Kaley and Kelli weren’t all fun and games, though. They were fiercely protective when it was necessary. Damien and his Brothers hade across a Rack while with the Sisters one day. My youngest girls had just learned to fly and only sharpened their spears on their wings the day before. The Rack did not see the twins flying above and attacked my men. Kaley and her Sister did not wait.


    “It was unreal,” Kein told meter while watching the girlsugh and talk outside our dwelling.


    The twins were ying a card game with Hodlen’s family. They looked so delicate and small next to the men; it was deceptive. My girls were powerful like nothing my men had seen before.


    Kaley and Kelli were fast and efficient. Damien and his Brothers had never witnessed a female fight the way the twins did it. Theirck of cold tolerance was their only weakness. My twin girls moved with fluidly and with precision. The Rack was distracted and neutralized before it understood who was attacking it.


    It relieved me to know the twins were not as weak as they looked. This world was incredibly dangerous and they would not survive if they weren’t tougher than everything in it. I was grateful once again for my strong,petent offspring.


    Kaley and Kelli were using their teeth and eating before I knew it. They were small, for a Paterian female, giving me the illusion they were younger. Since there was no Nu-reeh to shove them out of our nest, I thought they might stay. I was wrong.


    “We need to go,” Kaley informed me after the evening meal one night.


    I had been sitting with Mycah and his Brothers as they learned to sharpen a de. It was an important lesson and my focus had been entirely on them. Thement took me by surprise.


    “We have our bag packed,” Kelli stated showing me the satchel slung over her shoulder. “We’ll need clothing for the colder areas.”


    As a mother I always saw my girls as the tiny, weak creatures I’d first seen at their births. Now, I saw two Sisters ready for life in the world. Their wings were barbed with an impressive array of spears and their talons were sharp. The twins’ needle like teeth had proved they could bite through anything. Still, they were my baby girls…


    “Aliens-,” I started to say and Kaley shook her head.


    “Are an inevitable part of life now,” Kelli said sounding unconcerned. She casually brushed the rock wall beside us with her talons and the solid stone easily chipped away. “We are strong enough to deal with aliens.”


    “Your father and I wanted to travel with you,” I said standing and starting to feel frantic.


    I hated it when my girls left.


    “Mama,” Kaley said in an exasperated tone, “you and Dad can travel with us, but not WITH us. Nobody’s female breeder travels WITH their offspring. We could n to meet up with you in a moon’s time at the T’leen camp, that would work for us.”


    They were so absolutely assured that what they were doing was right and I just wasn’t ready. My anxious state was transmitted directly into my voice.


    “Some of the women still think very is an option. I know they think you two are symbols for the resistance. It could make you a target!” I argued as Kein approached from the side.


    Kaley and Kelli stared at us with obvious frustration. They wanted to just be gone. Their instincts to make this trip were very strong. My desire to protect them was just as strong. The world wasn’t like it once was and they faced new dangers, but they wouldn’t listen to me. Their father had a n, though.


    “We won’t travel WITH you,” Kein said cing a hand on my back and watching the girls, “but we wish to travel. It would be safer for us if you both were near us during the trip. My Brothers and I wish to take a simr route to the one you have nned. We would never impinge on your freedom, but we would like you to watch over us.”


    I withheld my smile as the Kaley and Kelli processed this information. Asking them to guard us spoke to a deeply ingrained protective desire. I knew they’d agree as soon as Kein asked.


    The great adventure started slowly enough three dayster. We left the safety of the T’lynien Mountain with thirty two other families of men, several women, the mates to men like Hodlen, and the promise to be careful. Kein had drafted us an amazing journey and we were all anxious to take it.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    Basin’s family travelled with us. They were in search of the rest of their extended family, just as we searched for ours. I felt lucky to get to take this trip with Rose right beside me. We continued to teach the boys as we rode on the transports over deserts and through jungles.


    ************************


    “On my home world, we would have called those things dinosaurs,” I told the boys one day as we flew over something that looked very much like an apatosaurus, originally misnamed brontosaurus Earth. On Pateria they were called Untars.


    The massive herd of herbivores was moving about a wide, shallowke eating the tasty vegetation in the water. They had long necks, powerful bodies, and enormous tails, but they were essentially peaceful. We stayed far above on our transports to avoid other smaller creatures that tended to travel near them.


    “You see the creatures in the water disced by the Untars feeding?” I asked Mycah’s family. “If they do not find cover soon they will be plucked out by the Crassas. The Crassas follow the Untars and eat the smaller creatures flushed out of their homes. Those things attack in packs and can overwhelm a single family of men. You must not be on the ground when they are near.”


    Jonathan had been looking like he was going to ask to get closer, but then stopped. The Crassas swarmed some amphibious mammals that had been living under the Untarstest meal. Even from our distance it was easy to see the danger. Only bones were left once the Crassas had fed.


    “They could devastate akemunity…” Mycah said sounding concerned.


    He was right, the Crassas ate everything made of meat in their path. They were a menace and one we took seriously. There were stories from the distant past of futile battles against these creatures.


    “They only feed for half a moon cycle every year,” I instructed the boys. “The rest of the year is spent in their dens: hibernating in colder times and breeding in the warmest time. You must know what period they will be active in. They cannot be defeated, only avoided.”


    Damien interrupted our lesson as he cursed under his breath and sent out a message to the rest of the caravan. Our lesson had his attention as a leader of this troop. We couldn’t stop anywhere near here tonight. The wend would have been a good ce to refill our canteens, but safety came first.


    Hodlen’s family pointed to an open space far up the hill nearby. The rocky slope would put us on high ground and be easy to defend. Untars and hence the Crassas, would have no interest in that area. Hodlen’s Brother had seen the shimmer that indicated a small waterfall cutting down the mountain near there. Our stores were low and fresh water would be a blessing. Relief spread through all of us as we made our way to the location.


    “Where The Great Harmonious Spirit puts up a wall, we are always offered a tunnel,” Tos remarked happily.