Chapter 4
She walked in feeling rather apprehensive but was happily surprised to find a bed of animal skins, a small shelf and a few hooks. She hung her bag on a hook and settled herself down for sleep on the furs which were as comfortable as they looked. She was asleep within minutes.
While she was asleep, Kiayani dreamed. Her first dream was about her ridding on the back of a horse which was flying. Except the horse saw a snake and she was flung from its back. She awoke with a start and saw Koran leaning over her, gently shaking her shoulders.
“Kiayani!” he said.
She groaned and looked up at him, “How long was I asleep?”
“About half an hour, are you hungry? Everyone is waiting for you. I suggest you come if you want something to eat,” Koran said very fast.
“I’m coming,” she pushed herself up onto her feet and stretched her arms.
“I’ll go let them know to save you some,” Koran said, walking to the door.
Before it could shut behind him Kiayani called out, “What happened to Mik? I thought he said he would come.”
“He’s cooking,” he turned away and left.
Kiayani wasn’t sure why she had called out like that. She wasn’t even sure why she asked about Mik. It was not like she needed him or wanted his company. Making sure she looked somewhat presentable she straightened the fur pile and left her little hut. She could see the fire sitting in some sort of metal contraption so that the wooden platform would not catch alight. The boys sat around it, absorbing its warmth as best they could and talking while eating. It was a very pleasant and friendly scene to her eyes. She saw Mik standing the closet to the flames poking at a large piece of meat he seemed to sense her gaze and he looked up at her and smiled. Kiayani noted how young he looked when he smiled and it made her smile back too.
“Hey Ki-aya-ni! Come on over!” Leo shouted sounding out the syllables in her name.
Kiayani smiled, happy that they wanted her over there with them. Very slowly she made her way across the rope bridge and Koran seeing her unease helped her get off at the other end. For some reason his touch seemed to make the blood rise into her cheeks and she was very glad that he would not be able to see her face by the light of the fire. She wasn’t sure where these feelings were coming from but they did disturb her slightly.
She only had to move within a few metres of the fire to feel its blazing heat, which warmed her to her bones. She hadn’t realised that she had been so cold or so wet. Mik signalled to her to sit down beside him and she did so awkwardly. The others seemed very keen to talk to her but she had a few questions to ask them first.
Mik handed her a plate with some steaming slices of meat and Kiayani placed it on the ground before her to let it cool down first.
“So, how did you boys end up in this forest, I mean it’s not normal for people to live in the forest ... especially with all of the demons and things...” She finished rather lamely.
She directed the question mainly at Koran who sat on her other side.
It was Mik who answered however, “It was a few years ago when we first found these platforms in the tree tops, we didn’t build them, only the huts that sit on top. We believed that they were left from when the sun used to shine on Dayrius and we got very excited. All of us were much younger then of course. We were stupid though, very stupid. Our village was desperate for food; monsters had been attacking the supply wagons. So we came out into this forest ready to hunt whatever came across our path and then take it back so that we could feed our people.”
Kiayani listened with a sort of awe; these boys would do anything to help others.
“But there was a flaw to our marvellous plan,” Koran said taking over the story, “we all got lost. We found animals to eat as well as some plants, even though not much can grow in this infernal darkness. We managed to keep ourselves alive. Then, after much searching, we stumbled upon our village. We rejoiced, but not for long. Little did we know that we had been gone for over a year. Our families thought we were ghosts and they hated us for leaving them. They chased us from the village. We had nowhere to go but the forest. Leo recalled these platforms which we had found months before, what if set ourselves up so that we could live here. We had already been in this forest for over a year and we knew how to survive. And that’s what we are doing now, surviving. There’s nothing left for us.”
Koran averted his gaze into the fire when he finished talking. Kiayani had been dead silent the whole time and was still going over it her mind. She couldn’t believe that their own families had chased them away. It was very shocking.
“I’m sorry,” she said, not sure if there was anything that she could really say that would make it better for the boys.
“Don’t be,” said Mik, “it was our fault for running off into these trees in the first place. In a way we got what we deserved.”
“It wasn’t though, your people needed help. You just wanted to do your duty and keep them alive.” She replied.
“Kiayani no one told us to go,” Leo said from the other side of the fire.
She looked at these boys who all looked very worn down and tired. ‘And that’s what we are doing now, surviving’ Koran’s words echoed in her head. She wanted to help them find a reason to live as they had helped her.
“Reports of starvation are quite common now When we can find the villages we hear the stories, the deaths.” Mik said.
Kiayani had never seen boys so defeated. They should be fighting, talking to girls or exploring the world. They shouldn’t be stuck in this forest, forced to live off the dregs it provided them with. She picked at her meat but didn’t take a bite, a sudden anger was bubbling up inside her.
“It’s all because of this wretched darkness!” she said very loudly, making Leo jump.
She stood up and walked over to the edge of the platform, “It has ruined your lives, everyone’s lives!” she sat down and looked out into the dark.
The boys were all watching her now with interest.
“If only there was a way to stop it, records tell us that it has only been like this for the past hundred years, sun once fell on these trees and this land even,” she cried out.
“Have you never heard of why we live in darkness?” asked Mik.
“No?” said Kiayani curiously, “Why?”
She turned around and sat back down between Koran and Mik.
Mik looked into the flames before continuing, the fire throwing his face into deep relief, “It was a curse that brought this upon us, a curse laid down by the Ancestors.”
“The Ancestors?” questioned Kiayani, she thought she had heard that mentioned before now.
“The spirits of the dead,” explained Koran.
Then Kiayani remembered.
“Mother,” she whispered.
At her mother’s funeral her father had given a speech, ‘may she rest forever with the Ancestors,’ those were his exact words. Kiayani had never understood what he had meant.
“Did you say something?” asked Leo.
Kiayani froze for the fraction of a second, she hadn’t said aloud had she?
“No, please continue Mik,” she nodded at him and he smiled slightly.
“This kingdom used to be famous for its wars, we used to rule the continent and had an all powerful army. We were greedy; we took everything, and nothing could stop us. This action was frowned upon by the Ancestors; what right did we have to everything? So they placed a curse on us which would cause us to live in darkness forever. We became weak, weaker than the smallest kingdom. Monsters roamed the land, our people suffered and we could no longer support ourselves. It is for this reasons our people rarely mention the Ancestors, many blame them when really it was our own actions. Others just fear them.”
“There must be a way to stop it though,” Kiayani said, “the Ancestors do forgive. I know that much.”
“We have been cursed Kiayani,” Mik said her name rather forcefully; “I don’t think there is any way we can end the darkness and bring back the sun.”
Kiayani sat thoughtfully for a few minutes, chewing her meat slowly and thinking very hard about what she had just heard. She tried to remember anything she had heard about the darkness before, anything that might help her.
“There is a way,” said Kiayani silently, a memory of an old bedtime tale blossomed in her brain.
Irima had told her of the Ancestors and how they contacted the people on this earth. All of the boys were staring at her, even the twins who had been only listening half-attentively.
“How?” asked Leo, there was a clear disbelief in his voice.
“I’ll tell you as long as you promise me one thing,” she said.
“What?” asked Koran.
“Promise me you’ll let me come with you and that you won’t leave me by the nearest road,” she said, despite the fact that they would most likely refuse.
So why did she even ask? There was some part of her clinging to the boys. If she left she would have to go to the city without a doubt and marry that unknown nobleman. She could feel herself changing and even though she wasn’t sure where she was going, she felt that she needed to do this. Kiayani also felt that she had some sense of duty to look after these boys. They had been alone for so long, wandering like lost souls. She wanted to help and not only be useful to be married off.
“Definitely not,” replied Koran, “You belong with your family.”
Kiayani’s heart fell, but she had not expected them to agree.
“Koran,” Mik looked at the younger boy, he may have been the leader but Mik was eldest in his early twenties.
Both stood up and walked away behind the hut. Kiayani froze, “What are they doing?” she asked the twins.
“They often have arguments, Koran knows what he’s doing but Mik has had more experience. He never wanted to lead but take a background role. Sometimes I really wonder who’s in charge,” replied one of the twins, Kiayani was surprised at how deep his voice was.
She looked in their direction even though she couldn’t see them. It was definitely very strange.
Within minutes they were back, Koran had his head bowed.
“We vote,” said Mik, “Do we let her stay and try and help us defeat the darkness? Or do we let her go and try and figure it out on our own. Kiayani’s right, we need to fight back. It is the least we can do to help. Our people have been living with this for too long, just trying to survive. But why survive when we can live?”
The boys gave stern nods at the end of Mik’s speech.
“Kiayani this could be dangerous,” Koran said in a strained voice, he was clearly worried about her.
“I know,” she said looking at him, “I also knew that when I ran into the forest by myself. Mik’s right, surviving isn’t good enough, I want to live too.”
“Then we vote,” Koran said, “Those in favour of letting Kiayani come with us?”
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