Our tribe was 50 people. Then it became 150 people. And then 250 people. There were 20 tribes constantly in communication with us, and each consisted of at least 50 people. Then something happened. A Nightmare occurred.
During any period of the year, a giant and unknown creature that would trouble the tribe would always come. Our warriors would devise tactics, study the creatures, and always find a way to take them down. The monsters' arrival was something Doctor Lara was doing from above; I knew this. It was being done to prepare the Dermovoxes against sudden, developing, and unknown enemy attacks. Even though she sometimes unleashed a gigantic or incredibly cunning creature upon us untimely, my human brain could deduce that those creatures were not sent at random.
But as I said... one day a Nightmare occurred. Something began to crawl between two mountains, attacking the tribes. This thing resembled a wingless dragon. Its skin was incredibly tough, it was bigger than a hill, and a single flick of its tongue could throw 10 Vegs aside. Earthquakes occurred with every step it took. Mountains crumbled with a single strike of its tail. It was a massive and predatory creature, but it had another feature. It was breathing fire…
Initially, the tribes had gathered to fight the creature. But then, when they saw that the creature commanded fire, they gave up fighting and accepted death. As the Vegs thought, this creature was one sent by the Fire God Fuag to punish them. They believed that if they resisted the creature named Nightmare, they would be betraying their god.
Even though the fire didn't harm them and their skin wasn't easily torn apart by the creature named Nightmare, a great massacre occurred because no Veg resisted the creature.
There were many Vegs from our tribe who went to the Nightmare on their own feet to die, saying, "The Fire God Fuag's creature is coming here." "You should come to your death with us!"
No one in our tribe knew what to do. My son Ogve was conferring with the Stinkers' Azt and the neighboring tribes, but no one had an idea. Everyone was of the opinion that they should wait for death.
***
"What are we going to do?" I asked Grigöz.
"Our God Fuag…" Grigöz was taking out his swords and leaving them in the corner of our tent. "…if he wanted to punish us, there is nothing we can do."
"What if that creature isn't Fuag's creature?"
"What do you mean, Ogvetna? They say it commands fire, and isn't Ogve carrying the words from the minds of those fighting the creature to us? Aren't there those who think it's a child of the Fire God Fuag? How can you say such a thing when all this is happening?"
"Is every fire Fuag's?" I asked, lying on the bed in the tent.
"Whose else would it be? Look… Ogvetna, I know you are strange. I also remember that you were a stranger who came from outside our tribe a while ago. Ogvetna… Shame! Don't commit apostasy!"
"Do you remember what you said when you left me in the darkness of the forest and found me untouched there?"
Grigöz took a step closer into the shadow and put his hands on my face. "I remember, Ogve…"
"You said that the Fire God Fuag might have blessed me."
"Yes…" His hands gripped my face a little tighter.
"I gave birth to an Azt for you!"
"Yes…" His hands were so strong and squeezing my head so tightly that I could feel my skull straining.
"I could have died."
"I know… You could have died, but you were lucky." He squeezed even harder.
"I could have died while pregnant. I could have died from disease. I could have died during the migration! Was that luck too?"
"Yes!" Grigöz applied so much force that I could hear the bones in my cheeks cracking. They sounded like the crackling sounds of a cut tree falling. "What are you trying to say?"
"We committed no sin! We showed no disrespect to fire! I gave birth to an Azt! I proved my sacredness!" My cheeks were about to completely burst. "And you became an incredible leader! Maybe the Fire God Fuag didn't come for us. That fire is a warning to the infidels, and we are misunderstanding it! Are you an infidel?"
Grigöz stopped, pulling his hands away from my cheeks. I was rubbing my aching cheeks.
"Do you think the fire god's creature came for us?" I finally asked. What I said completely shook Grigöz. He staggered back and looked for a place to sit.
"I… I can't answer that," he said, looking at his hands scarred from battle.
"Did that monster come for you too?"
"I don't know."
"No… You know… We committed no sin. It couldn't have come for us."
"Then what should we do?"
"We should leave here."
***
Grigöz had accepted what I said, but it seemed difficult to convince the tribe to migrate. Everyone wanted to surrender themselves into the arms of the Fire God Fuag without questioning. When we woke up in the morning, I had experienced the biggest shock of my life as a Veg.
One of the warrior Buhs in the tribe had killed my son Egvo while he was asleep, by plunging a poisoned dagger into his eyes. According to him, the Fire God had become angry and cursed our realm after Egvo was born. That Buh was brutally killed by the tribe. Before leaving my son's body behind, I took his horn as a necklace and kept it as a souvenir. The place we would migrate to was clear. We were going to the Stinkers.
***
This migration was destined to be an incredibly long story, but I don't want to bore you by telling all of it. So I just want to tell you what happened when we reached the tribe.
When we arrived at the Stinkers' tribe, we were not well received. There were those who said that our escape from the Fire God Fuag was apostasy and that we should be killed. Especially Nura, the Azt who was the eyes of the Stinkers in the swamp, was saying that we should be killed.
I tried to persuade them to flee too. I talked about how dying would be unnecessary. That fleeing would be the only solution. I swore upon the necklace of my son around my neck that my faith was absolute.
Grigöz stepped forward:
"Yutan, leader of the Stinkers! Are you here?"
A gigantic Veg, three meters tall and wearing a bear skin, emerged from one of the tents and started walking toward us. His body was covered with incredibly large scars everywhere. Grigöz looked like a child next to him. He was wearing a hide that was an unusual Bear skin. It was as if someone from my previous life had told me what kind of bear this hide belonged to.
"What do you want, Grigöz?"
"A duel… Between tribe leaders… This is a law. If the chiefs of two Azt-possessing tribes request a duel, that duel must happen. If I win the duel, my people will receive supplies from you and will be able to continue escaping the monster named Nightmare rising in our realm."
"What happens if I win?" Yutan asked.
"Ogvetna, the Ega of our tribe who gave birth to the Azt named Egvo, will be yours."
"You are giving us the Holy Ega of the tribe? Are you sure? She ensures the sacredness of the tribe and your name as the chief. The holy one of the tribe should die with the chief of the tribe," and Yutan laughed as he said these things. "Are you that desperate?"
At that moment, for some reason, I wanted to kill myself. Then I realized that I had already attempted to kill myself. Since I was getting very close to becoming a real Veg, my instincts were also like those of Vegs. I was just plunging the knife in my hand into my throat when two Buhs from the Stinker tribe grabbed me from behind and stopped me.
"I accept!" Yutan said. "Let our war be legendary!"