Four hours earlier....

  The hall was filled with the faint light of torches, which made a nice contrast to the building made of earth. In the middle was a booth where the heads of the village or the condemned spoke. Around the edges of the building were tables with chairs where the elders stood. The general appearance resembled that of a court of law. The head of the village, being annoyed walked into the room. The eyes of the elders immediately turned to him.

  He quickly looked round the crowd and greeted all the elders.

  - Friends, - the leader said in a firm and steady voice, - our time is running out. The cannibals are a threat. They have been preparing supplies, weapons and men for some time now. I believe their target is our village. We must act. I estimate we have two or three weeks. I repeat. We need to pack up and leave. I will make the preparations for the move myself.

  The head's words hung in the air after a few moments of silence. One of the elders leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and said:

  - Where to? There's nowhere to go. If we move to another place nothing will change, we don't know what lies in the distance. We've been able to identify edible things, water sources in a place that has nothing by many sacrifices on our part. Tell me, do you have enough provisions for a long journey? The village is already short of provisions. And if we encounter an unknown place, even in the world where we come from, everything is different depending on the geographical location. What if we explore a place and settle in and later learn of a deadly danger? Should we leave again?

  To which the village head replied:

  -If we think that way, we'll never achieve anything! -We can't afford to stop. We can't afford to stop. We're stuck and now we're threatened. Although there is a grain of truth in what you say. I've almost given up hope myself, but think what will become of the next generation? They'll become cattle or extinct. Many of the youth criticise you for your actions. I don't blame you, you've sacrificed a lot. But if we don't start, our mistakes will be repeated by our children. So after much deliberation, I propose we use the tactics of the nomads of our world. We are very fortunate to have people who know about the nomadic way of life. I propose we travel constantly with stops for a month or two. That way we can move constantly, which will increase the chances of finding a way out tenfold.

  A loud elderly voice interrupted the discussion:

  -Come on, what a mess you're making here.

  An old man of about eighty years of age looked at the elder and said:

  - If it weren't for the cannibal attack, I would agree with you. You have extensive knowledge of planning and I respect you, but the situation is not in our favour.

  Upon hearing the elder's words the Head of the village nodded, but then the elder turned to him and said:

  - We have heard you. But before we make a decision, we need to think it over.

  The village head met the elders' gazes and spoke louder:

  - I understand your concern, however, every minute could cost dozens of lives. Our village is no longer safe. We must leave. We can't build a good defence in such a short period of time,’ he repeated.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  However, before the village head could continue speaking, the elder interrupted him and said:

  -I repeat. We heard you. Please come over after we discuss this proposal.

  Meeting the elder's gaze, which did not express any negative emotions, the village head said:

  -Okay... Then I'm leaving.

  After he left, the elders immediately exchanged hard glances, and, with the sound of distant footsteps, began a private discussion.

  - Who does this young man think he is??- said the First Elder loudly.

  - I agree, who is he to tell us the way??- confirmed the Second Elder with indignation.

  - He pretends to save us from imminent doom, but everyone knows he is totally disloyal! Always coming up with idiotic offers of salvation. Everyone knows there is no salvation!?- added the Third, crossing his arms on his threadbare robe, ‘we couldn't even find his trail....

  Four, calmly interrupted:

  - Enough. The village head is right and you know it. I think he's going to abandon us if we force him not to accept his offer. His influence in the village is enormous. If he decides to take his people away, only about half of them will remain, and given the threat from outside, it would be good if the population was above 10% of the total population.

  For a moment, silence enveloped the building. The first, still, objected:

  - It's useless anyway. We've tried for a very long time, spent decades wandering this disgusting place. We haven't found anything within a 500 kilometre radius. We don't even know what monsters live in this world. In this world, colour often indicates how dangerous a creature is. Even here, there's a rainbow mirage that makes you literally disappear. And how many of these dangers there are here is unknown.

  The fourth, crossing his fingers, added:

  - He will take everyone who is able to move. It doesn't matter if we agree or not. And we can't stay here in these walls forever with aggressive neighbours.

  The other one, after thinking for a few minutes, said:

  - Do you want us all to die here or become slaves? The fourth is right. If it weren't for the threat of the cannibals, I would have stayed here. And the leader has made it clear that we must leave, and he's willing to take on the burden of a guide. So we don't have to do much of anything. Yeah, and maybe it's time we admit we've been sitting ducks. We're the only sane people around here, and I'm afraid we're going to go crazy living in this environment.

  Fifth said:

  - Not only that. Why do you think he still turns to us with his influence? I don't think you know that when the Head was a child, we were the ones who planted those seeds of ambition and struggled to find a way out.

  All eyes turned to him and, in a silence filled with the weight of unresolved issues, he continued:

  - Our village was created to serve as a refuge for those who sought salvation. Today, we stand at a crossroads. If we allow fear and vanity to rule us, we will lose everything we hold dear. No one wants to die, do they?

  Finally, the oldest of them all, the Eighth Elder, said quietly but firmly:

  - Let's do this. We'll send the head to prepare to leave. I think he's got it covered. And we'll get busy messing up the cannibals' lives.

  The elders nodded in silent agreement.

  Another elder, with a faint sneer in his voice, said:

  - We may be old men, but we are not idiots after all.