Chapter Three

The Hintra

They did not go to sleep until very late that night. The village had set up a feast, in honour of Andreya’s recovery. She made sure that she found time to go and see Willow, who accepted her very well, and spent most of the night beside her.

A few people insisted on hearing the story on how Andreya was injured, but Sparrow, Brook and Robin kept interrupted, explaining that Andreya could not tell good stories. She let them take over and offered only hints here and there and somehow the entire journey from Veii spilled out over the course of the night.

The people of Robin and Brook’s village seemed to be fascinated by the idea that Andreya had travelled so far, helped set free and almost given up her life to get Brook and Robin back to Ciaths. They were constantly bombarding her with questions of why, and Andreya could answer none of them.

Ciaths at night was completely different then the day time. For the most part, the people kept within the confines of the village, around the central fire, which was burning right beside the blackened earth where Sahara died.

When the moon began to reach the top of the sky, the gathering began to break up. The families with youngest children left first, along with Willow and the older men and women. Gradually only the young men and women in their late teens and early twenties were left; chatting in the stillness of the world about life to come, hopes and dreams that they had.

Andreya had wandered away towards to the Latrine, relieved herself quickly and walking back towards the village she slowed, and stopped. She stared out over the desert watching the moon shine on the river.

It was a few minutes before she realised that she had company. She turned her head to notice that Robin was now standing beside her.

“When you left and didn’t come back, I got a little worried,” he said quietly, his voice very quiet preserving the brilliance of the night around them. “It’s not safe to wander outside of the village at night.”

“I was just going to the bathroom, I was planning on heading straight back inside, it was just, the moon and the desert were so beautiful,” Andreya replied, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“I have missed my homeland,” Robin said looking out around him, he smiled, but it did not last long. “It’s as beautiful as I remembered – but it’s been… so long.”

“How long were you at Veii?” Andreya asked.

“Almost six months,” Robin replied. “I was with two other warriors, but they did not survive the raid.”

Andreya was quiet watching Robin in the darkness.

“I’m sorry that I never saw you or the others, if I had-”

“What would you have done?” Robin interrupted. “Even if you did see me, or the others, there would have been nothing you could have done, and nothing that you would have wanted to do… think about it Andreya, you may have been different, but you were not that different.”

Andreya was quiet. “I wish I was,” she said finally, “I might have been able to do something – anything, to change things.”

“You are doing things now,” Robin answered, “that is a start.”

Andreya nodded slightly and then looked back to the village.

“We should go in,” Andreya said, “I don’t think I’m ready to know what creatures stalk the night here.”

“I don’t think anyone’s every ready to know that – more than just bats come out at night.”

“What eats the bats?”

“More bats.”

Andreya made a face and smiled. Robin’s mouth turned up at the edges but he didn’t say anything.

“You’re kidding right?” Andreya asked for a moment, “there aren’t bigger bats… are there?”

He just smiled at her and Andreya shook her head and walked back to the village with a laugh.

*

the morning was bright and fresh the next morning, and even though the people had not gone to bed early, they were up and about full of energy and purpose. They all wanted to let Andreya sit and relax, and she was getting tired of being only sitting and resting and so requested that she be able to do something.

Sage got her sitting with Willow, grinding herbs for the most of the morning. Andreya chatted aimlessly with Willow while they worked away.

Around noon Fox came by with a bowl of stew for each of them with what looked like bread, but it was flat instead of raised.

“What’s this?” Andreya asked taking it from him and tasting it slightly.

“Just flatbread,” Fox replied, “don’t you have bread in Hirota?”

“Well, we do, it just doesn’t look like this,” Andreya said taking a bit. “It’s kind of a bigger, I dunno – it rises.”

“It rises? Like when you eat it?” Fox asked curiously.

“No, no, while it’s being baked,” Andreya said. She placed her hands in front of her, “about this height, and width.”

“Does it taste different?”

Andreya took a bigger bit of the flatbread.

“Slightly,” Andreya replied, “but it’s probably made out of a the same stuff.”

Fox smiled, “must remember to get some when I go over.”

“You’re going over?” Andreya asked slightly alarmed.

“It’s possible, but probably not for a couple years,” Fox replied.

“What if the war ends by then?” Andreya asked.

“The war won’t end,” Fox replied, “it’s been a few hundred years, it won’t end in two more years.”

Andreya frowned slightly, she didn’t like the idea of Fox crossing over the War Front again, only this time he would be traveling to fight.

“Don’t worry,” Fox said finally, realising that Andreya did not like this idea too much. “If the war stops before I’m sent over, then I can merely ask them if I can try their bread.”

Andreya smiled and Fox was called away by his mother. There was a moment of silence where Andreya and Willow sat.

“Do you really think that the war might end by the time Fox would be sent away?” Willow asked.

“I don’t know,” Andreya replied, “I don’t know who would even try to stop it… but I suppose that it’s possible.”

“You seem like the one to do something about stopping it.”

“Me? oh no way,” Andreya said with a little laugh. “I just want to settle down for a nice life, maybe do some farming, own some animals.”

“Well if you stay here, there is not many animals that you could own, the cats are not that friendly – unless you were to raise an elephant and try to keep it after it’s grown.”

“What’s an elephant?” Andreya asked curiously. Willow laugh.

“I will let you meet one for yourself,” Willow answered, “I’m sure that you will sooner than later. They are always wandering around the jungle.”

“Oh,” Andreya answered and looked up to the large trees on their right. “I didn’t expect that they would be in there.”

“There is a lot that lives in there. Ciaths is mostly Jungle, the inner most parts have never been reached. The rest is grasslands or deserts,” Willow explained. “Perhaps one day you will go to see them all.”

“Perhaps one day,” Andreya answered. “But I don’t fancy going into that forest if there are bats the size of me.”

“Wait til you see the snakes.”

“What?”

Willow just chuckled and continued grinding her herbs.

“What do you mean ‘wait until I see the snakes’?”

But Andreya never found out because there was a clanging horn, that Andreya had heard her first day there. She looked up, she wasn’t aware that there had been a hunting party out, but their could have been. Willow stood up, protecting her belly and craned her neck to see. Then her face went dark and she began to frown.

“What is it?” Andreya asked, standing up.

“I think you’d better go inside,” Willow replied indicating to the door behind them.

“What why?” Andreya asked. But Willow just put a hand on her upper arm and forced her into the hut.

“Stay there and whatever you do, do not come out until I tell you too,” Willow replied and then turned her back to Andreya and walked a few feet out from the house.

Andreya looked around the hut, it was just like the others, in her opinion and she shuffled to the side of the door, where a single seat was and waited.

She listened carefully to the sounds that were happening outside, and for a moment she couldn’t hear anything outside of the general chatter and the horn. But the chatter, she had begun to notice, was extremely tense. There were people congregating and sending their children into their houses as well as Andreya.

Curious, she stood up and peeked out the door. The adults were looking sullen and grim, standing at the edge of the village and staring out at the distance where there was a small uprising of dust. Andreya squinted, trying to make out what everyone was staring at.

Then it became clearer when the dust cloud came closer.

Eight horses, ridden by tall, intimidating men galloped into the village, breaking up the crowd for them to pass through. The war horses were frisky and full of adrenaline; the men it seemed were the same way.

They barely controlled their horses and were tapping their scimitars on their heels, and their eyes were ablaze with fire. Sage hobbled out to them and looked up to the men with a calm and dignified air.

The leader of the group swaggered up to her and looked down at her.

Andreya couldn’t hear what they were saying at this distance, and she couldn’t make out anything from their body language. She looked to the other men, they were all backing up their leader, and no one was looking her way.

She debated for a split second and then darted out of the hut and hurried to hid behind one of the other ones.

Their voices were floating down to her, but they were still indistinguishable. She looked around and peeked out the side. They were still facing away from her. She crouched and ran the gap between the two huts and then on to the next.

The voices could be made out know, and they were arguing. Andreya rubbed her leg behind her knee as she listened.

“Now old woman, you can’t keep denying it,” the leader was saying, “The Nomadic days are over, you can’t stay here anymore.”

“We can stay wherever we wish,” Sage replied in her old crackly voice. “There is nothing that you can do to take us from here. The Hintra made a treaty, we can live in the city only if we choose, no matter how many times you come to try and persuade us otherwise.”

“Well, it’s also our duty to come and try and persuade you every now and then,” the man replied.

“And we respect that you are only doing your duty.”

There was a pause, and a blank while the two battling wills stared at each other, the wind rattled through the village.

“There is another thing,” the man said.

“And what might that be?” Sage questioned.

“We have reason to believe that Hirotans might be invading,” the man replied.

“And what gives you this impression?” Sage asked.

“There was a girl seen, leaving Hirota, she could be a scout.”

“A girl? The Hirotans do not use children for fighting.”

“Which gives us even more reason to suspect her. Hirotans don’t let their children run away.”

“Anything else?” asked Sage, her voice hard. There was a pause of silence, full of hatred for each other.

“Brook!” the man called suddenly. Andreya quickly peeked over the edge of the hut. Brook had walked from the group towards the man, standing beside Sage.

“It’s time to go,” the man said.

“I finished my time,” Brook said quickly, “I’m not required to do anything more for you.”

“You don’t just stop working for the Hintra, you will come when you’re called,” the man snapped at her.

“Get someone else to do your dirty work,” Brook answered. “I served you four years, that’s longer than I should have.”

The man sneered at her, “you’ll be labelled a traitor.”

“I’m not a traitor if I have already served my time,” Brook held firmly.

The man thought for a moment, “beware,” he said finally. “I’ll return again, soon, and if you don’t agree to come with me, then there could be some very disastrous consequences.”

“You can’t do anything,” Brook said narrowing her eyes.

“I can do whatever I want,” the man replied, “who knows that a rampaging group of Elephants can do.”

The man took a step backwards and turned his back from them.

Suddenly someone grabbed her upper shoulder and whipped her around.