Borne of Fire

Chapter 37

They left at dawn the following day. There were no long, drawn-out, heart-felt good-byes or final words of warning from any of them. All that had been done and said the night previous in a roundabout way and nobody felt any urgency to revisit any of it so soon.

What few belongings they had were packed along with basic provisions for their journey. They knew that the going would be difficult at times but the watchers were seasoned travellers of the road and Braxter was quietly confident in his own ability to survive.

Randyl was the one most eager to be on their way but whether to reach Boreham or simply search for Ulrogg to kill, the others couldn't be sure.

Over the next few days they travelled East, the days changed from damp and grey to clear and bright, unseasonably warm for the time of year with the green plains seeming to come alive and relish the change from the frost and snow of previous weeks. Under other circumstances Braxter would have been tempted to enjoy the views and peace of the surrounding lands but the absence of any other wildlife around them loomed as an ever-present reminder that although the weather was fine, everything else was most definitely not.

Braxter found his mind wandering on more than one occasion as he imagined in his previous life how he and Randyl would most certainly have taken advantage of the break in the weather to go on one adventure or another. An overnight cook-out at the creak maybe or a night hunt for some gaston - timid and wiry, they were hard to catch in the dark but so, so worth it once you had a brace.

Boyhood adventures.

Kid's stuff.

Nothing like the horror he found himself living through now. How he wished and hoped and prayed to the maker every night that when he woke in the morning, everything would be as it was, as it used to be. But his wishes were not granted, his hopes were dashed on waking and his prayers went unheard. Things were never going to be the same again and when he thought about it, Braxter couldn't even imagine a time when things would be even remotely like they were again. Not for a day, an hour or even a moment. The path ahead of them looked bleak - one of constant fear, interspersed with periods of violence and pain followed eventually and inevitably by death, hopefully a quick and relatively painless one.

Not for the last time, what once seemed the kind of adventure which boys of his age only dreamt about, had become a reality and the reality was the stuff of nightmares.

The following days followed a similar pattern for Braxter - walk, eat rarely, walk some more, try to forget how cold, hungry and scared you were, walk even more, stop to rest and see if one of them could find something, anything to eat, then walk until they could walk no more. Then they would make camp as best they could, finding whatever shelter they were able to in the wilderness without having to take too much time or effort over it, before spending a few hours in a fitful and restless sleep.

While they travelled, they were constantly on the look-out for any sign of the Ulrogg with Randyl or Ja'aris walking ahead and the others following behind. This accompanied by the dogged nature of their long journey meant that conversation was fleeting and brief. Regardless, L'non still made attempts to talk to Braxter - mostly educating him in the horticulture and geography of the new environment. To Braxter it was a steep learning curve which he struggled with but didn't shirk from, taking a strange comfort in the time and effort L'non was putting into him. While on a night he could not tell himself he was actually looking forward to each new day, he could understand the need for learning survival skills and did his best to understand every lesson L'non gave him. He quickly began to learn which shrubs he could eat without harming himself and which to stay clear of, which tree barks he could digest and which could be burnt and used as a salve. Although far from keeping his belly full, that information he knew may be just enough to keep him alive in this new world.