Reaper Kissed

11. Solemn Cattle

A bitter wind rattled through the shanty town. Hovels constructed with metal sheets and tarpaulin creaked and swayed. Anniina pulled her shawl up over her head. She was a pretty woman, delicately featured with freckles smattered across her pale, pinched face. She edged her way closer to a fire that crackled merrily in a large bin, slipping between a narrow gap in the small cluster of people that surrounded it.

A woman smacked the back of a lads head.

"Go, go find it." The woman barked crossly. The boy sulked but made no move to leave the warmth of the fire. "You let the sodding thing escape," she accused him angrily, "you useless lump. That cat was good meat-"

Anniina retreated, her stomach turning in revolt. Tendrils of her fair hair blew across her crystal blue eyes. A child's wailing seemed to stalk Anniina as she drifted down the narrow passages. Mud, churned up from hundreds of residents, made Anniina's progress slow as her boots sunk deep with every step. Turning a corner, her eye was caught by something moving in the shadows. Stooping over she cocked her head to the side and peered into the gloom.

Large amber eyes stared cautiously up at her.

"Hello cat," she murmured softly. Crouching she extended her hand. The scrawny feline sniffed her fingers warily before consenting to be petted. Anniina stroked the cat's soft fur, her forehead creasing in concern. "You should be wary of people." She warned. "They're going to skin you and put you in a pot." The cat nuzzled its face against her, wrapping itself affectionately around her legs.

Anniina bit her lip. "I can't keep you." But her voice was already wavering. The cat made little sounds of contentment. "I shouldn't keep you. I don't have much." The cat was very thin and small - perhaps only just past being a kitten. Anniina sighed in resignation. She picked up the cat and held it against her, wrapping her shawl around its frail body. Her clothes were getting muddy but they hadn't been that clean to begin with. The warm bundle of fur against her heart felt nice.

A scraping sound from above made Anniina's head snap up. She craned her neck to look up at a hovel's sagging roof. The tin sheeting shuddered as something shuffled on it - repositioning itself. Claws clung to the metal's edge as a large head peeked back over. Anniina's mouth went dry as she gaped up at an imp.

Most imps were tiny, up to an adult's knee in height but this one was bigger - perhaps reaching Anniina's waist. It was grey - skin and bone- with a large bald head, bat-like ears and bulbous pink eyes. Imps operated in hoards - where one was, dozens followed. Anniina's knees locked in fear. The imp stared at her, its ears twitching. Anniina's lips parted, she needed to scream but her throat was constricted with fear.

The sirens blared and collective screams pierced the air. Anniina shut her eyes. The stray cat she cradled, tucked its soft head under her chin. Anniina trembled. This was Solemn - a shanty town in imp territory. Imps ate human meat. They rode humans into battle. A strange way of life had evolved here. Imp hunting parties descended from the Obituary Pits - the seat of the Dozgam. They took humans off with them, these people never returned. But the majority of Solemn survived. If you tried to leave the territory though - you were massacred. Survival became a thin line. You stayed in Solemn like obedient cattle and you hoped... You hoped with every visiting hoard- that someone else was taken.

The air shifted in front of Anniina's face and she reluctantly opened an eye. The imp was hanging upside down from the roof - its clawed feet securing its position - its face opposite her own. The imp opened its mouth, revealing a row of tiny, sharp teeth and screeched. The cat in Anniina's arms hissed in fear, digging its claws into Anniina. She spread her arms and the cat sprung from her in an instant and bolted for cover.