2023-01-23 18:42:53
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The nation Chapter 99
The morale was low, people were suffering from sore feet, twisted ankles, even broken bones were not uncommon on the road. The attitude of the people was shifting, the helping people they once were slowly turned into selfishness, the sharing with neighbors, the caring for others way of life they had all lived was dying. The people who walked were the most upset, they had to sleep on the ground, some with little to no shelter to speak of, they saw the big carts of the leadership and were envious and jealous of their position. The tempers of the travelers flared up more often now as well, fights over pieces of land to sleep on, shoving matches over food, and yelling at one another were increasing among the travelers. Tensions ran high every day, every day there were new injuries or equipment failures, predators killed livestock. The horses they relied on struggled under increasing burdens. The caravan was a time bomb and Rognvald was its short fuse.None of the people in the caravan kne
The nation Chapter 100
Kaya’s shirt drooped open; it exposed some more of her chest to Rollins as the baby rooted for a nipple. “Talia.” Called Kaya, Talia was sitting in the back of the cart, “I think the baby is hungry.”“Ok Kaya, lemme climb up to the front where you are.” Said Talia, Gorman was dying to say something but the rebuke from Kaya moments ago had his lips closed firmly.“No need Talia, I think we are going to stop up here. This looks like a good place to rest doesn’t it Rollins?” “It does.” Was Rollins reply.The spot was shaded by a stand of trees that formed a natural archway. The grass was tall and blew in the breeze, the trees were willows and there branches drooped onto the ground, gently swaying with the grass. The smell of the water from the river was refreshing, the sound the river made was audible from a hundred meters or more. The sun was moving closer to the western horizon, it was getting close to dusk. The group stopped in the stand of trees, they used some fallen branches to ma
The nation Chapter 101
They didn’t speak to each other, Rognvald and Lilly, they said things like hello and goodnight, but they did not talk to each other anymore. Oren was doing things to small animals that he caught daily, he broke their legs, or plucked feathers, and delighted in the animals painful cries. Lilly and Claudia have seen this behavior and they both tried to talk to Rognvald about it, he seemed unmoved by his sons twisted actions. Oren was growing as well, it has been known that some children can experience growth spurts over the summer months, Oren was in the middle of one of those spurts. He enjoyed the pain he felt in his body, his bones ached fiercely from the quick growth, he didn’t complain about it once but the suffering showed in his eyes, along with a growing madness. Claudia missed her life back in Ondu, she would give up her brother in a heartbeat to go back there, but she was stuck in this frickin cart, with her frickin brother. She had trouble occupying her mind, there was alway
The nation Chapter 102
Something was happening to his mind, he is losing it, thought Oscar. Oscar left Rognvald sitting with a mug of beer in the front of his wagon. Oscar would send a hunter across but first he would send out scouts to see if there was a better, safer, place to cross. Oscar was a lot of things, but a fool his mother did not raise. Gorman was an asshole but he didn’t know that he was, he never put two and two together, he thought that the women he tried to talk to weren’t into him for some odd reason. He was tall, attractive, and competent, his mother always said so. It confounded him each time a woman walked away from him or paid him no attention. His mouth and attitude may have turned them off. Gorman was upfront about his needs, he wanted to take all of the beautiful women to bed and couldn’t understand his lack of success. He would tell them how beautiful they were, how they smelled nice, he often complimented something the women did; cooking, bead work, things like that. If they didn’
The nation Chapter 103
Rollins was never popular with anyone in Ondu, especially the boys and girls her age. She knew she was different, but in a special way as her mother put it, her mother would always say, you are here to teach all of The People an important lesson, and I love you for that. It had been a long time since she had thought about those words, and all of the hatred she endured from her peers, she had only known the touch of a few people. Her mother’s touch of course, her mother was the only female to ever touch her, Rollins had only breastfed from her mother’s nipples, the midwives would have nothing to do with her. Two men would touch her, much in the same loving way as her mother, but one of their touches was different. Davyn was the closest man to her in Ondu, he was like a father to her, the only one she would ever know. The other man was Morgan, he was a mentor to her and his touch was that of a teacher. He helped her to hold her bow better, his hands over hers, he stood behind her showin
The nation Chapter 104
They were about to cross the river; the sun was cresting over the mountain’s peak but they remained in its shadow. They had eaten breakfast and talked about what they would do to cross the river, Rollins reiterated how dangerous it was, even in this place where the buffalo cross. Gorman was sullen at breakfast, Lorne was upset with the dog’s gas, Talia slept in and Kaya helped Rollins cook the meal. The horses and cart would go last, Erek wanted to be across the river with a rope tied to them to help guide the horses across, Rollins liked that idea and suggested that they cross using the wedge. When everyone looked at her in ignorance, she explained.“Erek is the strongest so he will be first, we will all be tied together with the rope,” she held it up for emphasis, “the next person will go but position themselves ten steps downstream from Erek, then the third person will go and they will be ten steps behind the second person and so on.”Rollins went on to explain that everyone should
The nation Chapter 105
Erek watched the rest of the party as they carried on, he didn’t see the dog get up, he felt the dog though, the dog bumped him sharply just above his knee. The one dog got up and was anxious to get going, he knew that it was time and wanted to get this over with. The big two-leg was watching the others chatter again, so the one dog bumped the big man with his hip, it was a little harder than he thought so he turned and smiled at the man. Erek stumbled and almost fell over when the dog bumped his leg, the rest of the group stopped talking when Erek yipped.“You alright with that dog?” Asked Rollins.“Yeah, I guess I have to carry him. Besides he looks as eager as I feel about getting this over with.” Said Erek as the river flowed bye at nineteen kilometers per hour.They were all in the water now, they were in the formation that Rollins had described, Erek out front, now burdened with the dog, then Lorne, Talia, Gorman, and Rollins. Kaya would have to watch them cross first, as long a
The nation Chapter 106
“Oh fuck!” Yelled Erek, “Percy is too scared, pull, everyone pull hard.” Even Gorman pulled.Erek watched as the horses teetered on the edge of losing it, Percy bucked next to Gerard who bucked back in response. He saw Kaya, who’s hair was growing back now, she was frantic with fear. The river flowed by uncaring. Erek pulled, he felt the rope behind him as the others pulled with him, he couldn’t let anything happen to this girl, he didn’t know why he felt this way about her but she was special and he was to help her any way he could. His heart told him to pull harder. Percy came back down to all fours, Gerard followed him, then Percy pushed hard with his back legs and Gerard followed. Kaya could see Percy trying to move the cart, she knew that he would have made it across easily without the cart but it had all of their gear and supplies, they couldn’t leave it. The cart moved forward again, it crept behind the struggling horses, her companions pulled from the bank. As the cart got goi
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Chapter 141
“Alright,” Rognvald said, “that was a good walk.” He pulled Lilly towards his chambers, she wanted to resist but she was ready for him, her body waited excitedly.Oren walked over to the wailing wife of Hastiin, he knelt down and put his fingers in the cooling blood on the ground, he never looked at the woman. Her wails fell on his deaf ears, as well as the rest of the caravan’s, after the commotion was over the people simply went about their business. Oren’s fingers felt the stickiness of the cooling blood, he rubbed them together feeling its viscosity. The urge to taste the man’s blood was too strong for Oren to resist, it tasted of iron and a touch of salt, he swirled the taste around his tongue to reach every taste bud. He didn’t put his whole finger into his mouth, just the tips touched his tongue, his eyes lit with some knowledge he didn’t understand. It gave him ideas, thoughts on how to do what he was born to do, rule. He thought about how to kill his father, for he knew that
Chapter 140
Thewolf from the trees saw the one it wanted, it ran as fast as he could, but a two-leg gave his stealth away. He did not stop, he had to kill now, there would be no other opportunity. When the woman’s words registered in everyone else’s mind, they turned to see the wolf coming for them, they had all heard of the animal attacks but they had never been a part of one. Lilly and Claudia froze, Oren waited to see who would get eaten, Oscar and Hastiin looked for an out. The wolf leapt up and into the air, the man he landed on was bitten cleanly in the throat, the sound of his wind pipe being torn out was sickening. The wolf had torn out the wrong throat, Hastiin lay bleeding from a throat the was not whole anymore, a gasping whistling sound came from his opened neck wound, the man’s hands felt the deadly damage. The wolf looked quickly around, there was the one he needed to kill, the wolf moved so fast. Rognvald’s smile never once faded, the wolf charged at him, he stood, waiting.The wolf
Chapter 139
“Thank you mother.” Said Talia.“Thank you as well,” Kaya’s eye’s pleaded for something, some miracle to save her friend. “Leave him here with me,” Sooleeaway said, she held an open palm towards Bram, “Talia will stay and help with his care. Let me look at you child.” But the healer paused before inspecting Kaya.Kaya did not flinch when Sooleeaway reached towards her face, she stood and respected the older woman, even after she was referred to as a child. Kaya’s younger self would have tried to correct the older woman, there by reaffirming her status as a child, on this day she merely stood and waited for the healer to look her over.“Pardon me,” said Sooleeaway, “you are grown now, Kaya Tasso Flistedt. You have changed, you are a child no more.” The healer spoke no more.Sooleeaway inspected Kaya, she found cuts healed, bruises, blisters, and a nearly mended heart. The heart was not spoken of, but her physical injuries were treated. Kaya left Talia with Bram, there was nothing for
Chapter 138
“We have to get him to the bend in the river.” Talia told Kaya.“Can he travel?”“He will have to, we need to settle before the winter and Bram needs to heal, the best thing for all of us is to get to the bend.”Kaya knew Talia was right, she felt the urge to settle for winter the same as Talia did, Bram was a concern and she had no idea if he would make it. He remained unconscious fighting for his life.“I feel it to,” said Kaya, “we should go this morning, will you let everyone know that we are leaving?”“Of course.”“I’ll stay with Bram until you get back, then I’ll harness old Percy and we can get going before noon.”When Talia left Bram’s tent, Kaya looked at her friend, the burly man was lying on a buffalo skin blanket, sleeping fitfully. She watched his breathing, it was still labored and shallow, Talia said the venom attacked the victims muscles, making it hard to move or breathe. Kaya didn’t want to remember Bram as he was now, she wanted to remember him like he was in Ondu,
Chapter 137
The force like no other was the will of the Land, it used the storm to discourage the travelers from continuing any further, the Land was exasperated by the nerve of these humans. The storm surged over the long butte, it tried to retain the water like the force instructed, but it began to rain while crossing the long butte. The water washed away all of the small animals on the ground, the animals in the trees did not fare much better, some fell and were also washed away. Then the storm saw its target, it was aimed for the humans on the ground, the Land did not like these humans, they were too far from home. The purple cloud roared with thunder and rained heavily on its course towards the humans. Everyone in the caravan raced to find the best shelter they could, they scrambled into the trees because there was nowhere else to go. The Land offered them no shelter, nothing strong and stable, some people sat under there carts, some went into the trees, others found a nook they could climb
Chapter 136
Kaya ran after the girl, she was faster than Kaya and as she watched, Lisbet sped away towards the edge of the desert. Who was bit, she thought, who was bit that would make Talia want me? That thought led her mind to the worst possible scenarios. Was it Rollins? Or Erek? The last thought chilled her, what if it was Arun? Kaya ran as fast as she could after Lisbet. As she ran thunder echoed across the plateau, she turned her head towards the long butte, what she saw made her glad she was not in the north with the caravan. A humongous purple cloud rolled over the buttes flat top, it drug rain with it, Kaya could see the sheets of water pouring down as the titanic cloud crested the edge of the butte. So much water, she thought as she ran towards death.“Talia,” Kaya was out of breath by the time she reached the healer. Two men were carrying a third on a hastily crafted stretcher, “who was bitten?”No sooner than those words left her mouth she saw who it was, her hand went to her mouth.“
Chapter 135
The horses pulled carts and wagons like they had for the last three years, they were thralls to these travelers now, the animals knew nothing of the Path of Life. All the animals knew was the cycle of life, and how nature gives and takes, without mercy. Now they were lashed to these heavy carts, they were penned up while not moving, something they never experienced before. Normally they were free to roam and came back to The People willingly, now they would most likely bolt at the first chance, a few had and the horses that were left had to work harder. It was miserable work but they endured, they pulled the future of the Land towards a place where a city will be built, it won’t be the one in Rognvald’s dreams, it will be tainted and immoral. These horses would not see the wickedly beautiful city of lust and greed, they would be spared those memories.The caravan stopped at a few sites that were indeed good places to settle, each time Rognvald baulked, he would not stop until he reach
Chapter 134
“Only a few more days Percy, a few more days, then we can live for a while by the bend in the river.” She rubbed his cheek; he made no sounds only looked back at her and waved his tail.Over the last three weeks Kaya had worked at putting closure to that part of her life where her parents lived. She had their memories now and no one could remove those, she came to terms with their deaths, it helped that she knew what happened to them. When Erek told her what he heard his father say she was angry and hurt but that to was fading, she was not as angry with the big man now, his father was another story, Kaya prayed that she would never see Rognvald again. Kaya finished unhooking the horses from her cart, normally Percy would buck around for a few minutes before relaxing into grazing not today though, Gerard went right to grazing, Percy joined him without any fuss. How things change, thought Kaya, she watched the two horses feeding as most of the weight from her grief floated away on the e
Chapter 133
Kaya’s hair had grown back over the last three years of travel, it reached down to the middle of her back now, she kept it braided in one long braid while traveling. The braid reminded her of her mother, of the time they shared together, just the two of them. It wasn’t that they had something that was better than anyone else’s mother daughter relationship, it was simply there personal relationship that Kaya remembered. When her father was hard at work, making one of his fanciful pieces of pottery, or out making deliveries, they would be together. They lived in the back of the pottery shop that had been in Tombold’s family for generations, it was one of the more permanent looking structures in Ondu, having poles that had been sunk into the ground over two hundred years ago. The poles in the center of the shop were so round that Kaya couldn’t reach all the way around them until she was twelve. The shop always had a fire going, whether in the kiln or not, the friendly smell of wood burni
