Embers of Fall

Empty Bones

At this rate, they wouldn't survive winter.

It took days to clean up the camp and recover what they could find, but most of their crops and belongings were burned away. There was barely anything left and little time to repair and remake everything.

Their numbers had dwindled to near zero, only sparing a few. They had dropped from thirty to twelve in just one night and even then, they could not afford to provide for each person. There were only two children, four women, and 6 men left. There had been almost twenty alive after the wreckage, but they had succumbed to their major injuries.

Everything and everyone was left in disarray. Their beloved chiefs and people were gone. All had been lost and within the confines of the cave, they were sitting ducks without food and the means to survive. No one had the strength or will to hunt. But winter would wait for no one.

The first flakes of snow spiraled down early that November morning and Navati sat at the mouth of the cave to watch in sorrowful silence. Her hands still burned and were covered in honey and pine sap before being wrapped with leaves and thin cloth and kept fully hidden by thick gloves in order to keep them warm and clean. They remained stiff in her lap and she grimaced when she tried to move her fingers. All she could think about was recovering so that she could find the chief of the Setoc tribe and deliver the same fate her father had suffered, but her body was slow to heal and often she fell weak and faint.

But most of all she was hungry.

The women that were left tended to the two children and tried to find herbs for medicine and to make hot tea with, while the men at last set traps and tried to hunt what they could find. They were all driven by the same hunger.

But most of the animals retreated for hibernation, leaving most of the land barren and many of the herbs had moved on. It was only a matter of time before everything completely froze over.

They settled on chewing roots and bark and sipped on the hot tea made with dried herbs, but their stomachs would not settle. It soured the atmosphere and dampened their hope and spirits. They had held proper funerals and burials for the bodies that had been found prior, while everything else awaited the snow to be buried from view.

Today they were set to move and leave their land behind, at least until winter was over. They'd have to venture to find the closest tribe whom they had an alliance with or deal with foreigners. There was the Lokave river tribe tucked away in the valleys of the Ames and the Olabi who retreated into the mountains, succumbing to their wild nature. In truth they didn't know much about either and had nothing worthy of trade and attempting to form an alliance empty handed would be dangerous. The only thing they had was horses.

Navati wondered if Kotve who was out scouting with a few of the men would be able to find a way.

He promised he would be back before noon, leaving to unable to do anything but cling to his promise and wait. Had her spirits risen and her hands healed, she'd have been hunting or scavenging. Maybe even traveling to reach the other tribes on her own.

But she could only stare at the falling snow for a while longer until the sound of children crying pulled her back into the cave.

One of the women, Pata, was trying desperately to calm the two year old, Hina, while the other four year old yelled and stomped his feet. He was a thin boy with a lot more anger than she thought could come out of his small body, but he still demanded to see his mom.

He wanted no one but her and the other women had strayed far into the cave as his cries reminded them of those they had lost.

Sighing, Navati looked to the boy and took her dagger from her pocket. Pata gasped upon seeing it and gave her a look of terror and fear, but Navati shook her head and merely showed it to him. "You want to know how I got it?"