The Drifters - Prologue
Whispers sent shivers down her spine as she walked along the pathway that was strewn with leaf litter. A small animal bounded by a few metres away and with lightning speed, she notched the arrow and let it fly, going right through the rabbit, killing it instantly. She smiled and went to pick up her prize, cleaning the arrow before putting it back into the quiver at her back. Tying the rabbit onto her belt, she pushed her bow onto her shoulder and started walking again. It seemed as though she was eating meat tonight.
The whispering continued on but seemed to die down as she made her way towards the grove. Water ran into this place and formed a small pool of crystal clear water. The trees formed a fairly natural barrier and there was a small area which could allow her to build a fire to cook the meat she had caught a bare hour ago.
Setting her bow and arrows down, she made a small inventory check and made sure she still had all her knives. Altogether there were fifteen, two in each arm, two in each leg, two on her hips, two on her upper back and two on her lower back. A last knife she kept strapped to the middle of her back in case of emergency.
Grabbing some of the dry wood she had left in the alcove nearby the fire pit, she started the fire and allowed a fair flame to be going before skinning and gutting the rabbit. Darkness was already beginning to settle in and she was certain that if she didn’t get water soon, she was probably going to freeze to death trying to get some later.
Finally done with the rabbit, she placed it on the fire, adding some more wood to keep it going before grabbing a small water satchel that was usually tied to her belt before making her way into the waning light to fetch the water.
The chill wind slid down through the trees into the grove and froze her to the bone, every single inch of her body working in overdrive to keep her warm. Filling the satchel and slowly making her way back towards her fire, she heard movement from behind her. Picking up the sound, she drew a knife and was practically ready to kill whoever it was without a second thought.
What she saw stilled her hand as a little girl stumbled into the grove, drawn to the flame of the fire, dragging a man that had obviously seen better days. Deciding that the child had a better chance of living with food and water, she decided to let them stay, if of anything, because the male had something about him that was drawing her to him.
The child saw the food and it confirmed her belief that the girl hadn’t eaten in a very long time. The man merely looked surprised and began scanning the area for the owner of the food. Deciding they both needed rest that would only come with knowing their own safety; she walked into the firelight so that he could see her, watching his face change with its myriad of emotions drifting from fear, to happiness and then wariness.
“Who are you?” he asks, using common instead of his usual language of Bythanese.
“Should not I be the one that asks that stranger that eats my food?” she asks, also using common. Her voice is smooth and seems to glide over his mind as he watches her glance towards the child. He instantly puts himself before the child as though prepared to die to protect the child and her heart softens to see such a devoted man.
“Do no harm to her. You can kill me for all I care, but have the heart to spare her life,” he said, every single part of his body oozed out his fear and she debated whether she should kill him or not. She did not know what would happen if she brought a male to the camp.
“I will not hurt you; she could do with the food. But I must ask you some questions that I require you to answer if you wish to keep your life,” she said, watching the child eat hungrily, oblivious to what was happening around her.
“Fine, but I must ask that we sit first. It has been a fair while since I have had the luxury of being near a fire,” he said.
She merely laughed. Her laughter causing the child to look up from her meal and watch this woman give a full-throated laugh that seemed to lighten her mood and made her feel happier inside already.
“Of course,” she said when the laughter had died down. The man was quick to comply and fell onto the ground in a heap as though he had never sat down in his life and was never happier to just sit down for eternity.
With a smile, the woman sat down nearby and she began to interrogate him. Asking him about his past, about where he was going, what he was doing here, who he was, who the child was and the child’s past.
The answers were simple enough and she could see that he wasn’t lying. The child had been part of a sacrifice in the name of the Gods by a man that held too much authority and little humanity. He had taken the child away as the mother had wished and taken her into the forests to escape from the men that were chasing them for the blasphemous actions he had made.
Little else could really be revealed. His name was Djorvak and the child was Lyara, both of them were from Bythan but only he could speak Bythanese, the child was brought up learning common, the language of the traders. They were planning to cut through the forest and make it into the unknown lands of Arliand, though he spoke very little Arlican and was probably only worth anything because he was a carpenter.
She had sat silently through his tale, it had taken a fair while but the overall outcome was probably worth it. She would guide him out of this place and free him of the burden of the child. She did not need to live amongst people that would probably sacrifice her should they find her again. He had nodded in agreement and she wondered if she had any skills in fighting yet, he had said that she had been studying words and not war.
“She shall be well looked after,” said the woman, “and you may be relieved of your burden and you can go where you please. I sense that this child may be of fair importance to me and I will teach her what she will need to know to survive.”
He nodded and said that he would leave now, preferring the cover of darkness to escape the demons which still chased him in his mind. She did not comment, merely nodded and let the man disappear from the firelight and walk into the shadows of the forest.
The girl did not seem to mind. In fact, Lyara seemed to be relieved as though she had wanted to be rid of him for the past few years. However, she did study the person whose care she had been left in and satisfied that she liked the woman, Lyara walked over to her, stumbling a little from weariness.
The woman merely sat there and watched as the child walked towards her, the innocence reflected there was startlingly plain and cut through her like a knife. Vowing to herself that she would never let anyone taint a soul as pure as this child’s, she opened up her hands, he palm up to show that she was a friend. Lyara put her small hands into the woman’s and smiled up at her.
There was nothing that could resist that smile and she was pleased to note that the child was trying to crawl into her lap. Helping her a little, the woman managed to finally place Lyara into her lap. The instant the child was sure she wouldn’t fall, she closed her eyes, a thumb in her mouth and her other hand on her ear as she fell asleep, the woman caressing her face as the child of innocence slept in peace.
The whispering continued on but seemed to die down as she made her way towards the grove. Water ran into this place and formed a small pool of crystal clear water. The trees formed a fairly natural barrier and there was a small area which could allow her to build a fire to cook the meat she had caught a bare hour ago.
Setting her bow and arrows down, she made a small inventory check and made sure she still had all her knives. Altogether there were fifteen, two in each arm, two in each leg, two on her hips, two on her upper back and two on her lower back. A last knife she kept strapped to the middle of her back in case of emergency.
Grabbing some of the dry wood she had left in the alcove nearby the fire pit, she started the fire and allowed a fair flame to be going before skinning and gutting the rabbit. Darkness was already beginning to settle in and she was certain that if she didn’t get water soon, she was probably going to freeze to death trying to get some later.
Finally done with the rabbit, she placed it on the fire, adding some more wood to keep it going before grabbing a small water satchel that was usually tied to her belt before making her way into the waning light to fetch the water.
The chill wind slid down through the trees into the grove and froze her to the bone, every single inch of her body working in overdrive to keep her warm. Filling the satchel and slowly making her way back towards her fire, she heard movement from behind her. Picking up the sound, she drew a knife and was practically ready to kill whoever it was without a second thought.
What she saw stilled her hand as a little girl stumbled into the grove, drawn to the flame of the fire, dragging a man that had obviously seen better days. Deciding that the child had a better chance of living with food and water, she decided to let them stay, if of anything, because the male had something about him that was drawing her to him.
The child saw the food and it confirmed her belief that the girl hadn’t eaten in a very long time. The man merely looked surprised and began scanning the area for the owner of the food. Deciding they both needed rest that would only come with knowing their own safety; she walked into the firelight so that he could see her, watching his face change with its myriad of emotions drifting from fear, to happiness and then wariness.
“Who are you?” he asks, using common instead of his usual language of Bythanese.
“Should not I be the one that asks that stranger that eats my food?” she asks, also using common. Her voice is smooth and seems to glide over his mind as he watches her glance towards the child. He instantly puts himself before the child as though prepared to die to protect the child and her heart softens to see such a devoted man.
“Do no harm to her. You can kill me for all I care, but have the heart to spare her life,” he said, every single part of his body oozed out his fear and she debated whether she should kill him or not. She did not know what would happen if she brought a male to the camp.
“I will not hurt you; she could do with the food. But I must ask you some questions that I require you to answer if you wish to keep your life,” she said, watching the child eat hungrily, oblivious to what was happening around her.
“Fine, but I must ask that we sit first. It has been a fair while since I have had the luxury of being near a fire,” he said.
She merely laughed. Her laughter causing the child to look up from her meal and watch this woman give a full-throated laugh that seemed to lighten her mood and made her feel happier inside already.
“Of course,” she said when the laughter had died down. The man was quick to comply and fell onto the ground in a heap as though he had never sat down in his life and was never happier to just sit down for eternity.
With a smile, the woman sat down nearby and she began to interrogate him. Asking him about his past, about where he was going, what he was doing here, who he was, who the child was and the child’s past.
The answers were simple enough and she could see that he wasn’t lying. The child had been part of a sacrifice in the name of the Gods by a man that held too much authority and little humanity. He had taken the child away as the mother had wished and taken her into the forests to escape from the men that were chasing them for the blasphemous actions he had made.
Little else could really be revealed. His name was Djorvak and the child was Lyara, both of them were from Bythan but only he could speak Bythanese, the child was brought up learning common, the language of the traders. They were planning to cut through the forest and make it into the unknown lands of Arliand, though he spoke very little Arlican and was probably only worth anything because he was a carpenter.
She had sat silently through his tale, it had taken a fair while but the overall outcome was probably worth it. She would guide him out of this place and free him of the burden of the child. She did not need to live amongst people that would probably sacrifice her should they find her again. He had nodded in agreement and she wondered if she had any skills in fighting yet, he had said that she had been studying words and not war.
“She shall be well looked after,” said the woman, “and you may be relieved of your burden and you can go where you please. I sense that this child may be of fair importance to me and I will teach her what she will need to know to survive.”
He nodded and said that he would leave now, preferring the cover of darkness to escape the demons which still chased him in his mind. She did not comment, merely nodded and let the man disappear from the firelight and walk into the shadows of the forest.
The girl did not seem to mind. In fact, Lyara seemed to be relieved as though she had wanted to be rid of him for the past few years. However, she did study the person whose care she had been left in and satisfied that she liked the woman, Lyara walked over to her, stumbling a little from weariness.
The woman merely sat there and watched as the child walked towards her, the innocence reflected there was startlingly plain and cut through her like a knife. Vowing to herself that she would never let anyone taint a soul as pure as this child’s, she opened up her hands, he palm up to show that she was a friend. Lyara put her small hands into the woman’s and smiled up at her.
There was nothing that could resist that smile and she was pleased to note that the child was trying to crawl into her lap. Helping her a little, the woman managed to finally place Lyara into her lap. The instant the child was sure she wouldn’t fall, she closed her eyes, a thumb in her mouth and her other hand on her ear as she fell asleep, the woman caressing her face as the child of innocence slept in peace.
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