Sember (Forestfolk, Book 2)

Chapter 11

Snow was not what I had in mind when I wished for something to happen. Clouds had begun to drift in that morning, getting darker as the day wore on. By late afternoon, little flakes floated down, dusting the ground with bits of white. As the sun dipped low in the sky, I began to worry about where to make camp.

“Look!” Goben said, pointing to something in the distance.

I peered through the haze and saw the distinct outline of a structure. “Is that the tribe compound Dozan told us about?”

“I really hope so,” Goben said as he picked up his pace.

As we got closer, I could see the structure was a fence made up of tall poles jammed into the ground. It seemed to circle all the way around, with a few breaks that served as entrances. We approached one of these openings, eager to find shelter.

“Halt!” said a husky man as he blocked our path. “Who are you?”

“We are travelers seeking shelter. May we enter?” I asked.

He scrutinized us, peering into our faces. I could see the beginnings of a familiar-looking rash around his nose. A plague sufferer.

“Wait here,” he said gruffly and went to talk to another guard farther in. That guard disappeared inside the perimeter. Then the first guy just stood there staring at us with expressionless eyes, coughing intermittently. 

Goben and I looked at each other, sharing the uneasy feeling that maybe this wasn’t such a great idea. I looked up at the sky, which was getting darker by the minute. The flurries were thickening into regular snowfall, and the wind had picked up slightly. Staying out in this weather might not be a great idea either.

Eventually, the other guard returned and whispered something into the first guard’s ear. He nodded, then motioned for us to follow him. So we did. He led us through the fence and into the compound. A series of mud huts sat along the inside of the perimeter, and in the center was an enormous fire pit. Unlike Foresthome, there were no communal tables or benches there. 

We stopped in front of a big hut, where a large man with small eyes waited for us. He was flanked by two even larger brutes, both wielding spears. All of them showed varying stages of the plague. I felt bad for this tribe. They would be wiped out within a month. 

“Where are you from?” he asked. 

Goben began to answer, “We come from Fo—” 

“The south!” I cut in, not trusting this man. “We come from the south.” 

The big man narrowed his eyes at me, then looked back to Goben. “And where are you headed?” 

Goben glanced at me. 

“Don’t let a female answer for you!” he commanded, making Goben flinch. 

The uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach spread. Siena had told me about the old tribal ways, where women were subservient to men. The practice seemed alive and well here.

“Um, we’re going north,” Goben stammered.

The man tilted his large head. “There is nothing north of here except the Icelings. What is your business with them?” 

Goben swallowed, afraid to answer. These men were obviously suffering. They reminded me of wounded wild animals, distrustful of everything around them. Wounded animals were unpredictable. And dangerous.

“Well?” The man leaned forward, boring his eyes into Goben, who leaned away from him.

I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Our business is our own,” I snapped. “Either grant us shelter or throw us out! We don’t take up much room.” 

He narrowed his eyes at me again, struggling to mask his disgust. I met his glare head-on, refusing to waver. He didn’t scare me. We would probably get tossed into the cold for it, but I refused to cower before a bully.

To my surprise, the man relented and said, “Very well. You may stay as my personal guests.”

He nodded to the guard who had escorted us in, and we followed him to a small hut a few paces away. The compound seemed empty. If there were people left, they must have all been huddling inside their huts. The guard stopped in front of the entrance and gestured for us to enter. As soon as we went inside, he left without another word. 

“Not exactly friendly, are they?” Goben whispered. 

“No introductions or anything,” I whispered back. “It’s weird, don’t you think? It’s like they suddenly changed their minds and let us stay. What tribe is this, anyway?” 

Goben shrugged and dropped his pack to the floor. “I’m just glad to be out of the snow.” 

The hut was bare except for two small beds on opposite sides of the room. Exhausted, Goben stretched out and was soon fast asleep. I was too worried to sleep. Something didn’t feel right. The ugly leader with the small eyes had looked about ready to flog me, then he suddenly decided to give us accommodations? I wished I knew what was going on. 

I crept to the hut’s entrance and peeked out. Two guards stood outside on either side. Were they posted for our safety or theirs? Were we prisoners? There was only one way to find out.

I sauntered outside. The two guards bristled and asked where I was going. 

“I was going to look for some food,” I answered.

“Please wait inside,” one of them said, and left. He soon returned with a roasted rabbit leg. 

I thanked him, and he returned to his post. He didn’t exactly forbid me to leave. And he was nice enough to fetch me a bit of food. I supposed it was possible we weren’t prisoners after all. I sat on the bed, eating the rabbit leg. The snow got thicker outside. I might have been okay walking around in that, but dragging Goben out into it would be cruel. 

My eyes soon grew heavy, and I stopped worrying long enough to fall asleep. The worry could wait until morning. 

 * * *

The scuffling sounds felt far away, unimportant. It was the muffled cry that roused me from my slumber. I forced my eyes open just in time to see a sack being pulled over my head. A pair of strong hands gripped my arm and yanked me off the bed. I stumbled, and a second pair of hands grabbed my other arm.

My grogginess receded, and I began to struggle, jerking at my arms and kicking. “Let go of me!”

In response, someone rammed the butt of a spear into my gut, causing me to grunt and cough.

“Hey!” Goben shouted just ahead of me. “Leave her alone, you rat-faced cowards!”

I heard the smack of a spear handle against something solid. Possibly Goben’s skull.

I couldn’t see a thing. I felt the cold air against my skin as they forced me out of the hut. My bare feet dragged on the ground until I found my footing. I was confused, my struggles were useless, and angry heat began rumbling within me.

I was trying to decide the best approach to burn my way out of this situation when I was suddenly thrown to the ground. Someone ripped the bag from my head, and I looked frantically around me. We were inside a bigger hut now, lit by torches. Goben shuffled on the ground next to me, pushing himself to his feet, so I did the same. Blood dribbled down one side of his face from where he’d been struck, and I wanted to rampage on whoever had hurt my big brother.

The beady-eyed man stood before us, not bothering to hide his disgust this time. Men surrounded us, pointing spears at us. 

I glared at him. “You put bags on our heads to drag us to your super-secret hideout thirty steps away?” 

He grimaced at me. “I sentence you to death.”

“Wait, what? Why? We didn’t do anything!” I gaped at him.

“You Aberrations are all the same, pretending at innocence when you know perfectly well you are the ones who brought this cursed plague on us!” 

“Aberrations?” I remembered this as an antiquated term the tribes used to use. Siena had told me stories about how mean they were to the Gifted, calling them Aberrations because, apparently, they were considered unnatural freaks. 

“Do you think us naïve?” the man continued. “Look around you. The plague spares no one. You Aberrations planned this. Wipe everyone else out, then rule the land yourselves. Well, I plan on taking out as many of you as I can before I die!” 

“But we’re looking for a cure for the plague!” I pleaded. “We can help each other.”

“Your lies won’t help you this time,” he sneered. 

“I’m not lying! Our parents are dying too. We have a stake in this. We don’t want more people to die.” 

“Enough!” he bellowed. “Take them outside!” 

The guards grabbed us again, and I shouted, “Wait!” They paused. “What are you going to do with us?” My breath quickened, panic rising.

“You will be burned to death,” the ugly man answered, almost gleefully. 

Burned? With fire.

I stopped panicking and looked at Goben. He looked back at me, eyes wide at this lucky turn.

I had the insane impulse to laugh, but a quick glance at the sharp spear tips was enough to keep me in check. They could just as easily impale us.

The beady-eyed man peered at me, his mouth tipping into a smirk. “No smart-mouth replies?”

I cast my eyes down in a show of deference. Now was not the time to act like a brazen i***t. “Please. If today is my last day alive, then I’d like to spend it with my family. I just need a minute, to say all the things I need to say before I die.”

I peeked at him to gauge his reaction. Deep beneath the contempt in his little black eyes, there was a flicker of something when I said the word family. I felt a twinge of sympathy for him. For his whole dying tribe. This plague was unrelenting, and there weren’t enough Sienas to keep them alive. The importance of my mission expanded exponentially, almost staggering me. It wasn’t just about my parents, or even about Foresthome. It was about everyone. 

Even repulsive cave-dwellers like this guy. 

“Fine,” he agreed, then turned to one of the guards. “Watch them.” 

He left the hut with all but one of the guards. I could hear them hovering outside the entrance. I turned to Goben, whose eyebrows arched in a what now expression.

“Come here, you.” I pulled him into a hug, turning so my back faced the watchful guard. “Wait until I start the distraction, then duck into the flames and sneak off.” I kept my voice at a low whisper. “Get our stuff from the cabin and escape out the north entrance. Just keep running. I’ll catch up.”

I pushed him an arm’s length away and looked into his uncertain eyes. “I love you, Goben,” I said more loudly. Then added in a whisper, “Don’t forget to look scared, and be careful.” 

“I am scared,” he replied. “I’m not brave like you.” 

“We’ll get through this.” I gave a reassuring squeeze to his arms.

I turned and nodded to the guard, who directed us outside. We were taken to the giant fire pit in the middle of the compound and tied to poles I hadn’t noticed before. We stood on narrow stone platforms. I looked down through the swirling snowfall, and my stomach swam with nausea at what I saw. Charred bones and skulls peppered the ground beneath me.

We were definitely not the first Gifted to be roasted here. 

I was wondering how they were going to get a roaring fire going in the snow when I saw them pouring some kind of liquid around the stacks of wood at our feet. Someone touched a torch to the wood, and flames instantly surged across it. Fire licked at our feet from every direction.

Even though Goben and I were in no danger of being burned alive, I couldn’t stop the anxious knots from forming in my stomach. These people wanted us dead, and were willing to spend their last dying days making sure of it.

I looked out at the Plainsmen who watched and waited for us to burn to death. The reflection of the fire danced in their hateful little eyes, and the knots in my stomach tightened. I’d experienced plenty of people expressing wariness around me, but never hate. Never this savage desire for my demise.

With growing apprehension, I tested the binding around my wrists, wanting all this to be over. I could have burned through them long ago, but I had to know that Goben was free before I started the distraction. I again glanced at the men around us. As the flames climbed higher, their mouths parted, leaning forward with expectation. It occurred to me that by now most people in my situation would be screaming.

I began uttering distressed whimpering sounds similar to crying. I glanced at Goben, who raised his brows with alarm. My eyes darted to the tribesmen, trying to convey that we needed to appear like we were actually suffering. Understanding lit his green eyes, and he began bellowing like a dying buffalo. I’d never heard such sounds come out of him before, but it was effective. The men smiled with smug satisfaction.

At last, the ties burned enough for me to snap them apart, and I knew it was time for my show. I took a deep breath and shrieked at the top of my lungs. All eyes turned to me, and I screeched again, this time lighting my entire body on fire. I drew energy from the flames below me, feeling its pulse flowing through me. I remembered Goben’s astonished reaction to my human torch trick, and I counted on getting the same reaction from them.

Their mouths gaped open as I turned up the theatrics, screaming and squirming. They didn’t notice that Goben had fallen silent, and didn’t seem to care that my arms were now free as I formed fists by my head and shot the flames higher. From the corner of my eye I saw Goben racing for the little cabin, and I felt a burst of pride that my ruse was working. At least, I thought it was a burst of pride. It could have been a burst of fire because, honestly, I was smoking hot right then.

To ensure Goben had enough time to make his great escape, I began shouting obscenities and screaming silly things like, “Why would you do this to me? Fire is my weakness! All of you can go suck a toad!”

I kept it up for as long as I dared. I wanted to be away from this place. Away from these bloodthirsty people whose final goal in life was to kill me and every other Gifted in existence.

It was time for my finale. 

I let the flames that engulfed my body die down a little, then pulled my fists down so they hovered near my navel. I let my chin drop to my chest, absorbing even more power from the fire below, letting it build within me. The tension inside expanded into a writhing, throbbing, unbearable mass.

It was time.

The onlookers gawked in fascination, clueless to the colossal energy I could barely contain.

And then I let it loose.

I flung my arms out wide and snapped my head up. A concussive blast radiated out from my very core, forming a smoky white ring. 

The explosion knocked them all to the ground, and I wasted no time. I bolted from the platform and sprinted for the north entrance. I winced as tiny, sharp rocks dug into the bottoms of my bare feet, but I dared not slow down. When I rounded the corner of a hut, I ran into a very surprised woman. My leg caught against her foot, and I sprawled into the dirt.

Casting a nervous glance behind me, I saw the warriors getting to their feet and swiveling their heads in search of me.

The woman, who had remained on her feet, grabbed my arm.

I could not let them recapture me.

I shook at my arm, but she held fast and hauled me to my feet with surprising strength. “I’m sorry for all this,” she whispered as she nudged me toward the exit. “Hurry.”

I spent a very stupid second staring at her.

“Hurry!” she repeated.

This snapped me out of my disbelief. “Thank you,” I said before rushing for the exit.

Dawn was breaking on my right. Grass and snow greeted me as soon as I made it through the exit.

I scanned my surroundings for any sign of Goben, but found none. Where was he?

I kept running.

A quick look over my shoulder revealed no pursuers. They weren’t likely to follow me in this weather. But where was Goben? He had escaped, hadn’t he? I wanted to shout his name, but I was still too close to the compound to risk it.

I paused long enough to pick a big splinter out of my toe and resumed running. He had to be nearby. He couldn’t run that fast loaded down with two packs. I picked up speed as dread formed a cold fist in the pit of my stomach. What if someone had grabbed him on his way out? What if he had twisted an ankle and was on the ground somewhere in pain? What if someone had dug a random pit and he’d fallen into it?

My mind whirled with all the different ways things could have gone wrong. I began to regret ever convincing him to come with me in the first place. I should have let him stay home to take care of our parents. I should never have put him in this kind of danger. This should have been my task alone.

And then I almost ran into him. The snowfall had gotten so thick it was difficult to see.

“Goben! You’re alive!” I nearly tackled him with my enthusiastic hug. He dropped the extra pack and hugged me back. 

“Of course I’m alive,” he said. “Thanks to you. You were so impressive, I wanted to stick around and watch!”

I laughed and hugged him again.

“Why are you shaking?” he asked.

“I thought for a second I’d lost you. I could never forgive myself.”

“We’re all right,” he whispered, returning the hug.

Our eyes scoured the snowy landscape for angry Plainsmen, and our ears strained to hear grunts or shouts, but all we saw was more falling snow, and all we heard was the wind whipping through the grass. 

“Okay, I think we can stop running now.” I picked up my pack from the ground. “Where are my shoes?” 

“Uh . . . your shoes?”

“Yes, you grabbed them, right? They were under the bed. I don’t sleep with my shoes on, you know.”

“Um . . . ” He looked guiltily down at his own shoes. 

“You put your own shoes on and didn’t think to get mine?” 

“Look, I wasn’t thinking at all. I was a little busy scrambling out of there to run for my life.” 

I glared at him, but not for long. It was hard to stay mad at him considering how happy I was he was alive. “Don’t worry about it,” I relented. “I’ll live. And if worse comes to worst, I’ll make you carry me.”