Embers of Fall

White Water

Upon arriving at camp, his eyes flashed with fear at seeing the wreckage. He quickly dismounted with the other men hot on his heels. They looked around camp, seeing the horses missing and were greeted by silence.

With hurried steps, he rushed into their cabin and slammed open the doors, seeing no one there. The room he shared with Navati was empty and the fire had not been lit. Pata and the children were nowhere to be seen either.

They searched frantically through the remaining cabins, finding a horrifying sight. On the bed laid a disfigured man, his body rotting, but seeing his red hair, they knew it was Ackins.

To the side, on the floor laid another body, and Kotve kneeled beside the injured man to feel for his breath.

Gaken heard them and slowly opened his eyes, weakly drawing in a breath. "They left.." He closed his eyes again, unable to move as his body ached and Kotve ordered Hescen to remain with Gaken, while they hunted down Jack and the women.

Outside, a few hoof prints still laid faintly fresh on the snow, but there were broken branches and some signs of struggle that led into the trees, so he sent Ateck and Orechi to follow the hoof prints, while he followed the other trail on foot. His heart pounded in his chest as he retrieved his bow and arrow and knife from the saddlebag on his horse, then he crouched and eyed the footsteps and the scattered droplets of blood.

It looked like two people had came through, both seemingly barefoot. He could tell by the prints that the smaller feet must have been one of the women's. As he drew close, stepping over the scattered branches and prints, he was afraid of what he would find.

He wanted to call for Navati, but knew if Jack was still near, he'd have to take on the element of surprise.

Quietly, he crept along and watched as the blood stopped and glanced seeing that the footprints also stopped. Something had been dragged a few dozen feet ahead.

He kept along the path and froze when he heard a yell and a cry, then all was silent. He held his breath, struggling to remain calm, then saw the forms in the distance. Deep in the snow, bare legs kicked and the bulking form of a man hovered over. Blonde hair caught the light of the sun and Kotve felt something in him snap again.

With silent ease, he pressed the arrow against the string of his bow and pulled slowly back, stretching it as far as it could go without splitting. With his green eye, he squinted and aimed before he fired and the arrow whistled through the cold air before diving into the man's back. Kotve didn't stop and prepared another arrow, aiming quickly and firing. He repeated this three times, successfully shooting down Jack.

Jack, sat back in shock and tried to pull at the arrows that pierced deep into his back, their tips visible through the front of his chest. Blood dripped from his mouth and dampened his shirt as he looked at Navati, then someone's hand gripped his hair, pulling his head back, giving him a chance to see who his assailant was before he met death.

The last thing he saw was the miscolored eyes of Kotve and the feel of his hunting knife against his throat before the world fell to black.

Kotve slit his neck open in one quick motion and shoved him to the side to paint the snow red. He stood panting and relieved when he saw Navati laying there in her dress barefoot. She stared at him with wide, round eyes and then tears swarmed like waves before falling from her cheeks.

A strangled sound came from her throat as he helped her onto her feet, his heart hammering in his chest.

He moved her hair away from her face and brushed away her tears and examined her from head to toe, "Did he hurt you?" He then opened her mouth, seeing that her cheek was bruised and swollen and blood had coated her teeth. His body shook, but she fell into him, wailing.

"They killed Ete and Ackins he..he hurt Jaea and Mica. Jaea wasn't the same anymore, so she.." She began, stammering between short breaths and cries as she sobbed into his coat. He smoothed his hand over her hair and kissed the top of her head, holding her close. "We can talk about it later, for now just rest." He murmured and lifted her slowly into his arms, seeing that her skin and feet were raw and frozen.

He trudged away from the body of Jack, cursing him and hoped the wolves would tear into him. He had gotten a swifter death than he had deserved and though Kotve wanted to do worse to him, his thoughts and attention was focused completely on Navati.

Although the ranch only brought painful and nightmarish memories, they stayed and waited for Gaken to heal. By then, Nathan had stopped by to deliver Rosho who was now in a much better condition. The green-eyed man had wished Navati luck in finding out about her mother and apologized to what was left of their tribe once more before leaving for good.

That was the last time he'd meddle with a foreigner and when spring began, they saddled up their horses and said farewell to the ranch once and for all.

It had changed their lives forever, but they carried with them newfound resilience and strength after surviving such a harsh winter.

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