Eternal Darkness (The Cimmerian Cycle #1)

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

She fell asleep on the ground that night. Her mind was too clouded with thoughts to make her stop to undo her bedroll. Mik looked up from where he was cleaning up the meat scraps and chucking them in the fire. He saw her lying on the dirt, using her arms as a pillow. He sighed, sheathed his knife and pulled a blanket out of her bedroll and threw it over her. Once the fire was out she would get cold very quickly.

He knew that there was something strange about this girl with the wide eyes and black hair that fell to her hips when untied. Leo had said something to him earlier about her. He meant to ask he about it sometime but he didn’t quite know how. This girl said she was a simple village girl yet when they first met she couldn’t tie basic knots or start a fire. Feeling the first waves of drowsiness hit him he climbed into his own blankets and tried for some sleep.

They all woke feeling rather edgy and keen to move on. Kiayani thought she could still feel the ghostliness of the village. Kiayani quickly fell into her walking rhythm. The constant motion of putting one foot continuously in front of the other. She thought as she walked. Sometimes coming up with a story to tell the others, sometimes just thinking. However this time she didn’t think so much, she just walked. She didn’t even listen to the other’s conversation.

When they stopped she felt like she could keep going. Her legs were eager to keep moving. They didn’t even hurt anymore. Kiayani didn’t even dump her bag before she went looking for firewood. However she came across Rute and Yulan almost immediately. They were standing beneath a tree with strange contraptions in their hands. They were made of wood and string. Rute raised his thick finger to his mouth when he saw her. Be quiet he meant. She nodded and stayed still as well. Then she watched as Yulan placed a rock on the string, swung it around and released it. His face spread into a smile before he rushed off.

“What was that?” she asked Rute.

He spoke in his deep voice, “squirrel.”

“Squirrel?” she asked. Was this some other kind of strange creature?

Yulan came back with the thing in his hands. It was small and furry with a very bushy tail, “Got it.”

He was smiling.

“How?” Kiayani asked him.

“With the sling,” he answered handing the squirrel to his brother.

Rute walked off, probably back to the camp.

“Sling?” she asked feeling stupider by the second.

She hadn’t ever seen the boys hunt so she wasn’t sure exactly how they managed to bring down beasts down every time. Yulan handed her the wooden sling and she examined it. It was crudely made, but beautiful.

“Can you show me how to use it?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.

He looked a little surprised but agreed. Yulan showed her how to hold it in her hands correctly. He placed some rocks in her hand and she had a go, mimicking his actions when he had shot the squirrel.

The rock hit the nearest tree. Kiayani collected them up and kept on trying, aiming for the trunk. Yulan left her to practice after the first few shots. She was so absorbed that she didn’t realise that Mik was approaching until he said, “nice shot.”

She jumped a little dropping the stones and he laughed.

“What happened to getting firewood?” he asked and she froze.

Then she spoke very fast, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I was and then I saw the twins catch a squirrel and then I wanted to have a go myself.”

He laughed again at the expression on her face, “it’s okay Kiayani. Yulan told me and went to get the firewood himself.”