Chapter 15: The Raiders

Medicine Woman had died, and Little Mother and her generation were the Leaders of the Settlement.

There had been raids, beginning two years after the founding, and a number of the people had been killed, despite the warning and attacks of the dogs, the defenses, tunnels, and martial training of the people.

The Raiders were not nearly as many as the Slavers the Wolf People had wiped out, but still outnumbered the real warriors by over four to one.

They had their own dogs, and spear-throwers.

The pastures and fields couldn't be walled in. Their defenders were few, and most died protecting the tenders and farmers as they fled, along with many of the dogs.

The raiders paid for the animals they drove off and harvests they stole in blood. The guardians carried shields and reinforced boiled leather armor, as well as superior melee weapons, and were superior warriors. Even the dogs wore spiked collars to protect their throats from their counterparts, and fought more viciously than the outsiders.

The farmers and tenders carried slings, and those who could paused to pelt the raiders as the weakest ran ahead of them, and the stones outranged the raiders' spears.

But each time, the Settlers had retreated behind their fortifications, and the raiders had taken crops and animals with impunity.

The fortifications ruled out any attempt to get at the stored food or women, but the raiders knew when the crops were near harvest, and timed their raids accordingly.

The raiders only wanted the easy meat and food, so they didn't engage in wanton destruction or slaughter.

"They leave what they don't steal, so that we can feed them again next season!" Quiet Menace had fumed.

The raiders had couldn't migrate, as the Wolf People and most other tribes did. There was plenty of food to be hunted and gathered as tribes followed herds.

"They're thieves"., Medicine Woman had said. "The Wolf People met peoples like these often, before we tamed the wolves, and became too strong to attack.

"They only travel a little, and steal from other tribes, as if they are the same as the herd animals. They take young women, and children when they can, for their pleasure, and to grow stronger.

"Not neccessarily like the Slavers did. They may not abuse the children, though the women are still treated as less than human."

"So they're still slavers, except it's not 'official'!", Little Mother had said.

"Not the same.", Medicine Woman had relied, calmly. "These people aren't evil. For them, this is survival. Look at the dead they left.

"None carried rods, or other symbols of authority. And yet, many were different from eachother, just as with the Enemy. Lighter or darker, with disperate features.

"But they were willing participants in these raids. I believe that these are the children of many tribes, who are adopted by the raiders."

"What's the difference?", another young man, whose brother had died protecting others in the most recent raid demanded.

Medicine Woman had shrugged, and taken some time for her reply:

"If you had been taken by these people as a child, and not seen your parents murdered before your eyes, and had been treated well, in time you would have accepted your new life and place with your new family.

"You would have new freinds, and loves. And you might have been one of those young men who came to take our food...as we all kill animals to take their meat."

"But we're not animals!"

Medicine Woman had shrugged again: "What does a child know? Only what he or she learns from their elders, and everyone around them.

"These people aren't monsters. We will have to deal with them, forcefully, but they will listen to reason."

A commotion had errupted at this among the younger people, and some of those whose children had been killed by the raiders, but Medicine Woman had ignored it, and retired to her lodge.

She had died not long after this.

The Settlement's situation seemed untenable. They grew weaker (notably in warriors) with each raid, while the raiders grew even stronger each season.

Scouts found and tracked the raiders, and Little Mother appealed to I Say on a biennial visit to help the Settlement attack them.

I Hear had much more influence with the Wolf People, now that most of the Elders had left for the Settlement, along with his strongest younger opponents.

I Say wanted to help, but I Hear had used the situation to "illustrate" the gods' condemnation of the Settlement, and "welcomed" the Settlers back into "the gods' family".

In secret, I Say had told Little Mother that he no longer had any real power with the Wolf People, and that I Hear would choose his successor.  I Hear essentially ruled the Wolf People now.

Little Mother had urged I Say and his allies to leave the Wolf People and join the Settlement (as their Chief).

He had.

Only a few of the Wolf People had left with I Say, but these were some of the brightest and strongest.

They were also the bravest, since, at this point, the raiders still seemed destined to wear the Settlement down, and eventually kill it with their repeated raids.

But I Say, Quiet Menace, and others didn't accept this fate...