Forest Dwellers - chapter 3

Chapter 3

I awoke to the twittering of birds and the sound of activity outside the teepee. Jennifer was beside me, asleep in a pallet of her own. I slowly sat up, relieved to find that the dizziness and throbbing headache of yesterday was gone. I rubbed at my eyes, then turned to my friend, shaking her gently. “Jennifer… Jennie?”
She shifted a little bit, then yawned and stretched like a cat, slowly sitting up. “Oh, you’re awake, good,” she said, smiling softly at me.
“Yeah, I feel a lot better,” I explained.
“We’ve all been so worried,” Jennifer said softly. “You’ve been asleep for three days. Apparently, the medicine your mother gave you worked all too well.”
“Three days?!?!” I cried. “At that rate, imagine how far behind we’ve gotten in our collecting!”
Smiling, Jennifer gently rested her hand on my shoulder, saying, ”Relax, Najila. I helped collect. You’re set for the winter. Your parents are currently out getting materials to make more quilts, and Fagan and Blossom are outside making dinner.”
I let out a long sigh of relief, rubbing at my eyes a bit.
“Najila.”
I looked up at the serious tone Jennifer’s voice had taken.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice concerned.
“When you fell out of that tree… you looked absolutely terrified, even though you were unconscious. What was the dream about?” she asked me, peering at me with her large, green eyes.
I looked down, feeling tears fill my eyes. “It was horrible,” I whispered softly. “You… you had died… and Fagan, and then… then me…” she murmured.
Jennifer’s face softened, and she pulled me into a tight hug. “I’m right here, and you’re here, and so is Fagan. We’re all alive, it was just a dream,” she promised me softly.
“Jennifer, it was an invasion from another Forest Dweller tribe,” I said softly, pulling out of her hug.
“Najila, we haven’t had an invasion in over three centuries. What makes you think we would have one now?”
“I don’t, but dreams come true sometimes, don’t they?” I asked her. “I think I should warn our war forces.”
Jennifer frowned, then shook her head slightly, standing. “Let me know if you have any more dreams, /then/ maybe we can warn them,” she said.
I looked down, but decided not to argue. “Alright,” I said quietly.
“I have to go home now,” Jennifer said, hugging me tightly once again.
I stood to walk her out, saying, “I’ll see you out.”
I followed her out of the teepee, waving to Fagan, who was sitting with Blossom by the fire pit, preparing dinner. He waved to Jennifer and me, then turned back to breakfast. “By, Jen,” I called as she flew off, waving quietly to her then going to sit by Fagan.
“Hey, Sis,” Fagan said with a small smile.
“I love you, Abi,” I suddenly blurted, wrapping my arms around him.
Fagan frowned at me, but gently hugged me as well, saying, “I love you too, Najila.”
I clung tightly to him, feeling like I’d never let go. I kept my face buried in his chest as he rocked me gently in his arms, stroking my hair.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” he soon said, bringing me back to my senses. “You’ve been asleep for three days, I bet you’re starving.”
I frowned, then realized my stomach was growling. “I am,” I agreed, pulling away and wiping my eyes.
“Mother and Father should be back soon, so we can eat once they get here,” Fagan said.
“Alright,” I said with a small smile, sitting back.








After dinner, my father summoned us together. “After a final count, I’ve determined we’ve got plenty of food for the winter. The house is almost done, but tonight I want you kids to go fill up the jugs with water.”
Every winter, we fill up thirty, ten gallon jugs. These are used for drinking water, soup, and, on especially cold days when we can’t use the river, bathing. They stay down in the cellar with the food, and we keep at least one jug in the teepee with us at all times.
“Alright, Father,” Fagan and I both said, nodding a bit and standing up to go do this. I grabbed one jug, while Fagan grabbed two, then we headed towards the river.
I knelt down by the river, sighing as I began to fill up one jug and saying, “I absolutely hate bathing in the winter. The water’s /so/ cold.”
“I agree,” Fagan said, filling up his jug as well.
I sighed, saying, “I didn’t miss much while I was asleep, did I?”
“Nope, we just collected, did more collecting, and did more collecting. You were out cold.”
“I can’t believe I slept that long,” I said.
“Me neither. Mom didn’t expect the medicine to work so well.”
After that, we both fell silent, filling our jugs. I carried mine back, and Fagan followed soon after, barely able to carry both of the heavy containers. We sat them down in the cellar, then were starting to pick up more empty jugs, a long, loud horn sounded.
“A town meeting? What could they possibly have to discuss?” I said.
As Fagan and I came out of the cellar, Mother and Father said, “Najila, stay here. You’re far too young for these.”
I sighed, grumbling a bit to myself as the three flew off. Once they were out of earshot, I smiled to myself, taking off to listen to the meeting.




The meeting area is a wide clearance deep in the forest. The seats are simply long logs nailed into the ground so they don’t roll around in the wind. The council elders sit at the tall table in front of the seats.
The head of the Council of Elders sits in the center. She is 96 years old, but her booming voice and confident stature make you think otherwise. Her name is Leona, a German name meaning ‘brave as a lioness’. She has short, dark green and brown hair, often somewhat spiked. Her eyes are green as well, and her wings are shaped like leaves.
Today, her face was serious, even concerned. The rest of the Council filed in to sit in the seats around her, while the young adults and adults filed into their seats.
“Attention!” she called, her voice loud and booming. By this time I had settled into the bushes behind the clearing to listen. My parents were sitting with Jennifer and Blossoms parents, and Fagan and Blossom sat together beside them. The eight of them looked concerned as well, and their looks were mirrored by everyone else present.
“The Council has just received a warning from an enemy tribe,” Leona explained. Murmurs went through the crowd, but were quickly silenced as Leona raised her hand.
“The warning was this exactly: ‘Prepare your troops. Be ready for attack.’ The Council has agreed that they plan to strike during the winter, when we are least aware of it. We /must/ be ready for any type of danger they may be bringing.”
She paused, giving the crowd a moment to absorb this. I glanced up as I heard the bushes move, soon seeing Jennifer approach me. “What did I miss?” she whispered.
“A warning, from an enemy tribe; they plan to attack,” I whispered softly. I myself had gone deathly pale. This sounded exactly like what I had seen in my dream.
“Your dream… oh, Najila, I’m so sorry I didn’t listen,” Jennifer murmured.
Leona was talking again, saying, “…why we must begin preparing our troups. All able-bodied men and women are encouraged to join the fight. We need volunteers to patrol the forests during the winter…”
I stood up, starting away from the clearing. “Jennifer, it was terrible…” I said softly.
“What happened in the dream?”
“There was chaos everywhere… fires breaking out, people running everywhere… people dying and dead…”
“We have to warn your parents, and the Council,” Jennifer said.
“But I can’t! They won’t believe me, I’m just a kid,” I said.
“Najila, people are going to die if we don’t warn them how bad the attack is going to be!” Jennifer cried.
“But still, that doesn’t change the fact that they won’t believe me. We haven’t’ had a major invasion in three centuries, who’s going to believe that they might be starting a full on war now?!?!”
“I don’t know, but we have to try and warn them!” Jennifer cried.
I sighed, defeated, and said, “Fine, I’ll try. But not now, they can’t know we were eavesdropping,” I said.
“But you will tell your parents?”
“Yes,” I promised.
Jennifer sighed, but said, “I better get home; I don’t want my parents knowing I snuck off and left my brother home alone.”
“Alright,” I said, waving and taking off in the air to fly back home.





Mother, Father, and Fagan all returned home looking grim. “What was it about?” I asked them.
“A planned invasion,” my father said honestly. “We need to stay on our toes and be ready to fight back should anything happen.”
I nodded, pretending to look somber and shocked, though I looked more distracted and thoughtful.
“Najila, is there something bothering you?” my mother asked.
“Hm? Oh, no, not really,” I said, smiling a bit. “I think I’ll turn in early,” I explained.
“Alright, Hon, but sleep close to the house,” Mother said.
“Good night, Najila,” my father said, kissing my cheek, as did my mother.
“Good night,” I said, kissing Fagan’s cheek, then grabbing my quilt and fluttering up to the tree right beside the house. I settled in, and quickly fell into a restless sleep.




I awoke early in the morning to see that the sun was just barely rising. I climbed swiftly up to the top of the tree I had slept in, staring out at the horizon as the sun began to peek over the mountains that surrounded the Zilla Forest.
I found it hard to believe that in just a few short weeks we could be in a full out war. I shook my head in slight disbelief. I didn’t particularly look forward to the winter months coming. I also knew that my father and Fagan would probably join the watch forces to patrol the forest. That didn’t help to ease my worry at all.
I also couldn’t stop thinking about the dream I had had. I knew that an enemy tribe had invaded and that it had been absolute chaos – but perhaps with my warning, that could be avoided. I was also hoping that my dream wasn’t accurate. I couldn’t bear to lose my Abi and my best friend all in the same day.
It was then that I realized that I had to tell somebody about my dream. I could be saving our entire tribe – as well as the people close to me.
Tentatively, I flew down to the house. Fagan was just awakening from his spot by the teepee, smiling at me.
I smiled weakly at him, but softly said, “Fagan, can I talk to you? It’s about the dream I had a few days ago.”
Fagan, looking concerned, said, “Of course, come here and sit down.”
I sat down beside him, and he wrapped his arm around me. “Now, tell me, what’s bothering you?”
“I… well… the dream was about… about the invasion,” I murmured uncertainly.
Fagan frowned, watching me intently. I told him about the enemy Forest Dweller I had seen, Jennifer’s death, his death, and even my own at the end of the dream. I told him about the fire and the chaos, about the screams and the tears.
“Why didn’t you tell us earlier, Najila?” he asked me, standing up. “That could be really helpful. Come on, we need to speak to Leona.”
I didn’t argue as he tugged me to my feet, taking off in the air towards the Council Clearing. I flew after him, taking a deep breath to prepare myself for the inferiority I knew I would feel as soon as I entered Leona’s presence.




“Leona!” Fagan called as we touched down. He headed towards the large teepee next to the tall tables that the Council of Elders sat at during meetings. “This is Leona’s home,” he explained quietly to me, tapping on the wood.
Leona poked her head out, the aroma of baking breakfast drifting out of her home. “What is it?” she asked, clearly annoyed.
“My sister has something very important about the invasion she needs to tell you,” Fagan said.
“And your name is?”
“Najila Galena, ma’am,” I said, bowing slightly to her.
“Ah, so you’re from the Galena family. We will most definitely need your healing services should this invasion take place. Oh, and please come in, I’d like to hear what you need to tell me,” she said, pulling the flap of the teepee over for us to step in.
I ducked in quietly, looking around her teepee. It was fairly small, but it would work for both Fagan and me for a short time. “Thank you,” I said, bowing again then sitting down on a small cushion. Fagan sat beside me, watching me closely.
“So, Child, tell me what it is you’d like to share,” Leona said as she took off the kettle of water she’d been boiling.
“It’s about the invasion, ma’am… a few days ago, I had a very disturbing dream,” I explained.
Leona was now pouring the hot water into a cup, but paused as she looked up. “A dream, you say?” she said, looking down and continuing to pour.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said softly.
“Tea?” she asked us.
“Please,” I said.
“For me as well, please,” Fagan said.
“Now, continue on about the dream, please?” Leona asked as she began to prepare the tea.
I explained to her about the chaos and the fire, and about the deaths I had witnessed. Although she was occupied with the tea, I had no doubts she was listening intently. When I got to the part about seeing the actual enemy from the other tribe, she stopped and said, “What did he look like? This could be the key to stopping the invasion.”
“He had dark colored wings, with smears of black on his face, and beetle black eyes. He also had rings around his eyes, like those of a raccoon,” I explained.
Leona nodded, jotting this down. “I think I know which tribe we’re dealing with,” she now said. “Thank you very much for this information, Najila. It might prove very useful.”
I frowned now. “But… ma’am, with all due respect, it was only a dream.”
“Dreams tell us much about the future that sometimes we don’t understand. But sometimes, in your case, it provides useful information. Don’t dismiss your dreams for mere imagination, Najila,” Leona told me.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said softly, nodding quietly.
“Is there anything else you’d like to add?” Leona asked as she handed our teas to us.
“No, ma’am,” I said as I sipped my tea.
“Alright, then. I’ll discuss this with the Council. You might be called back to explain your dream to them,” she told me. “It is very much appreciated, of course. Thank you, Najila.”
I nodded, smiling a bit and sipping my tea.