1 Everyday Life

Just like every morning I woke with sweat covering my body and with very little breath. I looked around the empty room with panicked eyes. The room was empty, like it always was. I pushed my legs free from the thin sheets. A thin layer of sweat covered my body and I hung my head resting my forearms against my thighs. There was very little sun peaking up over the horizon; but already the sounds of the village were tinkering away in the early light. I pushed myself up and moved the water closet part of my hut. My people lived from the lands, and we lived long full lives. Our oldest elder nearing the age of thousands and as far as we could see, we were immortal unless killed. I looked at myself in the mirror, the reflection shimmering like water. The magic showing me what I already knew. I was sleep deprived; and I looked haunted. My blue eyes rimmed with purple, my pale skin was flushed with false fear; and my dark hair hung over my shoulder in a full braid that was falling apart. Carefully untying the ribbon at the end of my braid carefully I pulled the rest of the braid free and turned on the water; it filtered through the roots of the tree and funneled up from below. I moved under the cold water, it raised the pores on my pale skin, but it washed away all thoughts of the nightmares and what hunted us.

We were mostly a peaceful people; we didn't usually cause much trouble to anyone unless provoked. We lived on our own and for the most part we only killed when necessary. We lived on the vegetables we grew, and the fruit the trees provided. We respected the life force of every living thing. When you can feel the life around you, it feels selfish to take a life just to fuel your own when there are ways around it. We do not require meat to live; and so all life is safe from us.

I got out of the shower touching the trunk of the tree asking it to hold its water. The water stopped flowing and I wrapped myself in a woolen towel and walked to the main bedroom of my hut. I looked around and a tray of fruit and breads sat out for me. I smiled; always taking of me. I chose a piece of fruit savoring the sweet juice as I moved to pull my clothes free from the shelf. After wrapping myself in a new pair of linen pants, and a tunic that hugged tightly to my waist and chest. Nothing free flowing; it would only get in the way. It was a scouting day; I would be going in to the woods to make sure we were safe. It was a part of every younglings life. A time had to be spent on the go, we circled out small tribe and land. Without it we would not survive. I pulled my white bow across my chest and attached the quiver to my thigh. I thought about braiding my hair again. But it was still wet, if I wanted it to dry it would need to stay down. I walked out of my hut and pulled the small door shut behind me. It would be weeks until I saw the inside of my home again. The hunting parties were made to protect our way of life. We constantly rotated patrol of the forest. To keep others who would do us harm away. I had returned from patrol about 3 and a half weeks ago. So it was time for my team to go again. I walked down the quiet lane birds chirping, and rabbits foraging for food between the huts, and everything felt right.

But my nightmare lingered in the back of my mind. I had a bad feeling about this trip. Usually the worst thing we saw were a couple of werewolves that had lost themselves in the run. We turned them around and sent them on their way, or a vampire searching for prey within the forest. Usually they did not attack; not unless we were unfortunate to catch them mid chase, they had very little control over themselves mid hunt. Much like any creature.

We had been extremely fortunate to not run into any Woodsman while we have been doing our rounds. Other teams…they did not share our luck. Woodsmen were made to hunt our kind. They lived within the trees with more of an impact; damaging the forest chopping down trees, taking from nature without giving back. They had no respect for our way of life, and they looked to end it. I don't know why, it had just been the way long before I was welcomed into the world. I wasn't one to buck tradition. There had been talks of a treaty; but nothing came of it except bloodshed.

Our numbers died down greatly that day; we had come assuming truce. Bringing food and clothing as a show of goodwill to the new treaty. But we were met with an ambush. I lost my parents that day. My grandparents belongs to another tribe far north. Too far for me to have traveled as a child. So it was decided that I would be taken care of by the village. I lived in the hut that I had shared with my parents and it was a group effort when I was a child. Some took over teaching me magic; other took over cooking for me. I stayed many nights at another's hearth. And then one day the commander of the watch took me in for a meal and I learned about the truth of what happened. And it caused a rage inside me that I had no idea what to do with. Most met the story with pity; saddened that the Woodsmen could not let go of hatred long enough to better both our kinds. But the rage grew within me, and the Commander taught me to fight; and I was good at it.

Better than anyone the Commander had seen in generations. Or at least that is what he said. Other's frowned upon him for taking advantage of a young girl who had gone through a tragedy like losing loved ones. But I see it as a gift. He gave me the power to avenge my parents. While I never told anyone that is what I joined the rotations. Because I wanted my chance to hurt the Woodsmen like they had hurt me. I approached the front of our small village and my teammates were gathering. I looked between the two other girls who were vastly different in personality.

Lori was our voice of logic. She was the one who usually kept us from fighting. We were always grateful for the effort she puts into keeping us from danger most of the time. Today she had her chin length brown hair pulled back away from her face in a bun. Her brown eyes were framed with black lashes that gave her a seductive look. Her almond shaped eyes turned up at the ends to make her appear like she was smiling. Her full lips and pale skin made her a very pretty lie. She was powerful, deadly. And they would never know it until it was too late.

On the other hand we had our resident child Anna. She was always trying to make everything a game. Fascinated with the way the forest worked. She had chest length blonde hair that was only half pulled up. Giving her wide blue eyes a look of innocence that wasn't a total truth. I have seen her go toe to toe with a bear shifter. She was a powerhouse, and she knew how to use it well. I count myself lucky that she is like a sister to me.

I walked to my little group adjusting my bow on my back and my hand flittered down the dagger attached to my thigh. Lori spotted me first and a smile lit her face; we had been a part of the same group for longer than Anna. Our third party member had retired to build a family with a wolf she had met on the rotation. It was allowed; we were a very relaxed race and when it came to love and mates; we were never ones to stand in the way of fate. We waited watching the shadow of the tree line for the other group to come in. It was about the time for switch; and we usually never over lapped rotations. I felt the bad feeling grow in my gut. Something was wrong; I felt my breathing kick up a notch and my head swing back to the Elder's council hut.

Vincent came hurrying towards us; his long stride fluid. He was the youngest of the elders. Fresh from retirement of the rotation after he had hit his 1500 year mark. They had pulled him from the job; and while he missed it. He was a wealth of knowledge we couldn't afford to risk. He approached us, his hair still as brown/red as it was the day he started his rotation. He was aging well; showed no signs of it. I heard Lori's breath catch and my heart went out to her. She loved Vincent; had for a long time. But now that he was an elder she could never approach him about it. He must approach her; and it killed her every time he came to speak to us. He wouldn't look at her; treated her like she didn't exist. It hurt my heart to watch.

"Girls, we need you to leave this instant. The other group…they met some trouble." I saw it then the flash of his eyes to Lori who was staring at the wood line with a fierce determination.

"We need you to go in and bring them back. We don't know what state of their leader, but we know at least 2 of them are hiding in a cave about a day's journey from here…we don't know what kind of threat they ran in to…be careful." He stressed the words and Lori looked back to him and I saw his hand twitch as her hand came back to the side of her neck. A comforting technique she had taught herself at a young age. She was scared, and to be honest so was I. It was a bad thing when a whole team was held up. There were very few things that could do that to a full team.

"Thank you for the information Vincent." I spoke first and Lori looked at me with pain. She wanted to be gone, she couldn't stand to be here with him and I understood.

"We will check in when we find them." He nodded and I started toward the wood line.

"Lori—" His voice was strong, and she went tight. I looked at her and smiled. Hopefully this was the moment he told her.

"When you return I would like to have a word with you…" He turned back without a word and I looked at her. Her eyes were glued to his back and she looked at me.

"Alright. Let's get this done girls."

The three of us ran into the shadow of the trees and kept going. We wouldn't stop until we reached that cave. We were more than equipped to handle the distance. The endurance of our kind was legendary. A day's trip was nothing more than a swift sprint. We didn't hesitate when logs or other things were in our way. We jumped over and slide under. Our stride never changing; always keeping each other within eye sight. We ran, and I knew were getting close when I smelled the blood. I came to a sliding stop on the soft moss. Lori pulled up just behind me, and Anna on my other side, I looked around the small clearing that had once been filled with trees. Fire clung to a couple of branches of live trees. There had been a fight here, a large one, and as far as I could tell no one had been killed. Blood the splattered the ground told me someone had been injured; but killed no. I walked over to the tree that burnt and I could feel the agony of the living soul inside of it. I put a hand above the fire, and whispered a couple of ancient words. The energy from the fire vibrated under my finger and went silent. Relief flowed from the soul inside the tree. I turned back to my girls and they were both standing guard at my back. Ready to protect if necessary. I looked at the clearing again. We weren't alone; and that had me drawing the dagger from my thigh. The girls likewise followed suit.

"Come let's find the cave." I carefully moved between them, leading them around the edge of the clearing. Wanting to stay as far away as I could from the middle. We had no protection there, if need be we could flee into the trees if a fight was not going our way. I looked at the shadows trying to find shapes within them. After circling around the clearing we headed deeper into the forest. I looked around searching for the entrance to the cave.

"I can feel them watching us Jo." The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end at Anna's words. I knew they were too; but I didn't want to get them up in arms over something we couldn't see or fight. Yet. I nodded and put my hands up; I was the most magically gifted out of our group. I felt the air, tasted it on my skin. Magic was used here, and it was still being used. I reached for the signature and found the user. One of us. Scared and tired as hell. But alive.

"Peace sister…we are here." I whispered and the illusion before us flickered and the mouth of the cave became clear. Inside sat two females, bloody and tired. The third laid behind them. Breathing but weak; I walked forward and they both shifted towards their fallen team mate. To protect, they didn't want any other surprises. I stopped and addressed them.

"I can help her." They looked to each other and moved away. The wounds bleed slowly, they had tried their best to heal her, but they had been too tired to give enough energy. I didn't blame them after the cleaning and the battle they had been through I am not surprised. The woman grabbed hold of my arm looked at me with scared eyes. I ran my hand over her hair, and smiled at her.

"Calm, it will no good for the wound. I will help you." I put my hand over her wound and reached into myself to draw strength. And it flowed from me to her, knitting her back together. I felt her energy still and relax from the frenzy of trying to stay alive. I looked back to the other girls and gave them a soft smile.

"You have done very well. Tell us quickly what happened?" My eye flicked up to the clearing and the eyes were still there. Watching, waiting. I didn't know what for but it was best if we didn't linger.

"The woodsman…they ambushed us while we trying to help settle a dispute with a pack of wolves…the wolves escaped barely…but we were less fortunate. After Bia was wounded we hid, and we hoped our signal would be heard, and we would be found…they never left…" Her eye flitted between the shadows in the trees.

"I know they are there, they are content to watch for now…we have not been attacked."

"We were able to wound one." I looked at them and then to my group. We needed to get moving and we needed to right now. But Bianca was no where near ready to be moved, and we had a long way to go.

"We will move in groups of two…we cannot move Bia until the morning, Anna, Lori. Pick a partner. I will sat with Bianca and we will catch up." They both looked at me not sure if they approved of this plan. But they would not argue with me. I turned my back to Bianca and watched my team head back towards our home. They would be careful not to be followed. Lori turned back before she ran to catch up with her partner.

"You don't have to stay with me…I would be fine." Her voice was a soft whisper, and I sighed.

"I am the better archer between the two of us. And the better magic user. I will stay because you are part of my village." She shuddered a sigh and tried to sit up. And I kept my eyes glued to the wood line. The shadows were restless.

"We need to get moving." Her face as pale and she looked so close to passing out.

"You need to rest, we have time. They are tending to their wounded just the same as us. We have time Bia." Her will to fight my leadership upset me, I knew what I was doing. They sent us to help the least she could do was trust my leadership skills.

"They don't care about their wounded," She spat at me, and I pulled my bow slowly over my head and sat it on my lap.

"You need to listen to me…this is the first time I have encountered them and I was not ready…they know things. Weaknesses that I didn't even know we had." I flicked my eyes back to her and she looked truly panicked.

"How many rotations have you done Bia?" I asked and pulled an arrow from my quiver.

"This is my fourth." I nodded, new. She didn't have very much experience in the woods.

"I have been doing rotations for almost 16 years, trust me when I say that we are okay for now. The trees talk if you listen they will not let us be harmed by ambush."

"What is your name?"

"Joanna, but my friends call me Jo." Keeping an eye on the trees, and an ear to the wind we waited as night crept in around us.