Necropolis (Book One of Book One), Penn Fawn [e book reader android .TXT] 📗

were entitled to it, so they urged us to organize and think about forming a village. One by one, we began cutting down the trees and building homes until we got to the point of what you see here today.”

“All sounds fairly normal, I’d say,” Aswad timidly added. “A normal part of evolution and development.”

“It’s madness,” Akua replied. “We’re not so feeble-minded that we don’t know the consequence of it and what it means. We’re not fools. Entitlement? Entitled to what? Strangers on another man’s land are entitled to nothing. Nothing but some humility, or whatever the people of that land may be kind enough to grant him.”

“We’re entitled to defend ourselves though, entitled to desire self-preservation,” Aswad said.

“You think they didn’t know we were here somewhere in this general area?” Akua asked.

“I don’t know,” Aswad replied.

“Bet you they did,” Akua said. “What they didn’t know was the exact location and just how many of us there are. They probably thought we were just a few and therefore not worth combing the area to weed us out. Make no mistake about it. They would prefer if there were none of us here at all.”

Aswad listened.

“So, to what end is this feeling of entitlement?” Akua asked.

Aswad, unsure of what he should say next, said nothing.

“A hell of a lot of trouble, right?” Akua said.

“From what I now know? Yes,” Aswad replied. “Very grave trouble.”

“Right,” Akua added. “And, that’s where we stand today. On the brink of some dire trouble, all due to our normal evolution and development.”

They thought about what he said.

“I must go now,” Akua added. “Sleep well. Tomorrow I will be here shortly after dawn to direct you to where you are to begin your training.

So said, so done, Ossouna noted to himself as they departed with him early in the morning. While they went about their business, the leaders gathered at the same meeting place where they held their meeting yesterday.

Oba, who was eager to get to the chief reason for the morning’s assembly, kept his greeting short.

The representatives noted a particular urgency in the tone and manner in which he spoke. It was like he would have preferred the reason for calling the assembly had already been addressed.

“Let’s get to stating your positions pro and con,” he said. “Do please keep them brief and to the point, so we can put this to the vote as quickly as possible. I don’t have to remind you time is not on our side. Whatever your decision, it will take some planning and precious more time to implement. By a show of hands, who wants to first have the floor, please.”

Zaeim was first to raise his hand.

“Go on, Zaeim,” Oba said.

“After having the balance of the evening into the night to pour over this, my opinion hasn’t changed. I still side with what Oluso suggested,” Zaeim said.

He looked to his left, and Oluso and his eyes met.

“Fine,” Alpha said, “so long as you and whoever else here who feels this way realize you’re talking about getting into a war.”

No one replied.

“You do realize that is what we’re talking about, right?” he added.

“Of course, we do. Or, at least I do,” Zaeim replied, and their countenances, on the whole, grew grim.

“It’s not a war,” Oluso said.

“No?” Alpha said. “What is it then?”

“It’s self-defense,” Oluso replied. “Whether we take the fight to them or not, we’d still be doing this for our self-preservation.”

“Still a war,” Alpha said.

“Is there no other way?” Dalia asked.

“There is the only other option you already know about,” Oluso replied.

She didn’t reply.

“But do you really want to start all over again? Do you want to continue trying to keep an extra-low profile by hiding out in these bushes, fearing to ever let that you exist be known?

“There was a time no one was more in that camp than I was,” Oluso said. “No more. I’d rather live on my feet than go hiding and crawling on my knees in the bush like I’m not a man, but rather some kind of wild animal.”

She looked at him.

“These issues we’re dealing with now, they were coming,” Oluso added. “It was only a matter of time. Again, I am not going to go run and hide. I never was one who wanted to live forever anyway. It’s unnatural, and besides, I’m not afraid to die.”

“It’s not about hiding,” Dalia said. “It’s about trying to preserve ourselves to fight another day, a day when we are better equipped to resist them.”

“And, when might that day be?” Oluso asked. “We don’t have the luxury of all that time. It’s too late now. Now that they know so many of us are here, they will search every inch of this and the surrounding territory to weed us out. If we left at this moment, we would only get but so far.”

“It’s not too late,” she replied. “There is still time for those of us who would like to evacuate. If we know anything about them, we know they’ll probably avoid the surrounding forest, especially those areas known to be infested with ghouls. They would not want to waste their energy and resources facing them. They will come across the plains because there are acres of forest on either side of that.

“I say we cross the river and proceed in a westward direction parallel to its bank. This way, they will be on the other side, plus there will be a forest between them and us. Their kin to the north have several acres of forest between the riverbank and us.

“It is unlikely they have been notified or will be involved because as far as they would have been told, we’re supposed to be on the other side of the river.

“If they were notified, I doubt very much they’d plan on toting rafts in the hundreds if not thousands through the forest, so a large body of them may be transported to the other side. My bet is it’s just their southern brethren who will