Karux woke, gazing up once more at the inside of his father’s roof.  This is getting old, he thought.  The fit could fall upon him at any moment.  Later he would awaken to the view of his father’s ceiling wondering how many hours or days he had lost.

His father came in and hung a bag on a peg by the door and left his staff next to it.  “How are you feeling?” he asked.

Karux had been asked that a lot lately.  “Well enough.”  His usual reply.

“You really made an impression on the elders today.”

Well at least it’s the same day, Karux thought.

“You’ve got a few of them worried that there might be something to what you say.  Thoma and Rennon, however, feel that the only real threat is your visions.  One or two others feel the same way.”

“Is there any chance they will talk to any of the other tribes’ elders and tell them about my visions?”

“No.  I didn’t really think they would.  I’m afraid that the only real outcome of all this is that Ghett will probably forbid any further trips to the sacred mountain.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

Arrain tousled his hair.  “I know you are now at the age where you can tell the difference between the real and the ideal and how often the one fails to live up to the other, but try not to become cynical.  Life is as full of good surprises as well as bad–perhaps even more good than we know.”

“Very well, Adra.  I’ll try.”

Arrain rose smiling.  “Well I’ve fed the goats and I have a few other chores before the afternoon milking.  Your aunt Sairu said she would send over some food.”

“Please thank her for me.”

“I shall, and Naipho says that if you feel up to it you should try walking about some this afternoon.”  Arrain rose, picked up a stack of buckets and headed for the door.  “Come take your supper outside tonight.”

“I shall.”

Karux lay dozing on his pallet, largely untroubled by visions except for the occasional glimpse of Eiraena drawing lines in the dirt.  She would sweep the lines away and draw new ones and every time she did, a small pile of pebbles would rise up and dance about in complicated patterns while she laughed.

He awoke to the sound of the door opening.  Charissa entered carrying a basket and a drinking gourd.  “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Very well, right now.” He sat up smiling.

“Your aunt asked me to come by.”  She handed him the gourd and set the basket down and opened it.

Karux sipped the still-warm chaia, its spicy aroma tickling his nose, and watched Charissa bring out the bread, cheese, roasted goat meat and some barely ripe berries.  “Is she the only reason you came by?” Karux asked with a playful pout.

Charissa looked up, reddening with a self-conscious smile.  “Well, maybe I wanted to anyway.”  She popped a berry into his mouth.  It was a tantalizing mixture of sweetness and tartness.  It was tart enough that he first thought he wouldn’t want any more, but the sweetness brought him back.  He opened his mouth and she put another one in with a chuckle.  He ate it and opened his mouth again, snapping on her fingers as she offered another.  She yanked her hand back with a squeal and fell against him laughing.  Resting her head on his shoulder, her laughter fading, she asked in a soft voice, “Do you really believe those visions you talk about?”

This was not how he’d hoped the conversation would go.  He had long dreamed of the chance to be alone with her, to tell her how he felt and now here she sat, the perfume of her scent filling his head.  He wanted to forget the horrors haunting his nights.  He wanted her to think about him and the two of them together.  “Yes.” he said, feeling the joy leak from his heart.  “I know they’re real.”

She looked up at him through falling strands of auburn hair.  “I don’t suppose you could just… stop having them?”

Karux almost laughed, before realizing she was serious.  He swallowed a flash of annoyance.  Did she think that the visions were just some sort of bad habit he could stop if he wanted to?   But, then, how could she understand what it was like?  He couldn’t even get the elders to understand and one would hope they had more wisdom.

He took a deep breath which turned into a sigh.  He smiled at her, brushed back her hair hooking it behind one perfect ear.  He traced the gentle curve of her cheekbone with his thumb as he cupped the back of head.  He watched her eyes dilate as he stared into their depths.  “When the terror of those visions first fell on me, I would have given anything to be rid of them.  Now they are too precious to me.”

Her perfect eyebrows rose upwards and her eyes widened slightly in surprise.  “Precious?  Why?”

Karux stared at her lips as she spoke.  They were so close he could almost taste them.  He couldn’t help but lean in as he replied.  “Because if we do nothing, those visions will come true.  But if I continue to receive these warnings, then maybe I can find a way to save us.”  He leaned in even closer.  “And I want to save you more than anything.”

“Oh,” she breathed.

He pulled her towards him and kissed her. 

She responded with cautious passion, her lips warm and soft.  He had never kissed anyone before.  The experience was both strange and wonderful, but he could imagine himself doing it a lot.  He wanted to kiss her forever and never stop.

-=====|==

 After Charissa left, Karux slept.  When he awoke, he waited until late in the afternoon hoping Charissa would come back with another meal and some more alone time.  When she failed to appear, he put on his sandals, forced his staff into his perpetually clenched hand and went outside.

Those who chose to eat outside on the tables were already well into the evening meal.  Most of the youth had already finished eating and were entertaining themselves as the adults sat and talked.

Somek and Pronos were, as usual, competing to be the center of attention.

“Hey!  Look at me.  Guess who I am,” Somek called out.  He screamed, fell to the ground and started flopping about like a fish pulled out of water.

Pronos and the others laughed.  “What is that?” he asked leaning over Somek’s writhing form.  “You have a vision of the future?  I hope it’s a good one.”

“Oh it’s terrible!  It’s terrible” Somek groaned in mock agony while his thrashed about on the ground.

Pronos leaned over closer.  “What is it?”

“It’s… it’s… your breath!  It stinks like Garick’s loin cloth!  What have you been doing with your mouth?”

Pronos kicked Somek “How do you know what Garick’s loin cloth smells like, oh mighty oracle?”

“Oh!” Somek laughed despite the pain and rolled away.  Pronos hopped after him on one foot, kicking him with the other.

The other younger children thought this was the funniest thing they had ever seen.  A number of them took up the game shouting “I see a vision!” and falling on the ground and writhing around while the rest screamed with laughter.

Karux watched with mounting fury, struggling to find the right words with which to blast them.  He happened to spot Charissa sitting at the end of one a table with her girlfriends and she made eye-contact with him.  She blushed and looked away and suddenly Karux understood why she had asked if he could stop having the visions. 

They embarrassed her.

The realization stunned him.  He briefly forgot the mocking children.  He had thought she loved him, but how could she love him if she didn’t respect him?  He gripped the staff feeling hurt and betrayed, ready to lash out at first opportunity when much to his surprise, he heard Amantis shout out.

“Stop!”

The children paused, staring dumbfounded as Amantis charged over.  He appeared to be genuinely angry and Karux couldn’t guess why.

“Are you goat turds so stupid you’d laugh at your own destruction?  I swear your goats are smarter than you are.  They at least have enough sense to run away when danger nears!” Amantis glared at each of them and flung a hand toward Karux.  “The Lord of the Mountain has even sent you a herdsman to watch over you, but you are too stupid to follow him to safety.”

Somek rose to his feet frowning. 

“You’re not saying he—” Pronos stood pointing at Karux.

“He’s not the only one with a stone that tells him things, is he?” Amantis glared at them, hands on hips.

“Then you also had a vision?” Garick blurted out.

“I did.  What’s more my stone told me that the first attack will come this winter.  It will be a long freeze and the drwg, the great dire wolves, will come over the northern mountains looking for food.”

Pronos and the others traded questioning looks.  “What should we do then?” he finally asked.

Amantis smiled slowly, as if he’d been expecting this.  “We must all take up spears and train ourselves to use them.  We must become the fiercest and strongest hunters that have ever been seen in the Pelahi Mountains!”

A gleam sparked in the boys’ eyes.

Garick stood first.  “Yes.”

Pronos and Somek joined him, “Yeah!”

The other boys cheered and some of the girls as well.

“Meet me in the pastures on the other side of the stream tomorrow and bring a spear.”  Amantis chose that moment to make his exit, giving Karux a conspiratorial nod as he passed.

The older boys were already talking about how many wolves they would kill and some of the small game hunts they had been on in the past.  Karux had largely been forgotten.  Even the young children, who had mocked him mere moments before, took up sticks and brandished them as they hopped around and struck dramatic poses.

Karux caught Theris’ eye who shrugged with an “Eh, who knows?” expression.  Macander frowned thoughtfully next to him.  He looked back at the tables and saw Sjaiwa hovering near Garick while Nyrana orbited nearby.  Charissa had already left.

-=====|==

 Karux felt a little foolish leaving the house with his spear as if he were going on some sort of hunting trip, but when he got to the pastures on the far side of the stream, he saw the other boys already there awaiting Amantis’ appearance.  Most had grown bored and were experimenting to see what tricks they could do with their spears.  Young Jaemin balanced his on one end while Tareuk spun his.  Torval threw his into the air, seeing how high he could toss it and still catch it when it came down.  The spinning things fell, bounced and struck several bystanders. Fortunately, they only suffered a few scratches. 

Wondering why everyone seemed to be waiting for Amantis, Karux was about to suggest they try to use their spears as weapons when Amantis appeared carrying a length of rope and a pile of sacking.

Several of the younger boys ran over to meet him and Amantis handed the rope to Torval and allowed Jaemin and Tareuk to struggle with the sacking as they carried it between them.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Somek demanded as everyone gathered around.

Amantis gestured to his assistants and crouched under a tall tree.  “Practice with the spears.”  He tied one end of the rope to the sack.

“What’s that for?”  Garick pointed at the sacking with his spear.

Amantis tossed the rope at him.  “Here, throw this over that tree limb.”

Garick got it on the second toss.

“Good, now lift it up,” Amantis said.

Garick took up the slack and hoisted the bundle off the ground.

“Whoa!  Not so high.  Leave it about knee high and tie it off.”

“Why am I doing this?” Garick asked as he complied.

“This,” Amantis slapped the sacking, “is a wolf.”

Some of the younger boys laughed and capered about recklessly brandishing their crude spears.

“We’re going to pretend this wolf is about to spring at you and your job is to catch it on your spear.  Pronos, you’re first.”

“Pronos stepped forward and Amantis pulled the bag back to chest height.  “Turn your spear around and use the blunt end,” Amantis said, “I don’t want this thing to come apart after only a couple of tries.”

Amantis paused as Pronos positioned himself, then flung the bag at him with sudden force.  Startled, Pronos managed to get the end of the spear up between himself and the rising bag.  The bag struck and bounced away, spinning.  The younger boys ran after it, laughing.  When they caught it, Amantis gestured for them to bring it back to where he stood.

“You two give it a toss,” Amantis suggested to Jaemin and Tareuk. 

The young ones loved flinging the bag at the older boys and the older boys quickly caught on to the best ways to brace themselves for the impact and to even charge forward, throwing their weight behind the spear so that they struck with more force.

Why was everyone following him?  Karux wondered as he sat beneath a nearby tree watching.  He pulled at his clenched fist, massaging and stretching it, trying to get it to function.  Did people always follow whoever acted like they knew what they were doing or was Amantis a natural leader?    He never thought of Amantis as any kind of leader, yet here he was directing everyone as they trained to fight for their korion, and he seemed to be doing a decent job.

After each of the older boys got several tries at the bag, the younger boys discovered they could sometimes surprise them by flinging the wolf out on strange arcs that saw the bag come flying in from one side or the other.

“Hey!” Bazma complained.  “That’s not fair.”

Amantis regarded him unsympathetically, arms folded.  “Have you never seen how a wolf pack hunts?”  He scowled.  “They don’t just jump up in front of you.  While you’re looking at the one in front, another wolf is sneaking around behind to attack from the rear or the side.”

The youngsters seem to take this as permission to go wild and soon the wolves were flying in at head height so that it was easier to duck than to try to spear it.

They had to pause several times for hasty repairs to the torn sacking.  The younger boys, no doubt sensing a growing disinterest in the rest and fearing an end to the game, began to demand their try at the wolf.  The older boys had already begun to sit out their turns, so the younger ones grabbed their spears and lined up while Pronos and Somek volunteered to handle the wolf.

They flung the sacking at the first boy, Jaemin, with such force the impact lifted him off his feet, his spear smashing against the side of his head as he was flung aside.  Pronos and Somek laughed, as the boy lay on the ground and burst into tears.

Macander and some of the others rushed over to see if the injury was serious, and though Jaemin threatened to go tell his father, once he was able to speak, he remained to watch the others have their try.  After several minutes of this, their efforts degenerating to little more than a group of children standing around the dangling bag whacking it with their sticks.

When the older boys grew bored watching them, Amantis took the bag and tore it open.  “I think it is time to practice some pack tactics.”  Producing a ragged goat pelt, Amantis hastily punched a couple of holes, ran a cord through, and tied the cord into a loop.  “You’re now a wolf,” he declared, throwing the pelt over young Torval’s head so it hung down like a cape.  He prepared and distributed two more then called Somek over.

“You are an innocent herdsman caring for your goats when a pack of wolves begins to stalk you.”  Tareuk, Verdis and Torval, covered in fur, began walking around on their hands and feet growling and snarling.  “Remember, they have long claws and sharp teeth.  If they touch you with either, you’re dead.  Your job is just to keep them at bay.  And your job,” Amantis pointed at his already circling wolves, “is to spread out and attack him whenever he’s not looking at you.”

Karux felt Amantis was exaggerating the killer claws part, but said nothing as he watched.

The three wolves circled.  Somek crouched in the center, ready to spring in any direction.  Several times one or the other wolf would start to leap, but Somek warned them off with a look.  Finally, one aggressive wolf pawed the air threateningly, distracting him while two others slipped behind.  Somek must have either heard them or seen them out of the corner of his eye.  Stopping one with a glance, he whirled at Tareuk as he leaped.  His training with the bag must have kicked in at that point for he thrust his spear out, catching Tareuk in mid-leap, striking him in the chest with the butt end and sent him crashing to the ground. Tareuk landed with a loud “whoof” and lay unmoving.  The other boys rushed over.  It seemed a full minute before Tareuk sucked in a great gasp of air and began a low painful moan.

“That’s it!  I am telling my adra!” Jaemin shouted and ran back toward the village.  Even some of the older boys helped check Tareuk for broken bones and made sure he could stand.  He limped away, whimpering, an arm slung over another boy’s shoulders while the other young ones followed behind, propping him up.

Amantis watched thoughtfully.  “I guess we need larger wolves,” he said at last.

Garick frowned as Tareuk left.  “Are you sure you want to continue?”

“Of course!  We were doing so well.  I think we’re making real progress here.”

The others exchanged uncomfortable glances but stood at the ready for Amantis’ next command.

“Let’s try multiple defenders.  Theris, Macander…Karux do you feel well enough to handle a spear?”

“I better not right now,” Karux replied.

“Very well, you can watch and tell us if you see something that can be improved.”

“Sure.”

“The rest of you, get to be wolves.  Same rules as before, just try not to actually kill anyone.”

Macander and Theris held their spears at the ready while the others began to circle.  Macander looked a little wide eyed with barely suppressed panic.  The two brothers seemed to naturally move back to back to protect each other and Karux saw Amantis nodding as he watched.  Pronos and Somek stalked Theris and Macander wearing wolfish grins.  They looked ready to leap up and tear the defenders throats out with their teeth.

Karux had begun to wonder if the wolves had given up when everything happened at once.  Garick and Pronos leaped at Theris simultaneously.  Theris was able to hold Garick off, but Pronos bore him to the ground, sat on his chest and clawed at his face while making a bestial roar.  Somek rushed Macander, getting past his guard.  Macander held up his spear crosswise and stopped the charge.  Somek had to put up his hands to keep it from crushing his throat.  Macander took a step back and spun the butt end of the spear up to smash Somek in the left temple, then in less than the blink of an eye he smashed Somek in the right temple with the other end.  Stunned, Somek dropped to the ground and Macander crouched over him, holding the flint spear tip to his throat.

Everyone froze.

Karux wanted to shout “stop”, but couldn’t breathe. 

With the spear tip dimpling the skin of Somek’s throat, Macander’s blank face stared down with cold eyes.

Blood flowed from a cut in Somek’s temple.  Tears welled up in his eyes as he lay panting, gaping at Macander’s mask-like face. 

Finally Macander blinked and dropped his spear.

Somek scrambled backwards, a look of horror on his face.  “What did you think you were doing?” he shouted, once he’d found his voice.  “Were you trying to kill me?  You could have caved in my head!”

“I… I…” Macander looked alarmed.

“That was brilliant!”  Amantis shouted running up to Macander.  “That’s how to use a spear as a weapon!  I can see we are going to have to practice this some more, and practice techniques against people as well as animals.”

Macander walked away, looking sick.

People? A cold chill ran down Karux’s back.  Macander had looked like a sleepwalker, or something inhuman.  He looked like something that could take the life of a person.  He looked like one of the beasts from his visions.