Eternal Darkness (The Cimmerian Cycle #1)

Chapter 3

“Are you all right?” he asked looking down at her face with a mixture of worry and fear.

“I’m fine,” she whispered, very aware of how croaky her voice sounded.

At that moment her feet hit the ground and she stood up awkwardly.

“She talks!” Exclaimed the boy with the flashlight.

“I’m sure ‘she’ has a name Leo,” growled the boy who held her and who was now removing the rope from her ankle.

“What is your name?” asked the older boy standing next to Leo-who-held-the-flashlight.

“Kiayani,” she answered, unsure of whether or not she could trust these boys.

She felt very stupid standing there not knowing what to do. She had never been in a situation like this even with her brothers.

“I’m Mik,” said the older boy, “This idiot next to me is Leo, that’s Koran behind you and Rute and Yulan are the twins.”

The twins walked back over at that very moment.

“It's nice to meet you all and thank you for helping me.”

“It’s our pleasure,” said Koran walking back over to Leo, “come on guys lets go back to camp.”

The twins followed beyond Leo who led the way with the flashlight, sweeping the group for roots and other things on the ground which might become a potential trip hazard. Koran walked a bit further back.

Kiayani froze for a fraction of a second. She didn’t know if she would be safer with the boys. They were complete strangers to her. What if they were really cannibals who would slit her throat once at their camp and roast her over a fire? Other unpleasant thoughts arose and her cheeks reddened.

She looked at Mik, “Can you promise me that I will be safe?” She asked.

“Of course,” he looked at her in an amused sort of way.

Kiayani only relaxed a little before sighing. If she couldn’t trust these boys then she would have to get out of the forest on her own and she knew how badly she had done at that the first time round. She really had no choice but to go with them.

She walked forward to catch up with the group.

 “Is that your pack?” asked Mik pointing at Kiayani’s bag.

“Oh, it must have fallen off when I got flung up by the rope,” she reached down to grab it but Mik was quicker.

“So how did you end up in this forest?” Mik asked her walking in the direction of the group.

Kiayani fell into step beside him before answering, “I was looking for mushrooms and other wild herbs,” she invented.

For some reason she felt uncomfortable telling the truth. Perhaps she could explain later but right now she didn’t know if these boys would just take her back to the road and send her home once they found out. Or even worse, to the city.

“You were wandering alone without a torch?” he asked her, he sounded very sceptical.

“The battery ran out and when I went to change it I found that my brothers had pinched my spares,” she added quickly, already aware of the many flaws in her story.

He shook his head before continuing, “Brothers can be downright annoying at the best of times. I would know having to live with this lot.”

“I heard that!” yelled Leo from up the front.

Mik chuckled.

“So did you find any?” he asked.

“Find any what?” she said puzzled.