“Last time I was here, there were no guards out this far.”
“Harta-ak is always concerned with someone sneaking up on us. Eventually, we will have guard shacks at the four corners of Kragdon-ah and runners reporting back to him every hour.”
“He is a wise man,” Alex said.
“A wise man who does not have to build these guard houses in the middle of the forest,” the man said. “But what else would I be doing with my time?”
“I suppose you’ve already alerted the next guard down the line that visitors approach?”
“Come, let me show you our newest idea,” the guard said, beckoning them off the road.
They didn’t dismount, but followed the man through the trees. Alex extended his awareness and put his head on a swivel. This man seemed friendly, but if it was an ambush, he might seem friendly too.
It was not an ambush.
The guard shack looked like everything else Klipta-ak designed or built. Solid, utilitarian, and built to last. The interesting feature was a thin fibrous rope that was tied tightly to a tree trunk.
“The problem with using sound to relay messages is that you give yourself away. If I had blown a horn when I saw you, you would have known you were spotted, and I would have given myself away. Instead, I just give a pull on this rope. It’s built to carry the vibrations down the line. A few hundred yards away, there is a relay station. From there, they can give a blast on a horn without giving our position away here.” The man smiled, obviously proud of the idea.
Like an early telegraph wire. How long until someone comes up with a Kragdon-ah version of Morse Code, if they haven’t already?
“Brilliant idea,” Alex said, and he meant it. It wouldn’t have been much for him or Reggie to think of it, as they would just be copying something they remembered. It was a huge leap forward when starting from scratch, though.
They said goodbye to the guards, then headed toward Danta-ah.
Reggie turned to Alex as they rode. “Things are changing fast here, aren’t they? I wonder when the first superhighway will open between Winten-ah and Danta-ah?”
By the time they made it to the imposing front gate that blocked the entrance to Danta-ah, it had swung wide open in welcome and both Harta-ak and Versa-eh were waiting for them.
Versa-eh ran to them and scooped both children from their fathers, cradling them. Tinka-eh loudly said she was too big to be carried, but did not attempt to get down.
Harta-ak whistled twice and a young boy who hadn’t seen his tenth solstice yet ran to him. “Morda-ak, take these horses to the stables and make sure they are well watered and taken care of.”
The boy didn’t answer, but just ran to Alex and held his hand out for the reins. Alex and Reggie both dismounted and turned their horses over to the boy.
Harta-ak called, “Nanda-eh!”
A homely woman with short hair—an anomaly in Kragdon-ah—came running.
“We have guests tonight. Let’s have a feast.”
The woman smiled at Alex and Reggie, revealing missing front teeth, and said, “I will start right now.” She waved a finger in Alex’s direction. “You are a lucky man. Nanda-eh is a much better cook than anyone in Winten-ah!”
Alex marveled at how different things were in Danta-ah. There were new buildings, roads, and other improvements, yes, but most importantly, there were more people. Three years ago, there had been Harta-ak, Versa-eh, and a few dozen captured Lasta-ah warriors.
Now Alex saw women, children, and men he did not recognize hurrying from place to place.
“Where did all these people come from?”
Harta-ak smiled, obviously proud of what they had created in such a short period of time. “Various places. A village to the north was foolish enough to attack Rinta-ah just before the winter solstice. I know he’s just a kid still, but Rinka-ak is a great leader. This tribe invaded Rinta-ah, thinking it would be an easy takeover. Rinka-ak destroyed the attacking force, then chased them back to their village and burned it to the ground. Normally, they would have made all the people from that village part of their own tribe, but it was winter and their supplies were short.”
“So you helped them out, huh?”
“Well, we came to a deal. The situation was that for the first few years, Versa-eh was the only woman in Danta-ah. With women dying in childbirth, no one wants to risk getting pregnant, but a community with twenty-five men and one woman is not healthy. So, we took them all on. Most of the warriors were dead, so we accepted the women and children.”
Harta-ak turned and watched the young boy leading the horses away. “It’s been good. They’ve brought new energy.”
Just then, a woman walked by carrying a heavy load of sticks. She was broader across the shoulder and thicker through the middle than most Kragdon-ah women.
Harta-ak smiled at her, waited until she passed, then said, “They are not a comely people, but they work hard. Right now, that is more important than anything else.”
Versa-eh pushed Harta-ak in the shoulder and said, “All men ever see is a pretty face.”
They toured the village, with Harta-ak proudly showing off what they had accomplished. “Come, look at our great hall,” he said, turning down a dirt street. “Well, it’s not really great yet,” Harta-ak said,
“...but it will be eventually,” Klipta-ak, the master builder said, wiping his hands on his pants and laying a somewhat-cleaner hand on Alex’s shoulder. “It is good to see you, Manta-ak.”
Alex gestured around at everything they had built and said, “I knew we made a mistake when we let you leave Winten-ah.”
“If I had stayed there, it would have just frustrated us both. The Winten-ah like their lives unchanged from generation to generation. Harta-ak and Versa-eh embrace change.”
“So I saw,” Alex said. “The new alert system you’ve got in the woods. Good idea.”
“I can’t claim that,”
