Chapter 11: Gathering fragments.

Act 1: Lake kin.

It was almost sundown when the elder came back, and she wasn't alone. We stood outside of their dens, on a packed circle of dirt, that they might have used as a gathering spot for their morning meals. 

We made a fire in the middle astounding the lake herd making them believe we are able to harness the light and protection of the sun. Spark and Nilla made many friends by teaching the lake herd's adults how to cook their River grass.

The elders of the herd approached us with who I assume were the warriors of this herd and other survivors of the attack earlier this day. They were supported as they walked, many wounds wrapped with what they called lake-weed.

"We will join your clan, Lazir, sage of the Flame-sing. But please, heal our wounded first before anything else" I nodded, smiling happily at the simplicity of the mission so far.

I asked them to walk towards me, to kneel before the blue pyre we erected to warm and protect us to night and let us cook our meals, and to empress this herd. "In accepting our deal you are now family."

I said as I breathed deeply and breathed out slowly, as force my body to heat, and burn with blue flames as I took in the heat and fire of the pyre. "Now accept my flames, and let it heal you for we have a mission ahead."

My flames bursted from my breath as I spoke, burning through those wounded and kneeling before me as I fed to my flames their pain and half healed wounds. It took an hour before the fire settled, as I saw them surprised, looking at themselves.

"Rise now you are healed, we feast tonight!" I yelled as my fellows cheered.

"For tomorrow we go back to our Thorn village, with new family." I said as I helped with the teaching of how to cook and how to make a bonfire and shared my knowledge of making fire.

Act 2: Exodus: Fleent.

I was one of the ones unsure of this decision of against adopting so many in our family, but now as I looked at them of my new family something burned in my heart making me sure this was right.

Our lake kin had few children, only 10 nearing their youth, the adults were more than what we had, previously. 50 in total, with 20 elders, and 5 nearing their final rest. They had few warriors, many died fighting the Small-wing swarm.

"Are you done counting them Fleent?" The sage asked me, as he looked at our new family with a truly satisfied smile, as they gathered their belongings and their crafters made torches.

"Yes brother Lazir, They have 6 warriors, 14 crafters, 10 children, 20 elders, 30 foragers. In total they are 80 in total" Lazir nodded, and then as we saw them ready he yelled.

"We move in a protective circle, those who can't fight stay in the middle, those who can grab a weapon and torch, we are moving now!" And with that I helped organize them.

"You're still young, go in the middle and support the elders as we travel, here you can still hold a torch." I said to a child, as I gave her a torch she was being willful as she asked to be part of the escort.

"Come on girl." An elder said as she took the near youth towards the other children and elders.

Another hour and we were moving, we moved slowly in the woods. When we reached a hill or a dense part of the forest, we were forced to split the escort party, as one part guards the entrance and the other the exit as some paths can't be walked in large groups.

The only good thing in our slow trek was that we were able to forage softly as we went, the foragers acting as carriers as they transformed and carried many things in vine baskets.

"Lazir! brother!" I yelled to him as he was one of those circling the migration party.

"What is it Fleet?" He asked not whispering as we were too big a group to conceal our movement.

"We're being hunted, I count 3 different groups of Long-fangs and 5 groups of Naked-tails." I told him I was terrified at the thought of fighting so many, but they seemed to only be observing us and fighting off each other.

"Don't worry, about them they'll be too busy with each other, plus I feel their fear." It's an uncommon gift but, being able to feel the essence of others is a magic some of my sisters share.

"They fear challenging our group would weaken them too much, making them easy prey for others." I nodded believing his insight, another gift I believe we share.

I felt him patt my shoulder, making me able to harden my nerves. But then his relaxed self turned serious, as he looked to the west. "Everyone! go up that clearing!" He yelled as he started ordering and moving the group east, to a hilled clearing covered with clovers.

As we ran, I heard them, many scratches of wood and clicking. "The Small-wings." I said out loud as I listened for the other predators but as I thought they already left our proximity, they must have smelled the swarm, running away from it.

We made it up the clearing, the warriors took the front towards the swarm, while the other adults with torches circled the elders and children tightly. "Keep your torches forward, they fear my fire!"

Lazir yelled towards the back as I saw him begin to breathe deeply and fire bursting on his skin, as his eyes glowed with a terrifying heat. "Warriors! At my side! Kill those I do not!" he screamed.

"Yes!" we yelled back as I felt my own fire burning in my heart. Lazir had gave us a portion of his fire, it's up to us to stoke it and turn into the inferno Lazir shows as he fought.

The swarm broke through, the Small-wings, I saw them the biggest reaching my belly in height, the smallest reaching just above my knees. They had sharpened beaks, two long powerful legs with dangerous and blooded three clawed talos.

They're brown and white feathers dyed in dark red, their eyes bloodthirsty, small wings flapping as they run and their long tail feathers flowing in the wind. There were dozens of them. "Crrrewww! Crewv! CrrakK!" 

They roared as they charged. "Hold!" Lazir yelled as he used his mighty stringed spear thrower, firing 8 strikes of thin shafted spears, into the charging swarm, killing the ones infront weakening the momentum of the swarm. 

"With me!" He yelled, throwing his bow to the back as he charged into the swarm, swinging his long stone bladed warclub, in burning arcs as fire coated him and his weapon as he broke through the disorganizing swarm, roasting many in his way.

"Help the Sage! Haaa! Kill the birds! Protect Lazir!" We charged towards his side, yelling our own battle cries, my flame made me brave and made my body not ache as I ran at my limit.

With my spear I stabbed forward at one isolated and dazed by Lazir's charge. I pierced through it easily, driving my spear deep into its center, killing it. I kicked it off my spear and stabbed into another charging at me, talons first.

With both hands I stabbed down at the smaller cursed beast, forcing itself to end its life on my spear, as I pulled it out the spear head was already broken, the flint shattered at my last strike.

As I tried to throw it to another Small-wing. "Ahhh!" I screamed, feeling a piercing pain at my side as I swung my broken spear at the enemy. The wood shattered, as I caved in the head of a bigger small-wing, with blood and flew at its sharpened beak.

I clutched my side, at the broken wounded armor plate, as the wound was already embering, stopping the bleeding. "Damn you all!" I yelled as I took up my own short stone bladed warclubs as I swung at another that's trying to bite the neck of a new sister.

Cutting its outstretched head. "Thanks sister. Look out!" The sister I said warned as with my other hand I swung at another, bigger one trying to kick me with its taloned leg. My footing was too unstable, my swing missed and its kick went through striking at my chest, shattering my chest plate.

"Ahh!" My breath left my lungs as I fell, the sister I saved swung her long hooked wooden spear. Piercing the head of the one that felled me, I stood up quickly recovering my breath.

As I once again charged into the battle, I looked around and we were winning. Many lay wounded including Lazir himself but he was burning like a pyre of logs, healing quickly, as only a dozen large small-wings were left.

"Don't kill the rest! Cripple their legs!" Lazir yelled as he stood up, his dark blue blood dripping on the ruined clover covered land, burning into the land.

I nodded and fought through my exhaustion as I fought one of the largest reaching my chest, It kicked at me, as I tried cutting through his leg. . . "Sigh. . ." I won the clash, cutting into its thigh my warclub stuck on its flesh.

And with my other warclub, using its side I pummeled at its head, downing it as the others started cheering. "We won! Yeah! For my sister!" I was quiet as I sat, and started doing the breathing exercise Lazir had taught to all the warriors.

I felt my muscles relaxed, and the pain and exhaustion lightened, as my mind started working without pain. "We live another day." I said to no one as I rested and looked through the carnage we wrought. . .the clovers bathed in blood and flesh, trampled to the ground.

"Do they taste good?" I asked Vivi as she sat next to me, her claws bloodied her armor barely clinging to her, blood coated fur.

"I ate them raw before, they tasted fatty and soft meated, cooked? They'll taste divine, like most other Lazir purifies through his fire." She said confidently as she gave me her terrifying pointed toothed smile.

I smiled too. "I hope so, if not this fight wouldn't have been worth it." I said tiredly.

Act 3: Back home.

I laid tired of the day I had, on a soft vine fiber math, gazing at skies and beyond, seeing the small stars above, their light barely reaching this world.

Around me the sound of merriment as festered as my clan ate, feasting on roasted mega size drumstick smoke and roasted over fire, flavored with wild herbs and salt, eaten with baked tubers and fresh greens.

They learned fast, making up their own dishes, Ash and Vivi being the best cook among my first sisters. "Open wide older brother Sage." A child said as she fed me bits of roasted chicken and mushrooms.

"Munch." I chewed slowly letting the oily juices of the wild seasoned fowl and earthy salted mushroom spin their magic upon my mouth, as I swallowed I spoke.

"Thank you child." I said as I sat up and patted her brown short hair.

"MmH!" She muffled as she stood up and ran towards her friend excitedly.

I looked at them, we just had one recruitment and we have become over a hundred. . .but still we are vulnerable. That swarm earlier was a harsh reminder that I need to quicken making this clan strong.

I thought, as I tackled this world much like the sim-games I played in my early youth, gather, reinforce, conquer, dominate and repeat. The Rts civilization games were all like that, but this was too real.

I said as I looked towards the nursery/grave-house, where we buried the gatherers that died after the giant chickens got past me and the other warriors, it was only two unlucky ones but they were still dead and it was because I wasn't able. . .

"Thump!" I felt myself struck by the blunt of a shaft. 

"Damn!" I yelled in pain as I turned and saw it was Ash.

"Stop being all sad! Celebrate! For next snow will have new kits for the elders to take care of." She said, smiling her fake confident smile. I gave breath and nodded.

"I apologize, now let's go celebrate with our new family." I said ignoring my worries for now and she nodded happily.

She held my hand as she led me to tinder and her crafters. "And this is how you make a strong bowstring using the guts of beasts." She showed the other crafters how to make strong sinew strings.

Some of the warriors wanted to start using bows, as they saw me fight with my own, I said I'll train them if the crafters can make them the weapons and then I got the idea of asking the crafter to make weaker bows that the gatherers can use.

Besides the warbows like mine that the warriors can handle once trained. The gatherers already had the torch staff that I designed and loved using, basically a walking stick with a torch on its top end and a bottom that they can plant on the ground as they do their work, and can be used as a fire-spear to frighten cursed beasts at a distance.

The gatherers were hesitant at the idea of using warrior weapons, as they're gifts were ill suited for it, but they said they'll try it. "Now this is important, an arrow is like a spear but unlike a spear it has less weight and needs fletching to be shot from the bow straight." 

Tinder was a much better teacher than I was with her as she demonstrated and showed how to make a bow and its arrows and what to look for if the quality is bad or good. I nodded along, satisfied with her work as Ash dragged me forward.

Towards the singing Spark with the warriors, elders and children as she sang the story of the battle of how the giver of flames led the brave warriors of long eared cotton folks, as he struck down dozens with only 3 arrows of his mighty tusked bone arrow, and like a flame burned into their ranks like a knife through bake tuber.

"You're making me sound like god Spark." I said jokingly as they all laughed but then stopped as they turned to me as an elder asked.

"What is a god Lazir?" He asked curiously, I saw it in their eyes, as elders had a gift of wisdom making them instinctively know of specific things that seemed utterly foreign to them.

I was confused as I thought they knew what a god was, then it hit me. "What do you call the Earth-mother?" I asked, and their answer struck me dumb.