couldn’t even feed himself. The merchant had to lift him down off the wagon, sit him in a chair and even feed him. I’m afraid that‘s what Alex will become.”

  “We can’t be spending our time worrying about Alex right now,” said Laman. I’ve got two bundles of arrows in each tree and I’ve sent the wagon back down to the marsh. We need to make sure that there is enough firewood in the cave to keep a fire going at all times and one of us should be up in a tree watching for the Yaki. I’ll take the first stint in the trees and you tend to the firewood.”

  Kyle went into the cave and started getting everyone organized. The younger boys had created a huge pile of firewood just inside the entrance. The women were staking out regions of the cave for their families. Alex sat in the back of the cave, just staring at the dead myric. The new girl, Jenneva was trying to comfort Alex, but he didn’t seem to even know that she was there. Hasra was helpful with information on what to expect when the Yaki arrived. He had Larc and some of the other boys attaching knives to the ends of sticks to use as lances. Kyle piled wood in the cave opening to create a fire barricade. Now all they could do was wait.

  An hour later, the Yaki arrived. Laman had shouted warning just moments before the sound of the pack reached those in the cave. The villagers had only several dozen metal tipped arrows and Laman and Kyle had agreed to keep those in the cave. If they needed to go outside for any reason, the extra stopping power of a proper arrow would be useful. Laman remained in the tree with only his hastily made wooden arrows. Kyle and three of the younger boys had bows and wooden arrows inside the cave. The first two Yaki were cautious, sniffing around the path and heading for the cave. Kyle lit the fire while Laman sent arrows hurtling downward. Laman scored a hit on one of the Yaki and both of them took off howling. Laman thought their hides must be tougher than they had estimated. The Yaki with the arrow in his back didn’t seem to be moving very slowly.

  Kyle realized that he should have started the fire earlier. While the wood was burning well enough, the fire wasn’t large enough to keep the Yaki from charging through. Jenneva seemed to sense the same thing and came over to help Kyle throw more wood on the fire. Suddenly, four Yaki came howling up the path, two by two. Laman was firing as fast as he could, but wasn’t able to hit them. The Yaki reared up as they reached the fire barricade, as if trying to see over it. Kyle ran to get his bow, leaving Jenneva to throw more wood on the fire. One of the Yaki turned back down the path, and with a low growl reversed course and charged the fire barricade. The Yaki leaped into the air and sailed over the fire. Jenneva screamed.

  Chapter 2

  The Village Leader

  Alex was in his yard. His father had just given him a new bow and he was shooting at trees. He missed more often than he scored, but he would get better. Father said he just had to practice. He had to remember to take his time and smoothly let the arrow fly. Don’t try to jerk it or shoot too quickly. Concentrate
on the target and wait for the bow to steady. But it was hard to concentrate with the children next door whooping and hollering. They shouldn’t even be playing by the old well. Their father would whip them if he saw them there. Got to concentrate. Steady. And then he heard the scream. She must have fallen into the old well. Alex jumped up and started running. Abruptly he stopped. He wasn’t a child anymore. He wasn’t in his backyard. He was in a cave with the villagers. The girl screaming wasn’t the girl next door; it was a strange girl at the mouth of the cave. He quickly snapped back to reality. The fire barricade was burning; Kyle was running towards the opening with his bow and Larc was pushing a Yaki back towards the fire with a long stick. Alex ran over to Larc and helped him push the Yaki back. Kyle started shooting at the other Yaki with his wooden arrows. One of them collapsed when he hit it in the chest. Alex and Larc pushed their Yaki into the fire and it howled as its fur ignited. The remaining two Yaki turned around and sped down the path.

  Alex looked at the end of Larc’s stick and saw the knife attached. “Hey, that’s a great idea, Larc”, exclaimed Alex.

  “The lance was Hasra’s idea,” beamed Larc, “but I was prepared for them coming over the fire.”

  “Alex, welcome back to the land of the living,” said Kyle. “We thought we lost you for ever. Jenneva has been trying to coax you out of your prison, but I guess you just needed some action like Laman.”

  “Where is Laman?” asked Alex.

  “He’s outside in one of the trees,” replied Jenneva.

  Alex looked out and saw a dozen wooden arrows on the ground. “Laman,” he shouted, “ come down and get inside before the fire gets any bigger. You’re not going to do any good hitting these beasts in the back and we can use an extra bowman in here.”

  Laman climbed down and scurried towards the cave. Alex grabbed a large log and threw it across the fire so that Laman could run over it. Alex couldn’t help looking at the hideous creature burning in the fire. How were the villagers going to keep these beasts out of the cave when it took both Larc and himself to push back one Yaki that already had a knife in his chest?