MONARCH - Discontinued

Chapter 7 - The Imuchakk Tribe Pt. 2

The forest was large, almost as if growing in size every time Ava tried to reach the other end. The woods were her playground, but since Sydney and Kerá were more focused on working in the palace a couple of miles away, Ava was usually on her own.

She rarely saw her parents for hours upon hours after she woke up, since they worked so long. They had neighbors, but Ava and her family lived at the edge of the kingdom, which was normally where lower - class citizens lived, but Ava's father decided that his children needed to live a little.

Both of her parents were poor growing up, but they grew the moment they were married, buying a small store and having it grow and grow to the point where they basically owned half of the kingdom.

But Ava felt left out by the rest of the world.

Sure, she was the youngest and spoiled, but that doesn't mean she's happy about people constantly teasing her and never taking her seriously. Sydney and Kerá were always jealous, and sometimes purposefully left her out in conversations or activities, so all Ava ever really had was the forest.

The little girl, around 8 or 9, was passing through the trees, deeper than usual. She just... didn't want to go back, honestly. Between constant fights with her mother and her jealous siblings, the plants seemed to be the only things she could actually talk to.

She was smaller for her age, but she looked ahead to see the base of a steep hill. Curious-but also excited, she broke out into a sprint and came to a stop, staring at the hill's peak. It had a lot of ledges that she could step onto, and so, the small girl got to work.

Leaping, she climbed up almost effortlessly, pulling and twisting, clenching her jaw at any loose rocks she stepped onto. Finally, she made it to the rigged top, and sat down.

The sky was a light gray, so Ava knew she probably had to head home soon, but she picked up a few small, flat, thin and smooth black rocks that seemed to appear everywhere, and passed them back and forth between her hands, staring out over the trees to the distant mountains and tensing with every gust of wind that threatened to throw her off of the peak.

"So anyway, what's the Maharagan?" Sinbad asked. He, Ava, Pipirika, Hina, and the leader sat in one of the many huts, all sitting on their legs. "Our annual festival. We gather to celebrate our heritage." Pipirika explains.

"We applaud those who have achieved the right of passage. It's also the time when one's warrior name is given." Hina adds. "More over, we show gratitude for the blessing of the harvest."

"And because you took down that narwhal, starting tomorrow you'll officially be a warrior!" Pipirika cheered happily. "Speaking of which you should probably be aware of these strange happenings that occurred while you were away." The leader mentioned, causing both Ava and Sinbad to perk up.

"Strange in what way?" Hina asked, urging his father to go on. "While you were on your journey, an unfamiliar structure appeared at the northern waterfall. I have selected a group of warriors to investigate this oddity. Hina, I'd like for you to join them -"

"Not a chance," Ava hissed, interrupting the man's sentence. All eyes snapped to her, Pipirika's and Hina's surprised, the leader's cold and abrasive, and Sinbad's with agreement in them, letting his partner continue.

"You shouldn't go anywhere near it." Ava claimed, and the leader narrowed his eyes. "Why not?" "It's called a Dungeon. Back in my country Parthevia thousands of soldiers tried for it, and not a single one survived."