Arrow's Tip

Chapter One

„A little girl? They must be kidding.”
“You worry about her age? Just look at the skin. And her hair! Looking like an old woman, I tell you!”
“And those eyes. Have you seen those eyes?”
“She doesn’t belong to this world, that’s for sure. Not to this or any other.”

I turned away from the window, attempting to blink away the tears creeping up on me again. They had told me a better life would be awaiting but it still was the exact same, just now there were more people whispering and more eyes glaring at me, ranging from curious interest to hateful stares that made my stomach twist and some part of my head yell ‘no’ at me.

The guard that had left hours ago to sit next to the other one, who was steering the vehicle, climbed back in through the window and gave me one of these looks that I couldn’t quite tell what they were. My face reflected in the shiny bit of metal on the side of his hip and so I stared into my own frightened eyes instead of his.
“We’ll reach The East Camp in a bit. Gather everything up, we’ll have to get off the carriage quickly, no time to waste.”

I wanted to tell him that I hadn’t brought anything but my mouth was sealed shut. So I just looked back up at him, unable to speak or think. He shook his head at me and was back out. So I sat down on the narrow bench and tried to concentrate on the sound the wheels made on the uneven ground instead of the whispers outside.

Too soon the carriage came to a halt and I was ushered out by a soldier with an unfamiliar face and greeted by an extremely tall and thin woman. I curtsied, just like my mother told me to but the woman shook her head.
“Up up, young lady, I’m not the one to curtsey to. You may address me as Amanda, I’m the dormitory’s maid, understood?”

I bobbed my head along with her words, fascinated and intimidated by her attire alike. Where I came from people were shorter. They didn’t have skin this light or hair as red as fire or eyes as clear as emeralds.
“Now come along little girl, we have to get you all suited up for your introduction.”

I hastily followed as she hurried across a wide, open space and towards a huge building, made out of stone and wood, the roof made from something grass-like.

Even in the small village where I came from everyone had heard of The East Camp, despite being so remote and cut off from the rest of the world that everything else that was going on in the areas that my grandfather had called the restless world was entirely unknown to us.

I didn’t know too much of it, just the bits and pieces I was able to hear whenever the adults talked about it or when one of the rare travellers had told stories about the restless world to me and my siblings.

Strangers were always good storytellers. They had seen so much more of the world than we had and so we always clung to their words, eager to absorb every bit of knowledge that was to be found in these stories from elsewhere. Now I realised it must take great skill and training to navigate this part of the world as there was so much going on everywhere.

The guards had told me The East Camp lay a bit further from the city but yet there was a forest of buildings, dozens of humans and human-like creatures navigating the broad street. If this was not the city, I wondered, what would the city itself look like? Was this just an outer ring or a small town on the edge of the main pot. So many questions buzzing through my head and nobody there to ask. And even if, there was nothing to be asked with silent lips.

The lady ahead of me threw an impatient glance over her shoulder. I had gotten lost in my thoughts enough to slow down significantly. Inside I cursed myself for already making one mistake too many to be possibly accepted on a first day. Before entering the building, even. Falling into a trot to keep up with her I clenched my teeth in frustration. Nothing ever went according to plan, not my life, my thoughts and whatever else had gone wrong within the last few days.