Story The Forsaken

ShadowMan

ShadowMan

Designated Grumpy Old Fart
The Forsaken, Chapter 1

It’s was after the tenth vaccine booster that suddenly the world changed. The Covid 29 Sigma variant was the last of the deadly virus’ unleashed upon the world before “the change”. The great cities of the ancients were devoid of people and overgrown, crumbling into obscurity and left abandoned as humanity escaped to the hinterlands to put as much space between themselves and the infected. Running away, didn’t work. The virus was now everywhere, quickly evolving, insidiously working inside the genetic code of every mammal on the planet. At first the changes were subtle, small and nearly invisible unless one knew what to look for. Soon those subtle changes were not so subtle. A dozen generations later there was no hiding.

Aerynn was a throwback. A genetic failure. Her village, isolated high on the Rim of the World above the Great Inland Sea. A safe refuge from the demons that roamed the barrens below. The air was too thin for demons, too bright, too clean up here. The scent of pine and cedars filled the air as Aerynn gathered the oak berries that littered the forest floor. Brushing her deep ruby locks aside she carefully inspected each berry for signs of impurity and damage before dropping them in her woven reed gathering basket.

The same recessive gene that gifted her with her long dark red locks was also the throwback gene that stripped her of the gifts her fellow villagers cherished and further identified her as a weak mundane. There was no hiding her lack of “talents” not with that head full of flowing red locks.

Santee, just on the other side of the small clearing had already filled his basket with a wave of his hand. Unlike Aerynn, he was not forsaken and had the gift of movement. A sweep of his hand and all the pure untarnished berries would softly float up and with a gathering wave of his hand swirl through the air like a flock of small birds and dive into his basket. Aerynn had to pick up each berry and inspect them individually by hand.

“Oh, little sister you are so slow.” Santee teased.

Aerynn had long learned to ignore his well meaning brotherly jabs. “I’m in no hurry.” She replied softly as she inspected another single berry before dropping into her half filled basket.

In a world filled with the Gifted and Damned she was simply mundane, ordinary, ungifted….forsaken. During the Great Cleansing humanity suddenly discovered their hidden talents and damnation. While one group of humans evolved forward, the other half of humanity devolved into the dark past and now prowled the vast empty landscape below in the ever present fog. Then there were the forsaken, left as their ancestors were originally, without gifts, no powers and no abilities and no way to defend themselves against the overwhelming night demons. Most forsaken did not survive the onset of the Great Cleansing and soon there were none....except.

Aerynn was a throwback. A child born generations after the Great Cleansing without gifts and were it not for her being born into a protective and loving family living in a village high in the mountains she too would have gone the way of other mundanes….dust. Santee was the strongest of the young hunter gatherers in their village and a very protective older brother. However, soon he would be joining the warriors of the clan. Entrusted with keeping their mountain redoubt pure, safe and clear of demons and wildlings.

Too soon Aerynn would not have the shadow of her big brother always watching over her, as his new duties would be watching over the clan and the village. She dreaded that day. To be alone, without gifts and vulnerable, she would be an easy target for demons, wildlings and distrusting villagers. It was not unusual for forsaken to be cast out of villages. Looked down upon as genetic failures, useless throwbacks and an insult to the gifted. No man would accept her as partner. No family would shelter her. No clan would take her in. No one wanted an unclean, ungifted, throwback to a dark past, a person with no future.

What they didn’t see, couldn’t see, was the seed that was just now beginning to sprout within her, deep inside. Something was emerging from a time before time. A throwback to the beginning. A seed touched by the divine itself was just beginning to sprout. What the others did not see. Could not see. Refused and would not see was actually their salvation standing right before them. Hidden beneath her flowing red locks. Red, a signal in nature to beware, to stay back, danger.

Santee had taught his little sister all the ways of the woods and mountain that he could. He taught her the way of the sword and the bow, of spear, of hand, fist and foot. The way of the forest and mannerisms of all the creatures that lived there. How to track and see the subtle details in the story of their mountain world. But he could not teach her the way of the Gift. For she was born without the talent. Abandoned by the Father Creator in a world of full of wild and ever present danger. He feared for her.

He loved her gentle manner and calm resolve. She was kind, soft and flowing like the whispering breeze that trickled through the branches of the pines and cedars of their mountain redoubt despite the disadvantages of her mundane birth. There was a peace that flowed from her core, cool water to his blazing fire. Even when some of their village despised her presence and felt that she was an evil omen she walked straight, tall and fearless among them. Aerynn met every challenge to her existence with kindness and grace. She turned distrust and anger with her shield of softness. So strong, yet a total mystery to his mind. Her brothers warrior’s heart did not understand her gentle ways. They were simply too foreign to his nature.

A month later at the full of the moon. Santee stood tall in his buckskins. His face painted, weapons in hand, hair oiled, braided and pulled back. Today was the Test. His final passage into the realm of the Warrior. He would descend into the mists below to prove his manhood, skill, cunning and worth against the Demons and Wildlings of a desolated landscape. He would have to pass through the valley of death and light the signal fire on the lost peak far off across the fog sea. A lonely peak that barely jutted above the thick low clouds far in the distance. Only the strongest survived this test to become warriors of his mountain clan. Today was his Test.

He must show no fear in the face of certain death. He must travel fast and deadly. Nothing must impede his mission. No beast, no Demon, no Wildling will stay his course. He MUST reach the far off peak and light the signal fire and return. Return to his people, to his village, to his mountain and to his little sister. Santee turned to the Elders and signaled his readiness. A deep echoing horn sounded and increased in volume. He turned, took a deep breath and then let out his war cry, leapt over the stone edge and began to run. Down the mountain he ran becoming smaller and smaller in the distance until he disappeared into the fog below.

Aerynn stood amongst the surrounding villagers stoically and watched her brother disappear into the mists of death. She was all alone now as she prayed for Santee’s safe and speedy return. She would not cry. Not in front of them. Her brother was a strong mountain man, a superior fighter and hunter. He would return. He had to return. He had to.

Each evening she would sit vigil on a lone rocky prominence straining her eyes for the signal fire to shine on that far off peak. Days turned into weeks. Then a month. Still no fire. Aerynn could not believe that Santee had failed. He could not fail. More days passed by with no light on that distant peak. He should have returned by now. Santee was the strongest of all the young hunter gatherers.

Aerynn could feel the eyes of her village turning against her as each day passed. She heard the quiet mutterings. The down cast eyes that blamed her for her brothers failure to return. There was a tide rising against her. She could feel the air get thicker each day.

A month and a half had passed since Santee began his Test, when Aerynn made up her mind. She had finally completed her traveling buckskins. Her thick hide moccasin boots were ready. She oiled and braided her red hair and pulled it back. Gathered up her journey pack and bedroll. Adjusted her quivver, sheathed her short broad sword, checked her kukri, picked up her bow and spear and slowly looked around her family’s hut for perhaps one last time. She took in a last deep breath, filling her nostrils with the smell of home and silently closed the hatch behind her and began her walk through the village to the end of her known world.

Angry eyes stalked her passage as she headed to the jump off point. How dare this forsaken walk the warriors path! She could feel their anger as she dipped two fingers into the bowl of face paint and donned the warrior’s marks across her cheeks and forehead. Blasphemy!

She heard the scuffle of feet behind her, but she did not turn.

“Just what do you think you’re doing girl!” A deep voice called to her.

“I will find my brother.” She softly answered.

“It is FORBIDDEN!! I FORBID IT!” The elder growled angrily as he stepped closer. “Return to your hut before you shame his name and your village!”

Aerynn slowly turned her head and looked straight into the elders eyes. “I WILL find my brother!”

The elder stepped closer. “YOU WILL OBEY GIRL!! IT IS FORBIDDEN FOR YOU TO WALK THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR!!”

A crowd was quickly gathering behind the elder. An angry crowd, muttering and shifting their feet.

She turned back to fog ignoring the building anger behind her. Just as the elder stepped closer and reached out to grab this young upstart Aerynn let out her battle cry! A great piercing screech like that of the giant eagle on the hunt. So loud and so shrill that all those behind her stepped back and gasped in fear and awe. With that Aerynn leapt over the rocky edge and descended down the mountain on a run into the foreboding mists below. One thought filled her head, “I WILL find my brother!”


To be continued:

Chapter 2: Into the mists of death.
 
Texican

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
The huntress is off to hunt.

Thanks SM for the beginning.

Texican....
 
AlaskaSue

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
Really nicely put together…hints of history that mark the sister as less. But she has strength and courage unnoticed by her community.

Thank you for this tale - I’ll bring the coffee for more! ;) It’s a very lovely start!
 
ShadowMan

ShadowMan

Designated Grumpy Old Fart
Chapter 2: Into the mists of death.

The air was heavy with a damp thick feel to it as Aerynn ran deeper into the mists down the mountain. She was surrounded by gray, engulfed in it. It swam all around her painting everything within it a dull monochromatic paler. It was a sick world she had descended into. All the plants seemed sad, stunted and ill. No birds flew in the fog. No sound carried through it. It was as if this whole new world was asleep in a most foreboding way. She saw no sign of animal life. No trails that bespoke of four legged critters, just the damp thick surrounding gray everywhere.

For two days she traveled downward, always down. Here no sun burned through the thick fog. Just the ever present surrounding damp gray that faded at night into black and back again to gray during the day. At night she sought safety in the highest reaches of the stunted trees. The oaks here were half the size of the majestic oaks surrounding her village that she and her brother had harvested the berries of. The light was slowly fading as Aerynn climbed as high as she could in the largest of the oaks she could find in the failing light and tied her sleeping hammock firmly to the branches there.

Santee had shared all his preparations and plans for his Test with her, describing all the precautions he was working on to insure victory in his journey. Aerynn could not bring herself to believe her brother had failed. Santee was too wise in the ways of the wild lands. No one could best him in sword, spear and bow. His knowledge of plants and animals was equal to any village healer or hunter. His gift allowed him to avoid the normal pitfalls and failures of the “runners of the woods”. He could move through the wild lands without a sound. No! Santee would not, could not fail...but where was he now?

Aerynn lay stiff and still at night straining to listen through the black/gray that surrounded and engulfed her. There were things moving through the damp dead world below. Evil things? Hungry things? Four legged things, multi-legged things, crawling and slithering things. Things that she hoped and prayed would not be able to crawl up the trunk of her tree and reach her. She tried to sleep there in her suspended nest with her short broadsword and kukri, one in each hand across her chest. She tried in vain to keep one eye open as she listened to the night creatures roaming the ground below her. She was at least four spear lengths above the ground. She hoped it would be enough. Slowly exhaustion overtook her and she faded into the night clutching her weapons. She prayed that she would not need them.

She woke with a start causing her hammock to sway slightly. “Where am I?” Flashed across her mind. Then she remembered. Cautiously she slowly rolled to one side and peaked over the edge of her perch. Nothing moved beneath her. There was no evidence of the passage of the many creatures she had heard in the night. The thought of those sounds sent a sudden chill down her spine. Aerynn looked again at the ground below her and slowly scanned and listened through the fog. It seemed thicker this morning. Maybe.

It only took Aerynn a few minutes to gather up her tree camp and slowly make her way back down the oak to the damp ground below. This was a foreign land. On her mountain she knew the dangers and cautions she must take to be safe. Here was a place so foreign she did not know what could or would be a threat. So she had to assume everything was a potential threat until proven otherwise, yet she could not let fear enter into her mind. She had to calm her spirit. Relax the tension, steady her nerves and, and, she had to find her brother. She could not be afraid. Fear freezes the mind. Freezes motion. Freezes actions and can kill quicker than a mountain saber cat. Aerynn pushed the fear from her mind and set about building a small fire.

Higher up in the oak she had gathered the dry squaw wood the night before and protected it from the damp under her sleeping roll. She pulled a small tick of cattail fluff from an ancient tin and set flint and steel to it. Gently she blew life into the spark and a small flame began to emerge, to which she set the afore gathered twigs. She had fire! She always marveled how even the smallest fire was life giving and could fill the spirit.

It only took a short time for the water to boil in her small cup to which she added the various herbs and a small dab of honey. She kept her fire small, a “hunters fire”. Just enough to chase some of the gray morning from her tired bones and heat her water.

Her tea was thick and sweet and warmed the chill that seemed to permeate everything here in the mist. Squatting with her back against the trunk of her oak and her spear across her lap, her eyes continued to casually sweep the surrounding gray. The second cup was just about to come to a boil. With this water she performed her morning rituals; washing her face, her armpits, her privates and her feet. Never forget YOUR feet her brother admonished her. “With out them you can not run or walk.” He would begin. “With out them you can not move, so always take care of your feet.”

If only she knew these lands like her own, then perhaps she could relax a little, she thought as she pulled back on her moccasin boots. Refreshed and reasonably clean she repacked her kit always with a wandering eye to her surroundings. She was a stranger in a strange land and it was the not knowing what could or would be a threat that kept her on edge.

“Perhaps that was a good thing.” she thought. “I must expect the unexpected.”

What was it Santee was always reminding her? Oh yes, “You must become one with the woods. You must think your way through them, join with them, sense what you can not see, know what you don’t know and then no harm can come to you because you are peace with the world and ready for anything.”

Later on the second morning Aerynn finally left her mountain and reached the flatlands. Here there were strange trees and bushes, plants she did not recognize and they lay in a patterns that seemed quite peculiar and odd. There were large wide paths covered in low grasses that ran between bundles of unfamiliar trees and shrubs. In the middle of these gathered trees and shrubs were oddly shaped blocks of flat rock. A gray compacted kind of sandstone she had never seen before. But it seemed harder than the sandstone that she knew from her mountain. Some of the strange stone appeared to have been burned as if by fire. Could this strange rock actually burn? She dismissed that as absurd. Was this a village? The lay out of the blocks and trees seemed to point to individual plots of land, yet nothing grew on the flat rock. Perhaps this was a village, a very large village by the looks of it. Hundreds, maybe thousands of times larger than her home village. Curious. The Ancients were said to have lived in great cities that spanned the countryside as far as one could see. Their homes were as large as a mountain village. Could this be some of those?

The travel was much easier here in the flatlands. What hills there were, were scattered and not very steep. Large paths met other large paths that were too straight for nature and did not seem to follow natural flow of the land. Rather they were cut into the land and through the low hills. She saw no deer or rabbit trails. Why were these paths so wide? Here and there scattered along the path were large lumps of grass and plants. Little islands just a few feet above the flat terrain, some with small caves just under the top thatch of grass. Small hollow hills? Curious.

Aerynn recognized many trees similar to those on her mountain. There were pines and cedars, small oaks and others she had never seen before. Strange trees that seemed to be only one long single trunk not much bigger around than her waist and without any branches coming off of it. They were like no other trees she had ever seen. Far above, barely visible in the mists was an explosion of giant leaves at the top in a ball shape with what looked like the long beard of an old man beneath. Some were so tall she could not see their top as they disappeared into the fog above. Curious? Others were similar to her cedars but compact, cylindrical and tall. She could not see any branches, but a tight gathering of cedar like boughs that hid the trees trunk and any branches. At a distance they resembled tall round green spears and looked to grow in straight lines, lines that seemed to create a wall. A wall for what? Everything she saw seemed to violate the natural random order of nature. It just didn’t look right.

She came across a grove of dark green trees that stood planted in a grid pattern. What caught her attention was the bright orange-yellow fruit they were heavy with. The trees were perhaps twice as tall as Aerynn and were full and round with branches almost touching the ground. She grasped one of the fruits and it’s outer skin was firm, slightly waxy and felt thick. It fell away from the branch that it was suspended from with only the slightest of twist and literally plopped into her hand. It was heavy and full of juice.

After a quick glance around her she took her kukri and sliced it in half. The fruit had a thick white outer rind just below the outer skin. Within were wedges full of sweet smelling yellow-orange juice and she tasted it. It was sweet. A sweetness like she had never tasted before. There was a slight tanginess to it and while she was tempted to squeeze more of this delightful juice into her dry mouth she knew better than to tempt the fates.

“Bitter is nature’s warning of something not safe to eat or drink.” She could hear her brothers voice in her head. “Sweetness can also hide danger, so only try a little and then let it sit for a while.”

She judged by the faint glow in the misty sky above her than it must be near mid day. The sun was trying to burn through and Aerynn wondered if it ever did. Up on the Rim of the World when she and Santee would look down out over the gray misty sea every once in a while they would see a hole in the mists and wonder what lay below that opening in the fog. Someday maybe they would know. Now she was in it and there looked to be no end in sight of the gray.

Aerynn left the grove of fruit trees after gathering up a small satchel of the orange fruit. A little while later she came upon an even stranger sight. It looked to be a river, but not a river. There was that strange sandstone again with perfectly flat walls that angled down on either side of a waterway in the center. The bottom was wide, flat and sandy. A small creek flowed in the center lined with plants and small trees. Certainly water had cut the path through the gray sandstone, but she had never seen such even and smooth cuts made by water in stone. There were no large stones or boulders of a normal river bed, but perhaps this is how rivers run in the flatlands? If this river bed was running full, like after the snow melt it would indeed be a big river where now flowed a simple small meandering creek in the center that a person could easily jump across. Were this river full it would run fast and be impossible to swim across. Curious.

Further down the river bed she could see a bridge stretching across the expanse of the river bed. Again, it was carved from that same grey rock, yet there were no marks on the rocks smooth surface. No tool marks scared its face. It was the same type of rock that she had seen in the strange village foundations and in the walls that held the river. Curious.

And further more she had still not seen any creatures but here and there she had noticed a few signs that something did move about here. Was everything here dead? There were trees, brush, odd plants, there was grass and Aerynn had seen water, so where were the wild creatures. Did they only come out at night? Was this land here entirely forsaken as well? A chill ran down Aerynn’s back. Was this world here in the shadows forsaken?

Aerynn recalled the ancient stories of the time before The Change when no one was gifted or damned and then the Great Cleansing. The war between the gifted and the damned and the obliteration of all the ungifted and undamned. Then those peoples known as the forsaken had all but disappeared, except for throwbacks like herself that seemed to pop up every few generations. Aerynn, was neither gifted or damned. She was truly Forsaken and unwanted now. By setting off on this journey to find her brother she had left the only home and the only people she had ever known and there was no going back without him. She was now a Wildling, homeless, clanless, villageless. Condemned to wonder the lands between the light above and darkness below. Belonging to neither region. What had she been thinking?

Something moved through the brush ahead of her and off to the side of the wide path. Something BIG! Something HUGE! Aerynn instantly froze. It was perhaps twenty or thirty spears lengths in front and to the her right. She could hear it’s snorts and see the shaking of the small trees and bushes as it plowed through. When it emerged from the brush Aerynn could not believe her eyes. IT WAS HUGE!!

She stood stone still as this great beast raised it’s head and appeared to sniff the air. It’s head was large with two great horns protruding from it’s long snout that it moved back and forth testing the air. Aerynn could barely make out the small beady deep set eyes on the side of it’s enormous head. It stood on four stout tree trunk like legs that supported it’s long barrel shaped body. The beast was nearly the size of the hut that she and Santee shared back in the village. After what seemed like an eternity the great beast slowly lowered it great head, snorted and turned to finish crossing the wide path Aerynn was traveling on. It quickly disappeared into the bushes on the other side of the path. As large as this beast was Aerynn noted that it had almost a comically tiny little tail. Curiouser and curiouser.

Several hours later still following the river and judging by the faint orb in the misty sky above Aerynn estimated that she was traveling due west in the direction of the signal hill that Santee would be headed towards on his Test. All the great paths she crossed seemed to run in line with the four directions of the compass she carried. It was also time to find a safe place to bed down for the night. She was now seeing more sign of animal life. Some she recognized and other she did not. There were deer, rabbit, coyote, wolf and something far bigger yet similar. There were great cats prints, perhaps like the mountain saber cats that roamed her mountain peaks, though these other tracks were also much larger and many other tracks that she did not recognize and she had never seen on her mountain.

Aerynn went to take a pull on her water skin and realized it was nearly empty. Judging by the sun’s faint position in the gray sky above she had perhaps an hour maybe two before it would be dark. It would take that long to filter enough water for the next day so she started down into the riverbed. Walking across the sandy flats there was plenty of sign and she kept her eyes sharp for trouble. Predators often prowled water ways for unwary victims. She did not want to be caught flat footed. Working her way through the brush, tall grass and reeds she found a small stream of water that flowed lazily along. It was deeper than it looked and she knelt down beside it and quickly filled her filter bladder while constantly looking around. Tonight when she made camp she would attach the bamboo filter her brother had made for her and by the morning she would have safe water to drink.

Santee had located a stand of large bamboo canes in one of the passes that led down off the mountain. The canes were three to four fingers of a flat hand wide and had inner hollow chambers. Taking a length that held two such chambers he carefully opened up each end. The top chamber he packed with fine white beach sand that had been boiled and screened. The bottom chamber he filled with fine oak wood chips that had been burned without air and he called it charcoal. This was a special kind of burnt wood the water would slowly pass through and be rendered safe to drink, but it would take time.

Aerynn was nearly out of the riverbed when something struck her on the side of her boot hard enough to nearly knock her over. Suddenly her leg just above her ankle felt like it was on fire! It was the biggest snake she had ever seen, as bigger around than her arm and she could not see it’s end. It must have laid hidden under the soft river sand until she walked by. She never saw at it before it hit her! Striking at her again and again as she swung her spear in a frenzy to beat it off, but it kept coming at her. The pain in her lower leg burned like hell fire and she could feel its poison surging up her leg burning all the way. In a last desperate effort she drew her short broadsword and swung at the snake’s head. She missed! She slashed back just as the snake reared up to strike higher and her blade met the challenge nearly severing it’s head. Aerynn fell into the sand exhausted with the snakes long body writhing in the sand beside her. It’s head still snapping at her. It was nearly twice as long as Aerynn was tall...it was HUGE! Her heart pounding from the battle pulled the snakes venom further up her leg and now her vision was starting to blur. She had to get out of the riverbed and find shelter!

She could feel her lower leg swelling in response to the poison. Dragging her damaged leg she pulled herself up the ramp using her spear as a crutch. Her breathing became harder and harder. Aerynn couldn’t seem to catch her breath as her heart pounded in her head. She had to find shelter! SHELTER NOW...but where? Where could she find safety in this strange dangerous land? Night was falling it was almost upon her. The venom was surging burning through her veins. Aerynn was panicking. If the poison didn’t kill her first, the night beasts would. Where? Where could she find shelter? As she staggered along the border wall of the river she was sudden snagged by a bramble of thorny vines. They tugged at her buckskins. Sharp thorns poked her burning skin. Gasping for breath she started slashing with her short sword into the thorny brambles. With each hack of her blade her vision became fuzzier. It was harder and harder to focus and the burning flame continued to march up her leg to her side. She was running out of time and she knew it!

Exhausted, nearly blind and now with her entire side on fire she fell forward into the briers. Each movement was filled with excruciating pain. She couldn’t catch her breath. She couldn’t focus as the light was fading both in her sight and in her surroundings. Deeper and deeper into the underbrush Aerynn crawled until she could crawl no more. Totally spent, exhausted, she could no long feel her leg and the burning flame of the snakes venom was now brushing all over her before the light finally faded and she gave in to the night.
 
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ShadowMan

ShadowMan

Designated Grumpy Old Fart
Please forgive any typos, slips or missing words as I try to produce each chapter as quickly as possible.....I hate editing my own work and frequently miss mistakes. Trust me.....I find more than I like after rereading a section a day or two later. I just hope you all enjoy this little story as it rolls out. Where it's going. I have no clue until I'm there. Thanks for all your support and comments! So here we go again!

Chapter 3: Into the Brier Patch

Sheltered within the thorny briers Aerynn laid sheltered from the creatures of the night. Several times throughout the following evening the roaming hungry scavengers sniffed around the outer edges of the brambles, but something caused them to hesitate and refuse to probe further into the thorny barrier. They shied away from the soft glow that emanated from the thick dark bush. A faint pulse of light continued through the night. While the hungry creatures of the night seemed drawn to the light, they would come no closer than the edge of the thorny patch wherein Aerynn lay helpless. Something was happening within her as the poison coursed through her veins. Deep within her a seed was beginning to sprout. Was the giant snake’s venom somehow acting as a catalyst to force, to create, to change her? And into what? Something different, perhaps something greater or was it simply killing her slowly.

Three days and three nights passed during which Aerynn lay as if stone cold dead sheltered in her thorny redoubt. On the morning of the forth day her eye lids began to flutter. She was alive. The fire of the snakes venom still smoldered along every nerve and blood vessel in her body. Not painfully, but there, still tender and tingling along every nerve and vein. Her mouth was parched and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her teeth felt like they were covered with chalk. She moaned softly trying to remember how she got here on the ground surrounded by thorns thickly entangled and sheltering her. Her mind was as foggy as the filtered light that trickled through the thick living mat overhead.

THE SNAKE! She remembered the attack and her battle with the giant serpent. She was alive? Yes? Maybe? Yes...alive, but hurt. She tried to roll over but was so weak all she managed was a frustrating grunt in anguish as a flash of pain shot across her forehead. OUCH! She blinked several times in an attempt to focus. She had been bit. Poison? Yes, her leg. She could feel it. It was still there. Was that a good thing? So thirsty – so thirsty. Slowly Aerynn managed to roll over and push herself onto one side. Every nerve sparkled and flashed. It was not painful, more like they were working for the first time ever. She could feel everything. As if every sense was new and suddenly awake. The smell of the earth beneath her face, the brambles that surrounded her, the leather of her buckskins against her flesh. Her eyes would not focus and everything had a strange colored double vision flicker to it. She felt her heart beat in her ear, in her head, across her skin, behind her eyes.

For hours she lay there. Slowly regaining her strength. As her mind became clearer, her eyes became focused. She could finally see again. She remembered that she had fought the largest snake she had ever seen. Aerynn knew that she was been bit, had been poisoned and was surprised that she was still alive. Was this what happened to Santee she wondered? Would she ever find him? Would she find him alive? She was scared, for both her brother and herself.

Finally she was able to push herself up to a low sitting position inside her protective bush. It took all her strength and she was panting after such a simple movement, almost completely exhausted by such a simple thing. She found her hand resting on her traveling kit and Aerynn remembered the juicy orange fruit she had gathered the day before. Was it the day before? She didn’t know. She had no idea how long she had lain there unconscious and helpless. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. She had no memory of how she got into this thorny bush. She did remember killing the snake with her short sword and staggering away from the river bed but not much after that.

Her trembling hand found the opening to her satchel and she pulled out one of the plump fruit and brought it to her mouth. Biting through the soft bitter skin she was rewarded with it’s sweet tangy juice. Squeezing it in her hand as hard as she could she slopped the welcome gloriously wet juice across her parched lips and hungerly sucked the fruit empty. Aerynn grabbed another and then another until her lips and throat burned. With re-energized fingers she pulled the soft fruit apart and ravenously ate the soft inner pulp.

The fire of the snakes venom had slowly faded to a faint glow as her head and vision finally began to clear. She took stock of her situation. She still had her traveling pack and bedroll. Her kukri was on her belt but her sword was missing as was her spear and bow. Aerynn suddenly remembered her leg! She looked at where the snakes fangs had swiftly penetrated her thick leather moccasin boot. She was fearful about pulling her leg out, but slowly and ever so carefully she did. Faintly she remember that it had begun to swell and felt like stone, heavy and immobile immediately after the battle. Yet as she examined her leg in the dim scattered light deep in the briers she could find no wound. Was she looking at the correct leg? Yes, there were the puncture marks on her boot, but her leg looked fine. There were no marks, no punctures, no bruising, no swelling? She rolled her foot, flexed her leg and everything seemed to work perfectly. Slowly over the course of an hour or so she checked herself all over. With each passing minute she felt stronger. Her mind clearer, her eyes focused.

She crawled out of her shelter into the mid afternoon as she judged it by the faint glow of the sun through the ever present fog overhead. There she found her sword abandoned at the entrance of the shelter still covered with the blood of the serpent. On the sand a short distance away lay her spear and bow. She started to stand on shaky legs and sat quickly down. Her eyes rapidly scanned the surrounding sand of the riverbed. Could there be another serpent laying in wait for her, buried just beneath the sand? She felt the panic rising up in her and she had to fight it with every ounce of will power.

“Calm yourself!” She commanded. Grasping her sword she used it as a short crutch to help push herself up in an effort to stand. Once up she tested her legs carefully. They were weak and shaky, but she could stand and walk if she went slowly and carefully. Looking carefully, sword ready and with grave apprehension at the surrounding sand she she moved forward. Aerynn saw no sign that would warn her of another snake. Did she even know what to look for? She's obviously missed the first signs of danger and did not want a repeat of that mistake. Cautiously step by cautious step Aerynn slowly made her way towards her spear. A few moments later, moments that felt like hours, she retrieved her spear and bow and resheathing her sword she now hung dearly onto the shaft of her spear with both hands and using it as a crutch slowly staggered back to the brier patch.

As she approached her thorny shelter she suddenly noticed all the tracks around the brier patch. A LOT OF TRACKS!! Had she not somehow made it into the middle of that entangled bristly vine she would have surely been easy prey for the multitude of beasts that obviously prowled just outside her shelter. Praise the Creator for his protection!

Aerynn knew that she was far too tired and weak to continue on her journey this day. Looking at her surroundings, the brier patch that had saved her was the only shelter immediately available. She had no energy to climb a tree or the desire to look for any other shelter. The briers had kept the beasts of prey at bay as she lay there helpless for however long. So she would return to it to rest and gather her strength before continuing on her journey to find her brother.

That evening as she made camp deep inside the thorny shelter she wondered how she had survived the poison from that giant snake. She knew she had been bitten. The burning pain of it’s deadly liquid fire was etched in her mind. She had never felt such agony in her life. Like a blazing sun fire consuming first her leg and then her body Aerynn could not believe she had survived. She knew that poison had nearly killed her and yet, here she was, weak, exhausted, totally spent…..but alive.

Aerynn finished off the last of her orange fruit. She really like this new discovery and wondered if this tree could survive on the mountain. The mountain? Would she ever go back to it. Could she ever go back. Would her clan and village allow it? Was she now a Wildling? Her head spun with all the questions and possibilities. She stopped the spinning. Taking large calming breaths she sought to center her mind to calm the racing thoughts.

“One thing at a time Aerynn!” She told herself, “One thing at a time.”
 
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Texican

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
SM,

Good story even with a few misspellings and typos.

Moar will be greedily devoured.

Texican....
 
ShadowMan

ShadowMan

Designated Grumpy Old Fart
(I apologize for the delay in this next chapter....we were out of town and busy celebrating my DW's 50th High School reunion. I also apologize for any errors in grammar or spelling or typos. It's extremely difficult to edit you're own writing while trying to get a chapter out quickly. Your patience is appreciated. Hope you enjoy this journey...where ever it takes us.)

Chapter 4: The Hunter

Three days later Aerynn’s stomach was growling. She had finished the last of the provisions she had left the mountain with. This morning she left the shelter of the brier patch and now paralleled the riverbed up above the gray rock siding of the river and as far away from the sandy bed as possible. She had no intention of repeating her chance encounter with another of those giant serpents. On her mountain she knew all the dangers and warning signs of the wild creatures that dwelt there, but here in this new wilderness within the fog she was in another world entirely.

Aerynn still could not explain how she survived that vicious encounter with the giant poisonous sand snake. While it took her several days before she felt physically able to continue her hunt for her brother, this morning she felt strangely, light, energetic and full of energy despite a bit of gnawing hunger. Today she would continue her journey to find her brother and be on the hunt as well.

Rounding a wide bend in the river she spied a small cluster of Javelina like wild pigs. These creatures here in the mists were stockier with a blunt snout and shorter legs than the mountain and high desert Javelina that she had hunted with her brother. But meat was meat and Aerynn readied her bow and moved cautiously closer through what little cover there was. The gang of wild pigs consisted of a larger boar and sow and a cluster of small to mid-sized piglets. Aerynn was not interested in the parents. There was just too much meat for her alone, not to mention the danger of dealing with an adult tusked wild pig. If these were anything similar in attitude to the Javelina she was familiar with they could move a lot faster than a hunter might think possible. Rather if Aerynn could get close enough one of the little ones would suit her just fine. At the same time she had to keep her eye out for another sand snake and who knew what else was lurking nearby that might also have their eyes on a pork breakfast...or an unwary hunter to feast upon.

The wild pigs were working the bank of the small stream in the middle of the river bed, rooting through the cattails and bull rushes and seemed quite content and wholly involved in their efforts. Slowly, ever so slowly Aerynn silently wove her way through the scattered brush and trees lining the edge of the riverbed. Closer and closer. Just below the pigs there was a break of the gray stone and rock that crossed the entire bed. On the other side of that break was a small water fall cascading gently over the stone. She should be safe on the rock and stone from snakes and the falling water would cover any noise of her approach. The piglets seemed to slowly working their way in that direction.

Slowly, painfully, she crept her way into a firing position. Staying on the lee side of the abutment Aerynn finally arrived at the bushy edge of the stream, a perfect ambush site. After what seemed like hours in her blind a mid-sized piglet finally approached within range of her bow. Closer – just a little bit closer. One more step. Aerynn slowly pulled back her bow until her right thumb touched her cheek. One more step….just one – she released the bowstring and her arrow cleared the short distance in less than a second and struck home solidly. Immediately an ear splitting shrill squeal pierced the silence!! Over a dozen barks and huffs quickly followed as the troop of wild hogs passed the alarm along the riverbed. Aerynn’s pig hit the ground hard and weakly tried to run as it laid on it’s side on the sand as it’s life drained from it. The big boar exploded out of the nearby brush thrashing it’s angry head and sharp tusks side to side looking for something, anything to attack to defend his family, while at the same time all the piglets raced to the safety of the mother sow. Several immature boars huffed and strutted around the sow and her smaller brood protectively.

Aerynn immediately nocked another arrow ready to defend herself should the boar charge her position. Sniffing the air and trying to nudge the fallen piglet back to life, to no avail. Finally the big boar backed away and then turned and disappeared into the foliage. After a long wait Aerynn could see the troop of porkers quickly moving across the sandy riverbed, up the side and disappeared over the edge.

Red Feather heard the distant scream of a dying animal and froze in his tracks and keenly listened. Whatever had emitted that scream was quickly killed. That meant an instant kill and either a dangerous predator immediately near or…..maybe….another hunter. Neither was a good sign. He checked his powder charge, fully cocked the lock on his long rifle and immediately started in the direction of the dying cry.

Aerynn moved forward and thanked the small pig for it’s sacrifice and began to process it with her kukri quickly. There was no time for pleasantries or thoroughness. She needed the best cuts that she could immediately consume and hopefully jerk and smoke for the journey ahead if and when she had the time. She was also conscious of the threat of predators that would surely show up if not for the noise of the dying piglet then the smell of blood on the wind. Which some creatures could smell for miles away. She was almost finished collecting the best selections when something invaded her thoughts. SHE WAS NOT ALONE!

She suddenly saw herself through the eyes of another creature. WHAT?!? As if in a day dream she saw herself bent over the dead piglet knife in hand.

“HUNGRY!” She felt as much as heard the words in a strange clouded vision.

Aerynn froze and with eyes alone looked around her. A dozen or more spear lengths away was the largest lizard she had ever seen. A GIANT BEAST!! A DRAGON?!? It was easily three of her body lengths long standing up on four stout legs it’s head at her eye level, it’s tail swishing back and forth, it’s forked tongue tasting the air. She could feel it’s hunger. It’s focus….on her and her kill. She could smell it’s smells? How was this possible? It was as if somehow she was connected across the distance between them looking at herself though this creature’s eyes.

Aerynn had already packed the choice pieces in her traveling sack and had a strange thought. She grabbed the remaining carcass of the piglet and with a hefty throw tossed the remains to within a spear of the great beast. A shiver ran down Aerynn’s back. First the giant snake and now this!!

Red Feather watched the event from the relative safety of brush high along the rivers edge. A dragon and another hunter in a deadly stand off. The hunter was obviously the source of the dying scream he had heard, and that hunter was now being stalked by the great lizard. He raised his long rifle and took his aim. No hunter should die as the prey of the dragon. He watched as the hunter suddenly tossed what looked like the remains of the carcass toward the dragon. STRANGE? Was this hunter crazy? To bait such a beast.

The giant lizard’s forked tongue tasted the air and suddenly rushed forward and in a quick gulp sucked the carcass up and swallowed it whole without a second thought and then took a couple of steps towards the lone hunter. Red Feather was amazed that the hunter stood his ground against such a giant cold hearted beast. He must be insane or seeking a painful death!

Aerynn quickly sheathed her kukri and held her spear at the ready. Somehow she knew that if she were to try to turn and run she would get no more than a few paces before this great beast ran her down. If she was going to die it would be here and now and she would fight for every breath. She would not die easily. She held her ground. Her mind seemed divided between what she was seeing and what this creature was seeing. How could be this be possible??

Aerynn took a step forward. She heard her brother’s voice in her mind. “SHOW NO FEAR!!”

She took another step forward, then another. The great beast had never had another creature fearlessly approach it. It was confused. Aerynn could feel it’s confusion. How was that possible? With her spear leveled at it in her left hand she put out her right hand and slowly waved the beast….down.

Red Feather could not believe what he was witnessing. A hunter fearlessly approaching a dragon! IMPOSSIBLE!! He took a long hard look at this stranger. His hair long and braided. Dressed in heavy cloth...no skins, fringed and tight fitting…..then it suddenly dawned on him, he was looking at A WOMEN!! A WOMEN HUNTER!! Unheard of!! A hunter fearlessly facing a demon dragon that was one thing….but….a women hunter!! Red Feather could not believe his own eyes.

The dragon lowered it’s head at her signal. IMPOSSIBLE!! Slowly Red Feather watched as this strange female hunter approached the great killer lizard closer and closer.

Aerynn could feel the great beast’s breathing. It’s muscles bristling. It’s heart beating. It’s hunger, it’s curiosity. It’s fear.

This creature was afraid of her?

She slowly, carefully step by slow careful step she slowly walked up to the giant lizard and stood just a spear length away from it. Again she signaled with her hand for the great beast to lay down….and it obeyed. She could feel it breathing in her mind. Aerynn thought “calm” and the lizard seemed to feel and obey her command. “Please go away friend.” She thought, pushing her thoughts towards the beast and directed it with her arm.

This women must be some kind of witch Red Feather thought. To command a dragon. Such was a thing was of the ancient stories. No one could command a dragon!! Yet here he was witnessing this very thing. He watched as she waved it off and the great cold blooded beast stood up from it’s obedient position on the sand, slowly turned and began to walk away. No one in his village would ever believe him. He did not believe what he had just seen. Suddenly this strange women slowly turned and looked directly at him.

Aerynn could feel another set of eyes looking at her. HOW WAS THIS POSSIBLE?!? Never before could she see or feel others and now suddenly she was aware of everything about her...EVERYTHING!! Impossible! She was Forsaken, and yet she could feel the birds overhead. She could feel the creatures hiding in the brushes surrounding her. She felt the piglet when her arrow pierced it’s heart. She could feel and see through the eyes of that great lizard that had approached her. How was this possible and now there was someone….another human watching her from the rivers far edge.

Aerynn turned as the great lizard walked away and gathered up the meat she had left on the sand when she was interrupted by the lizard. Looking back at the person that had been watching her. She gathered up the select pieces and then turned and walked towards her hidden witness.

Red Feather stood up as this strange women gathered up her belongings, the bounty of her kill and began to walk towards him. Did he dare allow her to approach? This witch women? This demon lizard witch.

Aerynn saw a strange hunter/warrior looking man rise up from the bushes. His head was shaved and darkly tattooed or painted. Naked from the waist up and heavily marked across his muscular chest. A loin cloth around his middle and leggings protecting his legs. In one of his right hand he carried a long strange looking spear, a spear without a point, without a blade. She could feel his breath, his concern and his warrior calm. So she continued forward. Perhaps he had seen Santee? Perhaps he could help her to find her brother. Or perhaps he would turn out to be her enemy. Somehow Aerynn knew this would not be the case, but how could she know this?
 
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