No longer could we perch on a branch and laugh down at our carnivorous enemies on the ground.

The Fire People were carnivorous, with claws and fangs a hundred feet long, the most terrible of all the hunting animals that ranged the primeval world.
One morning, before the Folk had dispersed to the forest, there was a panic among the water-carriers and those who had gone down to the river to drink.

The whole horde fled to the caves.

It was our habit, at such times, to flee first and investigate afterward.

We waited in the mouths of our caves and watched.