Hunter or Hunted??

If I Only Would Have Known

My mother and father were so grateful to see me as I trotted out of the woods with my horse, who I hadn't brought with me and a mysterious but beautifully carved cart full of goodies for a feast. I was the hunter for our village so they in many ways expected a good catch but not typically in this amount at one time. Mother Nature had known this would be needed for me to get through the next steps in my journey and I wouldn't understand until much later in the day.

The bonfire was ready in no time with the hogs spinning slowly over it. I had a deer I had caught earlier stuffed with apples, honey and a mix of herbs and spices, it smelled amazing already! The rabbits had been made into a stew with vegetables, herbs, spices and my homemade bone broth.

As I finished setting the smoker up with fish that I hadn't noticed at first and herbs I heard someone approaching me from behind and then caught the smell of my mother. "That coat is amazing! Everyone has been wondering what you do in those woods most days and I have always reassured them that you had your reasons. This was an amazing catch today!! You will make a fine wife of a chief someday!" she was so excited but she saw my smile melt as her conversation unfolded. "Is something wrong?"

I wasn't sure what to say but Mother Nature said to be honest....

"Mother.... I don't want to marry without love... If I am the prize of our nations and wanted for my beauty and kindness then I should be earned through love and kindness in return." she smiled, "I don't want to just choose someone to be with and join clans, I want to find someone that I love and truly loves me in return."

"I had hoped you would say that, you've always been the one to follow your heart and that makes you special. A leader doesn't let anyone change the path their heart leads them on. If this is your choice then I will let your father know that you are willing to meet suitors but nothing more than that, at this time."

"Thank you, for understanding." I bowed into a sitting position and sat there until she was out of sight.

When she had vanished into the crowd a beautiful bird headed in my direction landing on my shoulder to whisper in my ear.

"Someone is coming from the South ridge.... we've never seen them before and they smell of death!"

Aurora had been my friend for as long as I could remember. Everyone had said that a talking crow was a bad omen but she had always brought me good fortune and had never given me bad intel.

Being that I was the top warrior of our village I went in search of Ash and Ember to come with me on a scouting mission and I told my mother and father about what Aurora had told me. With blessings for our journey and our safe return plus some meats wrapped incase we got hungry my parents hugged me tight and told me we would meet again as we walked into the darkness to solve the unknown.

With Aurora leading the way we ran through the woods at a pace no other clan could ever match. I was always good at talking to plants and animals, our communication was one of my greatest assets that no matter what no one could take from me. We made it to the clearing in half the time we typically would have taken and could smell what we were about to see as we exited the trees.....

The smell of death was everywhere and what we saw before our eyes was nothing like what we had expected to find. Aurora had said nothing about if she had seen more or looked further just that she had headed my way the moment the strange woman had came into sight and the smell.

"How many do you think there are Cinder?" Ash asked as he looked my way concerned.

"Are they all dead?" continued Ember.

"To be honest, I'm not sure if they're alive or dead but I haven't seen any movement since we got here other than the wind." we all glanced around as if to prove me wrong. "I think we should go back and let everyone know what we've seen here, make sure nothing has happened while we've been gone."

"I second that motion!" Ember piped in and got ready to race ahead.

"I third! Race you to the creek!!" Ash excitedly murmured as he walked past her.

I walked at a fast pace but slow enough that Aurora could land on my shoulder and not fall off as I walked. My feet were picking up something strange and almost negative from the ground but I had never felt this before.

"What's on your mind, Cinder? You look concerned...." she said softly as she moved my hair away from the shoulder she was perched on.

"I've been feeling strange about today ever since I left my woods... I'm not sure what it is but it's gotten worse as the day continues. It's like the plants are warning me of something coming and that smell seems to be lingering, I can't get it out of my nose."

As we approached the creek I could see horror in Ash and Ember's faces, they looked at me as if for answers to unasked questions. The smell of blood got stronger the closer I got and I could see why when we finally reached the creek flowing as if veins inside a loving creature with dark red blood instead of water. I almost threw up as I noticed chunks of hair and flesh mingling with the flow of liquid red.

We were only halfway to the edge of the forest and at this point I wanted to be home as fast as we could possibly get there. I fell into a steady pace as I spoke, "We're going to run as fast as we can to the edge of the forest and then scout from the edge of the trees. If there's something going on and there are survivors we need to be able to save them. Prepare for the worst but save anyone still able to be saved!" and at that, I ran as fast as my feet could carry me until we got almost to our destination. "The smell is getting worse, I have a feeling we aren't going to be happy with any results from this." it wasn't just the smell that had made me slow my pace, I could hear cries from my village and screams from children in search of their parents but I couldn't hear anything else.... no birds... no wind.... I couldn't smell the fire anymore either.... "Please, be careful Ash.... Ember..." I whispered in their direction as we started to sneak into the place we called home in different directions.

I hadn't seen anyone anywhere and was wondering where the sounds and smells were coming from so I followed the sound of children crying first to find them all shut in a home with Wyatt preparing to set the house on fire. Climbing the tree near by I overheard him talking as I positioned myself directly above him.

"If she would have just listened to her father and made a choice this wouldn't have happened because she would have had protection for her clan. She had to cause problems though and tell her parents she wasn't ready...." Wyatt looked over at the male next to him who looked annoyed and didn't get a response out of him so he continued. "Why couldn't she just cooperate and marry me? Every clan joins another after their daughter turns 16 but noooo.... she has to make me force this marriage and I can't even find her!"

As he lifted his arm to set the house on fire, blood was boiling with hate through my veins and I took my daggers out to make this fast and quiet. As I dropped from the branch, I had been crouched on, I slashed the extras neck with no thought then threw Wyatt to the ground setting his hand on fire from the torch he was grasping and covering his mouth with a bloody rag I had found on my way up the tree. "No one will ever marry you now and I would have never married a fool like you ever.... if my parents aren't alive... I'll make sure your whole clan and any clan connected to yours suffers...." my knife went through his throat and his blood splattered on my face.

The crying had stopped and I was afraid they had been hurt.... "Is everyone alright in there?" I called softly to the children as I cut at the rope holding the door shut and heard a soft familiar voice in return.

"Cinder?" Rose was a young herbalist in training and I had brought her out hunting and foraging with me multiple times. "Is it really you??"

"Yes! It's me! Come out, let's go... I need you to lead the way Rose... Bring them all to my tree, nothing will happen to you once you get threw the tree line. Come..... not a sound..." They followed as quietly as they could and as I got them into the tree line I put my hand on the ground to tell Mother Nature to protect them and then noded to Rose and watched them disappear into my beautiful and safe woods.