I enter the house silently and tiptoe down the
hallway to my room while checking my cracked watch. The small analog device shows twelve thirty. I am thirty minutes late, but luckily everyone is already asleep. I walk into my room and realize that somebody is already sleeping in my bed. When I approach the slumbering figure, I realize that it is my own mentor
snoring soundly with his mouth wide open and his one arm dangling over the bedside. He must've tried to stay up and wait for me.
I allow a smile to coat my lips at his concern
while pulling a thin blanket and extra pillow out from under my bed. I lay my head on the plush pillow and pull the blanket up to my chin. The floor is cold under my back, but I decide to try to ignore the chill and continue staring up at the dark ceiling.
"Goodnight, General." I whisper before allowing a yawn to escape my lips and a deep slumber to consume my body.
***
I awaken to the sound of whistling and I pull my pillow over my head in an attempt to drown out the high pitched bird calls. Sun beams into my closed eyes and another bird perches on the window sill and chimes loudly into my once silent room. I groan loudly before sitting up and looking to my now empty bed. The
General must have gone home.
Upon entering the kitchen, I feel the weight of a sleepless night weigh me down. My feet refuse to leave the ground and instead I find myself practically sliding across the floor. I yawn once more while cracking my back and looking throughout the empty house. My
mother must have left to do her deliveries and my father must be gathering the group members for the coming ambush.
I sigh at the reminder of my forbidden invitation to the attack. I want to help, but I am not permitted to even leave my house without an escort, let alone get involved in the war outside our front door.
"You were late last night." I whisk around to see General Merak standing in the archway.
"How would you know? You were dead asleep
when I came home."
"I fell asleep around midnight and you weren't
back."
"I was home at twelve thirty."
"Exactly, you were late." He says almost too
cheerfully.
"Okay, so maybe I was a little late." I mumble.
"What are we going to do for today?"
"Well, since we can't train, I was figuring on
border patrol."
"Border patrol?!"
Border patrol is one of the most boring parts of
being part of the hunting group. The members take long walks which last hours around the perimeter of our territory and report back to my father with results. The General has taken me on three or four of them and each time has shown the same results.
"It needs to be done, Nora." He says sternly
before leading the way out the door.
I groan one last time before following him out
the door. He leads the way as always out into the streets. People begin to come out of their homes and I see three girls from my school sitting on a porch, laughing loudly. The General and I pass quickly, but I still
feel their stares burning into me from behind and their laughs grow louder after we round the corner.
I follow him all the way to the stables where
farmers are escorting donkeys into their stalls. A man dressed in overalls nods to me on his way out the runway. Another man groans from inside a stall and when we pass the stall I notice the piles of dirty straw. A woman wearing a cream colored dress runs into the
stable with a black stallion. The horse goes right into its stall and the woman closes the wooden gate while nodding to the General on her way out.
"That is Miss Gibson. She has the most
handsome stallion in the entire stable." General Merak whispers to me. "Or, at least she thinks."
I watch as he runs to his horse's stall and opens
up the gate and takes the horse by the reigns. The tall, muscular horse prances out of the stall and stops in front of him. The stallion is a beautiful shade of tan and has a jet black mane.
"Draco here is far better than any plain black
stallion. He is a vision of beauty and majesty." I laugh as he throws on the saddle.
I lead Capella out of the stall and mimic is
actions before mounting her. She shakes her mane and whinnies loudly. I pat her mane down and rub her neck while nodding to the General. He returns the gesture and leads the way out of the stable. I squeeze my legs and Capella begins to gallop after Draco. The stallion is fast for its age. The General's
horse is around the age of twenty-five and for a horse, that's getting pretty old. But his horse still runs and acts like it is still a colt.
Our horses carry us through the town and people move out of our way and allow us to pass. A man with a cart full of watermelons runs quickly to get out of our way. I watch in amazement as the General's horse hurdles the cart. The man then turns to pray for my horse to make the jump, but I chicken out and lead
Capella around the cart instead. I can hear the General chuckling ahead at my failure to trust my horse, but I tune him out and snap the reins.
Two hours come and go and the scenery is
growing boring. All I see are trees and rocks. The forest beckons for me and I debate on going towards it until I remember my encounter with the outsider. This
reminder keeps me on a steady trail with the General directly beside me. He bumps on his saddle and his eyes remain fixated on the path before us.
"Tomorrow I want you to stay home until we
return from the fight." The General randomly states while we begin to make our way back to town.
"Why can't you try to talk my father into
allowing me to join the ambush? I can help."
"I'm sure you could help, but I want you safe,
and so does he."
"What if I promise to stay by your side the
entire time? lease General, let me join." I nearly beg now as he turns to face me. I already know he won't allow it, but trying never hurts.
"Nora, these soldiers will have guns and have
years of experience on how to use them. If something were to happen to you, I don't know what I would do. You are like a daughter to me and I can't bear the thought of seeing you hurt because of me. Please, listen to me and stay behind where you're safe."
"What if you get hurt?What if you don't
return? Don't you think that will affect me?"
"It might, but I will return." He whispers and I
can see the tears forming in his eyes.
"You don't know that for fact."
"Nora, all I want is for you to be safe. Please can you give me my wish before we part tomorrow?" He asks and I ponder the thought of telling him no, but instead I simply nod. "I will return. That is my promise to you, Little Bird."
"Keep that promise and hold it tight and true." I whisper.
"I told you that."
"Yes, and I have remembered it since." I whisper and he smiles warmly.
"Come on. Let's get you home." He says,
snapping the reigns.
YOU ARE READING
Cataclysm
Action(Trailer Included) Life was so simple for teenager Nora Dubhe, but her curiosity becomes spiked once a secret comes uncoiled about her father's past. After all these years of living in a small town, could she be living under a pile of lies woven by...
