Chapter 2
Aerlid glanced down at the girl as she trotted alongside him, swinging her legs forward in an entirely impractical manner.
She was excited. She wasn’t quite sure what about, but she knew it was something new so she was excited.
The sun was approaching the middle of the bright blue sky, and the day was slightly warm. It was an excellent day for travelling.
‘There’ll be gemengs there.’ The man said. ‘Other people, and children for you to play with.’
The girl had heard the words ‘gemeng’ and ‘human’, but never before seen one. All she knew were bugs and birds, animals for eating and animals that would try and eat her. And Aerlid. Animals and Aerlid.
And that was ok. That was all she knew, so how could she want any more?
Aerlid, for his part, was concerned about her. It was time, he thought, for her to meet the people who shared her world. Time to learn there was more to the world than trees and animals that could be hunted and animals that would hunt you, plants you could eat and plants you could not.
And so he had told her they would head to a place where gemengs dwelled together. None of these things meant anything to her, and that was what was exciting. And the day was nice. That was exciting too.
As they entered the town Riley looked around entranced. She had never seen anything like it. Her small mind was overloaded as her eyes flicked from one vision to the next.
To Aerlid it was an entirely different view. The fact that it bore such a resemblance to human settlements was both surprising and not, but then that was why he’d chosen this place out of many others. It was a small settlement, with one main road and two side streets that intersected the main road. A cursory glance showed a dilapidated, run down place, most likely abandoned. If one cared to look closer, they would see that despite the boarded, or just plain empty windows, the sagging rooves and tilted walls, the buildings were all sturdily built. Despite appearances, it would take more than a small breeze to level the village.
Aerlid stopped just before the first house on the main street. Riley stopped with him once she noticed.
Silence.
Riley finally looked over her little shoulder at him, her brow furrowed and a pout on her lips. It was an expression that clearly said ‘What are we doing?’. Despite her impatience she remained silent and after a final glare she turned back to the village.
The silence continued. Riley rocked back on heels a few times then stopped. Aerlid remained still. Stillness suited the girl well, but not today as today was supposed to be an exciting day.
Finally Riley sighed and walked back towards him. She stood in front of him and frowned. ‘Well?’
‘They’ll come out.’ I think.
Riley had no idea what they were. She had no image to associate with the word ‘gemeng’, and so Riley had alternately imagined rabbits, deers and mountain tigers. She had settled on mountain tigers, and was now very much looking forward to living with them. Still, she did not ask. Instead she just sat down to wait, the anticipation of the promised surprise fading away.
Soon after Aerlid joined her.
When night fell Aerlid lit a fire. He made a soup of some dried meat and vegetables they carried with them. Riley was a poor cook. She had an unsettling habit of throwing everything in reach into the pot. Aerlid hoped she’d grow out of it.
They ate. Aerlid glanced up at the slim crescent of the moon and sighed. Would it frighten them to hear singing in the night? He had an idea that the people of this village might be frightened by just about anything. He kept his gaze riveted on the moon but remained silent. Tonight the song remained in his heart.
As the fire died down Riley curled up and slept. Aerlid remained awake.
When the sun rose over the horizon the next morning Riley awoke, though she did not move. She waited, her senses reminding her of her surroundings, and slowly got up, her movements suggesting she was more asleep then she really was. She often tried to surprise Aerlid in the morning with this trick.
After the pinks and golds had disappeared from the horizon, and dusky blue had changed to a more lively hue, Aerlid began making breakfast.
He stirred the pot, murmuring to himself. It had been so long since he had such things as bread and butter. What he could do with such things. Riley blinked sleepily in the morning light, apparently uninterested in his talk.
It was when he was just about ready to serve the reheated soup that a man emerged from a house two blocks up from them, right at the opposite edge of the town.
Aerlid did not stop what he was doing, though he looked up carefully. The man stood alone in the middle of the street.
He was tall and wide, his face covered in bristly brown fur. Human eyes glared at the two interlopers over a muzzle of a boar. He wore clothes; an unremarkable outfit consisting of shirt, trousers and a belt of a dirty grey colour. His muscles bulged and strained against the feeble fabric. It was something of a miracle that it didn’t tear.
‘WHAT ARE YOU?!’ the beast roared.
Riley blinked in surprise and looked over her shoulder at the creature. Her eyes sharpened. A foe? Could she beat it or should she run? It looked strong. How fast was it? Where should she run? All these thoughts went through her mind in the moment between noticing the beast and the animal intelligence coming into her eyes.
Aerlid slowly rose to his feet. ‘We are not threat.’ he said quietly, his normal, even tone sounded hushed and pale after the roar of the beast.
‘WHAT ARE YOU?!’ louder this time. The ground shook.
Aerlid was aware of Riley’s slow and careful movements as she got into a position to run.
‘We are gemengs.’ Aerlid said, just as softly. ‘We do not wish to be a threat.’
With a stupendous roar the beast raised his arms above his head. Then he slammed his fist into the earth. There was a rumble and crack as if like thunder, and then like lightening a crack in the earth opened and zig-zagged its way towards the two. Riley swiftly moved out of the way and into the shadow of the nearest house, out of sight of the beast. The crack stopped. In front of the fire. The earth trembled.
Aerlid held his hands out, palms up and slowly moved towards the beast. ‘We mean you no harm. We can defend ourselves, but we mean you no harm.’
The beast trembled.
Aerlid stopped. ‘We wish to stay here a while. May we?’
‘You mean no harm?’ the beast rumbled.
‘No harm.’
There was silence. Somewhere, a crow cawed. ‘You know the lord of this land? You know his men?’
‘I have heard he is fearsome. I have heard his men are too. But we mean no harm, we wish to stay a while.’
The beast was afraid, Riley knew. She did not need to think it. Many animals were afraid of her. That didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous though.
With great reluctance the beast said, ‘you may stay…as long as you don’t make any trouble.’
‘We will make no trouble.’
With a sound that was surprisingly sweet after the roars that had been pounding from him before, the beast summoned the rest of the villagers from their houses. Slowly they came. Not all were like him. Some had skin like Riley. Some had fangs. But all walked on two legs and had two arms. This was a great change to Riley, as few animals behaved in this manner. With uncharacteristic curiosity she approached from her hiding place near the side of the house.
As the villagers saw that the newcomers were not attacking them, were not trying to steal them away or flatten their houses, they relaxed. Even the beast seemed less afraid.
And thus began their life in the gemeng settlement of no name, known only to its inhabitants as home.