1 Summer 513 AV
Mid-day
Mid-day
S’hazende had been following the river for about three hours this day before the Sanctuary came into view, or at least, that’s what he thought he was looking upon as he slowly walked towards his destination. His feet were tired, his shoulders were burnt and his belly was empty. Oh the lessons he had learned in what should have been a two day journey and had turned into no less than two weeks, though to be honest; he had forgotten to count the days. He was weary, hungry, and felt too exhausted to go on. His snares had caught little during that time and his hunting dogs had been nothing but one big set-back.
The boy sat down by the river. He thought as he let his items fall to the ground, if he could just rest for a couple of minutes, then maybe he could make it to the Sanctuary before dusk. The quickly flowing water rushed over the weathered stones that lined the banks. The sunlight shot through the clear flowing liquid drawing patterns against the sandy bottom in long white and yellow ribbons. He hadn’t seen any fish yet, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any and so the boy removed his fishing kit from his backpack and started untangling the string.
It took him a couple of minutes to get the twine unravelled before he was able to carefully thread it through the loop in one of his fishing hooks. He noticed as he concentrated intently on the small loop, that his fingers were dirty and cracked and felt horribly rough when he rubbed them together. Shade and Night, the two large, black hunting dogs he had bought in Endrykas, sat happily to one side, their heads rested upon their front paws as they watched their keeper struggle with the hook.
When the hook was tied off and ready to go into the water, S’hazende remembered that he didn’t have any bait on him to attract the fish. He sat there for a time, deep in thought; what could he use to get their attention? And then he remembered; the feathers in his hair. The young Kelvic took his dagger from his belt and clipped the end off of one of the feathers and then carefully tied the small fluffy piece to the loop of the hook where he had left extra thread. The hook was then cast into the quick moving water and the waiting game began.
They must have sat for a good twenty minutes before the boy grew tired of waiting and decided to put half of his one-man-tent up to offer the three of them some shade. The dogs were used to this trick and quickly took pride of place out of the sun, leaving S’hazende with just enough room to cover his head; his body still victim to the harsh summer elements. He tied the fishing twine to his left big toe and pulled the dog skin from his back to lay it across his body, protecting it from the intense mid-day sun. The dogs had taken to panting, the heavy sound echoing in his ears and stopping him from listening out and being as alert as he would have liked to be. Numbing ones senses in any way out here was beyond dangerous and the boy let it happen as seldom as possible.
His eyes were growing heavy all of the sudden, two weeks of staying on high-alert finally catching up with him, having already taken their toll. His body felt heavy and his fingers twitched as sleep finally took him, the calming sound of the rushing water carrying him away into the realm of dreams. As he slept his eyelids flinched, the chocolate brown orbs moving quickly beneath the sun-kissed shields of thin flesh as visions passed, and those still to come, flooded his mind. He saw a dried up pool of mud and the body of a wild dog crawling towards him; the dog he had fought and killed an entire season ago. His dreams soon changed and he was taken to a place he had never seen before. A forest of green trees and blooming flowers, or at least, his warped perception of what a blooming forest of flowers might look like.
He walked towards a large tree and there in the twisted, damp bark he saw two haunting eyes gazing back at him. A humming bird buzzled about the ancient tree; low hanging branches reached out to touch him, the sweet lime-green leaves rustling in a light breeze. The longer he stared the more detailed the face became, and though it looked a lot like the face of his mother; what manifested before his eyes was unrecognisable to him. “Why do you come here,” a woman’s voice chimed and the startled Kelvic stepped backwards, though curiosity saw him slowly lean closer after the initial shock had passed.
“Who are you?” He asked, or at least he thought he had, but just as many of his dream unfolded, he found himself without a voice, unable to speak aloud, though what he intended to say was usually heard; just not by him.
“I know who you are,” the woman said softly, her voice seeming to come from all directions and yet when their eyes met the Kelvic found it almost impossible to look away and after a time, he couldn’t remember if he had wanted to or not. “S’hazende,” she said slowly, stretching the name out so that it sounded almost seductive; not that he knew anything about seduction.
S’hazende stroked the bark and traced his hand down the length of the trunk, which was no longer apart of the tree, but the outline of a naked body that formed before him. He tucked his fingers under his arms quickly when the rough barked had suddenly become soft flesh and a long limb was extended towards him, an elegant, pale finger pressed to his lips. “Caiyha…”
As he spoke the name the forest floor rumbled beneath him and the vines that crept along its surface quickly wrapped about his ankles, pulling him towards the tree, the tree that was now a woman. He fell back on his behind and twisted against the damp forest floor, scratching his fingers into the deep-green moss to try and stop himself from being dragged forwards, and as the hold the vines had tightened, he cried out and everything went dark.
S’hazende woke up.
The twine around his big toe had stiffened and was tugging furiously, squeezing the flesh. The boy jumped up from under the half erect tent, throwing the dog skin from his form and making a grab for the fishing line. He started pulling the line in but the tension on the line pulled back viciously and cut into his fingers. He sucked in a sharp breath and tried again, this time using his rag-like shirt wrapped about his hand to tug more forcefully. The dogs both got to their feet as the fish came near, throwing up the quick moving water in great splashes with its powerful tail.
S’hazende pulled the line from his toe and stood up; dragging the two foot fish up the bank and onto dry land where he stared at it in utter amazement. “I caught a fish!” He crowed and leapt into the air, repeating the words over and over as he sprung about excitedly. Shade went for the fish and in the man’s excitement he didn’t notice the dog thrashing his head back and forth to kill the exasperated, silver skinned creature. “Get off it!” S’hazende cried when he finally spotted the dog taking his prize and ripped the fish from the animal’s jaws, holding it to his chest as he stared at Shade who had already happily swallowed the belly and guts of the fish without so much as needing chew, even once.
The young Kelvic growled at Shade but was quickly knocked onto his backside by the dog’s brother, Night. Oh how he laughed; it was the first time he had felt happy since they had found the river after wandering around lost in the grasslands for so long. S’hazende sunk his teeth into the raw fish and tore away a piece of the white flesh, crushing it between his strong teeth three or four times before downing it. Night took a piece for himself too, pulling the tail away without too much trouble before he was jumped by his assumed younger brother.
Dagger in hand, the boy carved off a healthy size for himself before cutting the rest of the fish in two and throwing a side to each of the brothers. He sat contently scoffing his part of the fish down, pulling out the odd bone as he chewed and made light work of the slab of white meat. When he was finished he looked to his blood covered hands and chest and before the red path reached his plain, black pants, S’hazende sprung to his feet and made for the river, descending the stone littered bank with ease. He dipped his hands into the water far enough that it came up to his elbows before he began washing. It would do him no good to turn up on Kavala’s doorstep smelling of fish, he thought and went back to the tent to fetch a bar of soap from his backpack, one that hadn’t yet had the chance to wear thin as he rarely came across enough water to bath in as well as collect for drinking.
Rested, washed, and fed, the three set off towards The Sanctuary along the river, keeping their eyes open for any signs of danger. When they were close, no more than three hundred metres from the gates, S’hazende let the dogs off their leads and ran towards the large site, his feet barely touching the ground as the wind swept his long black curls skyward and the dogs raced ahead of him, turning sharply every now and then to sweep back behind their master and check that they weren’t being followed.
When they came to the gates, the boy felt breathless and gasped for air, filling his lungs time and time again until his heart-rate slowed just slightly. He had made it, finally he was safe, he was free of the endless grass; the same he would see stretched out in front of him for countless miles each time he closed his eyes. The young man began to bang his fist against the heavy divide then, desperate to have his feet on safe ground. The dogs barked excitedly and jumped up at the gates and over one another, causing S’hazende to laugh. “We made it boys… We made it!”
