The Forgotten

Where Life Just Seemed Perfect

Zachary leaned his weight onto the rake and stared at the sun as it rose early that morning.  Zachary , Hibtosh, and their aunt were in the crop field gathering edibles and pushing the livestock further up the mountain to graze upon the freshly sprouted grass at the edge of the forest of the mountains.

Hibtosh just finished herding the livestock towards the forest edge when he heard a moan, like a man in pain.  The boy ran in all directions trying to find the source of the noise.  It took him five minutes before he finally found the girl hunched over on a rock by a riverbed.  

The girl looked around Hibtosh's age, maybe a bit younger.  Her hair was dripping wet, her clothes torn at sections and hanging in liquid, her skin covered in dirt, scratches and cuts.  She was shaking vigorously and clung to her arms to keep warm.

Hibtosh took off his coat and draped over the girl's thin shoulders.  Her voice was hoarse but understandable.  "Thank you." her voice breaking.  

Hibtosh took the girl with such care that he could of been her father.  When he asked her about her parents she said she had none, that they were murdered in the night by things she wished she could forget.  She did not say what they were, only that they devoured her poor parents' souls and swept their bodies into a world for the forgotten things in life.

The girl looked up at Hibtosh, sadness brimming in her eyes.  She leaned into his chest and sunk her weight down forcing him to wrap his arms around her tightly.  She was weak and she needed some caring for.  

Hibtosh mounted his horse, Migg, and helped the girl up and brought her to his brother and aunt down by the lower feilds, the herd not to far behind him grazing their way down the mountain.  His stead sped through the glen so fast that when he pulled the reigns to stop the horse, he had slpashed his brothers face with mud, dirt, and crops.

Zachary cursed aloud and earned himself a big thwack on the head from aunt Piv.  Aunt Piv approached the girl, took her face in her hands and gestured Hibtosh to bring her to the cottage.  Before HIbtosh left, aunt Piv gave him instuctions on what to do before she got there with Zachary.

Hibtosh picked up some herbs as he sped through the fields and towards his house.  He held the girl by the waist to ensure that he wouldn't slip when they landed a little roughly as they scoured the glen.  The girl laid herself against Migg's neck and grasped the stallion's soft mane.  

After a rough halt with MIgg, Hibtosh slid off his stead and turned around in time to catch the girl when she limply slid off the horses back.  The girl landed sideways into HIbtosh's arms, surprising him, and was taken into the little cottage then laid on a couch by a window.

HIbtoah emidiately got to work on grinding the herbs he took from the glen with a cylinder stone in a matching stone bowl.  He sprinkled the tiny grains of herbs and some other liquids on the girl's scratches and cuts.  

She winced in pain whenever Hibtosh would sprinkle over a pretty decent sized wound.  He did his best to cover all her wounds with the mixure.  

Hibtosh made fresh tea and helped the girl drink until aunt Piv and Zachary arrived.  Zachary headed straight for their room to clean up.  Aunt Piv went to the cupboard and grabbed an alcohol flask.  She walked towards the couch, opened the flask and gave it to the girl to drink.

The flask wasn't filled with beer or alcohol, it was filled with a potion that aunt Piv created when the boys first arrived at her door step to help with Zachary's back injuries.  She always gave it to people before she treated them (when people would come).  

The girl was beginning to drift away.  Aunt PIv and Hibtosh rush to make the remedies the girl needed.  they gave it to her in one shot with a smooth liquid that tastes like some sort of fruit.

When the girl finally fell asleep after they gave her the remedies, Aunt PIv, HIbtosh, and Zachary sat on the floor and began to talk.

"Who is she?" Zachary asked.

"Honestly, I don't know.  I just found her near the forest when I was herding the cattle up the mountain.  She said that something killed her parents, devoured their souls, and took their bodies to a world of "the forgotten". Hibtosh explained.

"But why and how did she get here?" aunt Piv said, her face contourted in confusion.  

"I don't know.  I just found her like this.  Will she be ok?" Hibtosh said.

"Well, she's one very lucky girl to have survived through the attack and last this long, especially with all of her injuries.  She's a strong child, though.  She'll live to feel the sun in the morning." aunt Piv assured Hibtosh.

Zachary had gone outside to finish aunt Piv and Hibtosh's chores so that they could look after the giirl.  Zachary can easily tell that his brother was attracted to her.  He understood why his usual happy-go-lucky, younger brother was so into caring for the girl.

Setting the pain knawing at his heart aside, Zachary continued on with the work.  He worked until his brother came to call him in for supper.  

That night the girl ate with them.  She at in her seat with a perfect posture, decent table manners, and ate the stew aunt Piv had made cleaner than the two boys combined could be.

Aunt Piv asked her many questions and each was answered.  The girl told aunt Piv how she managed to escape before the creatures spotted her.  Her parents were a diversion for her and a few other children to get away.

The girl wept when she began to talk of the childen.  She said that she did not know how to cure them when they got sick in the woods and that most died from infection.  

They ended dinner there after the girl had dried her tears.  

Hibtosh sat next to her by the fireplace and draped a blanket over her.  He looked into her face searching for answers that she would not give.  

"Who are you?" Hibtosh asked gently.

"My name is Anastasia." the girl spoke while staring into the fire.

"You know you're safe here, Anastasia.  Zachary, aunt Piv, and I won't let anything happen to you while you're recovering." Hibtosh told Anastasia.

Anastasia smiled to herself.  She looked up and into Hibtosh's eyes.  She could see that he cared for her and that he meant it when he said he'd protect her.  She had to ask.

"You would lay down your life for me?"

"Of course I would!  I would lay down my life for anyone who needs help." Hibtosh said.

They stayed there staring at the fire 'til Anastasia fell asleep in Hibtosh's arms.