3

It was morning when the warriors returned victoriously with Brody amongst them. Niu welcomed her brother back with Macenia milk and Piana berries. It was her brother’s favourite, and she loved to cater to him. He gave her a hug as he met Niu on the lower platforms. He was smiling when he looked down at her.

“Oh, Niu, it was great. We destroyed their wreaking machines and half their camp. They will not be destroying anything for some time,” Delko bragged as he took the cut half of Macenia shoot and drank the sweet milk inside. “We put an end to the raiding party too. Stupid star people are lousy trackers and so loud. They were practically begging to be eaten,” he laughed as he took the berries.

“I am glad you are safely home,” she said happily. “We can put this behind us.”

“No, Niu, we cannot,” he said, touching her arm. “Brody says this is only the beginning. That the star people will come after us again, we must fight until they give up and leave.”

Niu could not believe what she was hearing. “You are talking about war?” The Saricou were peaceful and always had been. Living harmoniously with the world around them, killing only for food and self-preservation. They wasted nothing, and war was nothing if not a colossal waste.

“Niu, we are talking about defending our people and home,” Delko said, trying to soothe her unease.

“You could be killed,” she said, looking into his eyes.

“I could be killed every time I hunt. Or you, when you go foraging. It is the way of the world,” he reminded her.

Niu turned away, giving him her back. “War is so unnecessary,” she said, placing the empty Macenia shoot down. “I do not want you to fight.”

“Niu,” her brother’s voice was stern. “I love you; I would do anything for you, but please do not ask me to be a coward,” Niu looked down and bit her bottom lip. To be a coward was shameful; she could never ask him to back down.

“Of course not,” she said, brushing her long white hair off her shoulder. “You will fight, and the Gods will protect you,” she said with a forced smile. “You should sleep,” she suggested. It had been almost an entire day and night since he had rested. A sleep-deprived warrior made mistakes, and mistakes got men killed.

“Yes, my hammock is calling me,” he teased and headed up to the higher levels of their treetop village. The Saricou lived high up in the jungle trees hundreds of feet off the ground and away from predators and flash floods. The jungle was eons old, and the trees stretched high into the skies, so wide they could house multiple families in huts carved into the trees. An intricate system of steps and rope bridges connected one tree to another and suspended numerous platforms securely between the trees.

The Saricou were fit and nimble, living so high up the only way in and out of the village was to climb vines and move through the branches from one tree to the next surrounding the village. Their children learnt to climb even before they could walk. If Brody’s first few weeks in Saridon were any indication of the fitness of the star people, they were not as fit as her own.

The sun was up, and Niu was short on supplies. She had to head out into the jungle and replenish her provisions. Niu specialized in neurotoxins, poisons, and powders. She spent her days foraging for the supplies she needed to concoct her potions. Niu knew she probably should not go out into the jungle with those strangers out there, but she suspected they had gone back to their destroyed camp to lick their wounds. Besides, Delko had taught her how to fight and protect herself. One had to be constantly vigilant of predators sneaking up on them. She was confident she would do fine.

Niu gathered up her tanned hide sack and pulled it over her head, draping it over her shoulder and across her chest. She took a spear from its resting place against the outside of the weapon’s hut. She then walked to the edge of the platform, reached out and took a thick vine. Niu laced it around her wrist and ankle and slowly slid down to the ground below. Dropping onto her feet, Niu began walking.

As she moved through the jungle brush, Niu stopped to pick berries, flowers, and leaves. She wore hide, bound to her hands, to prevent the toxic plants she harvested from poisoning her by contacting her skin. She used her knife to cut strips of bark off plants, and she dug up roots and seeds. Adding each new treasure into her sack as she went along.

Eventually, Niu came across a fallen Raffort and its kill. There were so many bodies on the ground, many dying from the Raffort attack, and others lay dead with arrows embedded in the bodies, killed by the hunting party that went out last night. So much death, it was so sad. Niu moved around the fallen animal and reached into her sack. She removed two wooden hollowed-out containers. The beast was dead, and the others would soon come to claim it. Butcher it and bring it back to the village. Its meat would feed the village. Its skin would clothe them, and its bones would make armour, decoration, and weapons. But more specifically, as it pertained to Niu, she could use the venom to make a powerful neurotoxin to dip their arrows in.

Niu skillfully milked the beast’s fangs, letting the toxin drip into the containers she held. She filled them both and corked them, then returned them to her sack. Nearby there was a bush. Its thorns contained a powerful poison, incapacitating those that were unlucky enough to suffer its effects.

Niu moved toward the bush and noticed the black boots sticking out from behind the leafy branches. Walking around, she saw a man laying on his back. His hair was dark and really short. His face was painted dark with grey and black warpaint, and his body was covered in black and dark grey cloth from head to toe. Around his waist and bound to his leg were strange weapons. He looked odd as he lay there dead.

Niu moved closer and crouched beside him. She reached out and touched his face, the dark paint now on her fingers. He was not bad looking beneath the paint. His jaw was strong, and his nose straight. He had full lips, not those thin slits some men did, but full and soft, she realized, running her finger over his bottom lip.

Suddenly his eyes flew open. He was not dead! Niu jumped back and held her spear ready as she faced him down. Her knees bent and her feet even with her shoulders. She leaned into her spear, ready to defend herself.