Evgeni walked along the rough people in the Upper Plains as he approached the Upper Forest
The fire had burned low and two of the men had gone to get more wood. It was at this time that the old woman, draped in her heavy shawl made of rough Mam hide, stood up and moved towards them all on her Velo-skull-topped cane. Then, her raspy voice rose into the cold night air.
"Young Hunters, today is the day upon which you are told the story of the Endless Summer."
She gave a shake of her cane, the feather adornments beneath the skull on her staff rustling in the cold breeze.
"Ages past, the Ancestors built a great empire throughout the Home. Luna was a place of trade, Mapc was home to the Great Mines and Venera was the world of sky houses, hanging without strings. We even touched the lands of Yupiter, going to his consorts and building great fortifications, places of alchemy and mines."
With this, she pointed up to the sky at those celestial bodies with her scrawny fingers. Then she slowly sat down and began again in a low voice.
"Yet we had neglected Zemlya, our Mother and she wanted us back. So she began the Great Heat. The factories of humans and their creations spewed twice as hard into the skies. The mounts of humans and their creations coughed thrice as hard into the land. Finally, the great Drillers of humans and their creations drilled so much Dark Maslo that the oceans did begin to die. The people were restless and so those false demigods who claimed to rule heaven and earth made many amusements for their people, urging them to forget about the Mother."
She taped the skull atop her cane knowingly with her left knuckle.
"We in our weakness, did so and by the time her wrath had been awoken, it was too late. The water rose out of the seas to flee our poison and the Chaos came. The demigods were struck down and peace might have returned if it had not been for the Endless Summer. The heat continued with fires spreading everywhere with waters vanishing yet the skies began to clear. Then began the cold. The Old Folks came here to this valley to escape the cold yet it covered the whole Earth. Now, we lay in a blanket of snow and ice...but not for long."
At that point, people muttered and started debating what she was about to say next. The old woman licked her lips in annoyance at all the talking going on before turning back to the group of teenagers seated before her.
"The cold is going children. In my lifetime, I have seen in begin to wane and now we see Syos moving across the Upper Plains. Change is coming. The Endless Summer may soon be upon us again and so it will be time to reach the…"
"That's enough Elder." came the rough voice of Evgeni's father as he stood up.
"YOUR Old Folks words are not fact and that area is off limits to our Young Hunters so DO NOT TELL THEM OF IT!" he said, his voice raising as he finished his outburst. A few people openly nodded with him and the old woman turned to face him, her own face touching his distaste.
"It was people like you who in ages past that helped the demigods deceive the people. Change is coming. You cannot deny that…"
His father had roared, had went right for her and after that it had been a whirlwind of shouting and grunts and flesh hitting flesh.
His father had been thrown into the Drya, as they had realized he'd been drunk. The outburst was not held against Evgeni, as everyone knew his father was into vodka. It had been a restless night, with him awake for most of the night.
So when dawn came, he was the first to leave, climbing up the Valley's pathways and over it's lip out onto the Upper Plains. He needed to bring in more than the others, he needed to make up for his father's...disgusting behaviour. He looked around, at the distant mountains that rose above them all. Suddenly, he heard a giant crash. He whipped out his bow and immediately turned towards the sound.
Erupting from the treeline came Sarmas, a dozen or so, fleeing out onto the plains. That was very shocking to see these creatures out of the Upper River, which ran through the forest. The unasked question of what they were running from was instantly answered as a Tirano came crashing out onto the plains, a Sarma hanging from it's jaws. Evgeni instantly got down low into the grasses and watched the giant lumber after more prey, dropping the Sarma from it's jaws as it did so. The creature was obviously not enough for this monster and so it began a slow chase of it's stupid prey. Then Evgeni made a reckless decision. He dashed straight for the dead Sarma laying there in the grasses as the Tirano continued to move further off for more kills. He lept over rocks, trying to keep as low as he could as he rushed the kill. Then he was there, slinging it over his shoulder and running back to the Valley.
He didn't look back, concentrated on keeping the flopping heavy weight over his shoulder as he continued to rush the safety of the cliffs. There was a muted series of cries before a large crack noise sent him into a panic. The Tirano had just killed it's target and would be turning around now. There was a loud roar and Evgeni knew it was a narrow margin. The earth began to shudder beneath his feet as the Tirano started after him, giving another roar of anger. Evgeni was nearly at the ledge and he saw the other hunters starting to poke their heads up as they completed their climb.
"MOVE!!!" He shouted as he ran.
Two girls, Kaarina and Rada were just starting to help someone else up when they turned around and instantly scrambled back over the edge. Then he threw the limp Sarma over the edge and jumped over it himself. Then, with a final roar, the Tirano went after him...and promptly fell to it's death. The small pathway Evgeni, Kaarina, Rada and the others clung to was against the wall for a short way on the cliff down before it reached a rise where rough steps led down to the forest where the Village lay. There was heavy breathing all around as they watched the large creature tumble over, smashing through trees and rocks before it finally came to a slow halt at the base of the steep landscape.
Evgeni turned to the others and said, still gasping for air, "Summer is coming."
