and in tune with the woods. I could actually get there before sunrise.
The jungle is calm and quiet. I am just a part of it.
And I can’t really be scared of something I’m a part of.
I clutch the gun and speed up even more.
35
- Brank’ox -
As the sun sets I unlock the door, but do not open it. I don’t want to make it too obvious.
My hiding place is a small hut I have built far down in the Factory, just about as deep as I can get among the alien strangeness. The white light that interested Dolly so much shines steadily in the dark down there.
I do a final check of all the arrangements, making sure they are perfect and ready.
Then I make myself comfortable, surrounded by furs and with everything I need within easy reach. I’m sure this will be the night. Isualic won’t be able to wait any longer.
I eat and drink, staying alert, but also thinking ahead to my new future as the possible chief of my tribe.
Even without the danger from the dragons, there are many things to change. We’ll train the men better. Why not train them all until they can be made Swordmasters? It’s just a matter of practice.
The food can also be improved. The alien women are much better at that. I will model my old village after the alien village in as many ways as possible. It will be the best tribe on the planet.
But there will be no Dolly.
The familiar darkness settles like a hollow presence in my mind. What’s the good of being chief if she’s not there? Or anywhere else on this planet?
Well, I may not be able to enjoy it. But at least I’ve never failed that tribe.
A man should know his limits. I was never worthy of the alien tribe, not being a real slayer.
I sit in the little hut for many hours in the darkness, staying alert.
Then, just when I start to lose hope about this happening tonight, there’s movement high up in the Factory. On the same level as the door.
I tense up. It could be anything. Even a curious Small. Although it really is too cold for them to be moving around much.
Nothing more happens, and I start to relax, thinking I was wrong.
A half-subdued noise echoes through the Factory, like someone tripping and almost falling.
I tense up. They’re here. And they’ve reached the first tripwire. I should be able to see…
Yes.
Yes! There is a shadow there, moving like a man except more smoothly, hiding better than any man could.
And there! Another, right behind.
And another.
And another, and another, and another…
There must be twenty of them.
More and more shadows enter the Factory and slowly make their way towards the middle, where Dolly’s wooden staircase is.
They keep coming. Now there must be forty.
My excitement reaches a new level. If Isualic has in fact alerted all the dragons in the jungle, which I was hoping, then this could work.
Under normal circumstances, I doubt it would. But the dragons are weakened, and they must all be completely desperate for hoards. They may well be willing to do anything for just a sliver of a valuable thing. Even if it means they have to cooperate with each other and share whatever they might find. Certainly, Isualic gave me that impression. And I did tell him he’d need a hundred others to help.
I slowly stick my head out and look down.
The gold necklace is there, hanging on a long rope right above the mysterious white light. It’s perfectly illuminated from below, glowing and glittering as it slowly moves a finger’s width back and forth with the little bit of draft that reaches it from above.
From high up in the Factory, it must look extraordinarily tantalizing to any dragon. I spent some time polishing the gold to make sure it’s as shiny as it can be.
But right now, they can’t see the small, but beautiful treasure. I have hung a piece of fur very strategically a little ways above me, obscuring their view of the bottom of the Factory. When I suddenly remove that, revealing the gold necklace, that’s when the situation will go critical. Then I will know if the dragons will start fighting on their own, or if I must attack them to spark the brawl.
They’re staying very quiet, but still they keep coming. There must be a hundred. The first ones are now moving downwards, big shadows with a metallic glean.