Instinct Ch. 5

By: Chris Moore

"My feet are freezing!" She sputtered.

He looked down and remembered she wasn't wearing any shoes. A dreadful ache entered his middle.

"I was in such a rush when I left town for the beach I didn't bother to grab my shoes." A pained look crossed her face again. She ran her hands through her dark matted curls.

Hmmmm...
What did I tell you ?

The voice inquired with a hint of venom. The young man looked back towards their pursuers, "Well since they are back there, now would be as good a time as ever. The rain should cover our tracks, ok let's go."

"It's only half a mile through grasslands up the hill, then on the other side of a small bundle of trees."

Genevive wrung out her hair, and he looked down at her cold red feet. The rain didn't give them a moments rest, its torrential downpour was almost vicious. With every drop it couldn't be deciphered whether it was the cold or the severity of the rain that made their skin sting. Genevive turned and walked along the hill a few yards and turned towards the sandy hill. The red glow of the moon was nearly blotted out behind the storm. As Genevive trudged through the sand up the hill something shone in the darkness. Again the young man's body simply reacted out of lightning fast instinct, he dashed forward grabbing a hold of Genevive from behind, lifting her into the air as she yelped. He set her down behind him while she maintained a completely stunned expression.

"What was that for?!"

"Look here," he stepped forward pulling a blade the length of his whole arm out of the sand. "This would have cut your foot severely, almost guaranteeing an infection." The blade carried a black gnarled exterior. It shown with an ominous glare.

"Wait! Where are the Lykos?!" Genevive looked around now frantic, peering through the rains relentlessness in all directions.

"Calm down," he held her firmly by the arms, looking her in the eyes. "I don't know where they are, but they are no longer here. That you can trust me on."

His eyes shown something calming and Genevive's anxiety melted away. Something dark was there but she couldn't identify it., not bad just dark. Either way it eased her panic. The Lykos could not be sensed anywhere. He simply felt no danger and was confident they were no longer around. He held the blade in his hand, it fit snugly. Like it had fallen back into place, experience he didn't remember having. It was a heavy blade, not well balanced. But deadly none the less.

"I wonder what happened to the bodies."

"Just as long as they haven't risen from the dead I don't care," he smirked.

Genevive's face turned grim and her eyes shown worry. The young man smiled and turned upwards to the top of the hill.

"I was just kidding."

They continued up until it leveled off. They traveled across the grassy wind swept plains. The rain drizzled on miserably. Not enough to blur their vision and created a curtain of perpetual water always ahead of them, but enough to become annoying and inconvenient. Since this was the case, they were easily visible in the silver red moonlight, especially on the flat grassy plain. He looked up as they continued to walk and watched the moon. It was more silver then red, it was like a hint of blood in milk casting everything in a silver silhouette. The young man silently thanked God that he could now see the tree line just before Atla. Getting off those dreadful plains would relieve his naked feelings that curled about in his gut. He held onto the top-heavy blade just in case. It held a wide blade and a wolves howling head upon the hilt. He was forced to carry it, since the newly discovered pocket on the lower back of his armor seemed only fit for a dagger. He made sure to take a mental note of the sheath in his armor. Their conversations replayed in his mind, like most things do so he can analyze them, but something didn't settle right.

He turned to face Genevive, looking her square in the eyes with a sober look on his face.

"Why did you heal me?"

Genevive had an expression of confusion on her face, "I don't know, I... I guess it was just the good in me." She seemed a little uncomfortable from his gaze.

"But you said that Lord Pravus killed all who did not swear allegiance to him. Then what would make me any different?"

"Can't you just settle on the fact that there is no underhanded deception? I don't know why I healed you, it just seemed right, like I dunno. You don't leave a man in the ditch when he is dying. You help him even if you don't know who he is. It's just what my... jus what I felt inside."

Genevive quieted and broke eye contact with him. She clasped her hands and stared at the ground. They stood thirty yards away from the outcropping of thick evergreens. He smiled gently and looked away.

"Thank you Genevive."

He turned and continued towards the trees, Genevive smiled and followed him. They closed in only a minutes later. Genevive turned to him right outside the trees.

"Ok, the village is not a large village but it houses a good twenty families. So its not too small, to say that, we still need to be discreet. We should stay completely out of sight if possible. By now my father has let plenty of his pals know that I am missing and should be caught and held until he gets back. You will also be recognized as a stranger immediately and from the state you left Bruce in I'm sure the village knows about you." The young man simply watched her and listened making not of everything she said. "My house is not far from here but its not secluded so we will need to be careful not to get caught. Jus go to the right and I will tell you where it is."

Genevive stepped aside to let him lead them. He took a step into the trees and started to head towards the village. The smell of warm hearty smoke began to fill the air as they got closer to the houses. The young man stopped, several yards ahead of them through the trees he could make out a house made of wood and mud spurting smoke from its chimney into the rainy clouds. He crouched down and motioned for her to follow suit.

"To the right from here."

The young man continued to crouch as he made his way along the houses to his left. The thick trees didn't make this easy, and the underbrush was not friendly towards Genevive's feet. They would stop at the slightest sound or when she received a severe stab from some unpleasant vegetation. They didn't see very much activity outside. It was raining, giving them cover and the benefit of the general population being inside. They were almost seen. A single guard patrolling the outskirts of the village turned at the sound of Genevive breaking a small branch under her foot. Thankfully there was another sound a few yards in the other directions among the trees, that gave him the impression it was late and the dark was a sly thing as he took another swig from his canteen. Another thank you to God came from under the young man's breath. With a small "pssst" from Genevive and a nod they had finally reached her home. It was a two story house, muddied logs making up its façade. There was a small window inlaid into the back of the building and on the second floor facing the village.