The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 12.2

'What about the ones with the dark fur?' Nume asked Kran while they were flying in the morning. She insisted on him telling her everything he knew about the creatures living in K'haren, starting with those she'd seen in the tavern. They had already discussed the troll and the centaurs which Nume had recognized from stories and legends.

'You mean the three young frago?' Kran asked back. Nume nodded. 'Well, they are something between phraio and huge black creatures living in caves up in the mountains. As far as I know, they live in tribes much like we do but they only allow one or two men to be around at a time. You can think of it like the gseirut herds. But it's hard for them to be alone, that's why the young males who were sent away usually form packs and hunt together. Some phraio tribes are said to trade with the tribes but the packs are not to be trusted. Therefore, meeting one in a tavern isn't surprising at all.'

Nume thought about that for a while. She felt pity for the three young men she'd seen. After all, she knew what it felt like to leave one's tribe behind. To distract herself, she then asked: 'And what about the winged woman? I think I've heard of something like her once but I can't remember the name...'

'She's a Harpy. They are known to collect shining things such as coins and knifes. It is unknown how many of them exist for nobody ever saw more than one at a time. Father said they might be very rival. Nobody really knows much about them.' Kran concluded.

'Alright. The orc must then be just like in the stories, too, right? I mean, I've heard many stories about orcs, mostly about your ancestors slaying them, if I think about it... But they were always shown to be dumb.'

'Of course they were, you have to justify murder somehow... I've never liked these stories.' Kran explained. 'I wonder what the barmaid was, though. I've never heard of anything like her. She looks a bit like Raf, doesn't she?'

'Yes, but she can't be a dretho, they are all dead, after all. And she didn't have horns.'

'Nor a tail.'

'A tail?' Nume asked. 'But Raf doesn't have a tail either.'

'Oh, well, that's because he's half-phraio, I assume. In the stories, the dretho always had tails. But then again, the stories about dretho were never very detailed and usually had huge parts left open.'

'We could ask him.' Nume suggested. Kran didn't look very happy about that.

'I don't think that's a good idea...' he muttered.

'Never mind... What about the tiny man then?' Nume said after a while.

'Oh, he's a fairy. But not a very well-tempered one... They are said to be magical creatures and only very few of them are still alive. Father always said the lived in forests and were often mistaken for butterflies.' Kran said with sparkling eyes.

Then they both sat in silence. The only creature left from the tavern was Tarlequin, the goat-man. But both phraio silently agreed that it was better not to talk about whatever he might be. Kran knew, though. Tarlequin was a faun, ancient creatures with immensely long lifespans. Despite looking Kran's age, Tarlequin might be older even than Sethara. That alone sufficed to worry Kran. What might he have seen in his life? And what was the matter with his flute? Whenever he played it, everybody in earshot seemed to calm down and willingly listen to anything he had to say. It even worked on Raf.

Therefore, Kran didn't trust the man. Not at all, less even than he trusted Raf. Somehow, Kran had learned to like the half-dretho. Despite having been beaten up by him, the man seemed trustworthy to Kran. And so far, he had never hurt Nume and was even warming up slowly. This morning, he had even chatted with them a little. Just like that, completely out of the blue. Kran wondered what might have caused the change in his behaviour. Maybe it was something to do with Tarlequin.

'Kran?' Nume woke him from his light slumber.

'Hm?' he replied without opening his eyes.

'There's something I need to tell you.' She said. He immediately sat up, he knew that tone in her voice. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.

'What is it?' he asked, trying to sound relaxed. Nume hesitated before she answered.

'Do you remember how I struggled to tell you about the prophecy?' She asked. He thought the question was rather stupid, of course he did. But he didn't want to make her angry so he just nodded.

'Well,' she continued. 'Sethara had told me not to tell anyone. I didn't know why, though. That's why I had to make her tell you.'

'Yes...' He said when she seemed to be waiting for something.

'And...' she sighed before she continued. 'The thing is, the prophecy was cursed. Nobody was supposed to talk about it. Nobody except for those old enough to remember its origins...'

'So?' He didn't have a clue what she was going at.

'But then Raf talked to us about it.' She said, seemingly waiting for him to get something.

'And...?' he asked, still not understanding.

'He caused the curse to strike.' Nume sadly spoke.

'But isn't he old enough to remember? I mean, he was born before the war even started.'

'It seems the prophecy is even older than that.' she said. 'And Raf told me that one of us will die because of the curse.'

The words slowly sank into Kran's consciousness.

'So every time somebody talks about the curse, somebody is going to die?' he asked in disbelief.

'No. The curse only strikes the first time.'

'Wait...' Kran said. 'Raf told you this? When was that?'

Nume blushed. She had obviously hoped for him not to ask. 'Well,' she started. 'I had a nightmare. Sethara was in it...' she started. After a sigh, she told him everything.

'So you sneak away with him after dark?' Kran said with raised eyebrows. He was so going to bother her with that now.

'You know that's not what it was like!' she hissed. He could see how much she hated him in that moment.

'Yeah, sure...' he said, sounding as inconvenient as possible.

When she poutedly poked him in the side, he laughed out loud and poked her back. It took another hour until he really realised what she had revealed to him. One of them was going to die soon. Maybe it was Raf, maybe it was Kran himself, but maybe it was Nume. That was a thought Kran couldn't bear. He just couldn't imagine living on without his best friend.

His only friend.

The only person he really trusted. He was sure that, if Nume did die, it would kill him, too.

// And here we are again. Do you have a friend like that, too?