Malakei's brother wasn't impressed that I took his position but I had no say in the matter as Malakei more less shoved his brother off of his horse, saying something in his language to his brother before his brother's angry gaze flew to me in shock. They started arguing but in the end it was Malakei that won, he seemed to always get what he wanted come to think of it.
I was currently in front of Malakei on his horse, much like the position Raen and I had before only Malakei wasn't putting his hands on me. I liked riding with Malakei because of this although I don't know if I preferred Raen's silence over Malakei's constant talking.
"So...what happened?" Malakei had asked me not a moment after I got onto his horse. I should have known this conversation would come up and I couldn't help but shift uncomfortably as I looked down at my fingers gripping the horse's white mane.
"Nothing."
Malakei scoffs from behind me.
"It was not nothing. Raen save you from death-"
This time I was the one to scoff. My face souring at the memory of him as my eyes narrowed at my hands. Malakei stayed silent at that before taking a breath.
"You wanted to suicide?"
Malakei questions quietly at my ear and my eyes widen in shock as I bring my head up, shaking it repeatedly as I tried to turn around to him.
"No. No that's not what I was doing-"
"So what? Leave?" He asks with a raised eyebrow, his mouth pressed into a thin line as he tried not to be disappointed in me. I searched his eyes for a moment, suddenly feeling small as I let out a breath and turning around. My head falling slightly as I exhaled.
"You don't understand.." I whisper lifting my head slightly. I focus on the fur coat on someone's back riding in front of us, frowning deeply.
"None of you do...I'm, I'm not like you Malakei. We don't see with the same eye."
Malakei made a displeasing sound from behind me and shoved my shoulder forward as gently as I presumed a Dry Lander could.
"Tell me Kaylin."
"You're not going to believe me but..." I sigh, biting my lip.
"I-I can connect with animals."
I say eventually and there's a moment of silence as Malakei says nothing at my words before he splutters suddenly and starts snickering from behind me. I frown at this, my hand coming around to slap at him and he yelps at that; his hands coming to latch around my waist as he tries to balance himself on the horse.
I take in a shaky breath at the feel of his hands resting on top of my bruises but ignore it, instead continuing to glare ahead as I open my mouth to speak.
"I told you, you wouldn't believe me."
"So...so you can talk with animals?" Malakei asks in between fits of laughter and I roll my eyes at this. Nodding my head before stopping and grimacing.
"Not exactly, I have never connected with them before because I'm too young and I don't know how. I saw my friend doing it. He saved my life I suppose when he connected with a tiger."
"So..manipulate animals?" Malakei asks in curiosity, now suddenly intrigued as I can feel his eyes looking at me. I shake my head at that, frowning.
"No not manipulate them...we can communicate through the connection but we can't control them. It's their choice to help us, all we do is ask." I state softly and I can hear Malakei make a sound of awe.
"That is cool but, not work because Kaylin not strong enough? Or..too small?"
Malakei questions thoughtfully and I roll my eyes at his insult before furrowing my brows at his words shrugging.
Maybe he was right, I haven't eaten something proper in two days so maybe my concentration was low. I did everything right that I saw Corrin do but it just didn't work for me, maybe that was the problem. I'm recovering from a fever also that would be a major part in the depletion of my strength too. That could be my problem.
"I think you're right..." I mutter as I look ahead of me. A small silence enveloping Malakei and I momentarily before he is whispering in my ear making it twitch.
"Raen, he stares at me."
Malakei whispers making me frown in confusion before an angered expression flashes in my features.
"He is angry with us. That is bad." Malakei whispers again with a sigh.
"Why? You did nothing wrong. He should be angry woth himself." I state in confusion, the anger clear in my voice as I go to turn around and glare at Raen who is on his horse a distance behind us but Malakei pushes my head back to look forward with a whine.
"Don't look. He looking, and yes I did. He jealous you ride with me." Malakei states with a small trace of a smirk. I however, am more confused by his words and scoff in disbelief.
The audacity of this guy to think I would suddenly rife a horse with him after he strangled me.
"What-"
"Raen is strong." Malakei interrupts me seriously. "He is best hunter but scary. No one dare challenge him. Everyone is afraid of him-" He stops and leans forward slightly to whisper in my ear.
"You are not afraid. You challenge him in front of tribe. You are young one with fire." He states as he nods once at me and leans away from me with a sigh. Probably catching Raen looking at him before smiling at me thoughtfully.
"He likes you."
His statement makes me laugh.
"No, he hates me. He strangled me Malakei, he would have killed me if you didn't say something-"
Malakei winced at the memory of what happened and he shakes his head of it frowning.
"He cannot kill you. He is forbidden and he knows. Choking you was showing his strength. He is leader afterall."
I gulp at Malakei's words. Trying to wrap my head around the fact that Raen was the leader out of these thirty or so murderers. Then again as I bring my fingers up to touch my neck, thinking of the times he lifted me onto the horse and picked me up...he was really strong. Maybe Malakei was right.
I turn my head around to look at him. A weak smile poking at my lips as I look at him seriously.
"Thank you for helping me."
Malakei narrows his eyes at me when I say that and I realise that every time I thank him for something, he doesn't know if I'm being serious or if I'm going to laugh in his face for some reason. As if he doesn't believe that I am actually thanking him and he is just waiting for me to throw it back in his face.
He nods once at me, his eyes tearing away from me to focus on the journey ahead. His face not showing any emotion or giving me any indication of his acceptance apart from nodding at me silently. I sigh and turn around at that to look down at my hands, thinking he was finished with our conversation when he speaks again.
"He still likes you. He just doesn't know it yet."
Malakei states in a knowing voice before a strangled whine falls from his mouth at the sudden thought of something.
"I hope I don't get axe in back tonight."
----
Nightfall came quickly, probably due to the trees above sheltering us all from the harsh rays of the sun and when the sun went down, it made the forest seem a lot darker during the night. The only light being the manmade fire the Dry Landers had created once they started to set up camp for the night and the small flying bugs that seemed to illuminate in the dark.
Malakei had hopped off of his horse and left me to find his brother and as I was getting down from his horse, I noticed them start to appear out of the blue, my eyes wide with wonder as I looked up at them dancing in the night above me.
I let my hand reach slowly out to touch one, it landing on my index finger softly, fluttering it's wings slightly before flying away.
I smiled at that, looking up at the small lights that they created. There was some clustered together above me and some lone wondering ones near my body. It amazed me how beautiful they looked. How they glowed in the night.
"Svetulki."
I jumped at the voice, my head turning around as Raen stood with his arms crossed over his bare chest, looking at me with his brow raised in curiosity. His eyes gentle. A contrast from earlier.
My eyes dragged over his caramel skin. He had multiple scars on his body that looked as though they were from battles, both man and animal alike. One particular scar that looked like a large cat's claw marks ran from his bicep down slanting over the left part of his chest below his left nipple. I felt a blush creeping up my neck as his eyes stayed on me thoughtfully and I moved my gaze that was shamefully looking at his bare chest up to meet his eyes. Frowning slightly.
He took his arms away from their folded position as he slowly came closer to me. My eyes widened at this and I began to step back out of fear that he might hurt me or worse; continue what he couldn't finish earlier.
"S-Stay back." I stuttered out as I continued to step back blindly, his eyes never leaving mine but he didn't stop coming closer to me, his mouth pressed in a thin line and I gasped when I felt something hard against my back. Letting my eyes fall shut at being cornered against Malakei's horse. Cursing myself silently.
Raen's footsteps stop in front of me, his breath coming out in a calming sense that made me think that he wasn't angry anymore.
I peeked one eye open to look up at him, my other eye opening immediately afterwards to see him looking down at me calmly. All trace of anger that was in his features earlier now suddenly vanished as he looked down at my-now dwindling-fearful expression. He cleared his throat.
"Svetulki...fireflies." He said before looking up and pointing at the flying lights calmly.
My eyes drifted back to the flying bugs. Liking the name given to them. I have never seen such creatures before. Most birds and flying insects do not reach as high as the High Peaks and I always wondered why.
"Fireflies." I whisper the word as I looked up. It suited them. Flies protruding light like the light from fire, also maybe even some heat too as the air became more warm when they arrived.
Raen looks back down at me. His eyes shining slightly as he takes a small bag from Malakei's horse. I turn to him and watch with a confused frown. Not knowing what he was doing but when he turns back to me, he takes my hand in his.
My eyes widen in worry as he pulls me forward and holds up my hand in between his chest and mine. I watch in confusion as he pours some of the contents in the bag onto my hand, revealing a grainy substance. I looked down curiously at it before looking back up at Raen confused on what I should do with it.
He blinks down at me with a thoughtful gaze before he slowly brings his fingers around my wrist, holding my hand up to the air.
My eyes light up as one by one, fireflies begin to land on my hand until my hand is almost consumed in light. Raen's fingers slide from my wrist down my arm before resting on my shoulder as he stands behind me. I can feel his eyes on me but I don't look away from the fireflies eating at whatever it was off of my hand. My smile forming back on my cheeks as I look up, my dimples poking out as a small giggle leaves my lips at the tickling sensation of them eating out of my palm.
I slowly bring my hand down closer to look at them, my eyes glinting as they roam my fingers and arm before disappearing back into the night above me.
I can feel Raen's breath against my left ear as his fingers rest at the small hairs at the back of my neck. His eyes looking down over my shoulder at my palm before looking up at my face. Exhaling with what I could only think of relief. I turned to him curiously.
Was this his way of saying sorry? Apologising for what he did earlier? I thought about what Malakei had told me a few hours ago. How almost everyone here was afraid of Raen. Raen was supposedly the best hunter, their leader and could take on the role of being the strongest here so of course that gave him the reputation of never showing weakness, not showing heart. When I punched him, I must have really damaged his ego and reputation alone. I could see now that maybe he didn't want to strangle me and he only did it to show power to the other Dry Landers. It made sense now. If it didn't, why would he even apologise to me in the first place if he hated me so much?
I frowned at my thoughts but shook them away quickly. I could see he was quick tempered and had severe anger issues but just by him showing me this small act and making me feel calm for the first time since I left my home, it made me thankful.
When the grain substance was completely gone from my palm, I watched as the last of the fireflies left my palm and with it, a thought came into my head.
"You knew English the whole time, why didn't you say something?"
I asked slightly nervous but determined to find out the reason for his silence at the start. He sighed at this, breath fanning my shoulder before his hand left the back of my neck. He stepped out from behind me. Putting the small bag of grain back in Malakei's satchel on the horse.
"I didn't feel like talking."
He stated calmly although I could tell he was slightly tense as he turned back to look down at me where I stood.
"O-Okay." I stuttered out as I let my gaze drop to my sandals. Understanding what he meant even though it sounded ridiculous but respected his decision. He wasn't much of a talker as I have come to realise and grunts more than uses words.
"Why did you strangle me?" I ask quietly avoiding his intimidating gaze. "Malakei says it was a power thing and that you like me but I get the feeling you hate me. Then you do things like this." I look up at the fireflies above us before turning around to him with a gulp.
"I don't know how I feel." He states emotionlessly before frowning and looking at me seriously.
"But it was never my intention to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you."
With that said, he leaves. His footsteps echoing silently as he walks away from me and I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding.
----
"Come here boy!"
I jumped at the unfamiliar voice when I came from the direction of the horses. My head looking up to see one of the older Dry Lander men pointing at me and summoning me over to sit with him and his friends at the fire.
My heart pounded as I made my way over to them slowly. My eyes wide and confused as all of their gazes seemed to lock on me, suddenly taking interest in me.
When I was close enough, the man pulled me into his chest making me gasp as I stumble forward. The smell of alcohol hitting my nose and almost making me gag. I could hear the other Dry Landers laugh and cheer at something but I ignored it, looking up at the man when he lets me go and taps me on the back roughly.
"We are celebrating! Join us."
The man states, already taking liberty to pour a drink for me before shoving it into my chest making me stumble slightly. Catching the drink and looking up at him wide eyed.
"I-I don't drink-"
"Drink boy, we celebrate together! We are almost home!" The man bellows in his drunken state making some of the other men cheer loudly. I wince at that, my ears flattening against my head at the sudden sensitivity. I shake my head at the man. The man looks at me with a weird expression on his face.
"You think you are better than us?" The drunk man asks as his eyes narrow down at me. Almost challengingly as he staggers forward.
"N-No!" I stutter. My eyes widen at this as most of the others around the fire grow silent as they watch me. I take a step back shaking my head at the man's angered eyes.
"No I-"
"How dare you refuse to drink with us! We risked our lives for you and you refuse to celebrate? Elf scum!"
The man shrieks as he throws his alcoholic drink at me.
I screamed as it smashed onto my chest into tiny pieces, I fall backwards onto the ground before looking up at him with fearful eyes. My body now drenched and smelling of alcohol. He laughed from above me and so did a few of the others. The rest however stayed silent or left the scene.
I looked down at my soaked clothes, wincing at the small cuts on my arm and chest from the smashed ceramic mug. My eyes quickly shot up at the staggering man in worry as I tried to move backwards on the ground. Wincing at the sting when I use my arms.
I can feel someone standing behind me as my back crashes into their legs. I look up with a frightened yelp only to relax when I see Malakei, his brother and Lucien behind him, all looking at their drink comrade with disgust.
Malakei frowns as he sees me, immediately reaching down to help me up, careful not to touch my cut arm. I wince as I stand up, feeling sticky and sore.
Lucien's voice is like a snake's as he hisses through the bubbling drunk laughter of the others in their mother tongue. Making them all stop what they were doing and turn to Lucien in alarm. Malakei slings my arm over his shoulder carefully as I wince. Trying to break away from him but his grip is strong around my waist.
"We are celebrating!" The drunk man stated loudly as he staggered forward making me flinch back away from him. Malakei pulls me close to him as he glares sharply at the drunken man. His lip curling up in disgust as he says something to the man.
The man blinks at this before the anger resurfaces onto his features, his eyes turning to me as he points harshly making my heart beat out of my chest.
"He refuse to drink with us!"
"Keylin is young. It is his decision to drink or not. He will not be forced." Lucien states loudly, enough for the other Dry Landers to hear and turn their gazes on me. I looked down.
"He is frightened and you force him to drink?" Lucien's voice is calm but the seriousness behind it is almost terrifying. He could explode any minute.
Malakei stays quiet beside me. The only thing he does say is when he is turning to his brother to whisper something. His brother looking at me pitifully before Malakei is pushing me carefully into his brother's arms. My eyes widen at this as I turn and reach out for Malakei. Him being the only real person I trusted out of everyone as I felt safe with him.
He frowned at me and said something to his brother before turning around to stalk over to the man. I wince as he balls his fist getting ready to hit the man. I notice his dagger catch me eye from his back pocket and after a few minutes of yelling, he raises it in the air in threat at the man. I whimper in fright as my breathing comes out harshly.
I don't get to see what Malakei did, if he stabbed the Dry Lander, nor did I want to watch and I was glad when his brother was pulling me away from the scene that I knew would have given me nightmares if I had seen what Malakei had done and knowing what he is capable of.
---
Another chapter up. It's been a while since I updated and I hope people are still reading this lol