NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 187
Let the Inkulu’aka’s voice be heard. Let the Inkulu’aka’s call be answered. Let the Inkulu’aka’s will be made manifest.
Those who have desecrated our lands, hunted our game, and trampled our grasses will not be permitted to live. Those who have dared to disregard the sacred sovereignty of our people, disrespected our hallowed ufudoluk, and disobeyed our divine decrees cannot be forgiven. Any trespasser without the Inkulu’aka’s permission to enter the plains is to be treated as an enemy of the whole of the Republic. Let the indlovu gather together once more, let the indlovu go to war once more, let the indlovu be the hammer in the hands of the Inkulu’aka once more.
Let the Inkulu’aka’s voice be heard. Let the Inkulu’aka’s call be answered. Let the Inkulu’aka’s will be made manifest.
-Missive from self-proclaimed Inkulu’aka Silumkulo of the Inkulu
Before I’d been able to approach Ytte with my plans, Trai had guided me to where she suspected Foire was. She’d been correct, and as she’d fully laid her eyes on her father, her face lit up before she demanded I set her down with her imperious air and a pointing finger. Foire chuckled but gestured for me to put her down a foot or so away from him instead of directly into his arms. As I did so, Trai looked up at me and grunted in her cute fashion before gradually forcing herself onto her feet and stepping uncertainly towards Foire’s outstretched arms. With each step, she seemed more sure of herself, and he continued to pull his hands back and prevent her from reaching him before finally, frustrated by his constant retreat, Trai lunged forward in a small burst of speed and grasped Foire’s ankle.
Foire’s chuckles rose to true laughter as he leaned down and picked Trai up. “Well done, little one!” He continued to praise the hatchling, and it didn’t take long before she had raised her nose up high in the air in victory. I began to walk away, but Trai chirruped in a way that I somehow understood to be directed to me so I turned back to her. When our eyes met, she wordlessly sang the first line of my song back at me before smiling and leaning back into Foire. A smile cracked my own face and I leaned forward until my head, nearly as large as her whole body and tail, leaned into the baby.
She reached up, one hand each grasping the frills that framed my face, her serious eyes meeting my own. My sonilphon had been working tirelessly to refill itself, and I again exhausted what little reserves had returned to use my magic. With [Nurturing Enunciation] fuelling my words, I spoke.
“Grow strong and wise, little one. We will need you once you grow up.” Trai’s serious eyes remained locked on my own, and though I couldn’t be sure how much she understood, I felt a certain level of agreement from her.
Then, at last, I could start making plans with Ytte.
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Though she immediately agreed with every command I gave, it was obvious that Ytte didn’t understand or believe my plans could be successful. I didn’t need her understanding, though, only her obedience, and I had that in excess, as she guided several dozen khatif and keelish to do as I commanded her. When the suns had fully risen, all signs of the swamp lizards disappeared, as if they had never existed, though the blood still stained my hand where I’d plunged it deep into my foe’s neck. Even so, only a spare few of the dozens of keelish focused on the preparation of burlraiz roots while the rest entirely devoted themselves to keeping their eyes peeled and prepared for any possible assault.
As we began our day’s journey, the Wave Wolfstags continued to range out around us, their instincts guiding us away from several depths where there was nothing to see but an empty clearing and deep, dark waters. I wanted the stat bonuses that would come from hunting whatever it was that made these pits so dangerous, but survival and speed trumped any possible stat gains to find there. Conversely, Arwa and her children, pups no longer, but still adolescents, struggled through the waters even more than we keelish, their furs waterlogged and caked in mud.
The day passed quickly enough, though I anticipated a swamp lizard’s appearance at any time and I spent the whole day on edge. Those scouts sent out were able to find a small pittance of food, a couple of middle-sized Martanimis Pythons and several large fish that the wolfstags quickly caught, dispatched, and devoured.
At last, though, not long before sunset, we found ourselves an island similar to but even larger than the one from the night before, large enough for the entire swarm to fit on, though much more cramped. There, Ytte began to enact the second part of my plan as I and any other keelish capable carved stakes from the shorter, stouter burlraiz trimmings. Though she wasn’t yet able to create spears as I had hoped, as she exhausted her magic again and again, she firmed up the ground around where I planted the stakes and created what could only charitably be called weapons.
At the ends of the long hafts, Ytte merged stones that lacked the sharp point of a spear or the blade of a sword. The weapons’ heads carried several pounds of stone and a flat, almost sharp edge somewhat like an axe, but they lacked that cutting power. Even so, I was sure they would be able to do the job, and I briefly gave commands on how to practice with these poleaxes to those strong enough to successfully wield these foreign tools of slaughter. Brutus especially enjoyed his poleaxe, taking every opportunity to smash something with the heavy weapon.
We were prepared, and once night fell, I began to set my plan into motion. Even, constant splashes sounded out in three different locations on the island’s shores, no more than 100 feet from each other. Each potential hunting location was obviously marked by Solia’s carefully tended torches that allowed us to see into the surrounding waters. From my position at the centermost post, I watched a large swamp lizard lethargically approach. Though I’d seen their viciousness and power just the night before, I couldn’t quite connect that thrashing power and desperation with these log lookalikes.
Each of the lurers continued in our assignment, consistently splashing the tip of a long stick in the water and somehow drawing in several swamp lizards each. I had no idea why the splashes drew them, but with that little information and [Pack Tactics]’s help, this plan had been born. The closest swamp lizard, nothing more than a pair of slightly shining eyes and a shadow, drifted closer and closer, and I drew the tip of my stick backwards, drawing our prey fully into the trap.
Finally, I let the swamp lizard draw close enough to snap wildly at my stick, its last foot or so exploding into wooden shrapnel under the fierce assault of the swamp lizard’s jaws. That was when I jumped forward and landed with both feet on the center of the beast’s back, driving it back down into the water and eliciting a hissing roar of pain and frustration.
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