The heady smell of moist earth tickled my nose as I watched the silky screen of rain descending over the woods. A shiver ran down my spine as the temperature dropped another few degrees. Wrapping my robe tighter around my freezing form with a shudder, I caught sight of a grey bundle scurrying towards me, balancing on the thin rope bridge connecting our two trees.
The shape set the bridge gently swaying with each step, so much so that I couldn’t help but worry about the traveller’s footing as the sleek rain kept pouring down. Holding my breath, I watched the figure dip and twirl, fighting the slick ropes and gravity in their shuffle to safety. When the figure crashed into the branches below, the warm breath of my sigh enveloped my face for a glorious moment.
“Hey.” The figure panted hugging the security of the pine’s trunk.
“You know better than to try and catwalk out over here in the rain.”
“Yeah, well.” The form shrugged pulling layer upon layer of saturated cloth away from his body. The heavy, dark fabric fell away, squelching with water until it finally revealed the face of the visitor, his head plastered with wet hair. A vigorous shake sent the icy water flying and I protested, an unhappy groan escaping my pursed lips.
“Sle! You’re too old for this scit!”
“Probably.” Sle smiled, his teeth glinting in the grey light. A sudden frown marred his face. Brushing the soaked strands away from his eyes, he asked, “Are you serious about doing a raid today?”
“Sadly, yes.”
“Gods, Ayri! Why?”
“You know why.” Sliding off the rough platform that was my bed, I lowered myself towards Sle, keenly aware of his growing grin at my ungraceful descent. Summoning all the dignity I could muster, I glared at him as my legs dangled childishly, toes prodding the bark below for a hold. When my foot found a solid perch, I transferred all my weight with caution, careful not to move too fast and lose my balance on the slick branch. Secure, I continued, looking down at Sle a few branches below. “They’ve been Marked. They have to do a raid. Today.”
“I know, but it’s raining.”
“Yeah. It is.”
In unison, we stared out into the disheartening greyness just beyond the screen of needles. A giant cold dollop of rain fell from the branches above on to the back of my neck and ran down my spin, invading the warm cocoon my heat and clothes had created. A shudder ran down my spine, following the drop’s trail until it was absorbed by the fabric, leaving another cool, damp patch on my clothes.
“Fine.” Turning away from the dismal sight, Sle tried to wring out some of his clothes in vain. “When?”
“Twenty minutes.”
With a crisp nod, Sle turned to face the slick bridge once more.
“Sle?”
“Yep?”
“Really?”
He shot another glance out at the perilous ropes stringing between the trees and the sharp needles protecting the bridge from both sides.
“Nope.”
He swung down the tree, clinging close to the trunk, fingers scrabbling for holds in the moist bark.
“I expect that you’ll have a good fire going by the time that we get back.”
Sle’s forehead puckered and he looked up, perplexed, at me his body wrapped around the trunk intimately. “What?”
I sat myself down on one of the branches and leant down, addressing him. “Have a fire going. We’re going to be cold.”
A smile lit up Sle’s face making the yearning tone in his voice all the more evident. “Are you sure you can handle those kids on your own?”
JE LEEST
No Hands but My Own
FantasyIt was bound to happen. When the tribes in the South conglomerated into the Southern Union, they thought that they could rewrite their past. They thought that their Unification could bring about a new age – an age of new intellectual thought where...
