The Unknown RP

Chapter 4- Kairys

Kairys~

I ducked under a low-hanging tree branch, brushing leaves out of my eyes. My eyes failed to catch sight of a tree root in my path and I nearly tripped, managing not to spill my armful of wood onto the ground.

Mora nodded to me as I entered the camp. Tanirion it was called, a gathering of outcasts. I was lucky I had found it. It rested several steps inland of Lyr Terïn, nestled among a heavy growth of trees and close to a bowl-shaped dip in the ground. If need be, we could escape to Belumon.

Sometimes I almost wished an unsuspecting stranger would stumble upon our camp. Besides the Tainted, I had never seen another creature in my life - or I didn't remember it. I had been isolated as a child, brought up by hired caretakers who abandoned me when I was seven, as the law dictated. I didn't remember them.

"Kair," greeted Esond coldly. "Late again, I see."

I stilled my hand, which was reaching for the pouch around my neck out of habit. A pure dragon scale rested inside, my most treasured - and only - possession. It was still warm, a reminder of my visit to Isaren. "My apologies," I replied, depositing the wood on the ground, not giving him a reason. Isaern was my dragon. If Esond knew one lived around here, he would probably have it butchered and turn its hide into clothes. I almost shuddered at the idea of a dragon cut into pieces.

I had received the scale as a gift. Part of a dragon freely given, Isaren had told me, was a great honour. Whenever its owner was near, it would grow warm.

Esond grunted. "Make sure it doesn't happen again." He turned away to reprimand someone else. I hurried off to the wood-house I shared with nineteen others. Because I had an errand, I had missed the Night Meal. I wasn't looking forward to fighting others for leftovers in the fire pit, however, so I walked in. Most of them were already there. I checked the water bowl - empty. Of course. The life of an outcast wasn't exactly luxurious. Even here, where you could live in a group, you had to fight to survive.

"We missed you at Night Meal, Kairys!" someone muttered. It was Malif, Mora's sister. A brand down her right cheek indicated that she had amnesty in all parts of Ellond. In my wood-house, I was one of the only people who hadn't gotten Marked yet. Mora hadn't either, but he lived in another wood-house.

The people nearby snickered. "Kairys the Nameless," Lane jeered. "How does it feel to be a little child?"

I tried to ignore them, but their taunts only awakened the dread that had been sitting dormant in my stomach. I wasn't sure exactly, but I knew that soon, I would have to earn a second name - and my Mark. This was the way of the Tainted. And there was no ducking out of this.