The Sickness

Chapter Two - Page One.

"Where's Felix?" cried Taka when he reached the Raven camp.

"In the next valley," said a man gutting salmon, "gathering dogwood for arrowshafts."

"What about Sayler? Where's the Mage?"

"Casting the bones," said a girl threading fish-heads on sinew. "She's on the Rock. You'd better wait till she comes down."

Taka ground his teeth in frustration. There was the Raven Mage perched high on the Guardian Rock: a small, bird-like figure scowling at the bones, while beside her the Clan Guardian folded its stiff, black wings and uttered a harsh "Cark!"

Who else could he tell?

Ren was out hunting. Osa, whose shelter he shared, was nowhere in sight. By the smoking-racks, he spotted Si and Koi, the Raven boys closest to him in age - but they were the last ones he'd approach; they didn't like him because he was an outsider. Everyone else was too busy getting in the salmon to listen to some wild tale about a sick man in the forest, and as Taka looked about, he almost began to doubt himself. Everything seemed so normal.

The Ravens had built their camp where the widewater crashes out of a shadowy gorge and thunders past the Rock, then over the rapids. It was up these rapids that the salmon fought their way each summer on their mysterious journey from the Sea to the Mountains. They were always driven back by the fury of the river, and they always tried again, hurtling through the foaming chaos in twisting shining leaps - until they died of exhaustion, or reached the calmer waters beyond the gorge, or were speared by the Ravens.

To catch them, the Clan sank poles in the riverbed and spanned the widewater with a wicker walkway just strong enough to support a few fishermen with spears. It was skilled work, and anyone falling in risked crippling I injuries or worse, for the river was relentless, and the rocks jutting from the rapids as sharp as broken teeth. But the prize was great.

The Ravens' shelters stood empty; everybody was at the smoking-racks, getting in the day's haul before it spoiled. Men, women, and children scraped off scales and gutted fish, while others sliced strips of orange flesh from the bones, leaving them joined at the tail for easy hanging on the racks. Si and Koi pounded juniper berries, which would be mixed with the dried, shredded meat to keep it sweet - or mask its taste if it was not.

Note - Sorry this took a few days or so, I was busy sorting chapters and stuff - Chapter Two finally posted!!

Finished on - A Monday. 3/02/2025, at 6:09 PM.

Words - 448.