Lost Souls

Chapter 1

*Cheyenne*

The trees swayed in the cool breeze. Tall grass tickled her skin as she tiptoed forward. The bow's wooden handle was soft and worn on her calloused fingertips. Leaves swept across the forest floor blowing this way and that. Bright rays of light trickled through the gaps in the interwoven branches overhead. She shifted her weight while crouched behind a bush. She strained her ears for any noise. Birds' songs floated on the cool breeze that nipped at her exposed skin. After tracking this buck for almost a week now, navigating through the thick forest had become second nature to Cheyenne. The deer tracks lay out before her like a road map. The scent of pine clouded her nose and made her smile. It made her think of home.

She had been away for quite some time now. She missed her family of course, but she missed Logan most of all. Her stark black curls were drawn back in a loose braid; her bangs fell into her sea green eyes. She brushed them out of the way as she heard a twig snap. She whipped her head around to see the eyes of the deer glowing through the trees. Its eyes were dark as ebony. As it searched through the underbrush its moist black nose twitched furiously. It had one of the largest racks Cheyenne had ever seen and the thickness of its hindquarters rivaled that of a war horse. Leaning its head down once again, it nibbled on the patch of bright green grass. She moved without thinking and in one smooth motion an arrow was pulled from her quiver. She knocked the arrow and pulled back on the tawny string. She took a long breath in and out while focusing on the kill zone. She let nothing else enter her mind but that. The arrow streaked through the air and the wind buffered the feathers on the end as it hit home. The deer screeched and pitched forward but caught itself. She had hit her mark but the sheer size of the buck made the arrow not sink in as deep. It bounded toward her as fast as it could. It stretched its slender, tawny legs. Bunching its hind legs it soared right over her head. She fell to her knees barely able to get out of the way quick enough. The leaves crunched under her weight.

Cheyenne knocked another white wood arrow. She breathed and let it soar again hearing the wind ruffle the tail's feathers. The deer took another hit but kept going, the huge beast was not going to come down so easy. She sprinted through the foliage, but her legs could not carry her fast enough. She tucked in her lip and whistled. It was high pitched and loud, the birds scattered. Cheyenne's horse Whisper called out somewhere in the distance. She cursed jumping over a sapling.The Mare thundered through the underbrush ducking under trees as she shot by, she stood at 16.5 hands. Her all black points were a stark difference to her brilliant white coat in the darkness of the forest around them. The horse didn't even slow her pace as she raced past.

Cheyenne grabbed at the saddle horn and pulled herself onto the horse. The mare didn't slow her pace one bit as Cheyenne settled into her worn saddle. Water splashed around them as they thundered through the creek. The buck was not far ahead of them now. She could see the very tips of his antlers through the greenery. It was growing quite thick now and the darkness spooked Whisper, who had to be coerced by Cheyenne into a quick run. Without so much as a warning she heard a shrill shriek and Whisper bucked pawing at the air with her hooves. The buck shot away and Cheyenne cursed fighting to keep herself on the beast. Quickly, she steadied her horse and managed to pull her around to face the thing that had caused her the buck.

The girl staring up at her could only be a year or two younger then Cheyenne. Her amber eyes looked terrified; she wore a dress made of cheap cloth and beads. She had short brown hair with brownish-amber streaks. She commanded quiet kind of beauty about her; you would never notice it unless you were paying attention.

"Do you know what you just did , girl?" Cheyenne hissed through clinched teeth. Whisper whinnied and pawed at the ground still a little spooked.

"I did not see you, I was merely-" The girl stammered though she looked like she had no idea what was going on.

"-That was a ten point buck you don't see those around very often, that would have fed me for weeks," She patted her horse angrily. "Not to mention you almost gave my mare a heart attack!" She didn't give the girl a chance to speak; she was too infuriated. "What are you even doing in this part of the forest, servant girls do not belong in this part of the forest?"

"I was merely taking a walk!" She objected averting her eyes, most people found Cheyenne's pale sea-green eye unnerving. She turned the horse back around to see the trail the buck had torn through the forest.

"Well your walk is causing me to go hungry" She reiterated angrily, but in her heart she knew it really wasn't the girl's fault.

"I did not mean to interrupt your hunt... if you wanted I could take you back to my cottage and give you something to eat and somewhere to stay for the night." The girl started to point back where she had come, but then her face fell and it looked like she had no idea where she had come from.

"It is fine, I can take care of myself." Cheyenne didn't take handouts.

"What are you doing out here any way, you are a woman and women do not typically hunt?" The girl's amber eyes flared, Cheyenne could almost read every emotion through them. That was one of her talents; she had always been able to read people very easily.

What the girl said enraged Cheyenne more than anything else the girl had done. In her clan, thinking a woman was incapable of anything was the highest of insult. Her father had once told her that no matter what other people said it was a warrior's heart that mattered. The hardiest man could be corrupted if he was not a true warrior at heart.

These thoughts sent her back to when she was a little girl. Her mother had just passed. It was a bitter cold winter then and there was no food. There was more death in that year then all the others it seemed. She had been about seven when she watched her sick mother take her last breath. It had been within their own home.

Her heart had shattered that day. Her father was her savior. He scooped her up in his strong arms and carried her away from the house away from the stench of death. He took her to the lake; this had been her favorite place as a child. She would sit at the lake for hours playing with her new foal. He had taken a seat on a rock next to the frozen river, and set her on his knee. He had looked at her with golden brown eyes, eyes that always seemed to look through her.

"Cheyenne, do not let this crush your spirit, my beautiful warrior," His face was battle worn and only held this type of gentle kindness for her. He had strong shoulders and thick legs; he was a little bigger than the size of a usual warrior in the clan. He had been wearing leather armor and his dragon head sword hung at his hip.

"But Father, mother is gone. What will we do?" Tears slipped down her face. He had whipped them away like only a father's hands could.

"We will be strong, you and me together...we will go on." Then she saw something she had never seen her father, the chief and fearless warrior do. He cried, he held her and cried. Deep sobs had racked his muscular frame.

"We will go on" She smiled more for his benefit.

"You have the heart of a true warrior beating in your chest. Do not allow anyone ever tell you otherwise." he smiled back at her; his hands were soft as they clasped over hers. She smiled for real this time, and then she whipped his tears away. "You are my beautiful warrior," He looked off in the distance.

"I will be strong father. For you." she brought him back from his thoughts.

"No Cheyenne be strong for you/" he poked her in her ticklish spot and she giggled loudly.

This day ran through her head as she looked back at the girl. The girl didn't understand and Cheyenne knew she never would. She was from a whole other universe. One where women were nothing but property. They had no freedom, or rights. Her next course of action would usually be to kill her, but the Goddess must have a reason for bringing this girl to her. For sending her mind back to that day long ago.