<b><i>MY EYES ARE ALWAYS ON YOU, MY INFINITE-EMPRESS.</i></b>
Leoy''Shaah awoke from another horrid nightmare.
“Black sky!” She screamed. “Black sky!”
She threw off her blanket and ran from her hut.
She felt the air like knives down her back.
She ran to her friend Zayno''s house and cried for him to let her in. The rain poured down on her bare shoulders. So her tears were practically drowned out by the crying of the world.
Zayno said nothing. This had been happening more and more often and he knew that she simply couldn''t handle her own visions any longer, so he allowed her to stay with him.
As if a miracle, the rain began to clear up. So Zayno did what he always did to cheer her up and take her mind off of things: He took her out to see the stars.
"Look at that one!" She wailed. "It is a deep red!"
"It is red. Many lights in the sky are bright and calming for you."
"Calming for me?"
"Calming for you."
She beamed.
“You know what we do when we can’t go to sleep?”
"I am going to count them."
"1... 2... 3... 4..."
She got to one thousand when she stopped.
"What comes after? " She asked.
Zayno smiled. "One-thousand-and one." Remember when I taught you?"
"Yes! I remember now!" She said, “See how far I can count!”
Zayno listened to her count until she fell asleep in his arms, then he carried her to her home and laid her to bed.
Zayno would do this until she was fifteen, until he was also fifteen. But when boys turned fifteen, they were given jobs, and Zayno’s job was hunting.
So when Zayno turned fifteen, Leoy''Shaah would have to deal with her nightmares on her own.
The result was her crying and wailing throughout many nights. So she came to find that one day that her hut had been almost completely taken apart and only a few bricks remained. Men at the sight saw her and an unpleasant look washed over them. She did nothing to stop them. She watched them demolish the rest of the hut and have a new one built.
Far, far away from everyone else.
Felt horrid by it. But eventually she came to the realization that no one really loved her anyways, not like Zayno. She still had nightmares, but less often as she grew, and she became stronger in psyche. And in the will.
Now she was twenty-four, about to turn twenty-five.
The screeching of birds woke her up. She put on her clothes, carefully wrapping cloth around her waist and chest, then she went down to the river to bathe.
It was clean, and she didn’t have to wait for other women to get done, like the Chieftain''s wives, who were entitled to the utmost privacy.
The village she lived in was simply known as "Mountain Village." It was small and compact with a tightly knit community. The people around were little more than polite.
The chief of the village was an old man by the name of Quon. He had a long beard and was the wisest man in the village. Many even saw him as more than just wise, but also charismatic.
Leoy''Shaah didn''t think so.
But women were not allowed to speak their minds in the village, so she kept silent. Perhaps she could tell Zayno... But men of low status could not speak more than a woman either.
The little use Leoy''Shaah got out of her mouth gave her more time to use her brain. In the scriptures of the stars, there was a saying that a rain bucket that was not emptied or tipped would be allowed to collect more water. That was Leoy''Shaah''s brain. Whatever she thought, whether it be something she was sure about or something that she simply thought for whatever reason.
Pointless things, like death.
She watched a butcher drive a knife into a rabbit, beheading it with one fluid motion. A motion that had been repeated hundreds, or probably thousands of times. Each becoming quicker and cleaner than the one before it.
The rabbit died immediately, but not all living things did. When Leoy''Shaah saw Zayno swatting beetles that had crawled into their food supply, he had beheaded one much like the rabbit, yet it continued to scurry around as if nothing happened.
<i>It is so weird... I do not understand why these things happen. But why does no one ask questions?</i>
She asked questions. It was just that those questions stayed in her head.
She had planned to ask Zayno. He always seemed to have an answer to her wonders. But alas, he was out hunting. That was his duty in this village, to hunt. That was one of the few things that still hurt her. Due to his late and long hours of hunting, sometimes camping out and only returning to the rising suns. And even then he would be too tired to talk to her. He would go to his house and shut the door.
To sustain life by stealing it from others.
She wandered deeper into the village. Huts were aligned in a ring around a large one, the house of the chief. The rest of the mountain erupted behind the village, continuing far higher, as if to scrape the sky.
Usually, the village was in a cheery mood, but not today. Today, they were confused.
She had overheard some guards walking around. They spoke of another settlement, a settlement north of Mountain Village in a flat area.
It was rumored that this was a much larger village, one that was very far away. So far, in fact, that they had not even noticed each other until a few weeks ago.
Sure enough, there were people up and about, waiting for the chieftain to come out.
Leoy''Shaah’s duty was simple. She was a washer, a person whose job was practically part of the description. She was to stand at the giant stone near the waterfall and take clothes to wash.
Other women and some very young boys were there dunking clothes in the water. A full sack of clothes and other fabrics laid on the rocks.
Leoy''Shaah sighed, taking a random shirt, and began to scrub.
It was a butcher’s shirt, covered in blood.
<i>Like the one from earlier. </i>She thought. At least, that was what she thought, until something fell out of one of the pockets.
A severed rabbit''s foot.
She shuddered for a moment. She was not one to be too squeamish, as she had seen some death in her life, even of people, whether it be by plague or by murder, or by accident, she had seen enough death to be normal with it, but not accepting of it.
But then again, she thought of dead animals as more of food than a living creature that had been robbed of its consciousness.
So maybe it didn’t count if she didn’t watch them die.
“What have you got?”
She froze. She recognized the voice.
It was one of the chieftain''s wives, Abeer.
“It is a charm! It is very pretty. May I see it?” she demanded.
Leoy''Shaah handed her the foot. She didn’t have to give Abeer the foot. She could have told Abeer to go away, but she did anyway.
“Oooh… it is very pretty indeed.” She seemed to be in a trance. “My husband loves collecting charms… He gives all his love to my sister-wives… And they are all older! They cannot even bear children! Meanwhile I am young and beautiful, and yet he ignores me! Perhaps a present will convince him otherwise…”
Leoy''Shaah felt a sick feeling come over her. Abeer was younger than her, and she was married.
Leoy''Shaah was not.
Also, the chieftain was quite old. Almost eighty, and he already had five children: Two boys and two girls. And they were prominent throughout the village, with the oldest of the boys being the captain of the guards, Kaqu, the middle one being a merchant named Dolew, and the youngest one, Kapeg, being the second in command of the hunters, being under Zayno. The older of the two girls was a priestess, and her younger sister had no profession, but was married to the second most wealthy man in the village.
Oh, how Leoy''Shaah would love to tell this bitter woman that would never bear a child with the man that she craved the attention of! But Leoy''Shaah wasn’t going to create trouble from nothing, and besides, how could she be one to talk? Leoy''Shaah was twenty-four, and her heart ached for a mate, yet she found every man to be repulsed by her, seemingly even Zayno.
How did Leoy''Shaah know these things? Well, she used her ears more than she did her mouth.
<i>Zayno… He likes to hunt… The rabbit’s foot!</i>
Abeer cradled the foot.
Leoy''Shaah cleared her throat. “Can I have it back please?”
Abeer looked at her with pity. “No… but I will give you something you like.”
She pulled a soft piece of bread.
“I was going to eat this for a snack… But, It looks like you want it more.”
Leoy''Shaah felt the word hurt her. She had always been slightly fatter than the rest of the women, partially because of Zayno leaving her with his kills for her to eat, as he knew she would get hungry during the nights.
She wasn’t necessarily fat in the sense of her entire body. But when she had no complete shirt on, like right at this very moment, her belly would show.
“No. I don’t want your bread. I want my foot back.”
The other women grew quiet, and some of the boys looked eager to see what would happen next.
Abeer glared at Leoy''Shaah. “What? For your husband? Oh, right, you do not have one.”
“I just want it back.” Leoy''Shaah insisted.
Abeer looked disgusted. “Fine, take your dirty foot back.”
Leoy''Shaah cupped her hands, awaiting the return of her charm.
Abeer looked at the foot, then at Leoy''Shaah, then at the foot again.
She tossed it to her side and it landed in the pond.
“No!”
Leoy''Shaah threw herself into the pond, casting water aside her path to find the foot.
She heard the muffled cackling laughter behind her from Abeer.
The other women watched in morbid curiosity as she flailed her arms.
Leoy''Shaah didn’t know how to swim.
“Hahahaha! Stupid girl!” Abeer taunted, strolling away.
Some of the boys who were nice ran forward to rescue Leoy''Shaah from the waters, and the horrific downward drag of the waterfall’s displaced water.
By the time she was out, she was soaking wet and cold. It was then that the other women had snapped out of their trance and ran forward to throw cloth on her.
Leoy''Shaah’s heart and pride was hurt more than her body. She thanked them profusely and walked away to her hut.
After she had changed into a new set of clothes, she heard the horn go off and immediately rushed to the center of the village, along with the others.
A crowd of people had now gathered in a ring around the chieftain’s hut, waiting for him to exit his quarters.
The guard captain stood near. The wooden plates on his body clicked as he walked. He held a glinting obsidian spear and wore a defensive expression on his face.
“Stay back! Your chief will be out soon!”
There was some chattering, mostly about the potential contact between them and the visitors.
“He’s coming out!”
Leoy''Shaah craned her neck to see the commotion. She was also quite short, though she didn’t like to admit it.
‘Hear!” Screamed one of the priestesses. “Hear him!”
Everyone in the crowd went silent. Like throwing a cloth on a fire.
Sure enough, the chief emerged from his large compound. His hair rolled down his head untrimmed, as their god so commanded.
Heaven-god.
Immediately, the women bowed their heads, as they were supposed to. And the men got on their knees and put their foreheads on the ground. A woman''s purpose may have been to serve her man, but a man’s purpose was to serve his god.
Leoy''Shaah quickly realized she was the only one still standing, then she threw her head down.
The Chief’s eyes darted to her for a moment. Before her head dipped she saw a bit of disappointment… <i>or was it disgust?</i> on his face.
The priestesses glared at her. If looks could kill. An unmarried, short, antisocial, short haired, woman who for they knew, was possessed by demons and forced into nightmares when she was young. Yes. <i>That woman.</i>
She didn’t dare glare back at the priestess. They could easily order her to be exorcized.
She shuddered at the thought. She remembered that women who had nightmares were gradually punished more and more. If they kept having erratic behavior, the next punishment would be more extreme than the last.
And the men were to be put down.
“Close your eyes and pray,” The Chieftain said.
“Only when day becomes night,Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
does the world lose all its light.”
But when we become dark,
we know in our heart,
that the stars bless us.”
“Amen.”
“You may raise your heads,” The chieftain softly spoke.
“Raise your heads!” The priestesses ordered.
Slowly, the women raised their heads, and the men stood up straight.
Chieftain Quon cleared his throat.
“Attention all my subjects! We have basked in solitude for generations here. Many of the elders, along with me can tell you from our experience, that we have not come in contact with another tribe for…”
He trailed off.
<i>What does that mean? </i>Leoy''Shaah thought, <i>I wonder how old we are… </i>
“...A long time. But one season ago, that all changed. You see, our brave scouts and hunters have informed me and my family of another tribe… One much larger than ours, in the flatlands.”
“Are there any questions?”
One man, a builder by the name of Choi, raised his hand.
“Yes, you may speak.”
“Chieftain Quon, how is that possible, that they live in the flatlands?”
“Yes!” Another woman, one who Leoy''Shaah recognized as a caretaker named Sohe, blurted out, “How can they even be alive–?”
Everyone stared at her.
She threw herself to her knees. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please forgive me, <i>chieftain! </i>Forgive my foolishness, please!”
The crowd distanced themselves from the woman, as if she were disease.
Leoy''Shaah felt her heart race.
One of the priestesses said nothing, she quietly walked down from the altar and stood before Sohe.
People stepped even further away.
Sohe kept her head down to the ground.
“You were indeed foolish, girl. But I have to wonder, has your husband taught you nothing about respecting our exponent?” The priestess whispered.
“No… no… no…”
The priestess rubbed her shoulders. Perhaps it is your <i>husband </i>who needs to be punished, and not you then, wouldn’t you agree?”
Sohe shook her head, sobbing silently.
Leoy''Shaah quivered. Sohe wasn’t one to blurt out what was on her mind. She usually rarely questioned anything. This seemed to be new.
“Where is he now?” The priestess asked softly.
“Out… Hunting…” Sohe replied.
“Hmmm… He is a hunter? Perhaps we will not be as harsh on him… since he has greatly contributed to our village… However!”
The priestess raised her head. “The woman before me has blasphemed, by speaking her mind without permission. However, her husband <i>is </i>a hunter…”
“I see.” Quon stroked his beard. “I am curious, Sohe. Why would you break the silence of the god? This is not like you. Your husband is <i>certainly </i>not a fool, as I know him quite well. So what gives Sohe?”
“I’m sorry…” Sohe whimpered.
Quon sighed. “I will forgive you for now…”
“Oh thank you my lord!” Sohe cried.
“See your leave now!” The priestess hissed.
“Women, stay with your men…!” And maidens, or widows may leave if they want.”
All the women who knew they fit the description stayed for a moment to see who would leave first and reveal their marital status.
Eventually, a very old woman with wrinkles all over her body slowly hobbled alway from the crowd.
Leoy''Shaah, and all the other women watched her leave as well. Only then did they follow suit.
Eventually, the only woman left was Leoy''Shaah.
The head priestess shot her a deathly glare again.
Leoy''Shaah stared back. There was nothing the head priestess could do to punish her. Especially since she had not blasphemed like Sohe had.
Chieftain Quon turned back to Choi, who suddenly looked pale.
“Speak, Choi.”
“How can they survive it?” Choi asked, “We all know what horrors roam the land, the horrors that our ancestors faced. It is what drove them to call this their home!”
Quon raised his chin. “Because they pray to a god that gives them results <i>fast!</i>” He snapped his fingers towards the crowd, causing everyone, Leoy''Shaah included, to flinch. It was said that Quon was the conduit which their god chose, and with that power he could conjure powerful magic to extinguish any sinner or rebel to their town. It was said that he struck one of the guards with lightning and killed him because he tried to convince others that the gods were false.
“They pray to a fast and needy god, one who is undoubtedly another byproduct of creation…” He began to bite his nail, something that was recognized by the entire village as his communication with god. “Whatever god they pray to is a fire, that will eventually run out of fuel… They will eventually get eaten by the scaly monsters that live down below.”
<i>But… If the reports are true… They are much larger than us. That does not make any sense!</i>
Another man spoke up.
Leoy''Shaah blinked. There were alot of people she had never bothered to get to know, mostly because of her isolation from the rest of the village at a young age. Even when she had talked to people, no one wanted to have to do anything with her. She felt like something was wrong.
“My Lord, may I ask what the economic implications are of this?”
“Of course, Carris.” Quon smiled, something he almost never did.
<i>Huh… did he ask?</i>
Leoy''Shaah watched as the priestess and the crowd dispersed, leaving her alone. She took a deep breath and decided to take a walk around the village, mulling over the chieftain''s words.
As she strolled through the winding paths, she noticed the villagers seemed preoccupied with their daily tasks. The women were tending to the crops, while the men were either hunting or working on various projects around the settlement.
Leoy''Shaah approached a group of women harvesting vegetables from the communal garden. "Excuse me, how are the crops faring this season?" she asked, hoping to glean some insight into the village''s agricultural status.
One of the women, Nisha, looked up. "Ah, Leoy''Shaah, the crops are not doing well. The rains have been plentiful, but the soil is becoming less fertile…"
She trailed off.
“...But we will still have more than enough to feed ourselves.”
<i>But not you… Leoy''Shaah… Not you. </i>
“Oh.” Leoy''Shaah said in a tiny voice.
Nisha''s expression darkened. "Yes, the news is unsettling. We have lived in isolation for generations, and the thought of outsiders coming to our mountain is...unsettling. But the chieftain seems confident that our god will protect us.”
“Yes! Another woman added, “Remember last month that chieftain Quon said we had had some cursed people among us.”
She said that while looking at Leoy''Shaah.
Leoy''Shaah nodded, though she couldn''t help but feel a twinge of doubt. “The chieftain''s words about the other tribe''s god being "a fire that will eventually run out of fuel" troubled me. What if he is underestimating their strength?”
“Remember last year? We had the sacrifices? It appears we have not gotten rid of all the evil in our village.” A teenage boy asked, entering the conversation. He had a sack of fertilizer slung over his shoulder.
The boy looked too gleeful, as if he would hunt these bad omens himself.
"Have you heard anything else about this other tribe?" Leoy''Shaah asked Nisha.
She shook her head. "No, not much. The guards and hunters have been sent out to gather more information, but they have not returned yet. We can only wait and see what the future holds."
Leoy''Shaah thanked Nisha and continued her stroll, her mind racing with the implications of this news. As she walked, she noticed the other villagers seemed equally preoccupied, their faces etched with concern.
<i>Perhaps I can confide in Zayno later, when we have a moment alone.</i>
Then it hit her.
Carris hadn’t asked permission to speak.
Leoy''Shaah spent no time trying to figure out why. <i>Maybe Quon… missed it with the way he dealt with Sohe and Choi? </i>She thought. It didn’t matter. Why should a man be punished for speaking his mind? Or a woman?
And why did she find herself questioning these rules all the time?
Maybe it was because of Zayno.
It <i>was </i>because of Zayno.
Zayno was the only other person she knew who refrained from participating in society like her.
He was also the one who took her to explore near the base of the mountain.
The reason was simple: One time Zayno told Leoy''Shaah that he was a traveler.
<i>“What sort of traveler are you?”</i>
Zayno smiled. “<i>A traveler who has quit and wants to stay. I am from a land far away, and I do not like the way this village treats you… But you must obey them, as they are most certainly wiser than you, at least, until the time is right.”</i>
She couldn’t shake the feeling that she didn’t belong. How could these people who looked at her with such contempt be a community she was a part of.
<i>If only I could speak to Zayno,</i> she thought wistfully. Her dear friend was one of the few people in the village who truly listened to her and valued her thoughts. But with his duties as a hunter, their time together had become increasingly scarce.
<i>I haven''t seen him in a week… I hope he is safe and alright. </i>
But Leoy''Shaah <i>knew </i>he was alright. Zayno was the toughest hunter. And she believed he could even stand against the captain in terms of combat and strength. It was said that every animal Zayno hunted, he would kill. He never missed with his bow either, landing impossible shots that he used to impress her with years ago.
Leoy''Shaah sighed and stood up, deciding to venture out and see if she could find Zayno, he had taught her how to navigate down the mountain, and according to the hunters when they got back, they didn’t hunt far from the mountain.
<i>Yes, I am tired of him leaving me. I will force him to come back!</i>
Grabbing a cloth to wrap around her body to keep herself warm, some bread still in her cupboards, and an obsidian cooking knife, she exited the hut. As she stepped outside, she noticed a group of men gathered near the center of the village, engaged in a heated discussion.
<i>Is that…?</i>
Recognizing one of them as the chieftain''s eldest son, Leoy''Shaah cautiously approached, straining to hear their conversation.
"...can''t be certain of their intentions," the young man was saying, his brow furrowed in concern. "For all we know, they could be a threat to our way of life."
Another man, a merchant by the looks of his fine clothing, nodded gravely. "Indeed. We must be vigilant. Chieftain Quon has assured us that the Perpetual God will protect us, but I cannot help but wonder if we are truly prepared for what may come."
“It''s alright, I suppose.” Captain Kaqu continued, “ Their magic might be powerful and bless them with great wealth, but the perpetual god will come for them soon and strike them down! For now… We can start trading under the table.”
The Merchant raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
We can negotiate with them… Perhaps move down the mountain, use their protection… We have gathered some information about them. They seem to have noticed us as well, and the fact that they have not attacked us has made me almost certain they are open to trade.”
The Merchant gritted his teeth, "What if they conflict with us?”
“Who?”
“The other village. How big is their village?
“Does Quon know?”
Kaqu laughed. “He knows even more than I! Once the Perpetual god tells my father how to defeat these <i>tribesmen</i> and make them submit, our village will prosper once more. But for now we should be weary of their young and violent god. As the scrolls read: “<i>All gods below me are mischievous, violent, and have a taste for human blood.””</i>
Leoy''Shaah''s heart raced as she listened, her mind whirling with the implications of their words.
<i>So even the men of high status are worried about this new tribe…</i>
Suddenly, one of the men noticed her standing nearby and frowned. "What are you doing here, girl? This is no place for a woman to be eavesdropping."
Leoy''Shaah flinched, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "I-I''m sorry, I was just..." She trailed off, unsure of how to explain herself.
The merchant waved a dismissive hand. "Never mind. Run along now, and keep your thoughts to yourself. This is no concern of yours."
Leoy''Shaah nodded meekly and hurried away, her heart sinking. <i>I hope they don’t tell anyone!</i>
Meanwhile, the men kept talking.
“Damn it! I forgot she lived here!” The Captain hissed, with a quick crack to his voice from his heart.
“You said this was a secluded area!” The merchant asked. “Who was that girl?”
“Uhh… Ah! The possessed one.” Replied the captain, now at normal volume, “She’s crazy! I remember seven years ago she would shriek at night many times, did you not hear it?”
“I live in a different part of town,” The merchant admitted.
“That is why we had to move her. She is a bane in this village, she may even be cursed.”
The merchant looked concerned. “She should get an exorcism then.”
The captain grimaced. “Why? She has no family, no husband, and not even any friends. Sometimes I forget she even exists.”
“What about that Zayno boy? I see him talk with her all the time.”
“Perhaps he is planning to marry her?” The Merchant suggested.
“Why would he do something like that?” The captain grunted. “She’s cursed, and there''s no fixing her. No man or medicine can fix her. That boy, Zayno certainly can’t! And besides, Zayno has his pick of the litter. I’m sure no matter what woman he chooses for his bride, it certainly won’t be her!”
“Perhaps he does it out of pity.”
“Agreed.”
“I’ve seen that she is becoming more… outgoing, and not in a good way. There were many times she had tried to sneak out with the hunters, but we always caught her and put her back here. But I grow weary of her antics. I don’t have the heart to beat her. She’s traumatised and can barely function. And I’ll have to thank that boy later for keeping her out of trouble for this long.”
The merchant looked visibly uncomfortable.
“What has changed?” The merchant asked.
“If she ever tries to escape again… I thought it would be best to not stop her. So I gave the guards special orders to deal with her. Just let her leave… And lock the doors behind her.”
He dusted his hands off.
“As a matter of fact,” Kaqu continued, motioning in the direction Leoy''Shaah had been, “I think she''s going to try and do just that.”
Leoy''Shaah trudged down the path as it grew darker. Sol setting in the east casted eerie shadows against her as the trees slowly began to eat up rays of light.
By the time she got to the gate, it was almost pitch black. And the wind whipped at her leggings and shawl.
<i>Please, don’t let there be anyone here–</i>
Two guards stood at the gate.
Upon seeing them, she hugged the rough mountainside.
<i>Maybe I should just go back… No! I have to find him!</i>
She felt colder now. She was lost without Zayno in her life.
<i>Maybe it''s just he doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore…</i>
The thought made her stop.
Nothing but darkening wind, whipping against her face, and the shadows that stretched longer and longer until she couldn’t see the end.
Part of her wanted to step out into the middle of the path, just so the guards would see her and drag her back. But she held out.
<i>He’s the only one who will understand me. </i>
She marched forward. If the guards saw her, so be it. If they didn’t… Well, she would be on her own, searching for Zayno, out in the wilderness.
She got to the rocks near the mountainside and began to scale them ever so slowly, to ensure that the guards wouldn’t hear.
She peered over the wall, the rocks were a one-way passage. While on her side it sloped, on the opposite side, there was no debris to help her over it.
That would mean if once she climbed over, there was no returning until she managed to track down Zayno, or if she changed her mind and begged them to let her in.
She inspected the wall up and down, grimacing. After she determined there was no other way than… <i>falling</i>, she shifted to dangle her feet over the side. And with a deep breath, she dropped.
Pain shot up her ankles when she hit the dirt path, she yelped in pain.
“What was that?” A guard’s muffled voice asked.
“Probably an animal.” The other guard, of higher rank suggested.
“Aren’t we going to check it out?”
“Why would we? If it’s the hunters, they would have made themselves known.”
“What if it’s a villager?”
“Why would it be a <i>villager?</i>” The elder guard asked, beginning to lose his patience.
Well… I… I don’t know, maybe they are trying to leave?”
“Why would anyone want to leave? There is nothing but danger down below.”
That seemed to make him go quiet.
Leoy’Shaah had been holding her breath for quite some time, as if it would make her disappear. She wrapped the shawl tightly around her body, and walked away as quietly as she could.
As she got further, her pace quickened. And as it quickened, darkness enveloped everything. Chills hit her feet first, then crawled up her ankles to her thighs. Then her thighs and her chest…
She shivered when it hit her neck, yet somehow she felt calmed by the allure of dusk.
<i>I should do this more often</i>, she thought. But implied that while she had managed to slip away once or twice before, now the door was locked and no one was coming to rescue her. So it was up to her to find Zayno and return with him.
<i>I could just wait at the gate… No, don’t be a wimp Leoy’Shaah! You aren''t still afraid of the dark are you?</i> But she wasn’t afraid of the dark. She was afraid of what <i>hid </i>in the dark.
And this fear only increased as she trudged down the mountain.
The reptilian nightmares everyone was weary of were diurnal, and slept heavily at night. At least, that was what the hunters told her. And besides, reptiles weren’t the <i>only </i>thing out there.
Something howled in the distance, and Leoy’Shaah froze on the spot. She stayed perfectly still, although her body itself quivered from fear.
<i>It’s just wolves…</i> She thought, <i>Nothing to worry about.</i>
But she saw eyes glinting back at her. And she knew right then and there that she was being hunted.
It was a wolf. And wolves traveled in packs, meaning…
Leoy’Shaah reached for her knife.
It wasn’t there.
<i>I must have dropped it! </i>And indeed she had. Upon her fall near the gate she had dropped her obsidian knife. And distracted by the conversing guards she had forgotten to make sure she still had it.
So in her panic, she did the only thing she could do: Run.
She burst into a sprint only to quickly realize she had chosen the wrong direction. But it was too late to change her mind. The wolf leapt out of its hiding spot and galloped after her.
Leoy’Shaah had never run so fast in her life.
More sounds of rustling behind her; there were more wolves.
She stole a glance behind her. Four wolves, including the first one, were bounding after her. The leading one was the largest and had the darkest coat of grey fur out of all of them.
She forced herself to focus on what laid ahead.
As she ran, the darkness enveloped her. She began scanning the ground in front of her for debris. One trip, and she would be dead.
The wolves had no such problem. As a matter of fact, they very much liked the darkness. Not in a way a human would. While humans see darkness as something rather psychologically intimidating, wolves see it as nothing but a change in the environment. Something they are better equipped to deal with.
That was when Leoy’Shaah, being overwhelmed as she was, decided that screaming was the best option. She would not run her voice hoarse trying to produce an intelligible message, but rather, simply a primitive sound that was associated with panic, fear, and helplessness:
<b><i>“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”</i></b>
The wolves flinched at this. How peculiar! A deer certainly didn’t make that sound! But it didn’t matter. An animal''s attention span was what made them what they were. They recovered in less than the amount of time that it took for them to complete their gait cycle.
The leading wolf lunged forward, as the pack leader, he was entitled to be the first to draw blood, and taste, their prey. Or at least that was what it would seem. But the truth is that for animals, there really is no leader. The leading wolf was just the strongest and the fastest. He wore no trophies, nor did he brag about his kills. He had no way of reminding others that he was in charge, because even he himself didn’t recognize his superiority.
That is the funny thing about humans. We are the only animal with real rank.
The wolf’s bite found flesh. Flesh that he tore from Leoy’Shaah’s heel. She screamed again, tumbling down the steepening path. The wolves all lunged at her, but they could not land another attack. She was rolling down the slope now, so all they could do was trail along, huffing and growling, waiting for her to stop so they could tear her apart.
<b><i>“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!” </i></b>She screamed. Maybe Zayno was nearby.
Luckily, he was.
Right at the slope began to slow, and the wolves closed in on her, an arrow impaled the leading wolf between the eyes.
<i>Thwack!</i>
It seized up for a moment, then died.
The other wolves inspected their pack leader with innocent curiosity. They sniffed his dead body, then they quickly refocused on Leoy’Shaah once more.
<i>Thwack!</i>
Another arrow tore through the left wolf’s neck. It didn’t die right away. It yelped in pain before it collapsed and bled out.
The other two wolves now looked disturbed, almost frightened.
“Hey!”
Her heart skipped a beat.
<i>Zayno… Zayno!</i>
Boots scraped the ground behind her.
“Oh my god! Zayno!” She yelled.
“Alexandra!” Zayno shouted back. That was her first name. People rarely called her that, opting to refer to her by her last name. Maybe because they thought it was funny. But she didn’t care what they thought.
<i>Not when I have you, Zayno.</i>
Zayno raised his bow again. The farthest wolf saw this and tucked his tail between its legs and its ears behind its head. It then retreated to the side of the path, disappearing into the night. Perhaps he had encountered this kind of situation before, and knew the creaking of the bow meant death. How it knew this, Leoy’Shaah didn’t know, but maybe these wolves were smarter than they appeared.
But the second wolf did not back down so easily. Instead, it eyed Zayno with fierce canine determination, growling deeply.
“Alexandra… get behind me, now!”
Leoy’Shaah scrambled to her feet. And as she did, the wolf behind her made his mind, charging at Leoy’Shaah, using his superb sense of smell to trace her bleeding foot. But he would not settle for mere muscle. No, he wanted the meat from her. He wanted to taste the death of his prey.
He bounded up in the air, mouth fangs bared.
And taste blood he did, but only his own.
The arrow ripped clean through the wolf, punching a hole though its head and killing it. Its lifeless body crumpled before Zayno’s triumphant pose.
He lowered his bow and sighed. “Are you alright, Leoy’Shaah?”
She responded by throwing herself at him and wrapping him up in her arms. He struggled slightly, so she responded by sinking her nails into his back.
“Leoy’Shaah…? Please talk if you must.”
“T-thank y-you…” She said, choking on her tears.
“You’re welcome. Let''s get those wounds cleaned up, huh?”