Chapter 34: The Storm

Makareta returns a few days earlier than the deadline we agreed. While Ihapera is with her, Whina and Emere are not. Instead there are two blackhaired olive skinned women in the boat. We help them ashore while Makareta quickly assures us that everything is alright.

“These are Adelita and Elodia,” says Makareta, introducing us to the two strangers. “They speak some of the Atenex language, but no Thurnian.”

Makareta provides our names to the strangers, and we all greet them in Atenex. We escort them to our camp while Ihapera and Ikaroa haul the boat ashore.

“Where are Whina and Emere?” I ask Makareta. “Are they alright?”

“They’re fine. Some of the leaders of Adelita’s and Elodia’s village weren’t happy about them coming with us, so Whina and Emere volunteered to stay in their village as surety for their safe return.”

“That was a dangerous thing to do,” I reply. “I presume Adelita and Elodia are Hrill.”

“I believe so, although they don’t refer to themselves as such,” says Makareta. “They call themselves ‘Tribu’ which seems to mean ‘tribe’ in their own language. I think Hrill is a more generic term for their race. Apparently there are other Tribu living somewhere along the southern edges of the jungle.”

“When you say the southern edges of the jungle, have you seen what lies beyond?” I ask.

“No, only what has been described to us. According to those we met, the jungle on the opposite bank of the river extends south of this river for about six to eight days travel. Beyond that, the jungle thins out and becomes scrubby grasslands before eventually there is only rock and sand.”

I look towards Cassandra and Ikaroa. Our previous discussion about the possibility of a desert beyond the jungle seems to be true. It’s tempting to revise our plans and take time to investigate what’s there. But that will be risky, and we will do nobody any favours if we get ourselves lost or killed embarking on a rash venture.

I study the two Tribu. If they are what the Atenex call Hrill, then the drawings of Hrill on the murals in the Atene Halls of Ancestors are poor representations. These two Tribu are about the same height as us, so the stunted dwarflike beings in the murals are inaccurate. Nor do these two women have enlarged heads or stooped posture. Although a new contact with another race is exciting, we can’t be sure that we’ve found the race of people we seek.

“Perhaps the Merope machine can identify their race if they speak to it in their own language,” suggests Cassandra.

Not only does the Merope machine identify Adelita and Elodia as members of the Hrill, but it is able to act as a translator for our conversations. While Adelita and Elodia can speak some of the Atenex language, their knowledge is insufficient to answer the detailed questions we want to ask. Consequently we spend the next few hours sat inside the Merope tower.

At first Adelita and Elodia are wary being inside the tower, particularly talking to something that is both everywhere and nowhere. However, they are not timid beings and they soon overcome their fear.

I’m not sure what I expected to follow from our initial contact with the Hrill. According to Makareta, the Tribu village is about eight days journey from here; four days upriver and four days overland. It will be hard for us to make time to retrieve Whina and Emere, and then return to Atene before Ihapera and Cassandra are in the final few weeks of their pregnancies. We agreed at the outset that we wanted to avoid handling births while in transit. Makareta and Defina35 are also pregnant and they are already hindered by their swollen bellies. Carrying our boats around the rapids in that situation would be extremely difficult.

“Whina and Emere know that we may not come back for them,” says Makareta. “Don’t forget that they were expelled from their village, so they have no home back in Atene. The Tribu are friendly, so they will be safe enough staying with them. Besides, there are five men for every woman in the Tribu village, so they’ll get plenty of opportunity for sex. I think that’s why they volunteered, particularly now both of them are adults.”

“Hmm, but they are our only experienced boat crew. What if we damage a boat on the return trip?”

“I think we’ve seen what needs doing if we get a hole in a boat,” says Ihapera. “Makareta and I managed to navigate our way back here without running into an underwater obstacle.”

“And how do Adelita and Elodia get back to their village?” I ask.

“The Tribu have boats hidden at different locations along the river,” replies Makareta. “They use them for fishing and hunting. There’s one stored upstream a couple of hours away. We checked it on the way here.”

Our conversation then turns to the issues facing the Hrill, and how the Atenex and Thurnians could be of help. Put simply, their problem is that when they reproduce they create five times as many boys as girls. Consequently their race has an abundance of males and a chronic shortage of females. Fortunately for the Tribu, their males are like Thurnian males and only become aggressive if their hormones are roused by a woman in heat. While they haven’t suffered from the constant male competitiveness that is damaging Atenex society, the Tribu population is rapidly dwindling. The Tribu aren’t producing enough females to keep their race viable.

“We’ve tried asking the Merope for help,” says Adelita. “Their technology might be able to find a solution to why Tribu produce a disproportionate number of males. Unfortunately the Merope refuse to give us any help.”

Adelita’s comment echoes our own experience in Merope. Besides, I suspect that any help the Merope provide to anybody would come at a high price.

“Assuming our biology is compatible, then female Tribu could be conceived in the same way Elf Maidens are bred in Thurn,” says Cassandra. “In theory, if an Atenex or Thurnian male impregnates a Tribu woman, then she will give birth to a clone of herself.”

“That’s what our tribal elders think as well,” says Elodia. “We’ve been sent to put that theory to the test. We should both be in heat in a few days. If you agree, then we will stay with you while we are in heat, and you can fuck us as often as you like.”

“We plan on leaving in the next few days,” I reply. “We were only waiting for Makareta and her group to return.”

“That won’t be a problem if Makareta and Ihapera can take us upstream to where a boat is stored,” says Elodia. “We can bring it back here and follow you on your journey for as long as necessary. Afterwards we can use the boat to return to our tribe.”

“We should reach the Merope settlements in less than a week. Your return journey will need to pass back through their territory. Will you be alright doing that on your own? Your mission only succeeds if you make it back to your tribe.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” says Adelita. “Have you seen the storm building over the mountains to the north. Once that storm breaks the rivers near here will turn into raging torrents. You would be foolish to travel up a river while it’s in flood. Even if you manage to make headway, there will be all sorts of hazards floating downstream. Even a small tree branch could sink one of your boats.”

We look to where Adelita is pointing. Sure enough there are dark clouds forming over the distant mountains. We’ve experienced regular periods of rain since leaving Atene, and the depth and current of the two rivers we have travelled have remained fairly constant. I could dismiss Adelita’s warning as alarmist, but without Whina and Emere with us, it’s a risk I don’t feel qualified to assess.

We decide to wait a couple of days before committing to setting out on our journey back to Atene. We pack all our belongings ready for departure, but we delay moving the boats back to the river. The storm clouds over the mountains get darker and more widespread. Flashes of lightning can be seen from time to time. We are too far away to hear thunder, although the elves seem to detect the occasional rumble with their excellent hearing.

At first the river shows little change as a result of the distant storm. However, in the space of a few hours the river rises to overflow its banks in several places, and the current becomes much stronger. The Potiora is far enough from the riverbank to escape any flooding, but the storm is spreading southwest as we watch.