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The sun was setting, casting a rosy light over the village of the Nigrum Mortifer tribe. Zassira and Koren were walking along the fringes of the jungle surrounding the village, speaking of whatever came to mind. “Did you hear about what happened to Elder Joskau earlier today?” Koren asked Zassira. She shook her head, a look of concern on her muzzle. “No, what happened? Is he okay?” “He’s perfectly fine. He had one of his visions. One of his grandsons had been able to catch most of it.” “A vision? He hasn’t had one for a couple of decades. What did he say?” “‘Two children of the same breed, one fathered by tragedy and one by bitterness, will meet in a city plagued by greedy law. Once these two souls find each other, three will be lost and two bloodlines cut.’” “Is that it?” Koren shook his head. “No, Joskau began to mumble so quietly that his grandson could not hear the rest.” “I wonder who the vision was about. Now that I about it, Joskau’s last prophecy still hasn’t happened yet.” “The one our parents told us?” Zassira nodded. “If I remember correctly, it said: ‘On a day when furs from another home leave ours, one of theirs will stay and fill the empty space left by one of our own.’ When do you think it will happen?” Koren shrugged. “Who knows? Not even Joskau knows. He can’t even remember having his visions in the first place.”

“Chief!” Both Koren and Zassira turned to see a young black mamba running towards them. “What is it Senke?” Koren asked. “Do you have something to report?” Senke nodded as he caught his breath. “The other scouts sent me to report that the caravan from Makos has arrived at the Aspis’ territory boundary.” “Thank you Senke. I need you to do a favor me.” “Yes chief?” “I need you to go and tell Drek to get some of our warriors together. Tell him to go over the plan he and I discussed earlier.” Senke stood for a moment as he went over the message in his head. “You can count on me chief.” “After you’re done with that you should help yourself to some dinner, the cooks have made a delicious meal tonight.” Senke nodded and ran off to carry out his task. “He’s going to make an excellent scout someday,” Zassira said. Koren nodded. “Just like his mother and father were.”

“Where’s Zila?” Koren asked as he and Zassira walked back into the village. “She should be back by now.” “She’s probably still with the Herba Interstring clan.” “What makes you say that?” “Before she left she told me about this male from their tribe she met on one of her visits. She talked about the time she spent with him while she was there. It sounded like she was very fond of him.” “Well as long as our hatch-mate is happy, I’m happy,” Koren said. “I just hope she isn’t gone too long, I might need her to deliver another message soon.” Zassira smiled. “You cruel beast, always making our poor hatch-mate run around without any rest.” “You’re lucky that I’m not making you slave away to do my bidding,” Koren joked as they arrived at Zassira’s hut. Zassira looked around and realized that it had grown quite dark. She could see both lanterns and imported artificial lights had come on around the huts. “Well Zass, it’s been nice talking to you after such a long day, but I should get back to my hut and rest. If the caravan is attacked tomorrow as they pass through, I will need all the rest I can get.” Zassira turned and hugged her hatch-mate. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t lose any sleep over this whole thing. The last thing we need is for our chieftain to be exhausted on a day like tomorrow.” “I’ll be fine Zass. You just worry about getting some rest. You’re going to need it for when we start negotiations with the caravan’s merchants.” “I will, goodnight Koren.” “Goodnight Zassira.” With that they both went their separate ways, Zassira into her hut and Koren to his.

~~~~~~

That same night saw the merchants and guards of caravan 6 sitting around small campfires on the road, well away from the surrounding foliage. Nick and Beth sat together around their own campfire talking about the day ahead. “Beth, I’ve been thinking. The snake tribes of Kuriss aren’t exactly the most technologically advanced furs in all of Rith, so why should we have to worry about them so much?” “You’re right, they’re not as technologically advanced as us. The thing is that they have an arsenal of weapons they bought off of black market weapons merchants from Makos. They reserve it for ‘special occasions’ as their chief puts it. They’ve never used the weapons before in battle so nobody knows what they have. They could have anything from a pistol to heat-seeking rocket launchers. That’s why we have to keep our guard up.”

“Hey guys.” Nick looked up from the fire and watched as a female ferret wearing a green camouflage uniform came over to them and sat between him and Beth. “Well well well, if it isn’t daddy’s little girl turned soldier.” “It’s nice to see you too Beth,” the ferret said. She looked over at Nick and offered him her paw. “Hi, I’m Erin Ross.” Nick shook her paw. “I’m Nicholas Kazeras, just call me Nick. What was all that about you being ‘daddy’s little girl’?” “Erin’s father is a billionaire,” Beth said. “He’s the president of the Furmacon Computer Corporation. For a while Erin was portrayed as a spoiled girl who never had to do anything for her money. Then a couple of years ago she shocked everyone by joining the Makos military.” “Everyone expected me to fail, but I proved them wrong,” Erin finished. “Wow, why’d you do it in the first place?” Nick asked. “Well, it’s true that I never had to work for my money before I joined the military. Unlike most rich girls though, I never liked being spoiled. I always wanted to do something that would challenge me. So once I was old enough I enlisted into the military since I had heard that it would be very challenging.” “Well welcome to the crew then.” “Thanks,” Erin said, smiling.

They spoke about random things for the next twenty minutes. Eventually the caravan leader, the one who would carry out the major negotiations, walked over to their fire. “You guys should get to sleep,” the hyena said. “We need you guys to be well rested for tomorrow.” “We’ll do that Harv,” Beth said. He nodded and walked away. As soon as he had left, Nick, Beth, and Erin rolled out their sleeping bags by the fire. Soon all was quiet in the campsite as merchants and guards alike slept by the embers of their campfires for the day that lay ahead.

~~~~~~

Meanwhile in a dimly lit hut in the village of the Aspis tribe, a small group of adders sat around their chieftain as he gave them his orders. "I want you to take all of the warriors we have tomorrow and have them stand on both sides of the path that they'll be passing through." "What shall we do with the weapons from Makos Chief Imrra?" "I'm glad you asked that Strass, I want you to take half of our warrior and arm them with assault rifles. Before you do that, I want you to arm several of them with sniper rifles and post them inside every other hut by the path. I want them to know that we could massacre them if they stick one claw out of line. That's all, now go and rest for tomorrow." The small group dispersed and went to their respective huts. Imrra laid down onto his bed and stay awak thinking about what tomorrow could bring before drifting off to sleep.