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The nation Chapter 72
The caravan would be the largest ever to cross the land, there were over eight hundred people already to leave. The group had a diverse skill set and would have everything they needed to start a new settlement, once a suitable location was found. The plan to cross the Domea came straight from Rognvald, he was being too ambitious. The land was vast on this side of the river, to the northeast mountains loomed providing some shelter from the weather, going east was not the only option. The group does not have to cross the Domea, but Rognvald wanted to cross the river, a feat only performed by the Buffalo; a creature three times the weight of a man. The Domea river was fed by ice melting from the top of the great mountain range that will become known as the Spine of the World. In spring, the ice melts, breaking apart large chunks that get stuck down river. When these backups occur, the melt water builds up behind it, waiting to escape in a rushing torrent. After the spring melt, the rive
The nation Chapter 73
Pushing his way through the doorway, Rognvald immediately saw the only fire that was burning, and the lone figure that sat near the tub. The figure by the tub did not move when Rognvald entered, it sat unmoving, giving him another shiver. The room felt cool, even with the fire burning, the light didn’t reach far from the pit were it burned. The smell of the fire was subtle, it was a common fragrance throughout the village, Rognvald went to stoke the fire. He thought, let’s get some light in here, and drive out that chill.“Leave it, we won’t be here that long.” The figure spoke, before the figure stood, it bent down and picked something up out of the tub. It was a small bundle of some kind.Rognvald stood straight after the figure spoke. He dropped the log he was holding and watched the figure bend down and pick up a bundle from the tub, then the figure stood. As Rog watched, the figure materialized into Harden.“Harden! I, ah.” He stammered, “I’m here at your request.”“Don’t sound s
The nation Chapter 74
Erek was overjoyed to have his son but confused as to why. He was walking next to the wagon where his stepmother and siblings rode. He didn’t want to do this alone, and he fantasized about Indra being alive and leaving with him. The last time he saw her she looked so sad, he wanted to hold her and make everything alright. He wasn’t sure about his feelings and knew he had no one to talk to about them, Briaunna was his only friend, and he would never tell her about his feelings for her mother. Lost in thought, Erek walked automatically.Harden stood stoic on the west side of the field, he was still quiet and withdrawn, but he knew he had to see this group off. He had said as many goodbyes as he could then he walked over to where he stood now. His arms crossed over his chest, his shadow was long behind him, his hair was sticking up on the left side of his head. When he told Briaunna about her little brother she was in disbelief, he didn’t lie to her, he told her the truth. Harden told hi
The nation Chapter 75
After the reseeding the Land was slow to recover, the growth was hampered by weak light from the distant star, and the things that grew struggled. The skies were hazy and fought hard to keep the light out, but the haze could not keep all of the light from the ground. When some of the things that grew took root, slowly the world recovered, slowly the green things grew and helped to clean the air of the haze. Then and only then, were humans on the Land. The animals that remained were hardy and stout, they had survived an extinction event and it was supposed to be their time to prosper, but the humans were clever and began to learn, grow stronger, and to hunt. The spirit of the planet, Oshwee’laho’ka, could see what would happen before it happened, she could see the humans and their potential. The spirit knew then what she must do, she must keep the humans in small bands and never let them gather in larger groups, for she knew that these large groups would turn into locusts, consuming ev
The nation Chapter 76
“Callum,” Bastien needed some help gathering wood to keep the fire going all night, “let’s get some wood for the fire.”“Alright.” Was Callum’s response.“What about me?” Asked Raymond, “what am I to do?”“Keep the fire going until we get back. Finish setting up the shelter and put away the gear you used.”“Okay!” Rosie said, enthusiastically. As long as he had something to do, he was good.“He can be annoying, don’t you think?” Bastien gave a sly grin to Callum.“Yeah, it’s a good thing he has such good friends, otherwise, someone could take advantage of him.”“Yeah, good thing.” Bastien had a smile on his face, “but what I really want to know is how are you doing?” The smile went away.“How do you mean?” Asked Callum.Neither men saw the shadow that moved like a cat, it was slick like warm fat, and moved efficiently to follow them.“I mean with everything that has happened. Ondu being torn in two, Kaya being torn with it, and Marx, well, where the hell did that come from?” Bastien w
The nation Chapter 77
The two went on talking after that, they commented on the state of the village, the food shortage, and the psyche of Ondu’s people. The Blue eye remembered Lady Utpahl, she was one of the nicer people in the village to her. Secretly, away from the gossips eyes or ears, Lady Utpahl would treat her like a person but as soon as they weren’t alone the Lady would go back to the soft shun that was the Blue eye’s life. But those times were still in her mind, a tear fell from her nose, she had not felt it come, the memories from her time in Ondu where still there. Then she remembered her mother, Sokonan, and a kindly old gentleman named Davyn, and more tears flowed. She could not stop the sniff that came involuntarily this time.“What was that?” Callum asked.“A sniff, like someone sucking in snot.” Bas was about to get up, then he heard a few sticks break and a swift rustle of vegetation, all went quiet.“Who the hell would be sniffing out there?”“No one, or nothing,” Bas said confidently,
The nation Chapter 78
From a spot down wind of the herd, a predator stalked unseen towards the watering hole. He was not picky, but he was shrewd, shrewd in a way that only a powerful predator could be, he used the distraction of the two-legs to get closer than he would have been able to get normally. The sleek black fur of this male leopard was not a detriment to him in the tall green grass, he moved like a shadow and looked like nothing out of the ordinary, just a shadow blowing across the grass. The leopard remained downwind, stalking his way towards the watering hole. He was a solitary hunter, he has a family; a mate, and three cubs. He was not the only hunter with responsibilities, other big cats were watching this herd to. A band of coyotes, too small to take down a buffalo, waited for the leftovers. A pride of female lions crouched low in the grass, they were upwind from the herd, and the buffalo had their scent, blown to them on the winds.Oblivious to the danger lurking around them, the caravan bu
The nation Chapter 79
“He must see something.”“Or smell something.” Said the second man.He had seen the herd and knew that there were cats watching them, he stayed with the traveler’s. Nothing happened as they began to pass the herd, the caravan made a few of the mighty animals raise their heads but garnered no further attention, it was a rather large herd and they had little to fear from the two-legs. Then time slowed for him, he sensed but did not see something that set the herd off. The huge and heavy buffalo raged from an attack by a solitary male leopard, the cat took down an adolescent near the watering hole. The one dog felt each moment as the buffalo scattered in every direction, a pride of female lions were flanking the buffalo before the leopard’s successful kill ignited the large animals. The huntresses were cautious and opportunistic as the herd trampled everything in their path. He didn’t smell the coyotes until they were in with the caravan grabbing some small dogs and harassing the people
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- The nation
Chapter 141
“Alright,” Rognvald said, “that was a good walk.” He pulled Lilly towards his chambers, she wanted to resist but she was ready for him, her body waited excitedly.Oren walked over to the wailing wife of Hastiin, he knelt down and put his fingers in the cooling blood on the ground, he never looked at the woman. Her wails fell on his deaf ears, as well as the rest of the caravan’s, after the commotion was over the people simply went about their business. Oren’s fingers felt the stickiness of the cooling blood, he rubbed them together feeling its viscosity. The urge to taste the man’s blood was too strong for Oren to resist, it tasted of iron and a touch of salt, he swirled the taste around his tongue to reach every taste bud. He didn’t put his whole finger into his mouth, just the tips touched his tongue, his eyes lit with some knowledge he didn’t understand. It gave him ideas, thoughts on how to do what he was born to do, rule. He thought about how to kill his father, for he knew that
- The nation
Chapter 140
Thewolf from the trees saw the one it wanted, it ran as fast as he could, but a two-leg gave his stealth away. He did not stop, he had to kill now, there would be no other opportunity. When the woman’s words registered in everyone else’s mind, they turned to see the wolf coming for them, they had all heard of the animal attacks but they had never been a part of one. Lilly and Claudia froze, Oren waited to see who would get eaten, Oscar and Hastiin looked for an out. The wolf leapt up and into the air, the man he landed on was bitten cleanly in the throat, the sound of his wind pipe being torn out was sickening. The wolf had torn out the wrong throat, Hastiin lay bleeding from a throat the was not whole anymore, a gasping whistling sound came from his opened neck wound, the man’s hands felt the deadly damage. The wolf looked quickly around, there was the one he needed to kill, the wolf moved so fast. Rognvald’s smile never once faded, the wolf charged at him, he stood, waiting.The wolf
- The nation
Chapter 139
“Thank you mother.” Said Talia.“Thank you as well,” Kaya’s eye’s pleaded for something, some miracle to save her friend. “Leave him here with me,” Sooleeaway said, she held an open palm towards Bram, “Talia will stay and help with his care. Let me look at you child.” But the healer paused before inspecting Kaya.Kaya did not flinch when Sooleeaway reached towards her face, she stood and respected the older woman, even after she was referred to as a child. Kaya’s younger self would have tried to correct the older woman, there by reaffirming her status as a child, on this day she merely stood and waited for the healer to look her over.“Pardon me,” said Sooleeaway, “you are grown now, Kaya Tasso Flistedt. You have changed, you are a child no more.” The healer spoke no more.Sooleeaway inspected Kaya, she found cuts healed, bruises, blisters, and a nearly mended heart. The heart was not spoken of, but her physical injuries were treated. Kaya left Talia with Bram, there was nothing for
- The nation
Chapter 138
“We have to get him to the bend in the river.” Talia told Kaya.“Can he travel?”“He will have to, we need to settle before the winter and Bram needs to heal, the best thing for all of us is to get to the bend.”Kaya knew Talia was right, she felt the urge to settle for winter the same as Talia did, Bram was a concern and she had no idea if he would make it. He remained unconscious fighting for his life.“I feel it to,” said Kaya, “we should go this morning, will you let everyone know that we are leaving?”“Of course.”“I’ll stay with Bram until you get back, then I’ll harness old Percy and we can get going before noon.”When Talia left Bram’s tent, Kaya looked at her friend, the burly man was lying on a buffalo skin blanket, sleeping fitfully. She watched his breathing, it was still labored and shallow, Talia said the venom attacked the victims muscles, making it hard to move or breathe. Kaya didn’t want to remember Bram as he was now, she wanted to remember him like he was in Ondu,
- The nation
Chapter 137
The force like no other was the will of the Land, it used the storm to discourage the travelers from continuing any further, the Land was exasperated by the nerve of these humans. The storm surged over the long butte, it tried to retain the water like the force instructed, but it began to rain while crossing the long butte. The water washed away all of the small animals on the ground, the animals in the trees did not fare much better, some fell and were also washed away. Then the storm saw its target, it was aimed for the humans on the ground, the Land did not like these humans, they were too far from home. The purple cloud roared with thunder and rained heavily on its course towards the humans. Everyone in the caravan raced to find the best shelter they could, they scrambled into the trees because there was nowhere else to go. The Land offered them no shelter, nothing strong and stable, some people sat under there carts, some went into the trees, others found a nook they could climb
- The nation
Chapter 136
Kaya ran after the girl, she was faster than Kaya and as she watched, Lisbet sped away towards the edge of the desert. Who was bit, she thought, who was bit that would make Talia want me? That thought led her mind to the worst possible scenarios. Was it Rollins? Or Erek? The last thought chilled her, what if it was Arun? Kaya ran as fast as she could after Lisbet. As she ran thunder echoed across the plateau, she turned her head towards the long butte, what she saw made her glad she was not in the north with the caravan. A humongous purple cloud rolled over the buttes flat top, it drug rain with it, Kaya could see the sheets of water pouring down as the titanic cloud crested the edge of the butte. So much water, she thought as she ran towards death.“Talia,” Kaya was out of breath by the time she reached the healer. Two men were carrying a third on a hastily crafted stretcher, “who was bitten?”No sooner than those words left her mouth she saw who it was, her hand went to her mouth.“
- The nation
Chapter 135
The horses pulled carts and wagons like they had for the last three years, they were thralls to these travelers now, the animals knew nothing of the Path of Life. All the animals knew was the cycle of life, and how nature gives and takes, without mercy. Now they were lashed to these heavy carts, they were penned up while not moving, something they never experienced before. Normally they were free to roam and came back to The People willingly, now they would most likely bolt at the first chance, a few had and the horses that were left had to work harder. It was miserable work but they endured, they pulled the future of the Land towards a place where a city will be built, it won’t be the one in Rognvald’s dreams, it will be tainted and immoral. These horses would not see the wickedly beautiful city of lust and greed, they would be spared those memories.The caravan stopped at a few sites that were indeed good places to settle, each time Rognvald baulked, he would not stop until he reach
- The nation
Chapter 134
“Only a few more days Percy, a few more days, then we can live for a while by the bend in the river.” She rubbed his cheek; he made no sounds only looked back at her and waved his tail.Over the last three weeks Kaya had worked at putting closure to that part of her life where her parents lived. She had their memories now and no one could remove those, she came to terms with their deaths, it helped that she knew what happened to them. When Erek told her what he heard his father say she was angry and hurt but that to was fading, she was not as angry with the big man now, his father was another story, Kaya prayed that she would never see Rognvald again. Kaya finished unhooking the horses from her cart, normally Percy would buck around for a few minutes before relaxing into grazing not today though, Gerard went right to grazing, Percy joined him without any fuss. How things change, thought Kaya, she watched the two horses feeding as most of the weight from her grief floated away on the e
- The nation
Chapter 133
Kaya’s hair had grown back over the last three years of travel, it reached down to the middle of her back now, she kept it braided in one long braid while traveling. The braid reminded her of her mother, of the time they shared together, just the two of them. It wasn’t that they had something that was better than anyone else’s mother daughter relationship, it was simply there personal relationship that Kaya remembered. When her father was hard at work, making one of his fanciful pieces of pottery, or out making deliveries, they would be together. They lived in the back of the pottery shop that had been in Tombold’s family for generations, it was one of the more permanent looking structures in Ondu, having poles that had been sunk into the ground over two hundred years ago. The poles in the center of the shop were so round that Kaya couldn’t reach all the way around them until she was twelve. The shop always had a fire going, whether in the kiln or not, the friendly smell of wood burni
