Tribes of Venara Page 4

  He had no idea why Nyla was being so nice to them, especially when just about everyone else in this place was a complete asshole. How could such a sour and judgemental community bring up such a wonderful and considerate person?

  Since Nolan couldn’t knock his heels together and poof back to Canada, he pushed all thoughts of home and his family to the farthest corners of his mind and instead focused on slowly coming to terms with his situation and figuring out a way to increase his odds of survival.

  If circumstances developed to the point where enough people were hell-bent on casting him and Jason out of the village, then it would be best if they snuck off on their own so as to avoid any form of confrontation. Even if things cooled down and they were allowed to stay, they’d still be expected to carry out dangerous tasks in order to earn their keep.

  They needed some sort of method to protect themselves. The quickest way was to acquire a weapon, but only warriors could get one from the village and only their families had enough resources to produce one. Another option was to get in the best physical shape possible, even if it only increased their chances of survival by a single percent. Jason wholeheartedly agreed, and so they had made a habit of spending a few hours doing basic workouts outside of their shack every night after sundown.

  On a day that started out like any other, Nolan woke up sore from the endless push-ups, sit ups, crunches and whatnot from the night before. He got his wits about him and prodded Jason awake, and then the two of them went out to wait for Nyla, who showed up every morning with a bowl of pink olive soup for each of them. It was kind of sad, but Nolan wouldn’t know what to do about food if she ever failed to show up. After breakfast, the two of them grabbed their baskets and together with Nyla they made their way to the olive orchard.

  The three of them were the first to show up, so they got to work prodding the trees with long sticks and then collecting the olives that fell to the ground. Once their baskets were full, they emptied them into a big wooden barrel, which would then be sealed with a loose lid and rolled down to the village head’s residence with however many others they’d managed to fill that day.

  Late in the evening when they’d finished sealing the fifth barrel, Nyla brought them along to the cook fires in the central area of town, where several hundred others had gathered for their evening meal. Right across from the big bonfire that burned from dusk to dawn was an open square where a few dozen campfires were maintained all throughout the day. Many warriors hunted on their own to feed their families, but most people ate at the communal fires at least a few times a week.

  Nyla had changed out of her usual orange pelts and into a short skirt made from the fur of some purple leopard-spotted animal, her ample chest wrapped tightly in the same material and held firmly in place by a simple pin. Her long dark hair hung down over one of her lean shoulders, evidence that it’d recently been combed through. Like this, she’d lost all traces of barbarism and could have been any pretty girl from modern-day Earth. If he were back home, Nolan would’ve definitely tried to get the sparks flying with such a beautiful girl, but here he was probably the least desirable man in the village, probably even the world.

  A lot of men were attracted to Nyla, but even the strongest warriors kept their distance out of respect and fear for her brother. Yet these men had to sit back and watch as she took care of Nolan and Jason’s every need and spent almost all of her time with them. Judging by their simple temperaments, Nolan could only imagine how many men had it out for them.

  “Wait here.” Nyla ran off to one of the crowded fires to get the usual heaping plate of meat and berries for the three of them to share.

  Aside from the pink olive soup, the most common food was the meat of a large boar-like animal that was big enough to feed hundreds of people. A handful of these boars could feed the village for a week. It was cut up and cooked over the dozens of fires simultaneously, assuring that the area always had a pleasant aroma. Nolan would’ve liked coming here if he didn’t have to face dozens of scrutinizing gazes and insulting comments from the backdrop every time he wandered in.

  “I hate coming here,” Jason said quietly.

  “I’m with you there. But Nyla already brings us our meals, so we can’t not get it ourselves when she asks us to come.”

  “Could we just not eat?”

  “She’d get mad.”

  Jason connected eyes with a heavily prejudiced looking warrior who’d been mean-mugging him from a nearby cook fire. He turned to Nolan and gave him a weird look. “Are you serious? Who cares about that?”

  “Think about it.” Nolan adjusted his robe as he glanced around. “If she gets mad then she might stop bringing us food altogether. Then we’d have no choice but to come here every day, for every meal. From now on we should come here every time she asks us to.”

  “Fuck sakes.”

  They continued to whisper back and forth, but were eventually interrupted when a commotion within the many rows of cook fires drew their attention. Sure enough, Nyla seemed to have gotten into an argument with a few men while fetching their food.

  He and Jason traded hesitant looks and made their way over. From what Nolan understood, it seemed that the men had taken some of her food.

  “Who are you to tell me how much food I need?”

  “A small girl like you has no need for a steak of this size.” A giant, broad-shouldered man stood in front of a fire where a huge chunk of meat was roasting on a spit. His pelts were made from the body of some dark, bear-like creature, an open declaration of his strength. He was taking oversized bites of a big hunk of meat that he held in his bare hand, chewing sloppily so that bits of cooked flesh occasionally fell into his heavy, frayed beard.

  Nyla’s dark eyes narrowed. “It’s not just for me. That was for three people!”

  The big man smirked, staring at Nyla with covetous eyes. “Was it for those pathetic outsiders you dragged in weeks ago? Our village is no charity.” After he spoke, he shot a look in Nolan and Jason’s direction. A few men around the same fire grunted in agreement.

  “Bron! They are my friends.”

  “They’re strangers. We don’t need to concern ourselves with them.”

  “The village head tells us not to turn away those in need.”

  “We fed and sheltered them for a month. That should be enough. They don’t have the qualifications to become members of our village. The village head may sometimes urge us not to turn people away, but that doesn’t mean we should allow any stranger we see to join our village. You and your brother were a special case, but those two are worse than trash.” He spat into the fire. “With the Tigerfang Tribe moving in on the surrounding territories, now’s not the time to show any weakness. What do you think our enemies will think when they see those two among our ranks?” He glanced at Nolan and Jason.

  More villagers voiced their agreement.

  Nolan’s heart was pounding. What the hell was this? They were getting grilled in public and it was just fine? There were a decent amount of people that shared the same sentiments as the big guy. Was it really such a big deal if they stayed?

  “I can’t really understand them.” Jason had gone sweaty with panic. “What’s happening?”

  “Nothing good.” Nolan didn’t catch it all either, but he’d understood enough to know what was going on. Who would’ve known that they’d get kicked out of town so soon? Did the people here really dislike them so much just because they were weak?

  Nyla looked beyond frustrated, but there was nothing she could do.

  The big man smiled and took another bite of the steak. “If there was nothing else, why don’t you take your friends along and—”

  “Stop making trouble for my sister.”

  Another big man stepped out from the crowd. It seemed that Nyla’s brother had shown up to have a meal and came over after noticing the disturbance.

  “Quin.” The man in the bear pelt narrowed his eyes.

  Confident and imposing as always, Quin came
to stand within reach of Bron.

  “Leave.”

  Bron flinched and subconsciously took a step back. Seeing Quin looking down on him, his face flushed red. “Enjoy having everyone lick your feet while it lasts, because once my brother breaks through to the fourth level of Body Nourishment we’ll see whose words will hold more weight around here.”

  “Vade is going to make a breakthrough?”

  “We’re going to have another warrior as strong as the village head?”

  The surrounding villagers were pleasantly surprised and initiated an excited murmur as soon as they heard the news.

  “That’s enough, Bron.” A bulky man walked out from the crowd. He wore the same dark bear pelt as the man that he addressed, as did the three men that followed behind him. His beard was short and trim, his hair pulled back in three places and joined together as one ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was actually younger than Bron, who had to be somewhere in his early thirties.

  A young woman stood at the man’s side, her athletic frame visible from beneath her dark pelts. She stared at her companion with seductive eyes, her open vest affording occasional glimpses of her bare breasts at the behest of even the slightest movement.

  Although the other man was shorter than Quin, he had a vicious glint in his eyes that gave him an imposing edge that would be hard for any of the other warriors to match. “Let the girl get some food for her friends. How can we deny them a meal when they’ve worked so hard for the sake of our village?”

  Though Vade appeared to be mocking Nolan and Jason on the surface, his comment was actually a jab at Nyla. Quin snorted. “If you have nothing else to say, then leave. I’ll be having my meal now.” He walked past Vade, bumping shoulders with him on his way over to the nearest fire.

  Vade frowned, and then spoke up once again. “Unfortunately, I cannot leave just yet.” He cleared his throat and spoke out deeply, his voice carrying to all corners of the central area. “The village head has entrusted me with a message. He has two important announcements to make, so everybody is to gather here at sundown. Spread the word. Everybody must attend!”

  After saying this, Vade turned around and left with Bron and a few others, though he was sure to shoot an icy glance in their direction as he exited the scene of the commotion. Trading looks of helplessness with Jason, Nolan was apprehensive about what the village head had to say.

  Chapter Five: It Gets Worse?

  The over one thousand residents of Redfox Village were crammed shoulder to shoulder within the limited space of the central square, the entire plaza abuzz with a cacophony of speculative conversation. The sun was just beginning to set, the entire sky awash with vibrant pink and purple clouds painted over by the fading sunlight. It seemed like everybody had arrived by now except for the village head. Nyla had brought Nolan and Jason along with her and Quin to attend the gathering, her bear of a brother completely ignoring them in his usual manner from the moment that they met up.

  Nolan was still thinking about that sudden conflict with those two men, Vade and Bron. He couldn’t help but turn to Nyla and do his best to ask her about what Bron had said about breakthroughs and what he’d heard someone mention about advancing to the fourth level of something.

  After thinking it over for a moment, Nyla asked him a question in return. “You’ve seen the warriors train, yes?”

  He nodded.

  “Depending on your level of talent and how much time you put in, once you reach a certain point in your training then the energy taken in by the body will begin to strengthen you both inside and out.”

  “Breakthrough?”

  “Yes, that is what it’s called when the body reaches a new level of strength. Only by slowly increasing your intake of Origin Energy will you be able to push your limits and increase your affinity with the energies of the world.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Eating demonized beast meat and refining medicinal herbs can help with absorbing energy, but not many people enjoy such luxuries, at least not in a little village like this.”

  Nolan scratched at his head awkwardly. He hadn’t fully grasped her explanation.

  She rolled her eyes, and then grew somewhat serious. “The more you train, the stronger you get, the tougher your body becomes. Vade is about to reach the same level as my brother.”

  Nolan frowned. If that dangerous-looking guy became someone on Quin’s level, not only would he be able to throw Nolan and Jason out of the village, he would definitely be able to get away with killing them if he wanted to. After all, Quin didn’t owe them any favours and he couldn’t always be around to keep an eye on them.

  This damn place!

  There was a good chance that he would stumble into a crisis sometime soon. Just as he was about to ask Nyla how one might absorb this so-called “Origin Energy,” an old man dressed in a soft satin robe edged with reflective silver trim had appeared on the rooftop of one of the larger cabins near the fringes of the square.

  He just jumped on top of that two-storey building.

  The crowd immediately grew silent at the sight of the village head, a sure sign of the respect he commanded within the community. His long white hair was pulled back and tied with a silver ribbon, which gently rocked in the breeze as he considered the villagers below him with a solemn expression on his wrinkled face. Nolan had been expecting some towering brute on a level higher than Quin and Vade, not this small and frail-looking old man.

  “I’m glad that everybody could make it.” The man closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The square had gone silent so that the only sound was a light whisper of wind. “The reason I’ve assembled you here on such short notice is because there are several things that everyone must be made aware of.

  “I’ll start with the news that affects our village directly. It concerns our peace talks with Six Meadows Village. As you all know, we recently sent representatives out to work up an agreement to keep their people from hunting in our fields. These representatives returned early this morning with news that the peace talks did not take place. By the time they arrived at Six Meadows Village it had already been reduced to a smoldering ruin.”

  The old man’s words immediately roused a storm of hushed conversation.

  During the past month Nolan had learned as much as possible about the local landscape, including how many settlements filled the region. Six Meadows was one of the closest villages in the area and also roughly equal to them in terms of manpower and battle strength. For Six Meadows Village to have been wiped off the map in so quiet and prompt a manner was worrisome. If it could happen to them then who was to say that it couldn’t happen to Redfox Village as well?

  The village head continued on. “Six Meadows was the only the thing separating us from the territories of the larger villages to the east. It’s been two months since the Tigerfang tribesmen have entered into a peace treaty with the Crow Clan. During this time they’ve been directing their focus on the smaller tribes in the area. As of now they have already conquered two of their neighbours.” The village head’s eyes sharpened. “But I can tell you with the utmost certainty that the Tigerfang tribesmen had nothing to do with the annihilation of Six Meadows Village.”

  “Village Head, please enlighten us.” Vade stepped forward. “If not the Tigerfang tribesmen, surely it couldn’t have been the Crow Clan’s warriors?”

  The old man shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s impossible, Vade. I just learned from a reliable source that both Tigerfang Village and the Crow Clan no longer exist. They have met their demise at the hands of the Netherwolf Tribe from the Southern Plains region. Just like the people of Six Meadows, a portion of their women and children were taken captive and the rest were slaughtered down to the last man and boy!”

  “What’s going on?”

  Nolan ignored Jason as he tried to make sense of the old man’s words. From the sounds of it a few of the neighbouring villages had been attacked, even the towns that originally inspired fear into the hearts of the people here.
Didn’t that mean that there was a high chance this village would be attacked as well?

  Nolan tapped Nyla’s elbow from behind. “Netherwolf Tribe?”

  “A powerful tribe from the Southern Plains region.” She kept her attention focused ahead, her dark eyes gone cold. “Their home is many times larger than Tigerfang Village.”

  Quin gave Nyla a complicated glance. “I doubt they would come all the way to the Northern Plains region just to plunder the smaller tribes and villages. There are plenty of those in the south.”

  She nodded slowly.

  Did they have some sort of past relationship with the tribe in question?

  The village head’s voice resounded throughout the area. “We are now facing an imminent crisis. Considering which villages have fallen so far it is likely that we will be the next target. With that in mind, I’d intended for us to abandon everything and retreat into the forest, but two days ago I received a message from the Netherwolf Tribe saying that they would be sending out a representative to come and discuss the forming of an alliance between our two villages!”

  Most people in the crowd appeared startled.

  Vade immediately spoke up. “Village Head, what benefit would a great tribe such as theirs stand to gain by allying themselves with a small village like ours? Could it be that the other villages received the same offers before they were attacked?”

  The village head frowned. “It is likely that their representative will come with an ultimatum that will put us in a difficult position, and if we refuse to go along with their will then we can only be vanquished like the others. After much thought, I’ve decided to await the representative’s arrival and hear what he has to say. During the time it takes for him to get here, everyone is to quietly prepare to leave at a moment’s notice. We will agree on the surface to buy time for us to flee into the forest while their representatives return home to inform their chief of our decision.”