That statement didn't even make sense. There was no creature that was an adversary to all Rownt. “Imshee adversary-strangers are not equal to Rownt adversary-strangers. I do not have adversaries.” After all, no other town would try to take their territory, not when taking their territory would require dealing with Imshee. Other Rownt were sane enough to avoid strangers.
“Imshee adversary-stranger equals holders of giant ships.”
She watched the Imshee. She had nothing more to say on the issue of Rownt involvement in Imshee fights, especially since the traders who spent their time with these strangers explained that the Imshee had a concept of battle that extended over weeks, months. They lost growing seasons and years of child-rearing to fight in ever-larger battles. More individuals joined from one day to the next. It was a concept that the Grandmothers had discussed at length and still could not grasp emotionally. Knowing that, she had no interest in ever fighting with an Imshee. They were an insane species, and insanity should not be indulged.
“Adversary-strangers in large ships come to Prarownt. They take Rownt away from Prarownt. Rownt in ships of adversary-strangers in large ships.
Her eyes widened and her nose snapped shut involuntarily. Every year, some Rownt would go missing. They were assumed lost to a storm or hungry kawt or landslide. If these strangers had taken Rownt from her village, she would kill them on sight. But that did not mean she wished to fight for Imshee. “Trade us better weapons and we will stop the adversary-strangers in large ships when they come here. They will take no more Rownt.” She would personally make sure of that.
“Rownt on ships of adversary-strangers in large ships.”
“Then trade us weapons so that I may patrol my border,” she repeated.
“Rownt on ships of adversary-strangers in large ships.”
It was not the concept of Imshee battle that was insane—the creatures themselves seem to lack some logical abilities that a Rownt eggling was born with.
“I understand Rownt are on ships of your adversary-strangers in large ships,” she said slowly, the way one might speak to a Rownt eggling from a distant province who spoke a different dialect. “I will protect Rownt from being taken to ships by adversary-strangers in large ships. If you provide better weapons or designs for better weapons, I will stop the adversaries when they come to Prarownt.” She ducked her head in an attempt to reassure him. Perhaps if she treated him the way one would an eggling, he would calm himself.
Instead, the Imshee slammed to the ground with its front claws. “Adversary-strangers in large ships use Rownt taken into ships. They use Imshee. They hurt Imshee. They hurt Rownt.”
Her nose tightened again. Some animal species did that—they would take a lesser species and use it for their own good. She knew of a spider species that would lay its eggs in the younglings of other species. She knew of a rodent that would trap reptiles, wall them into a space so that they would eat the insects that plagued their own young, and when the rodents had finished raising their young, they would leave, and the captive reptiles would remain trapped where they would starve to death. Such happened. She found it disgusting, but she was not the Grandmother to walk a border large enough to encompass all Rownt taken from the planet.
“I will protect any Rownt I can on Prarownt,” she said.
“We and we and many wes take hunters to adversary-strangers in large ships. Alternative. Rownt could build big ships.”
The thought of Rownt in ships disgusted her more than the idea of strangers who acted like mercenary little rodents. Rownt were connected to the planet. They were part of their world. Rownt had no business walking between the stars.
“I protect Rownt here.”
The Imshee shrank back as if she had struck him. She wished that someone would be able to explain how these strangers thought. She waited, and eventually the stranger repeated, “Adversary-strangers in large ships hurt Rownt.”
“If I see these adversary-strangers hurt Rownt, I will hurt them. I will make them bleed. I will tear open their skin so that their internal organs fall out at their feet,” she promised. “But Rownt fight here.” She imitated the Imshee gesture of pounding her foot against the ground.
“No hunters?” The translator voice had a strange trill in it.
She felt as if she were stealing the profit from an eggling, but she was not Grandmother to those absent Rownt or these Imshee.
“Rownt fight here,” she said firmly.
“Adversary-strangers in large ships like Imshee durability. Like Rownt strength. Have taken many Rownt.”
“I will kill them if I see them,” she repeated.
“Adversary-strangers in large ships would take more Rownt if not Rownt so illogical with offspring. If they can cure Rownt violence with offspring, they come. They take many Rownt. They take all Rownt.”
Coldness sunk into the center of her being and she felt her legs get warm from the rush of blood. “What Rownt offspring?” she asked slowly and deliberately. A familiar fury rose in her stomach, the fury of the hunter who sees a dangerous predator stalking her. She had been stalked more than once, but she was alive and the animals who would stalk her were not.
“We and not we see Rownt offspring in ships of adversary-strangers in large ships.”
“Where?” She fought down an urge to kill.
“Far. Adversary-strangers in large ships go far. Rownt on ships of adversary-strangers in large ships carry much weight. More than Imshee. Faster than Imshee. But when offspring hurt, Rownt are illogical. Dangerous. They frighten even adversary-strangers in large ships. But they seek control of Rownt feeling toward offspring. They cure Rownt, they come take Rownt.”
These adversaries had taken offspring. Egglings. There were egglings being hurt by an adversary that would use them the way mice used reptiles. Rownt children were being used, and what would happen when they were of no use? Her arms ached with the need to grab something and rip it out of existence.
“Where are the adversary-strangers in large ships?” She stalked forward, her elbows bent and her fury nearly overwhelming her.
