The lack of sound made room for fear to set in. It still hadn't for me. Not fully. It had for them.
Peeking through the window of our family hut, I saw the human leader. Hands at his waist, pacing around the middle of the village for us to see. Itching for our surrender.
Mom gathered the courage to look too. Staring through the boarded window alongside me, clutching her necklace like it was a charm to ward off evil spirits, then turning back around, pacing. Damian sat by the fireplace behind us, gazing nowhere, Mickey laid sniffling flat on the floor.
Any walls between me and my brothers should have come crashing down, but they hadn't. I had nothing to say that I believed they would want to hear. Not from me. So I didn't speak.
The leader caught my eye again. Scoffing, trudging back to his troops, giving them orders. I turned my head and pressed my ear against the barricades to hear.
"The mossheads won't budge. We'll take them by force again."
'By force? What does that mean?'
It meant I was not dreaming after all. I would learn it soon. I kept listening.
"Yes. Bring her out here, she needs to see this. Far too coddled up there in Stratoshire."
I turned back to face the window. With that command, two soldiers had jogged off, vanishing into the nearby forest on the far-side of the village.
Soon later, they marched back. With 'her' close in tow.
A girl who looked like she didn't belong here.
Wrapped in a golden fur cloak like a fragile present. It was too big for her small frame. It slipped off her shoulders awkwardly as she walked. Her dark-brown hair fell around her freckled face in soft waves, slightly tousled by the wind. Underneath her cloak, a white linen dress, cluttered by necklaces and bracelets. They looked important, symbolic-- but not to her. To whoever had dressed her up. Soft ivory skin. Like her beauty had been protected from the element all her life. But now, she was here. Clearly wondering what she had stepped into.
And me? I was wondering whether all human girls were so gorgeous.
'But why bring her here?'
Before I knew it, the leader was sauntering towards her, arms outstretched for a hug. Slinging his arm around her like a prize he'd won. Dragging her back toward the village, whispering into her ear. His demeanour had shifted-- sickly sweet like rotten fruit. The girl's body tensed as he handled her. The sight infuriated me and I hadn't an idea why.
"The Gimen won't listen to us, will they milady?" he said.
The girl's gaze fixed awkwardly ahead. "N-no..." she muttered.
"Exactly. So what comes next?"
She remained silent. Either looking for an answer, or hiding from it.
"We... we have to make them listen..."
The leader grinned like his child had learned to walk.
"Yes! Correct, Lady Pandora!"
'Pandora... Wait, Lady?!'
The girl before me was what the elders called 'royalty...'
I had only ever heard stories. Stories I didn't even believe. One human family to rule them all? Who would agree to that? 'Pandora' kept speaking.
"But... are you sure? They seem to be hiding from us. From all I've heard they would have attacked us by now..."
The leader chuckled. These were the ramblings of a child he needed to educate.
"Just because they're afraid, doesn't mean they aren't a threat. Fear is an excellent motivator. Right now they're deciding whether to fight or flee, and we will pay dearly if we let them choose either."
Pandora glanced at him for the first time I had seen. Turning away, she studied the windows of each house, trying to catch a glimpse of us. I saw green hands and faces vanish from the windows as she approached. The leader let go of her shoulder as he turned somewhere else.
I watched her stare into one particular window. The family inside hadn't retreated. She spoke once again.
"Wait, I mean really, I don't think they're..."
"Are we ready?" the leader interrupted, talking to one of his men.
"Yes sire." he replied.
"Very well."
The leader marched back into the centre of the village, begging our attention once more.
"I will give you one last chance! Surrender your able bodied children to us, or else you will be left with nothing left to surrender!"
'What does that mean? What will he do?' I wondered. My heart's slow crawl picked up into a jog.
And that was all I could hear. Cutting across the silence from our lack of surrender.
The leader snickered. Turning back to his man.
"Ha. Very well... kill all who resist."
This dream would become a nightmare.