The Origami Dragon And Other Tales

by C. H. Aalberry

Grendel

  They smelt wrong. That was the first thing that born-by-silverlight, the tribe’s youngest member, learnt about the invaders. The tribe’s first-see had found a group of the creatures making camp along the river and had brought the body of one back. The corpse had been laid across a rock for the tribe to investigate. Born-by-silverlight had never encountered such prey before, but the older members of the tribe had. It was known that such prey often lacked claws or teeth, and were weak alone. It was also known that they were dangerous in groups, and unpredictable. The first-see reported that the new invaders carried with them the red-light-that-burns.

  This was a new thing, and new things made the tribe uneasy. The red-light-that-burns was the tribe’s ancient enemy, an enemy against which they had no defence. The light-that-burns had been known to consume whole tribes and whole forests as it raged across the world. That the invaders had tamed such a creature was beyond both experience and understanding. The more nervous members of the tribe bristled and moaned at the news. Burnt-when-young had suffered from the red light in her youth, and yelped unhappily at the first-see’s report.

  Three-green-eyes, the tribe’s first-see of many seasons, reported that the invaders had set up a permanent camp near the river, and had begun felling the ancient trees that provided the hunter’s shadows. Their presence was unwelcome in the tribe’s territory, their alliance with the light-that-burns were heresy, and their actions against the forest unforgivable. The newcomers had only two legs, another sign that they had no place on the mother’s soil. Strong-arm-broken-tooth grunted and indicated his anger at this incursion. Strong-arm-broken-tooth was young, quick to act. He wanted to hunt, to chase and taste and scream. He had never stalked the two-legs or fed of them, but he roared in his eagerness to do so. The first-see sniffed at the young creature’s ignorant enthusiasm. He had hunted two-legs before, and knew the soft creatures could be dangerous.

  The one-who-leads growled at strong-arm, silencing him. The rest of the tribe quieted down and waited for her decision. She had been the one who led the tribe into this part of the forest that bordered the long plains, and she would be the one who would lead them away. The hunting in this area of the forest was easy and plentiful, and she did not want to leave without reason. She knew that the tribe could not share the forests with the destructive two-legs, and she would have to decide whether to run or to war. The one-who-leads knew in her crystal hearts that her tribe was facing difficult days. She would decide their actions, but she worried that the tribe’s fate was no longer their own.

  Her tail bristled with displeasure at the thought, and born-by-silverlight and the other young members of the tribe were quick to get out of her way as she raced towards the corpse, hissing in anger and spitting on it. Then she walked away from her tribe, leaving them to squabble amongst themselves. Born-by-silverlight followed her at a distance, curious about her destination. He realised that she was seeking the wisdom of one who had hunted two-legs before. The leader-no-longer lived away from the tribe, but he was not hard to find. He was waiting for her in the thick lower branches of a giant tree, long since dead. His resting place smelled of decay and loss. He snarled at her when she climbed up towards him, but made no move to attack. He knew he could not win. She had won the tribe’s leadership away from him two seasons before in a contest of claw and tooth, and he still walked with a limp. He was older than any other member in the tribe but still stronger than most. The one-who-leads had only won her challenge because of her speed and her opponent’s considerable age. If she died, perhaps the leader-no-longer would replace her.

  He wanted to and made no attempt to hide his contempt for his replacement. The leader-no-more was known to the tribe as brave-strong-wonder-aged. Although something of an outcast, he never strayed far from the tribe, and even joined them on the hunt from time to time. He was a moody creature, pained by past injuries and angry at the weight of years on his bones. He had taken his defeat badly, and was never pleased to see the one who had replaced him. He scared many of the younger ones in the tribe, but born-by-silverlight occasionally sought him out for companionship. The old hunter seemed content with his presence and had even revealed a few of the forests’ secrets to his young friend.

  Born-by-silverlight watched as the one-who-leads climbed up to the branch above brave-strong-wonder-aged and snarled back at him. Once they had settled, she told him of the two-legs. His ears perked up at the news, and he growled deep in his throat. He was not surprised, born-by-silverlight realised. As a youngster, the leader-no-more had been part of a tribe that warred with the two-legs and been beaten, and he still carried scars from his fighting. He had lost his tribe to the two-legs, but had survived in the forests alone and fought his way into control of a new tribe. As the tribe’s leader, he had always preferred the deeper forests, despite the scarcity of prey and cold shadows. He had always stayed away from places frequented by two-legs, and had been so successful that his tribe never had to discover why such caution was necessary.

  The tribe believed that the leader-no-longer felt no fear, but that wasn’t entirely true. He didn’t fear the seasons, or the creatures of the forest, but he was scared of the two-legs and the light-that-burns. He snarled and dropped lightly out of the dead tree. Born-by-silverlight watched as he stalked off into the forest towards the two-legs’ camp. The one-who-leads followed the leader-no-longer for a few steps, but he growled at her until she stopped. He disappeared into the forest shadows in a second.

  Brave-strong-wonder-aged was no longer part of the tribe, but he was still loyal to it. He had fathered most of the tribe’s children, lead many of its hunts and defended it a hundred times from the leaders of other tribes. The one-who-leads trusted him.

  Born-by-silverlight followed quietly behind her as she returned to her noisy tribe. She silenced their discussion with a snarl, slapping a few of the louder members and baring her teeth at the youngest. The sun was beginning to rise, and the tribe needed to be hidden before the burning sun rose. Born-by-silverlight found a resting place in a tree hollow with some of his brothers and sisters. He listened to them fall asleep one by one, but the sun was high in the sky before he joined them.

  He was woken up by the sound of loud arguing. It was already late at night, and he was the last of his tribe to wake. He followed the angry sounds to where his tribe was gathered around strong-arm-broken-tooth and brave-strong-wonder-aged. The two were arguing and, in the way of their people, they had become violent as their passions rose. Both were already bleeding and sweating.

  Strong-arm-broken-tooth had taken some of the younger hunters in a raid against the two-legs. By doing so, he had defied the one-who-leads, but won the support of the young hunters who had followed him. Brave-strong-wonder-aged, the leader-no-more, had been scouting near the camp and had seen the hunters pass by them. Brave-strong-wonder-aged had tried to stop the raiders, but they had ignored him. He had watched as the small camp of two-legs had been overrun, watched as the stream ran red with blood. The to-legs had been taken unaware, and offered little fight. He had returned to the tribe before the hunters, and waited for strong-arm to return.

  Most of the tribe was excited by the raid, revelling in the raiders’ bravery and skill, but the older members were wary of this small victory. They knew the two-legs would retaliate. The leader-no-more had roared at the young raiders, but strong-arm was no longer cowed by him. Their argument had also become violent in the way of their tribe. The rest of the tribe howled insults and encouragements, and born-by-silverlight was not surprised to see that the leader-no-more seemed to be winning the fight. He had pinned the younger raider to the ground, but the fight was broken up by blows from the one-who-leads.

  The one-who-leads looked at her tribe. She could see that responses to the raid were divided by ages. The younger members were baying for blood, mocking the caution of their elders. The older members of the tribe were agitated, clearly keen to retreat to the safety of the deep forest. The one-who-leads respected he
r elders’ wisdom, but they were no threat to her position. She knew that one day her leadership would be challenged by one of the tribe’s younger hunters and that the challenge would come sooner if the hunters were unhappy. She snarled at the tribe’s elders, snorted at their caution.

  The one-who-leads roared, and the hunters joined her until the sound of their war making rose above the forests.