The travelers stayed where they were for the rest of that night. It felt hard for them to get back to sleep, but the high ground was a good defensive position, and the trees were there to fall back into in case whatever scared the bokarus decided to show up.

By morning, most of the herd had wandered off and everyone took a deep breath. There were predators in the night that came to feast on the beasts they had shot, and even then, they could see the vultures shredding the remains. That looked far enough away to not cause concern.

Alexis paused in rinsing out her pot when she saw a man in the distance. He stood straight and tall and held a spear that stood half-again his height.

“What do you think he wants?” Lincoln whispered to her. Alexis shrugged and went back to her work. They packed the camp and even as Doctor Procter checked the amulet, the distant man began to trot toward them. Lockhart made them wait.

The man appeared to be tall and dark skinned, which caused Lincoln to comment. “He looks more like a Massai warrior than a North African.”

“No Phoenician, Roman, Visigoth or Arab blood in him yet,” Lieutenant Harper responded first.

“Yes. Very good,” Mingus praised her even as Captain Decker raised his gun to ready position.

“Halloo.” The man called when he was still distant. “You were in the stampede. I hope everyone is all right.”

“Yes, thank you,” Lockhart shouted back as the man came up the rise. He looked once at Captain Decker and his dark skin before he turned to the speaker.

“You are from the land of the Great River?” the man asked.

“We are travelers,” Lockhart said. “And you live in this land?”

The man pointed and Lockhart saw that Doctor Procter confirmed that he pointed in the right direction for them as well. “But it is only our camp. We are also travelers. We follow after the herd.”

“My name is Lockhart,” he said, and this time he forcibly took the man’s hand and shook it. Then he introduced everyone around. After the man got the idea, the man grinned and shook everyone’s hand, except the elves. He merely stared at them, and Doctor Procter did not offer his hand.

“I am Atonis,” he said at last. “If you are traveling in my direction, you must come and stay the night in my camp. You will be safe there from the stampede and the beasts of the night.”

Lockhart simply nodded, so Alexis spoke. “Thank you.”

“My camp is a whole day from here,” the man spoke again after they started to walk.

“Perhaps we can add some meat to your fire,” Boston tried to be cordial.

“Along the way, we will have to do lunch,” Lockhart told her. “And you thought that expression just belonged to your generation.” Lockhart looked back. Mingus and Roland were on the flanks. Decker and Harper were in rear guard position. Lincoln and Alexis were in front of the marines and Lincoln jotted something down in his notebook. Boston came on Lockhart’s heels, or walked beside him, and Doctor Procter wandered aimlessly in the middle, not even looking at his amulet.

“I must ask,” Atonis said after a while. “I heard the wail of the spirit in the night. I was not surprised to see the herd start to run. But tell me, do you know what makes this sound?”

“A bokarus,” Boston spoke right up. “A green man. It is a spirit of the wild. It protects the wilderness and hates any human intrusion that interferes with the natural order of things.”

“And it is following us,” Lockhart added and looked back at Doctor Procter, but this time the Doctor made no objection. More likely, the Doctor did not hear.

“I have heard this once before,” Atonis said. “This spirit is not a good thing.” He said no more about it until lunch. Roland brought in a gazelle after only a few minutes’ chase, and Mingus got a fire started. Alexis made bread but that was the only thing that opened Atonis’ eyes. Clearly, he knew what the elves were and was not going to be surprised at anything they might do.

They had a good lunch but overstayed their time, first because Boston explained why they were traveling with two spirits of the earth, as Atonis called the elves; and then Atonis told the story of his first encounter with the bokarus.

“Three years ago, and my friend Mumbai celebrated the marriage of his daughter to a good man. He wanted to build a great celebration fire, so he had us gather all the wood in the little forest that we could find. It was not enough for him. He took a sharp stone and cut many young trees to add to the fire. They did not burn well, being green, but Mumbai was determined that his daughter should have the biggest fire, ever.

“As we celebrated, we were interrupted in the night by the wail of the angry spirit. It flew like a bird in the sky around and around. The wind became strong, and people fell to their knees, afraid of the sound and the wind. We were all afraid. All at once, the wind picked Mumbai up off the ground and threw him into the heart of the great fire. People screamed and the bokarus left us as we pulled my friend from the fire.

“His clothes were burned to him and could not be taken off him. He had great swellings of white bubbles everywhere that burst and made him smell of cooked meat. Much of his body was charred, like the ash after the fire is done. He was in great pain, and in the morning, he died.

“Many said then that we should go to the village of Neamon and dwell there with the village people. They said the grasslands were becoming too dangerous, but many said no. We have lived well since then, but we have not forgotten. And now that the bokarus is back, I do not know what we will do.”

Everyone said they were sorry, and Boston and Alexis hugged the man while he cried. Lincoln handed him a handkerchief and got him to blow his nose. It already turned late when they started to walk again.

“It will be dark before we arrive,” Atonis said. “But with this host of people, I expect no trouble.” Lockhart and Lincoln both looked back and wondered if what scared off the bokarus might follow them after dark, but neither said a word.

“It was a good thing the bokarus left you alone after that.” Boston had a good imagination and could not get the image of the horribly burned man out of her mind.

“It was my daughter,” Atonis said softly. “Not Hespah, but my little one, Iris. She was only seven. She stood up in the face of that great wind and yelled as loud as her little lungs could yell. “Bokarus!” That is how we know the name. “No! Go away! You do not belong here!” The spirit had just thrown Mumbai into the fire, and it stopped to face my daughter. I felt very afraid for her, but then Iris reached for the ghost, and it raced away before she could touch it. It never came back, until now.

Boston said no more so Atonis said no more. But Boston did take Lockhart’s arm the way Alexis held Lincoln’s arm, and Lockhart did not push her away.

The sun went down while the moon came up bright in the sky, though it looked to be a waning moon. From a distance, the camp appeared to be a well-ordered community with a half-dozen tent-like structures in a circle around a central fire. It stood up on the highest hill in the middle of nowhere. The nearest little woods were some distance, but there appeared to be plenty of deadwood stacked around the camp like a barrier against the wild.

Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper got out their night vision goggles and passed them around. They had to get close to the camp before they heard the shouting and screaming. They started to run when two dark but human looking figures rose-up before them. They paused, but Captain Decker had put on his night goggles, and he opened fire without waiting for the order. Both figures fell.

Roland touched Lockhart’s shoulder before Lockhart could yell. He got all their feet moving with one word. “Ghouls.”

Alexis got out the wand she had been working on and managed a light, like a golden spotlight on their path to the camp. It helped, until the darkness responded. It came out from the camp, put out the light that it followed like a dog might follow a trail, and with a snap, it knocked Alexis back on her rump.

Captain Decker fired in the direction from which the darkness came, and this time Lockhart yelled. “Decker. There are people there!”

They pushed through the firewood that circled the camp and broke into the center space by the fire. Men had spears and women threw stones, but the ghouls did not appear to be bothered by it all. Captain Decker, Lieutenant Harper, and Lincoln all opened fire as soon as they had a clear shot. Three ghouls went down. Another got mauled by Lockhart’s shotgun, and if not yet dead, it soon would be.

Mingus appeared to be counting but came alert as a ghoul grabbed Boston by the back of her collar. He sent a fireball into the Ghoul’s face, which made it let go. Boston fell, spun, and unloaded six bullets into the creature’s chest.

Lieutenant Harper and Alexis were already checking the men, women and children who appeared to be dead. Captain Decker with his night goggles caught another attempting to flee the camp. Then Lincoln heard a scream from one of the tents. Girls were screaming and it sounded like Atonis responded “Aaii-ii.”

Lincoln ran and arrived at the same time as Atonis. They saw a ghoul with a woman in one hand. She looked limp and lifted completely off the ground. The ghoul tossed her away like so much dead meat. Two young girls huddled in the corner, screaming and scared senseless. That was about all Lincoln could see in the second he had to glimpse the action. He opened fire and did not stop firing until the ghoul got laid out flat.

Lincoln watched Atonis run to his children. The ghoul, one of the big ones at about eight feet in height, shriveled up like a beach ball with an air leak. It began to compress until it became no bigger than a hand, and then it melted into the soil and left only a sickly green smudge where it had been.