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Deep within the rock, the tunnel walls vibrated as stone after stone tumbled down the sheer cliff face, causing a tremendous crash and rumble as they poured into the gorge. The stone walls trembled and the cold, hard ground shook, making her scaly body tremble and her eyelids flutter open.

She smiled.

Her thousand-year slumber had finally come to an end.

***

A R Y A

➳

My black hair, some of which was braided into pigtails, flapped wildly in the air as I hissed faster and faster through the nearby trees, deftly dodging them. The tap of bare feet on damp leaves, the breeze of a swaying liana, and the rush of the wind filled the endless jungle. Adrenaline shot through my veins as I unleashed my strength and summoned a vine to me. With full force, I swung myself up the nearest tree and ran over the narrow branches that twisted at my request. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed two nimble shadows scurrying beside me. They were fast, moving just as nimbly and silently on the thin branches as I did, but they couldn't overtake me.

Ha! You should try to overtake the first arrow of the tribe first, you'll see how impossible it is! The smile on my mouth turned into a grin and my body tingled with aliveness. Exactly this, this is called life.

I skidded to an abrupt halt and pricked up my ears. I've run through this jungle since I was a little kid, I knew it inside out, what sounds it made and how it moved. He was my home.

Without making a sound, I crept along each branch and then crouched down. My dark brown chest, which was held in place with a strand over my shoulder, as well as my leather skirt, adapted perfectly to my surroundings - nobody would spot me, not even if they wanted to. I snuggled even closer to the branch and looked spellbound.

Bingo.

I had made it. Quietly, without making a sound, I nocked my bow and drew my arrow. Within three seconds I calculated the angle, wind and my prey before releasing the string and the dart whizzing through the air, right into the monkey's chest.

His scream cut into my heart and made it bleed. Lips tightly pressed together, I circle my back again and hit the ground with a thud. Thanks to the Gi's supernatural bounce and resilience, I landed smoothly and stood up without any injuries.

The monkey let out soft wails that approached a whimper as I sat down next to him and gently laid my hand on his blood-soaked fur. His breath rattled with each breath and crimson blood trickled from his mouth. Sufferingly, his dark brown eyes, dull with pain, looked at me.

“Shh. Have no fear.” I stroked his head soothingly as I pulled out my knife. “We thank you, wise and loving soul, for your sacrifice. We will honor you and love you forever.” I slowly guided the dagger into his chest, still stroking his fur reassuringly. “Go with the wind, let yourself be carried to your brothers and sisters, where you will live a peaceful and happy life.” I stabbed harder as he let out a small cry of agony. “Dance and laugh, love and live carefree. Fill your soul with unconditional love. Rasa nees tovanu , may we meet again.” Fluttering, the black monkey's songs slowly descended as his heartbeat calmed and he drifted away into the unknown afterlife. “Vosheea enie. I'm sorry.” I whispered.

“You did well.”

Apparently I had been so focused that I hadn't heard Rowtag join me. I nodded. “Thanks.”

“I mean, not quite as good as I might have done, but still quite acceptable.” the young warrior, whose brown hair was tied up in a bun, goaded me.

With the quickness of a gi, I jumped up and turned to face my childhood best friend. My hands found their way to my hips and I arched an eyebrow. “Oh yes? Where were you then, noble warrior , to do the deed?'

“Well you know...” he looked up at the sky and scratched the back of his neck while his white body paint, which contrasted sharply with his brown skin, flashed in the sun. “I had my things to do there.”

“Oh yeah, like what? Like not losing sight of me because you two were so slow?'

“No. There was something in the jungle.” his green eyes widened and he slowly inched closer while I frowned spellbound. “We think it was a...”

Suddenly someone jumped at me from behind and yelled, “Rogue!”

Without startling myself, my long-trained defense mechanisms kicked in and I acted entirely on instinct. With quick, precise movements, I grabbed the unsub's hands, yanked him forward, and kicked his unstable stem bone, knocking him to the ground. Cha'tima rolled onto her side with a groan and I grinned. 'Really now boys? Don't you have anything better?”

“We spared you on purpose, since today is your big day.” Rowtag's eyebrows waggled meaningfully. “But once this day is over, you will cry with fear, Rya.”

I hissed at him like I always did when either of them called me by my nickname. 'Oh yes, Rowrow ? Is that so?”

“Oh, you take that name back!” he was already throwing himself at me, throwing me to the ground with him. “You're not that invincible after all, first arrow!”

With a loud roar, Cha'tima threw himself into the fray as well, and now sat atop Rowtag while we all fought for the upper hand like we used to do when we were five.

“Take that!” I cried laughing and wrestled her under me. I looked down at her triumphantly. “I think someone should probably work on their training sessions.”

Rowtag snorted while I stood up, unable to suppress a snort. “It was nothing more than luck.”

In response, I just raised an eyebrow, put my hand to my mouth and shouted, “ Ariii!”

“Just promise me one thing, if you're Chief, don't indulge Cha'tima's feelings and give the rank of First Arrow to whoever really deserves it. I'm sure he'll endure it, after all he just can't keep up with my javelin skills.”

Now I was the one snorting.

“What?” Rowtag looked at me questioningly. “You seriously don't still have doubts about being chief?”

“Don't worry Arya. Everyone knows that you will soon take his place as chief's wife. After all, you are the best warrior of the tribe. And of course his Ahivi , daughter.” Cha'tima comforted me in complete ignorance that he had hit the nail on the head.

But I didn't say anything about that, ignoring the pang in my heart and I just nodded while scanning the jungle with my eyes. Because that was the problem. I was his Ahivi .

Luckily for me, both of them fell silent and every attempt they made to drill further fizzled out as the ground began to vibrate more and more. I was already peering through the trees in anticipation as the three majestic horses flashed through the thicket and galloped toward us, manes billowing.

The three of us heaved the monkey onto the horse's back before we mounted it ourselves and rode off. And the bickering started all over again. I only half listened to them as I rode ahead and wandered into my own thoughts until something caught my eye just before our village. Deep in the forest, between the dense thicket, something gray flashes in the sparse sunlight. It happened so fast that I lost sight of it again, wondering if my eyes had really heard anything. “Did you see that?”

“What?” Rowtag trotted up beside me.

I narrowed my eyes. “There was something.”

Cha'tima, who was also open to us, frowned. “Wasn't Zasur found dead here a few days ago?”

“You don't think...?”

“That the Rogue is here?” Cha'tima finished Rowtag's sentence and looked at us tightly. “Wouldn't be far off the mark.”

In the past few months, our tribe had lost more people to rabid wolves than ever before. And it kept getting worse. “I don't think it was the rogue.”

“What why not?”

Because I'd seen that gray fur before. Resolutely, I urged my horse forward and galloped off. I wanted to know what I had seen.

“Arya, what are you doing?!”

I ignored my friends' calls while my eyes frantically scanned the jungle when a loud howl sounded.

My heart was pounding wildly in my chest and I was urging my mare even faster when she stopped abruptly and I almost fell over the front if she hadn't stopped me with her head. Panting, I looked across the gorge in front of me, behind which stretched the endless coniferous forest. Werewolf territory.

I searched the forest again for the familiar gray fur, but in vain.

I shook my head at my own stupidity. Of course he wasn't here, we hadn't seen each other for a year, so why should he be here? I finally had to finish with the fact that he belonged to the past, was history. The Retanis were my home - this is where I belonged.

“Arya, we're going to be late!”

I looked back one last time, but there wasn't a big wolf, its fur shimmering a dark gray color. Xenos wasn't there.