Chapter 10: Demon's Arrival

It had taken far less time for them to return then it had for them to fly to the new home of the humans. For that was what it was now; that place, once so filled with familiar life was now was theirs and they were not going to leave.

And they were coming tonight. It wasn't a guess or a possibility; it was a certainty, as cold as the night and as certain as death, as certain as his own.

It was a strange thing to know that you were going to die; everyone knew it instinctively, for it was known that what was taken from Eywa must one day have to be given back. But even with the knowledge that they would be with her in the end, the agony of loss could never be fully relieved. He had seen it so many times in his own short life; a child taken by a sickness that would simply not let go, someone wailing in despair when their mate would not return from a hunt. If they were lucky they could retrieve the body for burial but more often than not, what was left no one wanted to see.

Death was ever present, in one form or another and whether he met his end by the hands of his own people for keeping the secret of the humans or by the humans themselves, it made no difference.

As those thoughts lingered and floated within his mind he saw the first branches of Hometree spring out from over the horizon.

He felt the beginnings of a smile begin to crease his cheeks, the familiar sight of home bringing a much needed sense of relief but even then amongst that fleeting moment of happiness was the conflict to come that froze his blood.

No matter how hard he tried to force the images in his mind to leave they refused. Each scenario worse than the last, the thought of the large misshapen humans walking through the entrance of Hometree, thunderous weapons in hand, the women and children screaming with fear in their eyes. Tsu'tey, his parents, everyone turned to dust and bloody mist as Hometree burned.

Their Olo'eyktan had let him and Neytiri leave with their lives, a mercy most would not have given and he hoped with all his heart that they would show that level of mercy to the rest of his people. He did not care if he would be seen as some pathetic coward who tucked his tail between his legs at the first sign of danger. They had not seen what he had seen.

Soon they landed in the canopy, the light of day shrouded by the rustling leaves. Neytiri, somewhat hesitant to leave her banshee forced herself to dismount as Seze gave a low wail in displeasure at the separation as everyone gathered. There was a tense silence then, a barely hidden desire by his brother and Maru to know exactly what had happened to them. But it was not the time to explain; not here at least, he needed to get this right the first time.

From further up the branch they saw Takuk, running up to them with a face of both happiness and anxiousness.

"I'm glad you all made it back, the Olo'eyktan is waiting for you at the… What are you wearing" Takuk tried to say before looking at his strange new clothes with bewilderment.

"Gift from the humans" he answered, not wasting any time to explain as he walked past him. The rest of the group following behind him in silence as the sound of wind and rushing leaves was replaced with an unnatural quiet. The tree once filled with the hustle and bustle of his fellow Na'vi had gone silent, save for the faint noise that could be heard at the base of the tree. With each step he could feel the tension rising both in himself and in the air around them, as if even the tree itself knew the gravity of what was to come.

As the group finally reached the bottom he could see the faces of all of his fellow tribesmen, women held their children close and every hunter and warrior held their spears and bows. And it would all be so useless. And just like Takuk they looked at him strangely for the oddly coloured robe the humans had dressed him in. He could see his parents in the crowd, eyes filled with something he could not perfectly describe; anger, relief, worry, all of these things and perhaps more coated their faces. Perhaps they were just happy that their son hadn't gotten Neytiri killed. But despite everything between them, he was happy to see than again, their glares filling his soul.

"My Daughter, it is good to see you are safe" the Olo'eyktan said as all eyes turned to their chieftain, who stood with the stillness of a stone, the skull of the Toruk shadowed by the fire that wafted behind him.

His voice was loud and deep, filled with a confidence befitting his station that echoed through the air and between the roots. Looking over to Neytiri he could see she wanted to run up to him, the proud huntress returning to the young girl who only wanted to be embraced by her father. But a raised hand from Mo'at stopped her; the elder Tsahik standing by her husband. The mirror of her calm only faltering for a moment as she wordlessly told her to stay.

"Yes father… I am happy to be home" she answered back, straightening herself under the people's eyes and doing her best to steady her breathing.

"Yes but where have you been" he said once more, turning now to Arvok, who under the eyes of everyone felt like he was being crushed.

"My Olo'eyktan it was never…" he tried to say before he was cut off by his chieftain.

"What Happened?" he asked gain, his tone turning as sharp as a knife.

Such a simple question; yet held so much within it. So much had happened and so much needed to be said. He walked into the center of Hometree, so that all could see him, and hopefully heed his warning. Steeling himself with one last breath he began to speak.

"I and Neytiri were out flying when we saw these 'things' fall from the sky" he said, cringing at starting off with something so vague.

"Things" Mo'at repeated; an accusatory look on her face as she heard the vague answer.

"They were like… the stones of the floating mountains, but they breathed blue fire from their backs" he tried to explain but as he did he came to the horrifying realization that he did not have the words to properly do so. How could he describe things so alien to him and already he could see some of the crowd rolling their eyes. Sure that he and the others had been scared by their own shadow and had made it all up. It took all the restraint he had to not lash out at them, to scream that the humans were real and that they were coming.

"How many" Eytukan asked as Arvok closed his eyes remembering the downpour of flying stones.

"Dozens" he answered opening his eyes and looking into the eyes of the Olo'eyktan and panning out over the crowd, showing that he was serious.

"From there we watched them fall over the horizon, and we wanted to see what they were" he said, his breathing becoming laboured as his heart slammed into his chest and the tension in the air grew tighter and tighter.

"And so we did, we landed far away and moved through the trees as silently as we could, finding a place surrounded by trees that shined like the sun. The flying stones opened like the wings of an ikran and out came the Humans" he revealed, his mouth feeling as dry as sand.

"And who or what are these Humans" Mo'at questioned as the confused looks of his tribesmen played out around him. They did not know yet, but they would soon.

"Beings… people from another world called Terra" he stated as audible gasps echoed out, low murmurings between family and friends at what he just said. The people had known of other worlds, as the blue giants that hung in the sky but the idea of other beings living on those worlds seemed impossible, how could life exist outside of Eywa?

"They are…very different from us" he continued, explaining how some were as small as children, some hulking with muscle, glowing eyes and scales whilst their leader was covered in burns. Even as he spoke he could see looks of skepticism, looking at him as if he were some child who saw a viperwolf and called it a thanator.

But one who did not look at him that was Sylwanin, whose eyes turned wide and fearful as he spoke of their appearance.

"Daughter is the true" Eytukan questioned, raising a hand to quiet his tribe as a slight but noticing tension filled his voice. Arvok looked to Neytiri, her muscles in her jaw tense and he worried that he was about to witness a repeat of what had happened at the humans home.

"Yes father, when we flew to where the 'flying rocks' landed we saw hundreds of trees had been cut down" she told him, as Arvok struggled to keep himself composed. Already he could again hear the sounds of repulsion and angered whispers.

"Why, why would they destroy so much?" Mo'at questioned as Arvok closed his eyes, knowing there was no way to say what they were doing without the people becoming enraged.

"They were preparing the ground, ripping out trunks and roots with their bare hands to dig up the Fajat" she answered, as another round of gasps and hisses echoed out. Arvok hung his shoulders; he knew this was going to happen. He'd hoped it wouldn't but he had been a fool to think otherwise. The humans were here for the Fajat, that which Eywa had forbidden to be removed from her body and he could not see a way out, for the people were proud and their love for Eywa ran as deep as the roots the humans had ripped out.

"What she says is true" he said in her defense as eyes turned to him as he walked forward to stand by them. Arvok was glad for the support yet wondered what his brother had seen.

"When I and my team were searching for them, we found a large hole in the earth filled with these humans. They were using strange tools and massive beasts that moved on wheels to take the Fajat"

"Around the hole were the signs of battle. Blood yet to dry soaked the earth and the trees looked as though beasts had ripped into them with their claws" he explained as he pulled out a familiar blade.

"And among the carnage was Neytiri's knife"

"Did these humans attack my sister" Sylwanin hissed, looking as if she was a few moments away from tearing out the attacks throat. Eytukan gave his daughter a hard look that seemed to quell the rage in her hear; or at least hide it from view as his features turned hard.

"Did these humans attack you?" he asked, looking at Neytiri as even his Vitra-Tswal began to flair from his fists.

Arvok wanted to answer in her stead but another hard look from his chieftain silenced him. This was for her to answer and Arvok could only hope that she would properly explain everything.

All eyes fell on Neytiri as she spoke, telling of how after they had watched the humans tear at the earth, they had seen a large pack of viperwolf's attack the humans. Slight smiles of Eywa's vengeance against the humans spread across the tribe as she told of how they had braved the human's strange barking weapons that flashed with fire. Even telling how a viperwolf empowered by Eywa's blessing had charged them in a burst of divine power that sent them flying like leaves in the wind.

But those smiles were quickly dashed as she spoke of the other humans; the large misshapen humans who came with the thunder and lightning, wielding weapons that destroyed all in their path and physical strength unheard of.

"I had tried to attack them, to aid Eywa's servants in her defence but Arvok tried to stop me" she continued as he felt judgemental glares press down on him, silently judging him for his 'cowardice'. But He did not care if they saw him as some pathetic coward who tucked his tail between his legs at the first sign of danger. They had not seen what he had seen and you do not hunt Thanators with a dagger. Who were they to judge him? They hadn't been there, hadn't seen a viperwolf have its neck snapped like a twig, hadn't heard the crack of their weapons that still rang in his ears and reduced all they touched to gore.

"When he tried; he slipped and fell from the tree. When he landed the humans found us." she said, her breathing becoming slightly uneven.

"I shot one of them but they destroyed the branch I was on and fell to the ground. I tried to fight but was overcome and I was knocked out" she finished, pointy a finger to the damage on her face.

"And you were both taken captive" he said, far more a statement that a question as the two nodded.

"When I awoke, I was being watched over by their healers and they gave us this" Arvok said finally pulling out the small object out of his ear and raising it high to show the people.

"The humans do not speak the language of the people but with this, they make their words like ours and ours like theirs" he explained as everyone looked, most in fear though some had a look of shocked interest.

"The humans bandaged our wounds and let us go free. But their Olo'eyktan, a man named I asked me to give you a message" he said as the moment to finally speak it came.

"What was the message" he asked as Arvok took another deep breath.

"That he wishes to speak to you and that he shall arrive when the sun sets tonight" he told him as the murmuring from before turned into call for action; some of the warriors proclaiming that they should ready themselves for battle to drive out the invaders who would break the holy laws, raising their weapons with shouts and war chants. Whilst the elders suggested that they and the children retreat into the forest.

"Enough" Eytukan shouted as everyone silenced themselves.

"I will hear their chieftain's words" he said as his tribesmen balked at the idea of speaking to those that would break the laws of Eywa. And there was no one louder than Sylwanin.

"Father you cannot be serious. These demons have broken Eywa's laws, they cannot be trusted" she nearly screamed, chest heaving with exertion and Arvok had to stop himself from sighing in resignation at those familiar words. They were sisters after all; they could only be so different.

"Mo'at take the elderly and the children to the southern groves and wait a signal to return" he said, holding her hands in his, a quiet moment between parents and mates before she began guiding the people out.

"I am no fool, and neither am I ignorant in the way of these things. I shall hear what they have to say but no more. For if they wished it your sister would be dead. I will not repay life with death" he said looking hard into his daughter's eyes until she finally looked away.

If hear lifted before crashing back down as he spoke. Words would be spoken; but that would be it. He would not truly listen, for there was nothing the humans could say. The humans had broken the law and the law was above all.

"And you should know, my Olo'eyktan that we were not the only ones to discover the humans" Tsu'tey added, telling all that remained about this encounter with the silver creature that spoke in the language of the people and how Tan Jala of the Tipani had killed it. The name eliciting stares from those elders still well enough to hold a weapon.

"What the Tipani decide to do is no business of ours, as long as they stay on their lands" Eytukan answered back.

"Prepare yourselves for the arrival of the humans" ordered and as they did he motioned for Arvok, Neytiri and Tsu'tey to follow him. They followed him down to the underground chambers of Hometree. The dark, winding tunnels illuminated only by sacs filled with glow worms were dotted with chambers created by their ancestors long past. Made for the preservation of food when times were plentiful and for mothers to give birth, letting the women have privacy in their most vulnerable moments and to keep the noise away from the rest of the clan and any overzealous predator who might be drawn by the noise and scent of blood. And all of this whilst not disturbing the roots of the tree and the graves of the people.

Eventually Eytukan entered one of these chambers and the rest followed behind. There the four stood, their chieftain not saying a word as each looked to one another with nervous glances before he finally spoke.

"How long" his asked and confusion filled the air before turned with a glare so fierce it looked as though they were no longer the eyes of a Na'vi, but the eyes of a predator watching its prey from the underbrush.

"How long have you known of the humans" he asked and Arvok felt dread fill his soul. So it was time to finally admit to everything. He knew it was only a matter of time before the truth would come out. He had deluded himself in believing he could keep this secret, and now with the humans here, there was no place for his lies to run.

Arvok took a deep breath and began to tell him everything, how after he and Tsu'tey had told the tribe of the silver creature he and Neytiri had to fly out in the night to search for it, making it clear that his brother had no idea about any of this. If he was going to fall than he had no desire to pull his brother down with him.

From there he spoke of their trips to the graveyard of trees, how it had gotten bigger each time they went and the strange and terrible creatures that could turn whatever they touched to dust with blinding red light.

"That… silver creature you and your brother spoke of all those nights ago. He saw another close to the humans. It belonged to them did it not?"

"It was my idea father. I wanted to find the creature; It was me that took him to look for it" she defended. As she did Arvok saw Tsu'tey's eyes go wide, the reveal of their true reasons for their frequent trips into the dark leaving him stunned.

"And why did you not tell me of this before" he asked. "If you both kept leaving so often there must have been something you were looking at" he asked as his stare grew harsher and Arvok felt a deep painful knot ben to twist in his guts.

"It was because of me, I told her not to tell anyone" he admitted hanging his head low in shame.

"Because… because I was afraid of what would happen if we did" he answered, the memory of that viperwolf reduced to ashes playing back in his mind, imagining it was one of his tribesmen, his brother, parents or even Neytiri.

"You are wise my Olo'eyktan but they have weapons and powers beyond anything I've ever seen. Light that turns all it touches to ash, barriers made of dry water. I was afraid that if we told you the truth you would make war upon them. And seeing everything that I have… that is not a war we can win" he admitted, his brother looking at him contempt at the notion that the people could lose to the humans and while Neytiri's nose scrunched at the idea, hers was by far the more subdued reaction.

Eytukan was silent then, hard eyes staring unblinkingly into his before he spoke again.

"You have done a great misdeed Arvok and your punishment shall fit it" he said as Arvok felt as though he was being stabbed in the heart.

"And you" he continued looking at his daughter. "You are not innocent in this; you are no child. You made the choice to agree with him, to hide the truth from me. So you both shall be punished" he declared as she hung her head and no one made any move to disagree.

"But I have more important things to prepare for now, so your punishment shall come later" he growled as he pointed a finger at Arvok. "When the humans arrive, you will be my ears and mouth. I will not have that thing anywhere near me" he finished.

"Now leave and prepare yourselves"

The trio were quick to do as he demanded and left him alone. When they finally returned from the underground Arvok tried to speak to his brother, to try and tell him that he was sorry for all of this, but was stopped in his tracks by a glare of rage fuelled by betrayal.

"Shut up, you have said enough" he seethed, his ears pulled back and teeth bared in a snarl. "This is why mother and father despise you; you are a pathetic coward who always thought he was smarter than everyone else. Whoever dies from here, their blood will be on your hands" he declared with fervor as he stormed off.

Arvok could do nothing but watch him go, utterly stunned by what his brother had said. He had never heard his brother talk to him like that before, never seen him look at him like that before. His lips tried to form words but the air slowly trickling out of his throat; creating nothing but tense, strangled sound.

It was only when he felt something squeeze his hand did his mind divert his attention from his brothers fleeting form. Looking he saw that it was Neytiri whose face held a look of, if not understanding than at least that she was there for him.

He squeezed her hand back, the anger he hand felt at the home of the humans washing away as the realized the reality of their situation and it seemed just as it was before, so it was now that they were each other's support. No one else would comfort them; they had made their bed and now it was time for them to sleep in it.

The rest of the day was overcome with a tension he had never seen before; families had tearful goodbyes as the men watched those too young or old leave the village, guarded and led away by the huntresses. The only women left in the village by the end was Neytiri whose experience with the humans along with his own were the only things Olo'eyktan had in trying to understand the humans and Sylwanin who was allowed to stay for reasons he did not know. He might have asked why but as low as he felt he had no interest in hastening his own end.

Now though, the eyes of those hunters kept a constant vigil of the skies. Arvok had changed back into his regular clothes, his human robe lying in his lap, rubbing his fingers between the soft material. His queue had been re-braided down to the strange human healing splint, having agreed to let Neytiri re-braid it as no one else would.

His legs hung limply over the edge of branch, dangling and swaying with the breeze that moved through the leaves of the canopy.

They had failed, him most of all. And in truth he was beginning to believe this could not have ended any other way. As the events that led him to this moment replayed in his head and his brow furrowed at his own stupidity. What had he planned to do? If they had not been caught than what? Return home and simply wait for the humans to come or had he thought that he could somehow convince the humans to leave after they had travelled all the way here. He had no plan and while his desire for the people's safety was true, more than anything he had wanted to be right, to return and rub the truth in their faces after all the snickering and back talk.

Well he had gotten what he wanted and now his people would suffer for it.

"Do you think this could have happened any other way? That if we had told my father in the beginning things would be different?" Neytiri asked as he looked to her, similar thoughts running through her mind as well.

Arvok shook his head; the humans were here to do something that was against everything they believed. If they had told him, they would have ended up in this situation. The only difference would have been how many Na'vi died to try and stop them when they first arrived.

This was always going to end in blood.

"What do you think our punishment will be?" he asked as her head sunk low.

He knew it was hopeful to even think about his punishment, it feeling like some distant thing. For what could he do that the humans could not?

"Banishment maybe" she said finally, sounding hollow as she did. They would be lucky if there was even a tribe to be banished from by tomorrow morning.

And even if Eywa decreed they survive they would be forced to face the wilds, and even together he did not like their chances.

So there they sat, staring out to the horizon, the images of the human home with their wheeled beasts and otherworldly weapons, simmering in their psyches.

"It's almost time" Neytiri whispered as he nodded his head, the sun that bathed the world just beginning to touch the horizon and shroud it in its orange glow. Another cold gust of wind sending a chill up his spine as he looked down at the robes the humans had clothed him in and felt a rage boil in his gut, why did the humans have to come, why was that Fajat so important, why did his people have to die. Because that was what they would do, if Eywa called upon them they would fight… and die with their bravery for Eywa's balance. And in that moment of drowning despair and utter powerlessness a thought crept into his mind like an insect, shrouded by his emotion with fangs that were as sharp as any blade. Sinking them into the folds of his brain and filling it with a horrible thought.

"Was Eywa's balance worth their lives?"

The thought struck him like lightning, leaving him stunned by his own mind. How could he think that? Eywa was everything, all life belonged to her and she was the protector of the balance. He need only go to a tree of voices to hear the voices of his people, still singing with her.

The voice came again, driving its words deeper as he battle with his own mind "Who would be there to listen?"

Eywa would listen; we would sing and be with her forever, it is our gift for fulfilling her balance.

"And the Omaticaya would be gone; forgotten by the people as your lands are given to others, all for the sake of a balance that would see your people throw themselves into a war they cannot win" it hissed.

Her balance was everything, it governed every aspect of their lives, there was nothing beyond it!

"The humans are beyond it, they who fly in rocks with tools unknown. How much was there beyond the balance"

That statement alone made him pause; an entire life of religious certainty grinding against everything he had seen since before their arrival. What truly were they? What had they seen? Why did they not follow Eywa? Why were they so different?!"

"Do the humans have a tree of voices?"

"No. They have no queue" he yelled in his mind. He remembered their heads, no queue, no means of connecting with Eywa, no way to hear the souls of the past.

"Do they have a soul?"

The question filled him with dread; he had never met someone without a soul. The question alone would never be asked as it was obvious that the people had souls. How would he even know if they had no souls?

"Do they act like it?"

How was he supposed to know!? They destroy the land yet they had healed them, they have of horrible power yet they showed mercy and freed them after being attacked. Things even some Na'vi would not have done. They were beings of constant contradiction.

"They had broken the laws"

The people had broken the laws before! There would be no need for them if they could never break them. That didn't mean they were soulless!

"So where do human souls go?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" he screamed, both within his mind and out loud as his voice carried between the winding branches. He gasped for air, unaware he had been holding his breath. He was covered in sweat and his eyes looked in every direction as if seeing for the first time before he saw Neytiri looking at him, Eyes wide, body pulled away as the silence returned.

"Are you okay" she asked as he slumped his shoulders in utter defeat, he had nothing left, and even his own mind warred against him. He'd laugh at it all if he had the energy.

"I just don't know anymore" he finally said, everything he had thought was clear had now become so clouded. So many questions, so many it hurt to even think.

He felt Neytiri's hand grasp his, a physical anchor to the waking world that prevented another spiral of mental anguish.

"I'm scared too" she said softly, without a hint of false pity. In her eyes held true empathy as tears began to well in her eyes. He realized then that she had been suffering to; his was not the only family in danger.

"But if we are to die tonight I have something to say" she said as he turned to face him fully.

"After I had been captured by the humans" she said doing her best keep the anger that word ignited down. "Beyond the anger and the fear for my life; I could not stop thinking about you, watching you fall, the look of shock in your eyes. It frightened me to my core that I would never see you again" she declared, lips beginning to quiver as a single tear slid down her face.

He had not been the only one captured and unlike him, she hadn't had the mercy of being unconscious. How long had she been in that chamber, all alone and worrying about him just as much as he did for her.

"I love you; and if by Eywa's grace we both still live to see tomorrow. Would you be mine?" she said, and had it been any other time, any other place he would have died of happiness.

Instead however he brought a hand to her face, whipping the tear away "I love you to" he whispered back as the two leaned in and kissed each other. They had not the time to join queue, the linking between Na'vi not being something not easily separated. So they settled for this; a kiss between forlorn lovers and the life that could have been. As their eyes closed they let the joy of this moment drive away the fear, if only for a moment. They stayed in each other's embrace desperate to keep the moment alive just one more second before they were forced apart by their need for air.

Both caught movement in the corner of their eyes and turned to the horizon painted orange by the setting sun. And in that sun, like the black pit of an eye they saw something coming.

"Come on, let's go meet our fate" he said as he looked into her eyes for what could be the final time as he picked himself up, still holding her hand in his as the two walked back down.

Sylwanin was a frigid tempest, her emotions running as hot as her blood ran cold and held back only by the words of her father. Tense fingers raking their nails across her skin as she stood with her arms crossed. She had wanted Arvok dead for this, and it was only by the mercy of her father that she did not climb those steps and throw him from those branches and to his death. It would be the least he deserved, for he had lied, and worse he had roped her stupid sister into it. She had always known that there was more to their story than what they had told her and when Tsu'tey had come to her in a rage and spoke of what had happened and she had been vindicated. She could only thank Eywa that her beloved and his brother were worlds apart, wanting to fight the invaders and drive them from Eywa rather than cower away like frightened children.

But even as her mind rage her blood froze at the revelation that had been proven true. What she had seen was no hallucination, no mere nightmare it had been the divine providence of Eywa that had touched her mind, warning her of the threats that had come to their world with horns and putrid eyes that lusted for her bounty. It was for that reason she had been allowed to stay, where all the women and children had left. She who had been touched by Eywa would stand as her voice, to encourage and embolden her people's spirits. And to deny the demons that had come; no matter their weapons or their beasts, Eywa would have her vengeance and her balance would be restored.

Sudden movement drew she attention back to her reality as she watched the bastard and her sister walk down the winding steps, hand in hand. Disgust threatened to bubble from her throat at the display, not even half a day and her sister still displayed such affection to him. Had his claws sunk that deep into her soul or was she that much a fool. She was not the only one to notice them as the eyes of her tribesmen watched with them with suspicion. While they had not been told the whole truth of what they had been doing, the sense and fear that they had been changed, corrupted had settled in their minds. For how could the soul survive unharmed when surrounded by such evil?

It was then when she and all who stood heard it, the sound of a horn. But it was ordinary horn and the sound it spoke of heralded another tribe.

Immediately all the hunters that remained, got into position to protect her father, she to going to her side as her brave Tsu'tey stood in front of her; Neytiri too when to their fathers side as the sound of banshees wailing and the flap of their wings washed through the thick roots of home tree.

Some were among the lower branches and some were on the ground with their chieftain, and all forming a semi-circle facing the opening of home tree.

They did not have to wait long to find out who though, as the wail of banshee's died down and out from between the roots came a small group of Na'vi. But they were not the Omaticaya as even without the horn they were unmistakable. Armored head to toe in the blackened chitinous shells of the atlas beetle were the warriors of the Tipani. And at their head was their Olo'eyktan, Beyda'amo.

Even greater tension filled the air as he entered, Omaticaya warriors covering their bodies in their Vitra-tswal as the group of Tipani stopped in a line in front of them. She had never seen them in person but she had heard the stories of this accursed tribe and it leader. He was large, even by the standards of the people, standing nearly twelve feet tall, his muscled body riddled with scars and white war paint and his right eye was milky with blindness.

She watched as their leader strode forward like a stalking thanator, so sure in his own power even as bowstrings were slowly growing taut.

"I see you, Eytukan" he said, his voice deep like a drum as he gave him the traditional greeting between the people.

"Why are you here Beyda'amo; you were not invited here" her father answered back, not bothering to greet him back, as if they were worthy of it. And she watched as Arvok watch them with disgusting curiosity, and her opinion of him sinking lower than she thought possible.

"I need no invitation and if what Tan Jala has told me is true, than you have far more important things to worry about than me" he said, voice slick with arrogance as his warriors chuckled.

"My uncle has told me a great deal about your 'visitors'" he said as the elder hunter moved to the front of the crowd and stood beside his nephew.

"Your hunters have no doubt already told you of what was found there. Else your women would still be here" Tan Jala said, head shifting from side to side as he looked up through the winding branches and found no young eyes peeking out from behind a branch.

"What do you want Beyda'amo, why are you here?" Eytukan asked again.

"I am here because of what has happened, I desire to see the beings that have come, beings from another world that rip at Eywa's flesh to take what is hers" he explained as Sylwanin burst into the conversation.

"Do not speak for Eywa's law as if you care for them. You who carries that accursed club" she said; pointing a finger at Beyda'amo's weapon, the heretical object that was as much a slap in the face of Eywa's laws as much as it was testament to this tribe's arrogance. From a glance it looked like any other wooden club but imbedded on each side were glimmering pieces of Fajat that had been sharpened to a lethal edge.

"Enough, be silent" Eytukan ordered to his daughter as she reluctantly followed his command.

Even as he did though, all eyes fell on that weapon and the story it held, a story that had been told as a warning for the last four generations. But before anything else could be said on the matter of old stories a new yet familiar sound filled the air, the sound of a great rushing fire.

The humans had arrived.

The cry of the Tipani's banshees and the flap of their wings filled their ears as the parties looked to each other. The Tipani's means of leaving had at least temporarily been removed and that created a question that needed to be answered quickly. Sylwanin could only hope that the Tipani and the humans would kill each other.

"It seems you shall have what you wanted" Eytukan said, motioning with his head and Beyda'amo smiled at the understanding and as the Tipani took their place off to the side as bright unnatural light spilled between the roots and blinded any who looked directly at it.

Though the Tipani seemed calm the hands of the Omaticaya shook and feet shifted. Her father though was still, not frozen in fear but focused, portraying an air of calm confidence despite everything and in the back of his mind he knew why. He was their leader, the man entrusted with their lives, if he fell into despair that the rest would fall with him. And in that moment his admiration for him grew all the more.

"Be strong warriors of Eywa. She is with us and together…" she tried to say, desperate to encourage her people even as he breathing grew short and fast. But then the light and the sound of fire died and were replaced with something else, something new that could be felt just as much as heard.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

It came again and again, sending vibrations through her legs as the air grew cold and even the Tipani began to look nervous.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Sylwanin could feel her blood running cold, tail tucked between his legs as she fought with all his might to keep his breathing under control. she couldn't loose herself, she couldn't...

Thud. Thud. It was here.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Here's chapter number 10 everyone and i'd like to apologize for the god awful upload schedule. The avatar series carries so many difficult themes in it and at times i didn't feel i could do it justice. But i will finish this story and i'd like thank everyone whose stuck around, i'll be trying to get out at least one chapter per month from now on.