Methuselah's Daughter, Part 2, Chapter 15
J.A. Eddy
Circa 1100 BCE
“I don’t understand why we’re following them.” “Because we can’t stay out here on our own forever.” Attuz looked at me with doubt, but at eleven years old he was not about to challenge me on this. Another couple of years down the line, maybe, but not now. In the three winters since our village had been attacked we had been living off the land, avoiding contact with others, and doing rather well. Still, we had to find a place to settle down. Indeed, I had been a little selfish and I knew it. We had seen no sign of the riders in more than a year, and I had been avoiding doing what I knew I needed to do.
We chose to camp a good distance from where I expected the hunters to stop, conveniently downwind from the site. I left Attuz with the job of setting up while I set out again to make certain they were headed where I expected.
I had seen these hunters a few times since we had migrated closer to the coast in the spring. They were organized and disciplined, and they seemed relaxed. Most important to me, they bore no resemblance to the riders who had massacred Att’s people and deprived us of our home. This time rather than giving them a wide berth I was trailing them, at a good distance of course. They followed familiar trails, seeking deer, only this time rather than the normal four there were seven—a fifth man, really not much more than a boy, and two women. I had seen this before: when they were after larger game women often joined them, and not just as porters. They would act as beaters, flushing game, and were often in the thick of the kill.
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Methuselah's Daughter, A Novel
But, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
The one thing this story is NOT, is a retake on Highlander and other tales of immortals. Zsallia's tale is unique because she's the only one, the only immortal. There is nobody else and so far as she knows there never has been.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.