Chapitre 33: Swarm [2]
Rebecca's soles of her feet hurt. Her back pained her with every step. She was panting and her fur was slicked to her slender frame with sweat, but her eyes held the same glint of determination they had at the start of the march.
The Shanmao had marched for almost three days, with only the briefest of stops at night to sleep a few hours and continue forward. During this time, Rebecca had not stopped moving. She wanted to protect her people, even if it was just one more person.
Rebecca had made more than a dozen trips carrying elders after the second day, but she felt warm in her heart. She had never had to carry the same elder twice. It seemed her own hard work inspired them to forget their own pains and exhaustion as they trekked forward. Always forward.
The Shanmao had covered a great deal of distance. According to what she heard from the guides, they were still only halfway to the lands of the Laohu though. The powerful Laohu warriors to the South East would be able to protect them. At least, that was what the Chief had said when he sent the rest of the tribe out to seek refuge with their bigger and stronger cousins.
Rebecca heard the whistle from the front, her tufted smokey grey ears picking up the three notes that signaled rest. She looked around and saw that the one hundred or so Shanmao in the group had entered a clearing on top of a low hill. They had been moving in a general descent as they moved into lowlands, which is probably the only reason the elders has persevered as far as they had.
Before Rebecca's eyes, the land lay sprawled out like a scroll. There were gentle rolling foothills covered in pine and oak trees. The sky was a deep blue and seemed to go on forever in front of her. The air had a faint humidity, and it was warm for Autumn. The woody scent of the trees nearby couldn't cover the smell of water from her nose, and her ears could hear a steady stream nearby.
These lands were fertile and beautiful. There were several large depressions in the land, as if a God had used his thumb to press into the earth. According to the Elders, these kinds of depressions were remnants of the great battle the Ancestors fought in the past. Their very existence after all this time showed how devastating such a battle had been.
Rebecca uncapped a waterskin and drunk deeply from it. As she watched her kin begin to rest, she finally relaxed. Perhaps they could make it through this. Who knows, the Chief may have slaughtered all those mad Shu. She shuddered as she thought of the wave of bodies that had pressed up against the walls of her hometown and forced her mind elsewhere.
The wind blew down from the mountains bringing a cool breeze that refreshed the lathered Shanmao refugees. Rebecca took a deep breath and focused on regaining her energy. She gnawed on a few pieces of cured jerky that she had in her pouch while sitting on a high boulder to keep lookout for the rest of her people. Even in her resting state, she was working.
Rebecca tore into the meat with relish but frowned. It seemed just thinking about the Shu put a bad taste in her mouth. She sighed, but the big breath caused her to freeze in place. She smelled something she shouldn't have.
Rebecca turned her face directly into the wind blowing at her back and caught a full gust of it in her nostrils. How could she ever forget that disgusting smell? It was faint, and if it wasn't for the tailwind blowing it toward her she wouldn't have noticed it, but she knew. They were still coming.
Rebecca rushed to her feet and let out two quick notes of a whistle followed by a long sonorous tone. The signal for danger at the rear.
The guides at the front had only got to rest for a couple hours, but upon hearing her notes, they quickly got to their feet and rushed the refugees to gather. They had to move, and move now!
Rebecca estimated that the Shu were only behind them by a few hours. Based on her experience in the forest and the movement of the wind, she thought that if they were lucky, the Shu would still at most only be 6 hours behind them.
Rebecca rushed to the front of the camp and looked for the leader of the guides.
"Daron, you need to get the tribe out of here faster, I'm going to create a diversion!"
Daron, who's fur was more silver than grey frowned, "Rebecca we don't need you to be a hero, keep doing what you've been doing. We can make it!"
Rebecca smiled sweetly, "Don't worry, I don't think I'm some hero. I'm going to start a big ol' fire. The problem is we are currently downwind of the Shu. That let us smell them first, but if a fire spreads it'll spread our way first. So you need to make sure everyone moves ahead of the flames. That can buy us the most time, but it is still dangerous. Can you do it?"
Daron paused as he fell deep into thought. "How far behind do you think they are?"
"If we are lucky, six hours. But probably with their speed, 4 hours."
Daron's brow furrowed in consternation.
"Fine then. Set up a berm that slants North West. It will channel the fire in our direction. We will use the head start to keep away from the flames, but Rebecca you need to wait three hours to start the fire. Any sooner and we won't stay ahead of it. Any later, and the Shu might outrun it behind us."
Rebecca nodded and went to the pack of mothers in the middle of the refugees. They also carried the few supplies the Shanmao had brought with them. After getting two skins of oil from one of the women, Rebecca sat out to complete her distraction. Lets see how those rats like the heat!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone