The SpellBinder's Grim Book Two: Incinerate

Chapter 2

Fredrick laced his hunting knife to his side and rubbed herbs onto his skin. Ara stood behind him, her arms crossed over her chest in annoyance.

"I told you that we can go without meat for now. We can wait," Aralena said crossly, her hands running over her belly.

Fredrick looked up from where he was kneeling in the dirt and scowled, his gaze going from her belly to her face. "We do not have the luxury of waiting Aralena. The baby will be here soon and then what? You need to have your strength and meat is good for you."

"I heard it last night- a werewolf. Tonight there is a full moon and you know that is when they have the least control of themselves," Ara argued.

"I will be home before nightfall, not after. Besides, you have those- marks or whatever around here, they cannot pass through. Nothing can."

Aralena looked to the trees at the sigils she had scorched into the bark. The sigils allowed nothing that was not human or her blood to pass through.

"I just feel uneasy about it. It can wait. Please?" She pleaded with him, unfolding her arms to look more inviting. Her breath made small clouds as she breathed in the cold morning air. The ground was still slightly frosted, but it would warm up as the sun rose.

He stood up and kissed her on the cheek. "I will be back before it gets dark, I would have to be an idiot to stay out after dark in these parts."

Ara huffed and turned her back at him, stomping into their wooden home and slamming the door.

"You will thank me later!" He called after her and snickered. He looked up at the sky and quietly prayed.

"Lord, please. I beg of you. Give me a son. Do not let me be the only male in this house."

"I can hear you!" Ara called from an opened window. She did her best glare she good, trying not to crack a small, though the corners of her lips twitched.

"And you will forgive me!" Fredrick laughed.

"What makes you so certain I will forgive you?"

"You already have! Just look at that smile," he boasted.

Ara's irritated demeanor changed and she grinned from ear to ear at him before shutting the window.

He had several hours of sunlight left, and he needed to catch what he could before the night creatures awoke and made this place dangerous again.

There were several traps he had made the day before, though he doubted that anything was left- if anything at all had been caught. These woods were home to scavengers of both the mundane and mythical. He had stumbled on a bear three times his size once- dead- its organs strewn in the grass and branches of trees. There were things in these woods that could mutilate bears, and he would not forget that.

The first two traps were empty- sprung- but they were empty. He set them up again, tying knots with twine he brought from home and settling sticks together. He reached for some berries in his pockets and buried them slightly in the dirt so that whatever animal happened across it would have to dig for it- setting off his traps.

Each trap he went to was empty, two of which still untouched. The only trap at this point that held any promise was the line he had dropped in the river yesterday, furthest from his home. He looked up at the sky and squinted, the sun still overhead- he had time.

He had to be careful though, the river was the closest body of water that a village distant from them had. He could end up meeting a human- an unfriendly. He walked to the river, keeping his eyes open for any movement. Game was so hard to come by here because of all the creatures that scared them away. He had wanted to move to the town of Nordstram, but Aralena thought it was too dangerous to be so close to humans that way.