《When Crows Gather》


 Chapter One~

    A very long time ago, humans had yet to discover that they too, like any other creature on the land, could control the elements. We were just mere slaves and we bowed to what was considered the strongest of the land, the beast men.


    For centuries they ruled the land and saught to control everything in their path. Taking what they considered weak and using it any way they liked, because in that time the weak never had a say in what happened to them or the people they loved.


    ~~~


    Before the sun had risen every human that lived under the control of the beast men were awake and preparing themselves for a very hard day of work. Even women that had just given birth had to be up and ready to go no matter the pain that corressed every part of them.


    One such woman was Tern, well what was considered a woman at the time. She had only been alive for fifteen years, but she was fertile and as a female slave she had no say. Her husband was chosen for her, they were bonded and then the very day they were forced to mate, as the beast people say. It took some time but when she was proven to be pregnant, her so called mate was given to someone else and she has had to provide and protect herself since then.


    She was lucky to survive throughout the entire pregnancy, having to get up each day and work where ever she was told, with little to eat, she was pratically living off of water. With such conditions it was a rare thing for her to conceive a healthy child. The night beofore she had went into labor and the mid wife was surpirsed when the child didn''t just slip out as every child hse had helped to bring into the world had.


    They had spent hours trying to get the child to come out, she even had to give the girl a piece of cloth to bite down on so she wouldn''t wake the master''s who had very sensitive hearing. Tern put all of her strength into bringing the child into the world and when she did finally succeed nearly half a day had passed and she could barely keep awake to watch the mid wife stare down at her new daughter with wide eyes.


    The mid wife was so surprised she was almost afraid, the child was big, health and didn''t carry that strange gray complexion, that the human children normally did. She quickly moved to wash the child off, she quickly dried her and then swaddled her in a gray cloth, before rushing out the room and leaving the girl to tidy herself.


    She ran quickly going to the main house where the master and his family slept, it was twelve times the size of Tern''s "house". She had to knock and a human woman with red hair and dead brown eyes opened the door "the master''s rest, you must come back another time for I can not let you in."


    The mid wife growled, her long tail swished behind her in threat and the woman shifted back a little but didn''t move "if you do not let me in I will call out to the master''s and wake them and then they will truly hurt you." the woman''s eyes widened and she stepped back.


    The mid wife nodded and headed into the house, she went straight up to the large room door and knocked a few times before she could hear heavy foot steps making its way to the door. Within a flash the doors shot open and a hand reached out swiping at the air where the woman had stood a second ago.


    It was thanks to her heritage that she was not sitting on the banister with the child carefully tucked in her arms as she watched the bear man, who huffed before closing his mouth "why are you here at this late hour Voile, you almost woke my wife and cub?"


    The mid wife rolled her eyes "I came this late hour to show you something that will surprise you." The bear man huffed and walked out the room closing the door behind him before he turned and lead her down the stairs and straight into the sitting room. He lit a lamp and took a seat in his big chair that was built specifically for his kind.


    Voile walked over to him and uncovered the child handing her over to the bear man who''s eyes also widened with surprise. He held the child and moved her around in his hands checking her weight, he ran his hand over her skin and hummed "It feels as if I''m holding one of my cubs, the slaves children have never come out like this before, this could mean good news for us. I will watch her growth carefully and hopefully in some years time she will be able to produce sons of this same kind."This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    The mid wife nodded and collected back the child wrapping her up "yes stronger babe''s means stronger slaves and that means more work gets done." The master hummed again as he stroked his chin "anyway I shall take her back to he mother to be fed and I shall be on my way, see you later."


    With that she was out the house and returned to the small hut, where the girl was already up and moving about. She had a slight limp but it wouldn''t hold her back as she cleaned up the mess and set aside her bed cloth for it to be washed.


    The mid wife handed her the child and left instructions on how to care for her, leaving behind a warning that the master''s were watching and then she was out the door.


    Tern sighed and took a seat to nurse the child before she burped her and then swaddled her back. She fixed her clothes and pulled out another cloth, she was quick to create a make shift sling and hook her child to her back. She went out the house with her dirty clothes, grabbed up the small lit lamp and then headed out the house, to go down to the wash circle.


    She filled the basin with water and soap before she began her washing, as her child slept peacefully on her back and she came up with a name for a little girl, one that she would only be given when she survived for a year successfully.


    She finished her work and returned to her house to eat the little bread she had sitting on the counter and drink some water. When she was finished she grabbed up her tools and headed outside where she could see the other slaves all headed in different directions, most of the men and a few women went to work in the mine.


    While the rest of the men and most the women including her went to the fields, the older children went to the part of the land where fruit trees grew to help harvest the ripe fruit. It was some time before she reached the fields and got about to harvesting the wheat that grew twice her height and took over the land for as far as she could see.


    She begun her harvest, tossing the wheat into big piles that the men tied with a rope and packed onto their backs to quickly run back with and store in the mill before they had to return. The sun soon rose to the sky and she had to pull a cloth over her child''s head so she didn''t die from a heat stroke on the same day she was born.


    "When she is of age what will you name the babe?" Tern looked back at the older woman that was working her way to her.


    Tern turned back to her work and started cutting away "well since it''s a girl I was thinking of naming her after one of the sky gods as my mother did me."


    The woman hummed "And what will that be?"


    "K''ura." Tern found herself smiling as she spoke and thought to herself that maybe there was some joy in bringing a child to the world and becoming a mother.


    "What a beautiful name and she looks strong so I''m sure it would suit her well, I''ll make sure to name her that when the time comes, so she''ll have some piece of you left."


    Tern had barely caught on to what she was saying and was able to jump out of the way just as a machete was brought down on the spot where she was just a minute ago, cutting the pony tail she had her hair in straight off. She jumped on her feet and turned to face the woman as she tightened her grip on her machete''s handle.


    The woman stood up and smiled at her kindly as she swung the machete in her hand "come now little one, you''re far too young and foolish to raise such a powerful child and keep her safe. Give her to me and I will raised her into a slave that the masters will always look after. She will never have to fight for food and they would allow her to work in the house, but that is only if you give her to me."


    Tern hissed at her and crouched down "I''ve seen your children, they look like skeletons with flesh still clinging to their bones. You have always given birth to grey sickly looking things, how could you ever know how to raise a strong child like mine without killing her. I brought this babe into the world and only I will raise her."


    The woman laughed "fine you can keep her, but only if you live!"


    She ran forward slashing her blade aiming at Tern''s neck and face, but the new mother evaded every strike as she moved back going further into the filed. The woman''s pace started to slow and fern took the chance, she used her left foot to push her as she spun and slammed her right leg into the woman''s head sending her flying.


    The woman went into unconsciousness and Tern didn''t stick around to see if she would wake. She dashed back to the part of the field where many of the other slaves were and ended up running into one of the masters who moved to hit her but she dropped to her feet and clasped her hands closing her eyes.


    "What is it that troubles you?" the master growled.


    "Another slave just tried to kill me and take my child but I was able to get away and she is somewhere in the field laying unconscious." she spoke quickly as she rubbed her hands together.


    The master growled and rushed off into the bush, alloying Tern to let out a sigh and fall onto the ground as tears flowed from her eyes.

 Chapter Two~

    A little girl with soft pale skin, long black curls that ran down her back and shining honey colored eyes, sat in the mud building little houses. Her chubby hands patting them until their tops were pointed and she laughed before moving on to the next one, she could hear the women behind her talking as they went on washing their clothes. She didn''t pay much mind to them and they were all content with ignoring the mess that she was causing, except for one woman who was quick to reprimand her when she caught sight of what the young girl was doing.


    "K''ura, come to me now." she spoke in a harsh voice and the little girl ended up crushing one of her houses before she shot to her feet and ran over to the woman. When the woman looked her over she hissed "look at the mess you have made of yourself, I told you to stay away from the mud today and you still go to it!" her anger boiled over and she raised up the girls dirt brown dress to drop a few lashes on her leg making the little girl whine.


    "Now look at the mess you have made of your clothes, I have to take you to the master''s and if they see you in this state I will be whipped, why don''t you understand?" She huffed and pulled the girl closer so she could wash the mud from her hands and feet, even having to rinse out the edge of some of her natural curls that had been caught in the mud. She sighed and stood pulling the girl along as she headed in the hut "now I must find you a new dress and wash this one."


    K''ura stood off to the corner watching as her mother went through the basket in her house that held the few clothes that they had. She watched as she frantically searched for something to put on her and when she found nothing suitable, she pulled out one of her own brown shirts. She stripped her child of her now dirty dress and pulled the shirt over her before finding a piece of cloth that she folded and then tied around her daughters waist bowing it at the end.


    "You''re lucky this looks good, or I would have beaten you twice as much as they beat me." she turned her child around and pulled two locks of her hair from different sides and put it to the back of her hair binding it with a thread. She put her child to spin around and smiled at the little girl. "You look beautiful and strong I just hope one day you can have a mind about you, so I don''t have to beat you anymore, I hate hitting you, it hurts me every time I have to, so when I tell you not to or to do something just listen, okay?"


    "Yes mama." the little girl spoke in her cute baby voice that made her mother smiled and pull her into a hug.


    The hug was interrupted when someone knocked on their door and Tern''s head snapped in the direction, her eyes widened when she saw one of the young masters and she bowed her head to him "my father calls for you." was all the boy huffed before turning to walk away. Tern didn''t waste time as she shot to her feet and picked her child up placing her on her hip before she turned and headed out the hut.


    She walked along the trail that lead to the house and was quick to make it to the front porch of the house, the door was wide open but she wasn''t foolish enough to go in without permission. She knocked on the door and the maid came to the door, the woman turned her nose up at Tern as if she too wasn''t a slave and gave her a scornful look. But Tern ignored her and stood tall "the master has called for me."


    The woman glared at her but signaled for her to follow as she went into the house and turned left to go into the sitting area where the master, his wife and youngest child were sitting. The maid let the masters know Tern and K''ura was here before she left the room and Tern stepped in, she bowed as soon as she did. "You may rise." Tern did as she was told and was met with a smile from the master that made her uneasy but she couldn''t show it so she willed herself not to step back.


    "Is this the child?" the master asked and Tern spoke saying that K''ura was her daughter and the same strong child that the master had met some five years ago. The master''s smile shifted into a grin and he stood up "bring her to me." Tern walked over to the bear man and handed her daughter over, K''ura wasn''t too fond of the idea of being held by someone she didn''t know and had not yet learned how to act around the masters so she turned reaching out to her mother, who shook her head making her child whimper.


    "Ha the child is not only strong but she is also brave, I feel like having a chat with her, you may leave, I will send her to you when I am finished." Tern didn''t like the idea of leaving her child alone but there was nothing she could do but listen to the master''s command and leave the house to return to her chores.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    She walked back down the path and went straight to the wash area where she was met with some pitying stares from the other mothers. Everyone had known Tern to always keep K''ura at her side after that incident some five years ago and they knew that K''ura also didn''t like to be away from her mother. So it was somewhat frightening as they thought of what had possibly happened in the master''s house but they would never risk making conversations over such a thing.


    Back in the house K''ura sat on the ground by the masters foot eating a large wheat and raisin cookie that the master''s wife had spent the morning making for her children. When her mother had left the man asked her if she knew how old she was and the little girl was smart enough to show him five fingers. And then he asked her for her name and she proudly said that her name was K''ura and her mother had named her after one of the great sky gods.


    The beast man was happy to see that even though he realized the girl couldn''t pronounce the letters that spelled her name but she was able to draw them out on the floor. After talking to her he had checked her weight against his youngest boy who had a few pounds on her but it was expected because she was still just a slave. He had checked the softness of her flesh and smiled when she felt as a child should. He checked her hair and made sure it was a strong as it looked before looking into her eyes and enjoying the sight of the honey glow.


    Looking at the child she was ten times healthier than any of the other children of his slaves, he would actually feel sick to his stomach when he saw the scrawny grey things running around the field. He had tried many ways to fix them but nothing he tried had worked so he just let them be, as long as most of them made it to adulthood he was okay with a few dying. But when he looked at K''ura he felt that something might have worked and now all he needed to do was find out what that was.


    K''ura very much enjoyed the taste of the crunchy sweet thing as she chewed it and sucked on the little black things they had in them. She had never before tasted anything like it and when the time came she wasn''t afraid to ask for another, the master''s wife only arched a brow at the child before handing her the cookie that he son had tossed aside in favor of a sweet. K''ura happily ate the cookie and washed it down with what remained in the glass that the master''s son was drinking from.


    ~~


    It was late when Tern was summoned to the house and she found that she moved so fast up the path she was almost running as her heart raced in her chest twice as fast, she knew the masters would hear it but she did not care because her child was the only thing on her mind. She reached the house and rushed up the steps knocking on the door, instead of the maid a very excited K''ura and the master came to the door, Tern snatched up her child into her arms and hugged her tight before looking to the master when the bear man cleared his throat.


    "You are to bring that child back tomorrow before the sun rises and I want the two of you in something white because you will be following the Lady of the house into town and she hates seeing the girl in that brown colored dress no matter how good it looks on her." Tern nodded and waited for the master to send her on her way before she headed back to her hut and as soon as she got there she dropped to the floor and held her child close to her as tears of relief flowed down her face.


    After she had calmed down and had set K''ura to sleep, she found herself going to different huts to get as much white cloth as she could along with thread. She went back to the hut and checked on her sleeping daughter before getting to work on two dresses, one for her daughter that would look like what she had worn today and one for her that would only have a simple cloth tied around it. She set aside some cloth to make herself a band for her head and finished the dresses, hanging them up before she out the small lamp and curled up to her daughter in bed.


    ~~


    The next morning just as the master said she was up before the sun and had headed to the wash area, to bathe both herself and her half asleep daughter, she paid extra attention to both of their hair before heading back to her hut. She dried both of them down and got her daughter dressed first before she wrapped her breast with a cloth and pulling on her own dress. She fixed her daughters hair in the same style from the day before but this time she used a strip of white cloth and then she just left her hair down and tied a bad around it.


    She picked up her daughter and headed out the hut pulling the door shut, she went to the house to see that the lights in the house weren''t on as yet and she decided it was okay to just let her daughter rest as she stood in wait. She looked up at the sky as she rocked side to side with her daughter cradled in her arms. She wondered what it was that the masters had planned for her and her daughter and wondered if things were finally going to change for her, a change she was suddenly very hopeful for.