Embers of Fall

Spring Blood

After their travel back, with weary hearts they gave a proper burial for Ete and Jaea, burying their ashes back in the soil in their home land. There, they rebuilt their tents and worked hard to recover what had been lost.

When March arrived, they had fully settled back in and were greeted by the luscious green plains and dense forests. Everything grew bountiful and they regrew their crops as animals and their new offspring roamed their lands.

It was peaceful and quaint. Everything that Navati dreamed it would be, but she had never forgotten her true goal.

She sat crouched upon a cliff that overlooked the Setoc tribe and hummed softly. The wind blew through her hair, caressing her skin as she closed her eyes and lifted her head to the heavens. She hoped her father would see and find peace. Though he brought peace, she could not let the Setoc's get away with what they had done.

She smelled rain and sensed a storm was coming on the wind. Anger brewed.

When she reopened her eyes, she cast her gaze down to see a man leave his tent, it was the man she had been waiting months for.

Silently, she fled down the mountainside, bow in hand and heard a sharp whistle. Her eyes shot down to see Kotve waiting below her with their horses and ran to him.

His eyes burned into hers and she nodded to him. "Let's go," She mounted her horse and didn't wait for him. But she didn't have to, he followed her down to the plains below and readied his own bow. Racing through, they had only one target in mind and that was the chief. Had she gotten revenge sooner, she would have burned them all to the ground, but she knew better than that by now.

As her mare charged through the camp, hooves pounding against the dampening earth, and mane whipping against her hands, her tribesmen that had hidden themselves among the woods, sprang into action. They stormed in, avenging their lost loved ones. Their screams echoing with pain and of anger. And most of all vengeance.

Navati pulled the string taut with the sharpened arrow and aimed when her eyes met the brown eyes of the chief. The arrow flew, sent to pierce through his chest. He fell back as his people screamed and Kotve struck him a second time to avenge his own father. He then aimed for the men who held their spears, eager to throw a counterattack, but upon seeing his misclored eyes, they dropped them and surrendered.

They hadn't known it was true. The man with one gold eye and one green. A monster, born with mixed blood who was prophesied to curse anyone he killed. Their deaths would be in vain and their spirits would never find peace. He was the new chief of the tribes Vahili and Kende and carried with him the fortune of the heavens.

But their eyes soon stared in the direction of his wife. The daughter of the chief Apohi, whose eyes blazed forth like fire and whose heart burned uncontrollably. They accepted their defeat, knowing misfortune would fall on them if they went against fate.

It was fate that brought them there.

It was fate that tied them together.

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Back in the confines of their cave, Navati nestled close to Kotve and faintly smiled as he kissed her. His large hand then smoothed over her stomach that swelled with life and his lips at last formed a smile. She looked at him, capturing it in her memory and laughed when he asked her what she was staring at.

"Your smile, I don't know when I'll see it again, so I'm trying to keep it in my memory," She answered honestly as he propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. He stroked her hair, letting it fall like silk through his fingers before he lowered his body and head to kiss her shoulder, her arm, then her stomach.

By now her stomach was finally showing and all those times that she had been sick was because she had fallen pregnant. She had thought it was because of how much she had been eating, to which Kotve laughed, but Pata assured her that she indeed carried a life within her.

It was strange to know that their baby had managed to survive all of their ordeals and it only followed the prophecy that their baby would indeed be their blessing. A miracle child who'd seal their fate and bring prosperity for their tribe.

A final symbol of peace that solidified the bond between Kende and Vahili.

"If it's a girl we should name her Jyota and if its a boy, Avu or Katalo," Kotve suggested and crept lower, holding her thighs.

She grew distracted. "Those are good choices, I'll think about it." She was about to ask what he was doing, but bit back a moan. Her eyes fluttered shut as he tended to her, meeting her heat with his mouth.

He found a way to constantly remind her that she was all his.

When finished, he rose again, allowing her to relax and she spared him a glance. "Give me a warning next time," She draped her arm then across her face and caught her breath. He laughed and gathered her close, kissing her hair, "And ruin all the fun?"

"You're awful," She mumbled and turned to face him, her hands lifting to touch his cheek. Her thumb traced slowly over the small pale scars along his jaw and near his mouth. He kissed her finger as she did so and closed his eyes.

Now that things had calmed down for them, he decided to ask her a question he had been holding in up until this point.

"Are you satisfied?"

He didn't ask to find out whether or not she was satisfied with him, but rather if she was satisfied after fulfilling her desire for revenge and if she had found her life and blood with the tribe ran thicker than the part that was inevitably tied to foreigners.

Navati quieted and tapped her thumb against his skin in thought, then she looked at him. Her hazel eyes piercing and bright from the glow of their fire. "Yes."

He relaxed, but smiled again. "That's not a very convincing answer."

"Fine." She sighed and raised up to press a kiss to his lips. "I belong here with you and the tribe. I can never leave this land. It's home to me and always will be. You're home to me."

He gazed at her, his gold and green eyes lightening, "You said it better than I could," then he kissed her.

She was still a flame, ready to burst to life, but he was the gentle waters she needed, there to cool and steady her.

Together they'd grow closer and welcome their first child.

As embers fall, a new fire can begin again.

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