Our Forgotten Souls

Chapter Two

I was drained by the time I'd returned to my ramshackle treehouse in the middle of the inner woods.

If it could even be described as a treehouse. It wasn't very high off the ground – a couple of feet at most. The only reason I'd built it like that was so squirrels, and other vermin would have a slightly more difficult time sneaking in and stealing my food.

I'd garnered nearly ten pounds of resources on my way out of the city. Despite wanting to avoid the desperate, beady-eyed vendors, I needed some things I could only get in the city. Salt, a bowl to replace the one I'd dropped last week, a couple of boxes of matches, and a small chunk of chocolate. The chocolate was unnecessary, but it tasted amazing...and I couldn't help myself.

Money was tight for me. Even so, I'd found ways to get the best prices from vendors and use what little money I had for the rest.

I lugged the sack of random goods up toward small cottage's entrance. This was always the most difficult part – chucking what I'd bought up those couple feet, so I didn't have to deal with awkwardly climbing the pegs I'd shoved into the tree with extra weight on my back. My muscles strained but after a few tries, I managed to slide it through the door.

I climbed the pegs until I reached the cottage's balcony and stepped inside.

It smelled as it always did – like pine trees and morning dew. The hot air was even more suffocating once I closed the door, but I didn't mind it as much as in the city. Here, I was safe. Here, I'd find peace.

Here...

I wasn't technically supposed to be here.

I'd decided a long time ago that I didn't care, and few others ever would. Despite the city's strict rules on population and citizenship, they didn't really patrol the inner woods much. The outer woods, yes. But I was near enough to the city that they only cared who was coming in from afar, not imagining someone going out.

I nudged the sack of resources and a few spilled out. I began taking inventory, making sure everything I'd bought was there, organizing things into groups depending on where I'd shove them in the miniature space I'd made for myself. There were a few cabinets, a desk with plenty of my personal belongings, and of course, a bed. Everything I'd bought over plenty of years, saving up money for each new item. Eventually, I'd reached a point where I was satisfied with my home, enough to start buying chocolate and focusing on food instead.

The bowl rolled out from the burlap sack and I picked it up before it could fall over. It was quite beautiful. I hadn't really been concentrated on looks when buying it, but I was glad I'd picked this one. Intricate maroon, light blue, and brown flowers specked the ceramic surface, along with a couple vines and roses. It was shocking I'd gotten it for the price I'd been offered.

As I moved to place the bowl upon my desk, something else slipped out of the sack. I frowned and bent to pick it up. This definitely wasn't something I'd bought.

How on Earth had it even gotten in there?

It was a small sphere, made up of tiny interconnecting silver lines. There was a clasp on one side that I gently pressed open, revealing its interior...an empty locket. Places to put in a couple photos...but nothing there. As I shut it closed again, I noticed the hook at the top, likely to attach to a necklace or bracelet.

I sighed and shoved it into the pocket of my pants. A stab of guilt went through me at not having paid for it. It must have been inside something else I'd bought. Even so, it was with me now. I wasn't even sure where it'd come from, so it wouldn't be going back to its owner.

Despite my exhausted muscles, I knew there was more to do then sift through my earnings. I had bigger things to worry about now. Twenty-nine. The number repeated in my head. Twenty-nine.

Life could never be easy.

The large leather-bound book on my desk was wide open. I knew the exact page. I'd left it like that before heading into the city to check the board. I knew what I'd written mere hours before.

Stacy Sardon. Senator from New Athens. Supporter of The Winnowing.

Only three sentences, but it spelled out a lifetime. And everything I needed to know.

I lightly shoved the half-emptied sack to the side, right next to my bed. I'd get back to it later. I peeled off my dark jacket and grabbed the brown cloak I'd hung on my wall with the rest of my clothes. Inside I had hidden a sharpened dagger with an intricately carved wooden hilt.

I liked daggers – I truly did. But using a dagger to hunt was simply amateur.

As I walked out the door, leaving my thick book of notes and names open, I grabbed the only possession I truly cared about off the wall.

My bow and arrow.

It was time to get to work.