The Invaders - Chapter One

S.K. Illes is new to Demensions with this first of many chapters to "The Invaders," a story that reads like a Jean Auel or Native American novel, but is actually based on another world altogether.

     Spring was early that year. The tumtum trees were in full bloom, and by the beginning of the fourth month the hruja grass was ankle deep. Loora was surveying the herd of Onaga currently under her care, looking for ticks and other parasites and checking their over all condition. Their short, reddish coats were sleek and shiny with good health, and their short black horns were smooth and clean.
     Since the area where they were grazing was getting short, she started them moving with small yips and slight waves of her arms. "Yip, yah! Hoi, hoi!" got them moving. They ambled agreeably along, in no hurry, snatching mouthfuls of grass as they went. The animals' 4 inch wide cloven hooves had done little more than temporarily flatten the tough, springy grass.
     When they settled again, about 1/4 mile down the border creek, she toured the perimeter of the herd, checking the pasture for weeds and other things bad for the Onaga, like holes or burrows and noxious plants. There had been an infestation of Zaxa three years ago that had nearly killed a quarter of the herd from diarrhea, so she was very watchful.
     When they had spread out to graze and were settled, Loora found a boulder to perch on and eat, fishing out of her belt pouch a hunk of Onaga jerky to chew on, washing it down with water from the skin bottle slung across her neck and shoulder. When she finished eating, she used her teasel brush to groom her fur as far as she could reach, including and especially her tail, a most lush and beautiful appendage, and one she was justly proud of. Her ruff, too, was thick and shiny, and darker than most of the family, and she liked to design torques and necklaces to show it off, in addition to those she made for trade.
     The rest of the clan was spending the day giving the den its spring cleaning, and boy! it needed it! After six months of damp and cold weather, the den had collected a thick layer of dirt, fur, and unfinished projects that needed to be shoveled out and sorted. Loora's own bunk and area was being left for her to do, when she was releived of herd duty, but everyone else was hard at it. In the evening, there would be an exchange of unfinished projects among those who wanted something new to work on. Of course, some items were very private, being one person's special craft project. Loora's own specialty was bronze armbands and torques. She did some of the best etching of designs among the clans, and the Lakarn, her own Clan, were very proud of her. While watching the herd this day, she contemplated a new design using a stylized pattern of the tumtum blossoms.
     At the den, Luna had discovered a packet of herbs that had been kicked under one of the bunks, and was almost unidentifiable from the layer of dust on it.
     "I wonder what that is" she mumbled to herself as she picked it up. She shook it and brushed at it with a brush (made from Onaga hair). "Oh! It's lisel, one of those herbs I use for stews and soups. I was almost out. Glad to find it."

     Lur had found a forgotten bag of unfinished carvings in his area, and as he contemplated them, he considered that they might make good projects for the less skilled to work with. He would offer them tonight to the family. Luba, meanwhile, had accumulated a pile of leather gear in need of cleaning and repair that would keep her busy for a week, at least. Well, she thought with a silent sigh, that's what spring cleaning was about. Anyway, it would mean less new gear to be made from scratch. Bless the Goddess for the little things, as well as the large.
     Lena had her smithy to clean, 'tho she conscripted anyone she could find to help. The smithy had been used well during the winter, since the work warmed the worker, but it hadn't seen much of the light of day during that time. It had the usual collection of scraps of material and dust. She would have to see if Loora could use any of the scrap pieces for her jewelry. She was also going to have to set everyone to searching the woods and woodpile for handle material for the new weapons to be made this spring and summer. She could set about half the clan soon to gather wood, herbs and other plant materials, fresh meat, and other useful items while she was making charcoal in the hut built for that purpose. On their way out, to these jobs, they could visit some neighbors to find out when the first clan gathering would be. Then, she figured, they would really have to finish up some of those items to have them ready for trade. There ought to be some calves weaned by then, too.
     While raking, shoveling and dusting, Lobo was singing softly to himself, not thinking much about it, but creating a new tune, about winter lovemaking. He was also toying with an idea he had last fall, when he had been idly weaving grass together while watching the herd. It had stirred his creative energies and set his mind to work on ideas for possible uses for woven grass. Unfortunately, the grasses he would use would not be available until at least mid-summer. But in the meantime, he would plan.
     At about two hours after midday, Lago went out to the herd, to relieve Loora and let her go in and take care of her bunk area.
     "It's looking a heap better" he told her as they traded places. "Now it's your turn to labor in the den."
     "While you lounge around the herd" she teased him cheerfully as she headed home.
     He planned, while watching the herd, to keep an eye open for game, and practice with his sling. If he was going to impress anyone with this new weapon's usefulness, he had better be good with it. During the winter, he had managed to pick off several rabbits with the sling and even a couple of game birds on the wing. So he had some fine pelts and some beautiful feathers for trading at the gathers. Some of the northern clans, he had heard, even made a sort of blanket-like covering of pelts to protect themselves from the winter chill, supposed to be too cold for even a healthy winter coat to withstand.
     As they worked in the den, Lark told stories about the history of the clans, and stories about nature and the Goddess. This kept the family entertained and educated, and made the work much more cheerful. When there were cubs around, this was important to their education, and occupied more of their time than just work time. That way, they learned about the land, the animals and the people, friendly and otherwise.
     While the rest of the family finished the den, Louweya went out to the two stalls kept for sick Onaga, and started cleaning them, and the attached pens, checking supplies kept there for health and supplementary feeding. Sometimes if an animal was not well, it would be fed a double handful of wild grass seed heads, and that seemed to help it recover. Gathering those grass seeds was one more of the chores for the graze master to do in the fall, along with keeping track of bloodlines and nursing sick or injured animals, all year round.
     In the den, Luna had finished her area, including the herb room, and gone to work in the kitchen, where she was a prime talent and regular activity by most of the family had maintained a reasonable measure of cleanliness. However, she got into corners, and the backs of shelves and other storage spaces, for a good cleaning. As she worked, she gathered items for the evening meal, a combination of older things needing to be used and a few fresh spring greens to act as a tonic for the digestion and spirits. Most of the planting for this year had been done in the last month and a half, and already there was a scattering of spring growth to be seen, and some wild herbs she had gathered. Ever since they had begun spreading the garden with year old Onaga manure in the earliest spring, three years ago, The garden had produced magnificently.
     By the time she was finished cleaning the kitchen, the family had moved the furniture out to the yard, to sweep the den, and to have their first dinner outside, to celebrate spring.

     Lago was watching the herd. The current pasture was alongside one of the woodland areas used for firewood and gathering herbs, as well as hunting small game. On one trip around the outskirts of the herd, his hunter's eye noticed a trail of footprints paralleling the edge of the woodlot. He examined it carefully, but found only unfamiliar prints. Of course, he knew all those of the family, as he had studied them since his birth or theirs. He also knew, 'tho not as well, most of those from the surrounding domains. He set out to follow them, to find out where they led, but he could go only so far as long as he was herder. The Onaga came first. So he returned to the herd, and spent his time watching for edible birds to try his sling on, and gathering some wood at the forests' edge for firewood, and other things like carving and handles. Meanwhile he pondered the possible meaning of the tracks. Every individual of the Trakhor, "the people", had a distinctive footprint, and a hunter must know most of those he is likely to come into contact with regularly. What would strangers be doing on the border of his clan's domain without his knowing about it?

     Before the evening meal, Lolo, as alpha male, was told about the prints, and at dinner, since all were adults, he told everyone. They were all asked to watch for anything strange. This was a normal routine, but since something had already been noticed, this was a special alert.

     Over the next two weeks, little was seen except some sign of unusual activity in the woods. This might be due to some larger game animals or to strangers in the area.
     Then the first spring gather was held.

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