She Awakens

by Caitlin Denman

  Raven glares at me. “Well you could’ve got both of us killed, and then what would their deaths have been for? To save you just so you could kill yourself with your own stupidity?”

  Her voice softens. “They died protecting you. Do you hear me? They both died protecting us. Protecting you. Neither of them could’ve asked for a better, more honorable death.”

  “They could have died of old age,” I say utterly defeated.

  Raven drops her head. “Yes, they could have, but they wouldn’t be able to live a life without you in it, my lady, and that’s what would’ve happened. Titania would have killed you, and they would’ve been left without you. No, this is the death they would have wanted.”

  My shoulders shake while sobs wrack through my body uncontrollably. I start to fold into myself again. Apparently, it infuriates Raven because she jumps up on all four hooves with her head hanging down a hair's width away from my face.

  “I will not let you sully their deaths by falling apart on me and almost killing yourself again. They died protecting what they loved and believed in. Their deaths were honorable, a warrior’s death. You do not get to be a spoiled brat and make this about you.” Raven violently pushes me over onto my back with her head and turns and walks away.

  Her outburst is such a shock. All I can do is lay there staring up at the sun, thinking. Trying to calm myself by taking deep steadying breaths. It takes a couple of minutes, but my breathing starts to normalize again, and the tears slow down.

  The gears in my brain start working again and my thoughts become clearer. Maybe Raven is right. I’m definitely no warrior, but the three of them are—or were—so she would know their outlook on life and death better than I ever could. I know I was the most important thing to both of them. Neither of them would want to see me falling apart like this and losing control of my powers or myself. They risked their lives without a second thought at every turn. Just then it hits me, and I sit up. “I’m an orphan now.”

  Raven lifts her head from the lone patch of grass she’s eating and glances at me with soft eyes. “So am I, but we have each other, and we have a mission we need to fulfill, or their deaths will have been for nothing…” she bows her head before finishing with, “my lady.” These last words give me strength and solidify my resolve. I nod my head to Raven, then stand, my sword reassuringly bumps against my side as I move.

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Two and a half days.”

  I lose my balance and sidestep “What?”

  “Yeah, I was starting to get worried. If you didn’t wake up soon, I was thinking I’d have to buck you off and send you flying,” she says with an ornery wink.

  I stick my tongue out at her like the adult I am. For a split second everything seems like it will be okay, but my heavy heart knows that’s not true. Nothing will ever be okay or the same again.

  “So, what’s the plan, Raven?”

  She moves closer to me, her sleek body glistening in the afternoon sun. I always forget how athletic she is until times like now where the sun is shining perfectly off her muscular body. “Well, I thought we would stick to the original plan and head to Sanctuary. I’m sure you’re missing James.”

  The color rises in my cheeks and I stare at the ground to try and hide it. I do miss him. More than I want to admit, and who knows what he will think of me. We take off without a word. I mean I didn’t know we were leaving when we did, but he could still be mad. I wonder what everyone told him to get him to leave without me.

  “Okay, sounds like a great plan to me. Where are we anyway?”

  “Well, I’ve been walking pretty much nonstop since we left camp. I don’t know what supplies we have in the saddle bags but I got us to the outskirts of Hugyo. We should be able to find some supplies there.”

  I stand up happily surprised my legs support my own weight already. “Let’s go.” I say as I start walking past Raven. She’s carried me enough, it’s time for me to walk on my own and give her a break. I take a few steps before being recalled by Raven.

  “Hey, wait, kid!” she says trotting up to my side. I notice my bow and arrows somehow made it out of camp with us and the thought of still having something so precious with me makes me smile. “We need to be smart about this. It’s only you and me now, there’s no back up coming this time around. I need you to trust me a little and take my lead on this.”

  As I think about it, I walk over to Raven and pull my bow and arrows off of her back and strap it to my own. Can I trust Raven after her cruelness all these years? A few days ago, I would’ve said no to her question but we’ve been through so much together in a short amount of time and I realize I do trust her, completely.

  “Of course, Raven, I trust you.”

  She stares at me with her warm gray eyes, and I can tell she took my statement to heart and it’s comforting for me to see her happy. Even through all this, losing my father, losing her father, she’s still somehow able to smile.

  Raven stands there staring at me with something like love filling her eyes until I say, “What do you want to do?” This pulls her out of her reverie, and she blinks then turns her head towards the city ahead.

  “We need to scout this out. See if there are people still living in this town, try to determine if they’re friendly, but most of all we need to check for multiple exits. I don’t want any surprises, but if we do run into trouble, I want us to know a few ways out.” I nod and we head into Hugyo.

  The town of Hugyo is located down in a desert valley. The top of the valley is filled with thick, luscious, verdant trees like back home, but now we’re hitting another kind of landscape, heat and desert.

  We round the valley on the south side of town, keeping close to the last of the tree line. When we get parallel to the town it’s easy to see it’s abandoned. I glance over to Raven. “Okay, I want you to skirt the town on this side to the end of town. I’ll meet you at the end of town when I get our supplies. Try to keep an eye out for me, but if you lose sight of me for more than ten minutes you can search for me. Sound good?”

  Raven stares at me with awe and conviction. She bows her head and says, “You’re turning into an awfully smart warrior. But kid, if you think I’m leaving you after that breakdown and insane show of power—you’re crazy.” She smiles at me then winks before walking off towards the edge of town. I walk down the hill and head for town glancing around for any sign of life.

  We walk around the perimeter of the entire town, staying hidden in case of enemy eyes. We note a few exits out of town in different directions and as soon as we make it back to our starting spot, we head down the main road through Hugyo. As we walk, Raven does give me a little room to be on my own and stays to the outside edge of town, which I appreciate, but catching glimpses of her as I pass between buildings is off putting because I keep jumping at her outline.

  As we get to the heart of the town, I can finally see the state of things. It seems like everyone merely picked up and left one day. Doors are left wide open, and I can see the stores still have merchandise in them. I walk by what I assume is the town bar—we didn’t have one in Daruk, but I read about them in some of Father’s books growing up—and there is still food left on the tables. From outside, I can smell the pungent odor of rotting food. Drawn by the smell, flies fill the building, making the structure almost vibrate from the buzzing.

  I move away from the stench and migrate into the middle of the main road and take a glimpse around at my surroundings. The town is only a little bit bigger than my hometown. I turn behind me to the start of town and in my peripheral. I see a shadow at the edge of town by the tree line. I turn my head as fast as I can, but by the time I turn around completely the shadow is gone. Did I actually see someone, or were my eyes playing tricks on me again?

  It couldn’t have been Raven, she would have had to get around the entire town and there hasn’t been enough time. Maybe someone stayed in the town by themselves? I stare at the tree line a little longer, straining my eye
s to find the shadow again. I see nothing but the unmoving, blank tree line. I glance to where I think Raven will be to ask her if she saw the same shadow I did, but she’s nowhere to be found now.

  “Raven?” I call out questioningly.

  “Yes? You okay, kid?” She sounds like she must be standing behind one of the houses which line the main street, so I was right, what I saw couldn’t have been her.

  “I’m fine. I was just wondering where you were.” I was right, that shadow wasn't her. I wonder what it was then.

  As I continue my journey, I see the town market and walk in. I know we need food and water at the very least. As I walk inside, I am again hit by the stench of rot. I plug my nose and force my feet to move. Everything that used to be fresh in the market is now rotten, so I’ll have to stick to preserved food and rice.

  I walk down the few isles in the store picking up jars of dried meat. There aren’t many jars left, so I clean out the store. As I walk to the back of the store, I notice a satchel and grab it, shoving the jars inside as I walk. The next isle has rice in it and I grab a few bags filling the rest of the pack. At the end of the rice isle there are even pots to cook in. I grab a medium sized one and strap it to a clasp on the bag.

  By now I’m used to the awful smell and no longer have to plug my nose, but I also can’t wait to get away from all these flies incessantly landing on me. I take the satchel and strap it on. I won’t be able to use my bow like this but it’s the easiest way to carry everything and I still have my sword strapped to my thigh. I run to the door of the market and as I do, I notice by the door is a big water display. The water is held in small kegs with leather handles to carry them with. I pick up one keg in each hand and head out the door. My lucky day!

  Being back outside in the sunshine without such an awful smell permeating my skin is refreshing. I’m proud of myself. I did a good job. We’ll have food, water, and a pot to cook in and when the water runs out, we’ll have a pot to boil dirty water in to make it drinkable… we can do this, we can make it to Sanctuary. I know we can.

  I walk out of town without incident and meet Raven right on the outskirts, just like we planned. I strap the satchel and kegs to her saddle, climb back in the saddle, and we’re back on the road to Sanctuary.

  19

  Allister

  From high in the treetops, I lay in wait.

  Henrik sent me here to kill the girl who caused the colossal Awakening quake, but I’m still not sure why. Why is the king so scared of this little girl? I need to know before I kill her. He told me he’d already unleashed a werewolf and some crazed Fae he created on her, and yet this little girl is still somehow alive. How is such a thing possible?

  Even from far away I can tell she isn’t one hundred percent Fae. She walks clumsily like a human, but is slightly quicker than a human would be. She has the lithe figure of a Fae, but her ears are so slightly pointed it’s hard to tell if they look Fae or not. She travels with a Fae horse too, where could she have gotten such an animal? At first, I was worried she might be traveling with a Fae, which could make killing her harder, but I’ve been stalking them for a few days and I haven’t seen anyone else with them.

  I meant to take her down as soon as she got away from that Fae horse, but as she was walking towards town, I saw her face and something changed in me. Her beautiful eyes sparkled, and something behind them held me captive. A knot formed in my chest, which hadn’t been there before. I’d heard stories of this kind of feeling before, but this is the first time I’ve felt it for myself.

  There is something about this girl. I can feel it in my bones.

  She is obviously awkward walking with a beautiful Fae sword trapped around her hips. I can tell by the way she overcompensates for the weight she isn’t used to it. The bow is a different story though. Even with it only strapped to her back, I can tell it’s a part of her. The way she moves to stay out of the bows way while she walks tells me she uses it daily. I bet she could easily hit me from here if she wanted to.

  So, it surprises the hell out of me when she walks out of one of the buildings with a pack covering her back and covering her bow, rookie mistake. She would be helpless if she were to be attacked by anything, sword or no sword.

  I watch her for a little while longer. I need to know what is so incredibly special about this girl, and how I can use it to my advantage.

  20

  Attina

  Raven and I ride through the rest of the day, there is only a few hours of light left after we leave town, and Raven is exhausted, so on our way we find a small cliff to make camp under. I climb down out of the saddle and start to unsaddle Raven.

  “We haven’t passed many trees or woods, so we won’t be able to make a fire tonight, Attina.”

  “Well, it looks like we’ll have to get close tonight to keep warm,” I say winking at her, trying to lighten the mood.

  “But seriously, you’ve gone above and beyond these past few days. We’re traveling into the desert so it’s only going to get hotter the closer we get to Sanctuary, so I want us to start traveling at night. Tonight, and tomorrow, I want you to rest and we can start again tomorrow night. You deserve it after dragging me around unconscious for two days. Does that sound good to you?”

  By now, I’ve pulled off Raven’s saddle and we both climb under the cliff to lay down. She glances up at me with her heavy sleepy eyes. “Okay, we can do that.” Then her eyes drift down to my sword. “But I want you practicing with your sword every chance you get. Deal?”

  “Deal.” Raven drops her head and falls fast asleep. I drag the saddle, saddle pad, and our bags under the cliff with us and crawl next to Raven. I lay with my body curled up between her legs and my head resting on her front leg. It surprises me how much I trust her after such a little time. My whole life we’ve butted heads, and now here I am cuddled between her legs trusting her completely. Even her presence and warmth is so comforting I fall fast into a deep sleep.

  Over the next few days we fall into a routine. We travel at night and right as the sun is coming up over the horizon we find somewhere to rest for the day. Sometimes finding a cliff and sometimes we have to dig our own little cave and cover ourselves with the saddle pad for some shade. The pad smells of horse sweat and is heavy from use but it is a lot better than getting burned by the sun.

  Each night before bed, I practice my sword skills. Raven usually watches and is surprisingly good at teaching me how to strike and move properly. After a few days of her teaching, I can already see a huge difference in my performance.

  I’m less wary of holding the deadly weapon, it’s more comfortable in my hands, and I’m not so worried about accidentally cutting off an appendage anymore. The more I practice, the lighter the sword gets in my hands and each movement with it becomes smoother. I feel like I’m becoming a real swords-woman.

  We have been rationing our water our whole trip but for the last day we’ve been out of water and since we’re in the desert, we haven’t found any natural springs either. The next town can’t appear soon enough. We’re both so dehydrated, I’m slumped in the saddle and Raven’s feet are dragging as her head hangs low to the ground not wanting to expend the energy to keep her head up. So, when I finally see Salhay on the horizon, it gives me some hope.

  “Raven, we don’t have the luxury of scoping this place out beforehand. We both desperately need water now. We’re going to head into that town and we’ll just have to watch each other’s backs.”

  Raven picks up her head and pricks her ears. “I don’t think that’s a very wise plan. Too many things could go wrong.”

  Then Raven trips over her own two feet almost falling down to her chest. I dismount and jerk her by the bridle so her face is right next to my face.

  “We’re both dangerously dehydrated. You can barely keep your own feet underneath you. We are both going into that town, we’re going to find water, and we are going to rehydrate before we leave town.” I command.

  Raven lets her head hang, thi
s time defeated. “Yes, my lady.”

  Both of us are quiet the rest of the way to Salhay, keeping our guard up for anything out of the ordinary. We both search our surroundings and the horizon for some sign of danger but again this town is abandoned. I swear I see something on the edge of my periphery, but each time I swing my head around to get a better view of it, there isn’t anything there.

  We make it to town without incident, and quickly find the market. Salhay isn’t much of a town, only a market and houses. Like the last town this market is inundated with flies, but this time instead of a normal rot smell the air almost feels sweetly sticky. Raven takes one step inside the market before she starts coughing uncontrollably and she turns right around and walks back outside. I follow her out.

  “My nose is too sensitive, and the stench is too much for me. I’ll wait outside while you grab supplies. Yell if you need me, I’ll be able to hear you from here.”

  “Okay, just keep watch out here.” I say as I unstrap the pack from her saddle. I throw the pack over my shoulder, covering my bow again. I wander inside, my thoughts drifting to the outside world. What is this incessant feeling I keep getting of being watched? In the back of my mind, I hear a small rustling sound. I stop and scan around but don’t see anything. I think to myself it must be rats fattening up on all this wasted food.

  My thoughts turn back to that ever-growing feeling of being watched I’ve had these past few days. Even since walking into this market the feeling has gotten worse. Should I tell Raven? It might unduly worry her, but what if it really is something? My Fae powers should be coming to me by now after my Awakening, maybe I have a heightened sense of awareness too?

  Then bam!

  I’m pulled out of my reverie by something big slamming into my back and before I realize it I’m on my back, pinned down. The pack covers my head and neck as I slam hard against the tiled ground. Claws dig into the backs of my arms, holding me down. In shock, I scream out a shrill gurgling scream.