The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 40.2

'I smell fear.' Zar'gno's voice sounded worried as it echoed inside Nume's head.

'What do you mean?' Kran asked. The dragon flew a little lower before replying.

'Somewhere close, there are many of your kind, all hiding, all terrified.'

'Hiding? From what? Can you find them?' Nume asked, struggling to stay awake any longer. If it hadn't been this uncomfortable in Zar'gno's claws, she'd have fallen asleep already. Somehow, she and Kran had stayed up all night, talking about random things. By the time Zar'gno finally arrived, the sun was rising and they hadn't slept at all. Now they had been in the air for a little while but it was still early morning.

'Of course I can find them. But should I really? I think they might be scared of us.' Zar'gno said, slowing his flight down a little.

'That's just another reason to go talk to them.' Kran reassured him. Not much later, they landed on a riverbank in the forest. It was the only place big enough for Zar'gno to land safely.

'Where are we?' Nume asked, looking around. She'd kept her eyes shut throughout most of the flight so she'd completely lost her sense of orientation.

'Not too far from the city the dragons brought us to last time... But we've never been in this forest before.' Kran said, looking at the rather small gathering of trees around them. There weren't many trees but they all had several branches reaching to the ground like additional stems, forming a complex network out of very few actual trees. The water in the river looked purple due to the stones it flew over and the grey fish in it were easily observable.

'So, where are they then?' Nume asked, looking at the dragon who sniffed the air eagerly.

'Close by. They are watching, can't you feel it? Their fear is intense now, I dare to say it stinks.' Zar'gno said with disgust in his voice.

'Hello?' Kran shouted, turning around to look everywhere. Nobody answered. 'Is somebody there? We know you're scared, we're not here to hurt you.'

'Do you need help?' Nume added after a while.

Nothing happened. It took a while until suddenly, a very young man, rather still a boy, stepped out of the treeline. He had merely reached the end of his first decade and looked thin and weak. Everything around them went silent as he carefully approached, staying a good distance away from Zar'gno.

'Hello.' Nume said with a smile that was meant to reassure him.

'Who are you?' He asked with a surprisingly low voice.

'I'm Nume, these are my friends Kran and Zar'gno.' Nume replied, pointing at Kran and then at the dragon. The boy's eyes widened.

'You shouldn't trust a dragon!' He hissed.

'Why not?' Nume asked with honest surprise.

'They caused our misery, they promised to help us but they didn't. Abandoned on the battlefields, my father, uncles and cousins all died. Everybody died.' The boy said, silent tears streaming down his cheeks. He didn't bother to wipe them away.

'I'm sorry to hear that.' Nume said. 'But Zar'gno wasn't one of them, he's our friend. The war is over now, you don't need to be scared anymore. You're not alone, are you? Where are the others?'

'I won't tell you. This is a trap! It must be, I shouldn't have stepped forth in the first place.' The boy spoke, harshly judging himself.

'It's not a trap.' Kran said sincerely. 'We came here to help you.'

'I don't believe you.' The boy said, backing away.

'Please, listen to me, we can help you. Just tell us what you need. Food, maybe, or clothes?' Nume asked, looking at the raggedy things the boy was wearing.

'Leave us alone. Put your trap up somewhere else!' The boy spat to the ground.

'It is not a trap.' Kran repeated with a sigh.

'Do you expect me to believe you just because you say that?' The boy asked. Nume thought he had a point there.

'Alright, then you tell me, how do I tell you it's not a trap without making it sound like a trap?' Kran asked, dumbfounding the boy. 'If it were a trap, we'd have caught you by now, don't you think?' That made the boy hesitate. Nume used the moment to chime in.

'What's your name? Where do you come from?'

'I'm Erwo, cousin of the Great Leader Zurem. But he's dead. They all are. Now I'm the oldest man in our tribe and it is my responsibility to protect the women and children.' The boy answered with pride and his words cut into Nume's heart like daggers. She had thought before that Zurem was probably dead, but hearing such a young child take responsibility for everybody else just because he was a boy broke her heart. Why wouldn't his mother take care of Erwo and everybody else instead?

'We knew Zurem. We met him a few times back when we were still children and once rather recently.' Kran spoke, sadness swinging in his voice.

'He led them all into death when he took the dragons' offer. The women say it's because he never even touched his wife, put a curse on everybody else.' At that point, Nume couldn't help shooting a glance over at Kran. Would people have talked the same about them had they gotten married involuntarily and then failed at something?

'So you are the closest and oldest living relative of the Great Leader then. That makes you a Leader yourself, right?' Kran asked. 'We are Great Leaders, too. From another tribe that handles some things a little bit differently. With us, women can be leaders too. What about your mother, I'm sure you'd like to give some of that responsibility to her, wouldn't you?'

Erwo looked taken aback. 'No, of course not. It is my destiny to be a Leader now.' As he spoke, Nume had the strange feeling his mother was also the one who'd made him believe that. Though it was a shame she had to use a young buy as a puppet to keep everything together instead of openly taking control.

'Now tell us already, how can we help you?' Nume asked once more.

'Send the dragon away first.' Erwo demanded.

'I'm not some animal you can just send away!' Zar'gno roared angrily. He'd remained silent before but was clearly upset now. 'I'm the one who found you, after all. They would never have come here and offered help to you had I not smelled your fear!' Erwo swallowed visibly and stumbled a few steps backwards.

'Enough now.' Nume commanded. 'Nobody here wants to hurt anybody else. Everybody's nice, alright? We came to help so you either let us help or we will leave again but we won't come back.' Nume lied. In her head, she'd already made plans on how to find them if the boy should decide to run away. Unfortunately, he did.

// Well, what else would you expect a frightened little boy to do after being shouted at by a huge dragon and offered to finally be left alone? Don't forget to vote and leave a comment below, thanks.