“But what are they?” Tobias asked in a hushed voice.

“They are Namid’s teeth and claws.” Joe tapped his chest. “The terra indigene like me call them the Elders. They seldom shift out of their true form, and when they do...” He shrugged, uncomfortable about saying more.

“So now they’re aware of us.”

“They’ve always been aware of you. Today they allowed you a glimpse of what watches”—and judges—“humans when you step beyond your towns and cities. In a way, those hills are the Elders’ city in this part of Thaisia. We located our settlement closest to your town in order to act as a buffer between them and you. It allows you to have some access, through us, to the timber, to the water, and to the prey that also lives in the hills.”

“So you pretend they aren’t out there,” Tobias said.

Joe shook his head. “My form of terra indigene is small compared to them. Even a large pack of Wolves couldn’t survive an attack by one of the Elders. You are a small predator compared to us, so being respectful is your best chance of surviving an encounter with one of them.”

Wyatt joined them, carefully licking blood off his claws.

<It disturbs them to see you do that when you look mostly human,> Joe said, glancing at Tobias and Truman.

The Grizzly gave Joe a long look, then lowered his paw. “The hauler is back. Once we load what it can carry, we’ll have enough meat.”

“We’ll want the meat of one more bison to trade,” Joe said.

Wyatt growled, making Tobias and Truman flinch. “With the humans? They’ve left good meat to spoil in the heat; they aren’t going to want any of ours.”

“Not with the humans. I want to find out if we can ship some of this meat to the Lakeside Courtyard.”

Wyatt finally nodded. “We’ll come back for one more.”

After they’d dragged one more half-grown bison close enough that the men would be able to winch it onto the hauler when it returned again, the horses were loaded into the trailer and returned to the ranch. The hauler slowly drove off with its cargo. The Wolves and Coyotes, having eaten enough, jumped into the pickup beds, happy to nap on the way back to the terra indigene settlement.

Tobias started the truck, then looked at Joe. “You want me to drop you off close to your place?”

Joe shook his head. “I need to talk to Jesse Walker and use the telephone.” He waited for Tobias to put the truck in gear. “Something else?”

“The Elders. Do they mean us harm, Joe? I guess humans have done plenty to piss them off lately, so I have to ask.”