4
A R Y A
➳
The loud drums continued to pound through the night and my people danced and sang loudly around the fire as I weaved through the remote corners of the village, trying to encounter as few people as possible. I quickly pressed myself against the cold wall of the house when I heard Rowtag's and Cha'tima's laughter. Cautiously, I peeked around the corner and saw them staggering drunkenly towards their houses, each with a woman in their arms, who burst out giggling whenever the warriors said anything.
I waited for them to turn the corner and then ran in the opposite direction. I didn't want company, I just wanted to feel the gentle, familiar wind in my hair, the leaves brushing against my skin, and the damp forest floor beneath my feet. The jungle was already reaching out its leafy fingers for me when I heard an angry roar from the wooden house next to me.
“ What did you just call me?”
I stopped when I recognized Nzuak's voice. Not containing my curiosity, I padded quietly onto the porch and peered through a window.
“I-I'm s-sorry. Please forgive me!” a petite woman begged him and sobbed.
Nzuak growled loudly and tightened his grip on her arm while his broad, muscular frame, more like a bull than a warrior, loomed over her on the bed. The loud clapping continues outside. “ Chief is my name for you!”
The woman was crying, clutching her flushed cheek and trying to push away from him. “Please let me go, Chief!”
“You will serve me, do you understand?” He started to undo his pants and brutally pinned her legs onto the bed when she struggled.
Shocked, I covered my mouth to keep my mouth shut as I turned and pressed my back against the wall. And then she screamed, it was as if the whole wooden house was shaking underneath.
Without thinking, I yanked open the door and charged at him to rip him off her. I jumped off, throwing him to the ground with my force and slammed my raised fist straight at his face.
But he was faster and stronger than I expected. He expertly caught my fist and jerked it around so that I was lying on the floor and he covered me with his huge body. A sly grin greeted me and he pressed my hands to the floor. He whispered, “Well, if that isn't a surprise.”
His conceited arrogance aroused my pent-up anger and I snarled. He wasn't the only one who was fast. Unbeknownst to him, I jammed my knee between his legs - hard.
He grunted and was so distracted by his own pain for just a moment that I ripped my hands out of his grip and slammed him off me.
“Go!” I called out to the woman who still hadn't moved and was sitting on the bed. I didn't understand why she didn't finally get the hell out of there. “Come on, get out!”
Completely lost and hopeless, she looked at me and a tear rolled down her face. She slowly shook her head and showed me the mark on her wrist. The symbol of togetherness and love.
She was his wife.
With a jerk, my hair snapped back and his face appeared in front of mine. His dark eyes shimmered murderously. “You'll regret that, you little bitch!”
A R Y A
➳
The loud drums continued to pound through the night and my people danced and sang loudly around the fire as I weaved through the remote corners of the village, trying to encounter as few people as possible. I quickly pressed myself against the cold wall of the house when I heard Rowtag's and Cha'tima's laughter. Cautiously, I peeked around the corner and saw them staggering drunkenly towards their houses, each with a woman in their arms, who burst out giggling whenever the warriors said anything.
I waited for them to turn the corner and then ran in the opposite direction. I didn't want company, I just wanted to feel the gentle, familiar wind in my hair, the leaves brushing against my skin, and the damp forest floor beneath my feet. The jungle was already reaching out its leafy fingers for me when I heard an angry roar from the wooden house next to me.
“ What did you just call me?”
I stopped when I recognized Nzuak's voice. Not containing my curiosity, I padded quietly onto the porch and peered through a window.
“I-I'm s-sorry. Please forgive me!” a petite woman begged him and sobbed.
Nzuak growled loudly and tightened his grip on her arm while his broad, muscular frame, more like a bull than a warrior, loomed over her on the bed. The loud clapping continues outside. “ Chief is my name for you!”
The woman was crying, clutching her flushed cheek and trying to push away from him. “Please let me go, Chief!”
“You will serve me, do you understand?” He started to undo his pants and brutally pinned her legs onto the bed when she struggled.
Shocked, I covered my mouth to keep my mouth shut as I turned and pressed my back against the wall. And then she screamed, it was as if the whole wooden house was shaking underneath.
Without thinking, I yanked open the door and charged at him to rip him off her. I jumped off, throwing him to the ground with my force and slammed my raised fist straight at his face.
But he was faster and stronger than I expected. He expertly caught my fist and jerked it around so that I was lying on the floor and he covered me with his huge body. A sly grin greeted me and he pressed my hands to the floor. He whispered, “Well, if that isn't a surprise.”
His conceited arrogance aroused my pent-up anger and I snarled. He wasn't the only one who was fast. Unbeknownst to him, I jammed my knee between his legs - hard.
He grunted and was so distracted by his own pain for just a moment that I ripped my hands out of his grip and slammed him off me.
“Go!” I called out to the woman who still hadn't moved and was sitting on the bed. I didn't understand why she didn't finally get the hell out of there. “Come on, get out!”
Completely lost and hopeless, she looked at me and a tear rolled down her face. She slowly shook her head and showed me the mark on her wrist. The symbol of togetherness and love.
She was his wife.
With a jerk, my hair snapped back and his face appeared in front of mine. His dark eyes shimmered murderously. “You'll regret that, you little bitch!”
Perched high in the safety of a cliff, she gazed down at the breathtaking natural landscape before her, from which the gradient from jungle to coniferous forest was clearly visible. It looked different than a thousand years ago - fuller. “Have you done it?”
“Yes, Saehva. He is dead.” his voice sounded in her head and she smiled.
“Well done.” she telepathed back, pushing her upper body off the floor with a soft groan and trying to sit down. She managed it only with difficulty and her son wanted to rush to her aid when she imperatively stopped him. 'No, you must finish it now. Otherwise it doesn't work.”
“Naturally.” Her son bent over the large goblet and began to choke. He vomited. Blood dripped from his sharp fangs as the last gush of red blood flowed into the chalice.
“Come help your Saehva.” As soon as she mentally sent the words to him, he rushed over to her, snaked his head under her arm for her to use as a support, and helped her up. She clawed her pale, skinny hand into his reddish neck fur and, with his help, dragged herself across the cold stone floor to the goblet. “This is my Dijun, my son.” Panting heavily, she reached for the goblet, the black, sharp claws adorning the end of her fingers rattling as they struck the copper. Warm blood flowed down her bone-dry throat and she drank it greedily down to the last drop. She clung to her son for support as the rock walls seemed to spin.
“Saehva, are you all right?”
“Yes, Liavehu, darling.” she was always amazed at the thrust of the energy supply hit her. The rock cave stopped spinning and her vision sharpened. Her lips curled up slyly. “Oh yeah.”
Everything was fine. Because she kept getting stronger.
'Get me some more of that blood. Much more.”
