Chapter Fourteen
The Hunt
"Fall!" Hummingbird shouts at me. I follow his command and dismount the galloping horse, breaking my fall with a shoulder roll. He yells again, "Hit the target!"
I reach for the crossbow Hummingbird lent me for today's lesson with my bad arm while I grab an arrow with my right. I set it quickly, aim and shoot at a bale of hay. The arrow soars through the air and sinks itself a few inches from the center mark. I groan at the imperfection and stand up. It has been about a month since my first lesson with Ayemornielle. I can ride her fairly confidently, but now that I am training to hunt with her, I am not certain that I am actually doing too well.
"Not bad, but there is room for improvement." Hummingbird helps me up. "Are you excited for today's hunt?"
"Yes; hence why I woke up before sunrise to train a bit more." I yawn into my arm. "Is it always this cold at this time in the morning?"
"It is." Hummingbird's eyes flick over to the East. His eyes light up and he waves his hand to catch my attention. "Look over there, Syrena."
I turn my body to look at where he is pointing. I catch the sight of something I have never in my life gazed upon.
"What is it?" I refer to the strange red line glowing on the horizon.
"Every morning before the sun rises, the red light appears in the sky and sits on the horizon until sunrise takes place. That's how you know the sun is coming."
I stare at this red line and follow it all around the horizon until I am facing the East again. It is magnificent. I feel like a child again; learning something new about this world that apparently occurs every day.
"It's called the First Light," Hummingbird informs me. "You may recognize it by that name."
"I do, yes, but I thought it was the sun actually rising over the horizon." My mind dazes a bit as my eyes lock onto the red light. The world around me suddenly goes dark and the cynosure of this moment is the First Light. A figure, far off in the distance, is almost directly below it. She dances on a path leading to the horizon. In her hand she holds a drum, beating it softly to match the heartbeat of our souls. I reach out to her, make my way towards her, but I cannot touch her. With every step I take she seems to be ten steps further. I can never seem to catch up to her; I can never seem to reach her potential.
"You are one in the same," the voice from the carriage enters my head again. "The First Light will meet the Last, and both will stare at the constant."
"Pardon?" I open my eyes to the sunrise. The First Light is completely gone at this point.
"I asked you if you were ready to paint the horses," Hummingbird repeats himself for me. "Are you alright?"
"Honestly? I think I need to put an end to my late night adventures. I seem to be falling asleep on my feet." I rub my eyes, trying to pretend that I did not just have yet another vision. They seem to keep coming to me and I have no rational explanation as to why that is. Visions of the past and the future continue to plague me and the vision of this girl seems to be a reoccurring one. Out of all of the hallucinations this girl is the least worrisome.
"Just so long as you don't fall asleep during the hunt, you should be fine. You can get an earlier rest tonight," Hummingbird says. We lead our mares to the Thunderbird Village, meeting up with Typhon, Gorgon, and Bogle.
"Good morning, Syrena," they all greet me one at a time.
"Ahe, Hummingbird." Typhon smiles.
"Ahe." Hummingbird dips his head to the three young men.
"You will paint Ayemornielle with us?" Typhon asks me.
"Nii-ozhe," I say.
(I will).
Over the past month, Hummingbird, our three new friends, and I have been meeting up, trying to learn one another's languages. Hummingbird is fluent in both, so he is both our translator and teacher. Typhon seems to be the fastest at picking up English, so his sentences have better structure to them. The Thunderbird language is not that hard to learn because the root words are rather simplistic. All one has to do is stick a few root words together in a sentence and then the villagers will understand it completely. It also helps that there are no prepositions or determiners like 'the', 'a', or 'to'.
"We paint Thunderbirds on horses." Gorgon shows me the design on his gelding named Imp. I ask to use the red paint and smell it before putting it on Ayemornielle.
"It is an Earth-based paint mixed with ground up poppies, red clay, and blood from the last hunt," Hummingbird explains.
"Sounds scrumptious," I say sarcastically.
"It's not meant for consuming," Hummingbird remarks, chuckling. "Dip your fingers in the bowl and paint on the Thunderbird. I'll show you what to do next."
I do as Hummingbird instructs, trying to make the Thunderbird look decent. After a while I turn it into a competition to try to outdo the others and make my Thunderbird look epic. No one's design is as complex and marvelous as mine. I am winning.
"Not to be brash, Syrena, but everyone is waiting for you," Hummingbird mutters to me. I look back at the other hunters who stare at me. Gorgon, Typhon, and Bogle smirk at my lack of speed.
"Am I supposed to paint my face like them?" I refer to the paint on the others' faces.
"Yes, now do as I say quickly so that they don't have to wait for much longer." Hummingbird rushes me along. I follow his instructions, taking my left hand, covering the palm of it with the red paint. I place it on Ayemornielle's shoulder and then leave a handprint on the lower half of my face.
"This represents that you and your mare are one being in this hunt. Your spirits will not be separated and she will speak for you when you complete your kill," Hummingbird speaks as I work quickly. I put paint in between her eyes and touch my forehead and nose to it. "This symbolizes that your thoughts will be in sync and that you will share her wisdom. Now, mount your steed and we'll head off."
"Noseig." I jump on Ayemornielle's back.
(Thank you).
There are thirty Thunderbird Warriors in all, but only ten will hunt at a time. The others will ride to the outskirts of our part of the valley to make sure all is Chief neglected to join us on the hunt. As soon as he heard I was to tag along, he came up with something better to do. My uncle was also supposed to join us, but he quit last minute, which I am not at all surprised by. His behaviour has grown to be significantly worse over the past few weeks and I can barely remember why I ever liked him. I have been trying to avoid him, but sometimes I run into him at night when he wanders the halls speaking to the Ring of Fire. The more he wears that Ring, the further he wanders into the realm of madness.
I ride between Hummingbird and Bogle and we all ease into a canter. We ride to the North edge of the Freemen Forest; the side that is closest to the De Noir Forest. I give Hummingbird a knowing look.
"There is bigger game in this area," he tries to reassure me. "Don't be worried; you have the Thunderbird Warriors and myself accompanying you this time. We won't let anything happen."
I do not reply because I am not relieved. Anything could happen. Anything. But I have been missing Robin ever since we parted ways that day. I reach up and touch the red scarf that hides under my cloak. Somehow I know I will be seeing him soon.
"Wabidiizh." One of the older warriors holds up his hand and we all change our gate to a walk.
(Slower).
"We slow so prey won't hear," Bogle explains. As we enter the forest, Bogle leaves us to pair up with a younger warrior while Typhon and Gorgon pair up.
"We're the newcomers, so we'll be partners," Hummingbird says. "The others will try to track down bigger game, so we will go for the smaller prey."
"Which is what?" I ask.
"Pheasants and hares. If we're lucky, we may run into a wild boar or perhaps even a deer. We'll head off towards the outskirts. Have your crossbow ready." Hummingbird leads the way.
I did not really think through as to what to wear, so I ignorantly wore my white shirt today. At least my black cloak can give me enough coverage. As we pass by the other hunters, I hear one of them mention the name Florence. I turn my head to look at them and I see an older man staring at me. Typhon and Gorgon ride in between us so I cannot see him.
"You not worry about him," Gorgon tells me. "He think you look like Florence. She wear black too."
Is that who I am associated with when I walk in the village? Every time they see me, do they also see Florence?
"Go ahead. We will be close." Typhon waves me toward Hummingbird. About a half an hour into the hunt, Hummingbird and I come across pheasant feathers. They are the same feathers that Robin wears on his collar.
"Can you retrieve them? They are valuable to the villagers," Hummingbird informs me.
"I will." I dismount Ayemornielle and pick up all the feathers I can see.
"Do you see any tracks, Syrena?" Hummingbird asks.
I look around and spot some. "Yes, and they're fresh."
"Lead the way." Hummingbird smiles as I remount.
"Quietly now, Ayemornielle," I whisper. Ayemornielle creeps along but gives me her ear. Without me having to lead her, she follows the tracks with ease and grace. Not a long while later, we come within a few yards of a flock of pheasants feeding. At this point, Hummingbird does not try to instruct me. We both stay silent as we prepare our weapons to fire. I aim for one of the males and let the arrow fly at him. Hummingbird fires his arrow immediately after mine and we both kill our targets right away. Once my bird hits the ground, the world stops for a moment. My pupils dilate and the cynosure of this moment is my kill. In the blink of an eye, I took away its life. I must do it again.
The rest of the birds panic; flying in all different directions at once. I shoot at another one desperately, but the arrow only hits it in the back and not near any vital organs. It flutters its wings frantically and tries to escape.
"Follow it and kill it quickly," Hummingbird shouts to me. "Make sure it doesn't suffer for long."
Ayemornielle takes off after the pheasant and we ride out of the Freemen Forest. We enter into the narrow land separating the Freemen Forest from the De Noir Forest. I spot the bird a few feet away and dismount, trying to tackle it. It manages to slip out of my grip and flails, limps, and stumbles away from me. I growl in frustration. All I want to do is kill it like I did its friend to keep me feeling this new level of high. Before I can even attempt to go after it again, an arrow flies out of the De Noir Forest and strikes the pheasant through the head. The bird immediately stops breathing and so do I. Prince Robin, Sir Leo, Phoenix, and Foxflee exit their forest, approaching me slowly and smugly. I reset the crossbow and aim it at Robin. They stop in front of the corpse.
"Wanale, Syrena!" Hummingbird shouts behind me. I do not listen to him.
(Stop, Syrena!).
"I will shoot you," I warn Robin. He knows just as well as I do that I will not do it. The De Noirs all laugh.
"You're on No Man's Land, Syrena," Hummingbird pleads with me from the Freemen Forest. "It is agreed upon in this valley that no one is to kill or hurt one another on this territory, no matter their differences. That's what makes it safe to walk on."
"That's right. Wouldn't want to start a war, would we?" Robin's tone is taunting, but his eyes are kind and welcoming. I lower my weapon in remorse, really wanting to show off how daunting I am. The feeling I got from killing the pheasant subsides and I relax in the presence of the Prince. I fight smiling at him because I know that will give us away to Sir Leo.
"What do you want?" I ask Robin in a convincing aggravated tone.
"What do we want? Princess, what do you want? We're here to retrieve our kill." Robin steps over the carcass and moves closer to me while Foxflee retrieves his arrow.
"Your kill? How do you figure that?" I question.
"Well, it is true that you hit the poor bird and chased it here, but Foxflee was the one who killed it." Robin looks behind me and nods. "Long time no see, Hummingbird."
"And how much you've grown in the meantime, Robin," Hummingbird responds in a solemn tone.
"Hummingbird?" Phoenix steps out from behind Sir Leo. Phoenix nearly runs into the Freemen Forest as he shouts, "Ahe, Hummingbird!"
"Phoenix, stop, you fool!" Sir Leo commands him and Phoenix screeches to a halt. "Stay out of that damned place. Get back here!" Phoenix returns to Sir Leo and the knight strikes him across the face. "The Protectors prohibited the De Noirs from using that savage tongue."
"Their laws are powerless on this land," I shout, enraged that he both insulted the Thunderbird language and hit Phoenix. "Therefore, by punishing your comrade for breaking a rule that doesn't apply to this territory means that you have broken the rules of No Man's Land."
A look of complete shock crosses Sir Leo's face. He stares at me, dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the fact that he broke a rule. Phoenix covers his grin by wiping away fresh blood from his mouth. Proud of myself, I turn back to Robin. When I see how close he is, I nearly jump out of my skin.
"Feeling uncomfortable? Seeing how close we are and not being able to touch me? It must be so hard for to keep your hands to yourself," Robin whispers and chuckles. I give him a small smile of amusement. He notices that I am wearing his scarf and he beams at me.
"But I don't care about rules! I ought to kill you!" I raise my hand to pretend to strike the mischievous twinkle out of his eyes, but someone's arms suddenly wrap around my waist and pull me away. "Get off me!"
Gorgon does not listen to me. Instead, he pulls me back into the Freemen Forest as Typhon confronts Robin.
"You are out of your depths, De Noir," Typhon warns Robin, still unwilling to trust him.
"And you are out of your league." Robin stares after me, his smile dropping. He then glares at Gorgon. "She is an Empress. You are merely a villager."
"Warrior," Typhon corrects Robin. "And you are a low life De Noir."
"She can have the bird," Robin snaps with a scowl and Foxflee holds pheasant out toward me.
"Syrena, I am sorry, but you have to retrieve it. It's your kill." Hummingbird nods at Gorgon and he lets me go. I slowly walk back out to No Man's Land, making my way across to the pheasant. I reach Foxflee, Robin, Phoenix, and Sir Leo and cautiously reach for the pheasant. Robin grabs my hand and jerks me so that I am inches from his face. His eyes are staring deep into me, and I see a form of jealousy swirl in them.
"It must feel nice having men at your disposal, so willing to protect you, Princess," Robin almost growls.
"Those men are my friends, bird boy." I emphasize the last word which causes Robin grip harder. I raise an eyebrow, smirking in good spirit. He does not seem to understand.
"Friends with benefits," Robin sounds as if he is trying to make a point.
"We will have you under our custody sooner than you can imagine. Then the King and our Protectors will finally have their way with you. You'd better watch yourself," Sir Leo interjects.
"As should you. We will see each other soon enough and finally pick up where we left off," I say loud enough for the others to hear while never breaking eye contact with Robin. Satisfied, he lets go of me and I take the pheasant, leaving and not looking back. When I enter the Freemen Forest again, Typhon puts his hand on my back, leading me deeper into the woods. As I mount Ayemornielle, it finally clicks in my head what Robin meant. He thinks that Typhon and Gorgon fancy me. If only he knew that Typhon is married and Gorgon is soon to be. Jealous are we, Robin?
"Syrena, I am so proud," Hummingbird tells me once we ride deep enough into the forest. "Even though your second bird was not your own kill, your first one was clean and quick."
Hummingbird gives to me my first kill. I stare at the mound of lifeless feathers in my arms.
"I've never killed anything before." I almost feel bad for taking the life out of this bird. It was so beautiful and alive before I got to it. But maybe this is better; the crimson patch on its feathers grow and I nearly drool. I never knew how exciting it was to kill. Adrenaline pumps throughout my body as I stare at the blood. To be the one who chooses whether or not something gets to live or die has me feeling powerful. This new concept gets me thinking about how good it would feel to take the life of someone like the Chief or even Sir Leo. Once I spill their blood, I can move on to my uncle and then the Protectors of the De Noirs, whoever They are.
"Ayaka and Lord William will be proud as well. I'll show you how to prepare the pheasant for dinner." Hummingbird goes off on a rant, excited about the whole day. I want to ask him about the Protectors of the De Noirs, but Hummingbird's enthusiasm shuts me up. After all, he has never been invited to do anything with the Thunderbird Villagers before, so this is a big deal for him. I will let him have his moment.
But something from within me stirs. The sight and the smell of the blood of the kill intoxifies me, leaving me itching to create more.
Run, jump, kick, duck, punch, uppercut, elbow, fall, jab, roll, snap, breathe. I run through my fights with the De Noir boys and perfect my parts. I also make up some more moves of my own. The next time I see them, I am going to be prepared to take on Sir Leo again. Although I am in the training room practicing my fighting skills, my surroundings are blocked out by my rage. I imagine Sir Leo's figure standing before me and I throw a spinning knife hand which would land in his scowling face. Sweat drips off me as I throw harder jabs, perform intense kicks, and loosen my grip on the leash that holds my mind back from wanting to kill something.
"Pathetic," Sir Leo's voice whispers in my ear. I whip around and kick him in the temple.
"Weak." An illusion of the Chief appears behind me again. I perform a jumping back-kick to his knee, which would break it in real life
"All alone." An apparition of my uncle laughs at me. I grab his throat and bare my teeth at him, ready to finish him. I squeeze my hand tighter, constricting his neck. His face transforms into Robin's, and instead of fighting back, he touches my hand.
"Come with me. We don't need to fight," Robin whispers. I loosen my grip, confused. "Please, Syrena."
Robin disappears. I drop my arm and stare at the wall. Why am I so eager to want to kill? What am I becoming?
"You fight with anger," Ayaka's voice comes from behind me. "It is a very dangerous path to go down."
I look back at Ayaka who leans against the doorway. Her long hair is down and it hangs a little bit past her waist. She wears a pale yellow dress with deep blue silk and white lace accents. She holds a mahogany cane in her frail hands, something she has needed to use a lot lately. Her face is paler than normal and her brown eyes are tired. She is delicate and appears as if she belongs behind glass walls. She looks like a rare doll that will break if you so much as breathe on her.
"What has gotten you so angered, Syrena?" Ayaka pushes herself off of the wall and shuffles her way slowly to me.
I do not look into Ayaka's eyes. "The hunt, Lord William, my father, and Chief Thunderbird. I am angered by the De Noir knight and how he thinks me to be weak. I hate the fact that he's hurt me so many times and I cannot seem to make him pay for all that he's done."
Ayaka hums and looks out the window for a bit. The only sound that fills the room is my heavy breathing.
"Whenever you were angered by Ezra back in the city you would go up to your room and listen to your music box." Ayaka smiles softly at the memory. "Try to remember the tune that your parents had made for you."
"Remember your destiny." I close my eyes at the sound of my mother's voice in my mind. The tune of my music box plays in my head. The soft and soothing melody calms me until vivid memories come forward and impose themselves in my mind.
"Stop!" I cried, pleading with Foxflee not to shoot.
"No mercy!" Phoenix snickered and the first arrow was set loose, blowing up the carriage.
"Ayaka!" I screamed into the smoke as soon as I recovered.
"You are pathetically weak and all alone." Sir Leo laughed at me.
"Far above into the sky,
God's tears fall from His eyes."
I looked up into my mother's blue eyes as she sang to me, holding my fingers. But then her voice contorted and her face changed into the dark, scaly figure that haunts my nightmares.
"The Angels fall,
Demons crawl."
I grab at my ears, desperately trying to block out the distressing song. I attempt to chasten my mind, trying to pull myself together. I end up flinching at every haunting memory until Ayaka's hand touches the top of my head. I look up at her, truly scared.
"My child," Ayaka's voice is faint. "Your mind is a troubled one. You are strong, Syrena, even more so than your mother. She died believing in you. We all believe in you, Syrena, but do you believe in yourself? Surely it is your own mind that tortures you more than anything else."
Ayaka moves her hand from my head to my left cheek, giving me a half-hearted smile. I am so close to smiling back at Ayaka, but then her hand drops from my face to her side. Her whole body collapses and her already damaged head nearly hits the ground. I blink and when I open my eyes, Hummingbird is kneeling on the ground with Ayaka's head safely in the nook of his elbow. I do not know when he entered the room, but I am glad he did so in time to catch her. The rest of Ayaka's body is like drapes in his arms; limp and weak. Hummingbird looks up at me, his eyes full of fear.
"She's getting worse." My throat tightens up. "Hummingbird, what if she..."
"She won't die." Hummingbird stands, carrying Ayaka in his arms. "Her will to live is too strong. Let's put her on her bed."
We walk quietly to Ayaka's chambers, both of us not wanting to admit how scared we really are about Ayaka's health.
"We can bring her to see Basilisk in the morning," Hummingbird suggests once we exit Ayaka's room. My only response is a single nod and then we part ways. I make my way to my own room, looking down at my feet the whole time. Ayaka has been by my side my whole life. I cannot lose her. If I do, my sanity will go with her.
I walk into wall - not a wall, but a person. I do not even back up to see who it is. I bury my face into their chest and close my eyes. I just want a break.
"Syrena, have you lost your mind? Get off of me!" My uncle pushes me away from him.
"Ayaka is dying," I admit aloud for the first time. "I don't know what to do."
"Well, for starters, you can watch where you are walking." Lord William brushes himself off. "And we're all dying, Syrena. This whole valley is dying faster because of all the fuss you're causing us."
"I beg your pardon?" I ask after a long pause, wanting to make sure I actually heard what Lord William said correctly.
"See, that's exactly what I mean," my uncle says as a matter of fact. "Your questions and your cluelessness. You're so high maintenance and naive. No wonder why Ayaka is being driven into her grave faster than anyone else."
I grab Lord William's collar and pull his head down to my level so fast that I catch him off guard.
"You promised us a home," I drop my voice and try to resist the urge to choke him. "You promised us safety and a sense of belonging. It's all a façade and I can see right through your lies, William."
I push him out of my way and race to my chambers. I hate this place. I need to get away; it is tearing me apart. I feel like I need to do something to take my mind off of everything and to control my anger. I grab my katana, put on my black cloak, and I storm down the stairs. Someone or something is going to have to pay for my fury. All I want is blood, but no one is in the dining hall or in the living room; it is as if no one lives here at all. I exhale sharply and stroll out of the manor with deliberation. When I make it to the paddock, every horse but Ayemornielle shies away from me.
"It's time for another hunt." My breath is hot and my eyes are crazed. Ayemornielle just stares silently at me. "Whose blood shall we spill tonight?"