The Village

When Fallon rejoined the others he showed them the Faerie. "I can understand it's language somehow," he said. "That Listener in the Glade camp did something in my ear."

Alithea looked up from the skull with a skeptical expression. She reached up and flicked his cheek with her tongue, then looked down at the egg at her waist. "Your daddy hears faeries," she said. Alpen scoffed, then urged them on.

They followed Alpen's fast pace. When Bebe called after Alpen, he turned back to her, pointed at the sky and made the signal to keep silent. Fallon glanced through the trees at the sky but could not see any other faeries. Finally, they came to the outskirts of their village.

There were some forty houses, a great meeting hall and some other common buildings. The walls of the houses were large cobble and stones joined together with clay found near the mouth of the river. They paused and Bebe said, "I can't wait to lie down. A nap will be welcome."

"We will have to bring what we can and go south," Alpen said.

"Have you gone mad?! Alpen, we are not leaving our home!" Bebe insisted and stomped her hoof in the dirt.  
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Fallon stepped in front of Alpen's path and faced him in the pre-dawn light. They heard a sound and turned to watch fire licking at the night sky. They turned back to Alpen. "I've given you a warrior's respect, my friend," Fallon said. "Bebe's right. This is crazy. Explain."

"Drindl woke me. He was one of thirty or forty warriors that Sarten assembled in the middle of the night," Alpen explained. "The warriors took energy. There is only one reason. To attack in the darkness of night." Fallon nodded. "Only warriors with no eggs to care for. Sarten recognized Drindl and told him to leave." Alpen turned to Drindl. "Sarten said they would rid themselves of the Glades and their eggs." Drindl nodded in confirmation and Fallon's eyes went wide.

"No warrior – no honorable warrior," Fallon corrected himself, "kills innocent eggs."

"This is just the beginning," Alpen warned.

"But why should we leave our village?" Bebe asked in an insistent voice.

"No matter what the final outcome, there will be a bloodbath. In a few weeks, the Cawthingi will arrive from the coast to trade fish with the Glade tribe for Ibik meat. What will they find? If the Glades are destroyed, will the Cawthingi attack our people to gain access to the spring and summer herds? They certainly will. Why trade if you can take?" 
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Alithea grabbed Fallon's arm for comfort as the words spilled from Alpen. "What about the eggs in our camp?" It was a question that none of them wanted to ponder. Erthen stirred and Alithea reached for him. "I'm surprised that our boy has slept through this journey."

Drindl started to explain but Fallon made a slight shake of his head and Drindl shook off the papoose. Alithea calmed the waking boy and Drindl helped her strap the papoose to her back.

Fallon kissed the youngster, then said, "Well, that is not a reason to abandon our village, our people." The others nodded in agreement.

"Don't you see?" Alpen asked. "This land is changing and there will be continual fighting. Each year the herds grow thinner and thinner. My father's father spoke of the spring thunder, he called it, when the Ibik herds would cross into the valley and darken the plains. To the west the water now eats the land. The land of our fathers is disappearing!"

Drindl stretched to the sky and said, "The Morela fox. They arrive a few weeks before the Ibik herds. I have not seen one fox this year. Have any of you seen the fox?"

Alpen gestured to Drindl. "You see?" He looked to Fallon.

"Where should we go?" asked Alithea. She flexed under the weight of the boy who opened his eyes.  

Fallon brushed the long black hair growing from Erthen's head. The boy babbled baby talk and Fallon said, "In just a few minutes we'll be home."

Bebe looked at Fallon. "What part of that made any sense to you?"

Fallon shrugged. "He says he's hungry. He wants to know when we'll be home."

Alithea turned to face Fallon. "Faerie talk. Now babble talk? Come on, I'll feed the boy while you gather up our stuff."