"Grim Wolf" A Tundrawolf Story

Part Five "The Little Fliers"

The Elves call them the "Esari". The Sea Lord People call them the Doria, and the Giants call them the Dalgir-Thos. In the common tongue, they are called the Little Fliers or the Little Warriors. They are a race of people that live in the high foothills and meadows of the Tallspine Mountains. They are a small people, the Flier caste standing at the most four feet tall, while the Warrior caste stood as much as five feet. They are a hardy people and very protective of their homes and their friends.

The Elves say that tens of thousands of turns ago, before the dawn of man, the Esari were closely related to the magical wee Pixens. The Pixens are shy, tiny people that are said to be mostly found on the Emerald Isles these days and are no taller than an Elf's ankle boot. Although people claim to many sightings of them throughout the northern parts of the Wolf Lands and in the Snow Forest, the Pixens remain a mystery to all but the most magical of folk, like the Elves. The ancient Esari had been small like the Pixens, but not quite as small, about the height of an Elf's riding boot. They had been little enough to ride the backs of the great Dire Wolves, the Red Wing Hawks and the small mountain horses (ancient ancestors to the War Horses) that they called their friends. All of that changed when the Fell Ice came down from the north and froze the world.

In the old world the Esari lived all throughout the north lands, from the green lands in the west, to the Wolfswood in the north and to the vast plains in the east. They made their homes in the forests of the huge gossamar trees that supplied everything they needed to live. Their food, clothing and homes all came from the big beautiful trees. The trees were also home to the Red Wing Hawks, and that is when the Esari developed a bond with them that lasts to today.

The Esari split into two groups back when the ice advanced downward from the top of the world bringing with it the killing cold. One group decided to go south, ahead of the ice, becoming nomads as they were constantly on the move to find warmer lands. The other group went underground stocking up the vast cave networks under the Tallspine Mountains with food and making them habitable. Both groups took thousands upon thousands of seeds of their beloved gossamar trees. They hoped to have a home someday where they could once again grow their forests that the cold and ice was destroying.

The Tallspines climbed further into the sky back then, how high their lofty heights went was hard to tell as their summits were always above the clouds. The vast mountain range started from the top of the world in the north and ran far down into the lands of the south, beyond where the Esari ever traveled before. They were home to many different races, animals and plants back then, some of these were never to be seen again as they froze and died after the world was buried under snow and ice.

Many more tribes of Esari chose to travel south than those who chose the caves. For many a turn they traveled with the Red Wing Hawks as their companions. The large raptors could not live in the dark confines of the caves. The birds had to be outside, they had to fly. Over the thousands of turns these Esari physically changed as they moved through the southern lands. They grew in size from a small, wee people to a strong people who stood much taller. Their life was hard as they constantly battled predators and fought with the growing tribes of men to survive. The Red Wings eventually left them, flying off to lands unknown and not to be seen again for many, many lifetimes. All throughout their nomadic life they tried to grow their beloved gossamer trees, but no matter where they went, or how hard they tried, the seeds would not sprout. They kept the knowledge of the trees in their histories and always passed on the lore of them down through the generations. No matter how far they traveled, nor for how long, they never forgot the trees or the large raptors. It would be over twenty-thousand turns before their descendants would ever see a gossamar tree or a Red Wing Hawk again.

The Esari who made their homes underground were plagued with different struggles and varied challenges over the thousands of turns. They spent much of their time and labor keeping the entrances to the outside world open. They never wanted to lose sight of the sun as they fought the ice and snow that always threatened to close them off. They learned how to grow different types of mushrooms to harvest for food and hunted the fish, rodents and other animals that went underground with them. They drank from the subterranean streams and rivers that ran all throughout the tunnels and caverns. They dug far and deep to find the molten bowels of the earth for warmth and comfort as the world outside grew colder. And they kept the seeds of their precious gossamar trees safe and secure, free from insects, vermin and rot. Caring for them and hoping someday the ice would withdraw so they could regrow their beloved forests.