They were greeted by the entire tribe as the large figure that was the chief stood at the front of the group, "I found him, chief, Kolvma Ilbis," He nodded and she joined the rest of the tribe as they let the two large men walk by them and towards the center of the tent village of the tribe. It was situated a few hundred paces from the shoreline and was set between the dunes that lead to the large sandy plains and the hard sand of the beach. The tents were made of bone frames and pelt walls with holes in the middle where smoke could escape from. They lived off of hunting, fishing and growing the few plants that could survive in such a climate.
"It has been a long time, Kolvma, how have you been, my brother?" The entire tribe was there, listening to them, "My people have heard my stories of you, and you are very important for the life of this tribe."
"Yishva told me about that, chief, what did you call me for?"
"We shall speak of this later, my brother, you need to rest, you must have been walking for a long time, allow the tribe to let you rest up and recover properly," He grinned as stood, "Do enjoy the meal that we have prepared."
Kolvma sat near the tribe's chief as a large fire lit up the night and cooked the food they were eating, "Chief, what is the reason for sending one of your people to come find me in Naav?"
"When you saved me, I realized that you were more than just a simple hunter," He began as Kolvma started to eat once more, "You were a talented and brave hunter who knew what he was doing, so I remembered you, recently there has been an increase in the activity of the sand wyrms in Getulush and there have been very unusual disturbances."
"You want me to figure out what is causing the disturbances?" The chief nodded as Kolvma took another bite before speaking with his mouth full, "And why me?"
"You are the best hunter I know."
"I appreciate the compliment, but I haven't lived in Getulush in 10 or 12 years, what tells you I can identify the root problem of the land?"
"I know you can do it," He commented as Kolvma realized that he had been joined where he was sitting by 6 women who he couldn't recognize, "Our tribe believes in you and we depend on you now, once more, to help us," Kolvma shrugged and then continued eating, "Once you feel the need to sleep, I will have someone bring you to the home we have prepared for you," The hunter nodded and continued eating.
"Next time you send someone up north, make sure to provide them with the correct clothing, Yeshiva would've frozen outside if she didn't make it to my home that night," He said as he could feel the women trying to get his attention, much in the same way that Yishva had done when they had met.
"I wasn't aware of the climate you would have at this time of year in Naav."
"Now you know, Chief, but why send someone like Yishva? she is very young."
"21 isn't very young, you and I are just old men, Kolvma," The chief chuckled, "The people of our tribe were very interested in your stories, a few still remember you, I am among the few."
"I am not that old, I am only 38 years old."
"You saved me before someone like Yishva was even born, there is nothing about that makes it not long ago, Kolvma," The chief mentioned as a man brought them more food, "Thank you, brother."
"What has been happening with the creatures around here? What made you notice the abnormality?" Kolvma asked as he put his plate down, "Anything I can use to start my investigation?"
"According to a few of the hunters of the tribe, the sand wyrms have been fleeing more than attempting to steal fallen prey, the ground tremors from time to time, much more than when wyrms move across the dunes in packs, we have never had anything like that, something in the heart of the desert or further towards the mountain walls must be running amok."
"The desert goes from where to where?"
"It covers the northern part of Getulush, it lines the shore and goes all the way until you hit the cliffs of the mouth of the land that leads into upper Naav, I believe," The chief explained, "We don't go there, it is a death pit and sand wyrm territory."
"When I saved you, there were wyrms in the plains of Getulush, but when I crossed them with Yishva, there was nothing of the sorts, why is that?"
"The plains are the wyrms' deathgrounds, that is why it has plants and smaller animals, they are able to flourish off of the corpses of the wyrms, but before, when you saved me, it had been a predatory sand wyrm looking for food who had wandered onto the plains to feed, at least that I what I think," Kolvma listened as the was intently observed by the 6 women who sat around him. Sand wyrms were normally the top of the food chain, for them to be scared or flee from hunters who have killed sand dwellers was bizarre and made Kolvma wonder what could be causing such a behaviour. He stopped and looked towards the distant cliffs, trying to understand what could be happening.
"Do the wyrms have any predators normally?"
"Not in our lands," The chief replied, "In the south east, I have heard of sand dwelling beasts that can migrate from land to sea when the sands get too warm or when the ocean gets too cold for them."
"A creature that can navigate the sand and the sea, that would be a threat to wyrms if it came here, wouldn't it?" The chief nodded, "I have heard of a beast similar to that down in the region of Jukk, they have 8 tentacles and a large head as well as the capacity to blend in with their surroundings, I think they were called sand nightmares, something along those lines."
"Could that be the cause?"
"Tomorrow, I will head to the desert to attempt to find clue of what could be causing the chaos, if it is a creature, it leaves marks and will have something to track it."
"Wouldn't a group of myrms be able to kill one of the nightmares, Kolvma?" One of the women sitting near him asked, "Wyrms are already very dangerous."
"If I remember well from my discussion with the Jukk hunter, they can fight 8 wyrms without any issues, one with each tentacle, however I was unsure about if there was something about 9 wyrms killing one of them."
"9 wyrms?" The idea of needing the power of 9 wyrms to kill something seemed insane to the people of the tribe who had overheard the comment, "That is a lot of wyrms."
"Will they hunt people?" Someone from the tribe asked.
"I don't know, but I will try and find out what this creature is before I name names and accuse a Jukk nightmare and assume that it when all the way around from the south eastern warm seas to come and hunt here," He said before taking another bite, "I will need something to write in and with, I didn't bring my journal, I should've."
"We will provide you with a home, food and materials to the best of our ability, Kolvma, just let me or one of the tribe members know and we will attempt to accommodate your needs."
"Thank you," He stood up, "I will be heading to bed now, the moon is nearly halfway through the sky, if I want to make progress in my investigation, I will need to get to work as soon as I can," The 6 women stood up with him, "Where is the tent for me?"
"Boniva, show him to the tent that was prepared recently, and do treat him well," One of the six women nodded and began walking ahead of Kolvma, waiting for him to follow her. She was shorter than Yishva, with a larger chest that seemed that it would make her small top. Her hair was short, her skin was like all the other tribe members. Once they were away from the large group, Kolvma moved to be next to her as they walked.
"How old are you, Boniva?"
"I am 24 blooms, Kolvma, much younger than you, but still not too young," She looked up at him, her eyes were blue and stood out from the large part of the tribe.
"Do you have any children?"
"When a woman in our tribe gives birth, raising it is a collective effort, that is what makes our bond so tight, I don't have any children of my own."
"Alright, how is this then, have you ever been pregnant?" She shook her head, "That question sounds much different to the first one I asked."
"It is, but the answers are very similar, Kolvma," He nodded before she pointed out the tent, "Here is your tent, Kolvma."
"Thank you, Boniva," He walked in and, with only the moonlight being able to light the room, found his way to the bed and pulled off his shirt and placed it with the rest of his clothes. He sat on the bed before realizing that Boniva was still standing outside of the curtain door of the tent, her feet pushing the sand down and blocking some of the light that was coming from the fire in the center of the village that was used for cooking, "Are you still standing at the door?"
"Yes, Kolvma."
"What are you hoping for?"
"I wanted to spend the night with you," She replied without any form of hesitation.
"What do you do when men come back after having killed a wyrm?"
"I want their attention, as they are clearly superior to me in that moment."
"What do they do when a woman kills a wyrm?" He pulled the curtain door open and looked at her, "Do they do the same thing?"
"Yes, they want our attention," Kolvma wasn't expecting that answer, "That is why the older women were not as interested in you as the younger ones like myself were."
"They are closer to my level than you are," Boniva nodded, "What a system," He closed the tent door and walked back to his bed, his feet in the sand before moving onto the bed once more.
"You don't want to sleep with me?" He didn't answer, "I can let you sleep if you want, Kolvma, I just wanted to offer myself to satisfy your needs."
"I understand that much," He stood up once more and walked back to the curtain door, "I understand that very well," He opened it and with one arm, picked up the smaller woman and carried her in, "Yishva awoke something in me, and you are going to let me satisfy it," Boniva smiled as she kissed the large man's cheek. He set her down before picking her up with both hands and feeling her body slightly.
"But Yishva is only a thin woman, she won't give you the same things that I can give you, Kolvma, just help yourself to them," She kissed his lips once before he kissed her back. Taking the lead for a few moments, the short woman put her hands on his head and pulled it towards her as they began to makeout, standing in the middle of the tent.