Age Of The Marked: Year 719, 6th month, Night 9
Lydia’s night had been quite calm, as usual she had woken up late in the day, her typical sleeplessness dragging her throughout the night, but she prefered being the last to sleep. She was naked in the cool of the river and she swam down to the bottom, turning and opening her eyes underwater to look upon the refraction of the stars, it was beautiful. Her long obsidian hair drifted slowly around her, the current mellow and slow. She rubbed at her Mark around her neck, three symmetrical slits on either side. They’re so ugly, she thought as she curled into a ball, I’m so tired of it all, it's not fair. What did I do to offend the gods so? She lashed her hand in a balled fist through the water, the slowed pace of it not enough to satisfy her, so she threw out her other hand, still disappointing, so she curled back again. I just don’t have anything left to give, I give and I give, and what do I get back? Nothing! Absolutely nothing. I want to die. She twirled about, the river sluggish, barely nudging her downward. Eventually she emerged, water erupting in her wake, she was not alone.
Erets felt that he should probably feel shame, but he didn’t, so he watched the young woman bathing at this unholy hour. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes unsuccessfully and peered down at her from his well chosen tree. He chewed on grif jerky as his eyes widened. Her hair reached down to her ankles, jet black and as smooth as silk, or at least he imagined so, he couldn’t make out her eyes, but remembered their unique colors, one purple with flecks of blue, the other a deep vibrant green, how fascinating. Her features were soft, her athletic build hidden by nothing, her chest bobbed up and down in rhythm and he could not remove his eyes. Her perfect skin broken by a scar on the left side of her back. Interesting, wonder how she got that, I’ll ask her tomorrow, on second thought she’ll want to know how I knew about it, so nevermind, not worth the hassle.
A chill ran down Lydia’s spine as goose flesh replaced her own. Instinctively she brought her arms to her core and plunged into the safety of the water. She felt like she was being watched, she blushed at the thought. No, that’s unlikely, no one else is up this late, besides, she mused, placing her hand to her neck, no one would watch her anyway. After a few stress filled minutes Lydia rose out of the water, still covering herself as she quickly ran to her clothes and she hurriedly clothed herself.
Erets’ heart was beating furiously as his thoughts raced, she saw me didn’t she, fuck, fuck, fuck, I got to beat her back, or else I’m am fucking fucked. With haste he descended the tree, jumping the last twenty or so feet, rolling, with no visible damage. She’s carrying her shoes, I might be able to save my ass after all. He looked to her stumbling through the woods, the pale moonlight reflecting off her still wet skin, he saw her stop to put her shoes on, he remembered his purpose and began to jog onward to camp. He knew a shortcut, but would have to pass dangerously close to her.
Lydia knew something was after her, she could hear it coming closer and closer, she glanced back and saw nothing, which frightened her more so than anything. She heard a wolf’s howl to her right, and she feared for her life. Branches licked past her, leaving tiny cuts upon her arms and legs. A branch cracked not two feet from behind her and she heard another wolf’s howl no farther than the length of her hair away. A large rustling bared down behind her as she struggled to keep her eyes wide and alert, fighting the need to shut them at her own demise. Then it was silent. She ran a few yards more and whipped her body around, sweat dripping across her body. Frantically she moved her eyes from tree to tree, searching to see if the beast still hunting her. She fell to her knees and praised Borlantusk for his mercy. It took more strength than it should have for her to stand and begin her return to camp.
She opened the tent and looked about, the children were all asleep, Erets began to stir, turning to her he rubbed his eyes. His torso bare beneath his thin blanket. He placed a finger to his mouth, then pointed a finger to Hodesh who stirred in his bed. She realised she was gasping for breath and covered her mouth with her hand. She looked inward, trying to relax, to calm herself, her lifebeat slowed and her senses returned. She returned Erets’ confused stare with one of somber apology and mouthed ‘sorry’ to the seventeen year old. She stepped over several children and slithered into her own bed beside him. She sniffed herself, so much for clean. Behind her Erets grinned in victory.
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As usual Lydia was the last to awaken, Erets typically cared for the children while she slept, he was surprisingly good at it. She rose and secured a modest and practical black skirt over a short, sleeveless white dress and walked out to Erets. She saw him telling stories to several of the youngest children, stories before the Age of the Marked, stories of clear cut heroes, of damsels in distress and of villainous monsters meeting their deserved end, for a moment she paused, she liked to think that those were just unrealistic stories, but if they were they no longer belonged in this world, but could it be that they were the villains now? Her thoughts were broken by the tugging of her skirt. “Ms. Lydia, I’m hungry.” The girl could not be older than eight, her dark skin broken only by the dark blue eyes she bore, granting her a piercing stare, she took the girl’s hand and knelt to her. “Well Shalia, looks like we need to tell Erets to do his job, huh?” The girl’s face became stern, as did Lydia’s and they nodded simultaneously. “Erets? Don’t tell me you’ve kept them hungry all day!” He turned to her, a bit of jerky hastily swallowed as his face flushed a bright red. He was two years her junior, taller than her, but average for a man of his age, he wore a pristine leather Jerkin, fur lining the dark green tunic beneath and reaching out to a wolf’s head hood, the tunic was sleeveless with a vambrace on his left hand and a glove on the right. He wore well fitted brown pants with knee high hide boots. He placed his hand behind his head and a bashful smile broke his thin face, neatly trimmed hair and an even amount of short facial hair, probably three days old seemed so out of place in the middle of the woods. His eyes were a dark brown, there was anxious energy emitting from his eyes, like he had a castle filled with secrets that he was afraid someone would discover, he could not withstand her gaze for more than a second and turned his head to the left, as he always did. “Well, perhaps if one of us didn’t sleep all day I could get more done.” He was teasing her, she knew it. “Come on Erets, you never do anything unless someone is breathing down your throat, don’t you dare try to blame me for your laziness.” She shot him a mocking glance as his eyes returned to her face for a brief half second. “Ya, ya, whatever, just watch them while I make something for everyone.” He removed a bit of jerky from his pouch and placed it in his mouth. Then approached the fire pit.
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Regaz, Erets’ wolf, nudged at Lydia’s foot as she ate and she threw a bit of meat down at the beast. She looked at her, was she chasing her last night? It would have made sense, probably just some game she was playing while out patrolling for game. She looked around and saw Erets in the corner, he was always like that, he was a bright and kind person when spoken to, but rarely sought interaction on his own, seeming to prefer observation to interaction, she didn’t understand it. He would always seem so dark on his own, but would light up if you even said his name, he loved conversation, so why not strike something up?
Her thoughts were broken as a few of the children ran to the outskirts of their tiny makeshift village, she stood up and began to walk to the commotion. There he was, Tubal Cain, his bald head causing Corv to reflect into her eyes, and she squinted. There was a girl with him. “Not another child Tubal.” She whined at him, clear frustration in her voice. He shot her an irritated response, and she looked away. “And what would you have me do Lydia? Have her hang?” Anger filled his words. “You know that’s not what I meant.” She responded meekly. “Hey!” Erets interjected. “He brought us in when we were young, you give her some time and I can assure you she’ll shine.” He smiled, seemingly unphased by their emotions. Lydia let out a sigh, Erets was right, they all had to start somewhere, but every kid he brought in just meant more work for them all, mostly her, and maybe some for Erets. “So what’s your name?” She asked, genuine compassion touching the girl. She bolted from Tubal, stumbling until she found Lydia and they embraced. “Tsel. I, I’m Tsel.” She looked at Tubal, a bit of fear touching her brought forth from the girl. “She’s blind Lydia, she’s Shade Marked, like Jovul.” The man’s name pained her and she looked at the child, holding her close. “I’m so sorry.” She whispered into the girl’s ear.
Tubal Cain strode to his personal tent, ignoring the looks his fellow marked gave him. He realised he was near naked and stripped his remaining rags, replacing them with a set of pants. He opened a small chest in the corner, removing a bottle and began to drink.
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Lydia stood there, taking long, deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves, it took her several minutes of pacing, standing, and failed attempts to open the tent before she finally went in. Tubal was lying on the ground, his limbs spasmodically hurling about, she had waited too long. Her knees fell to the ground and she clenched his head, her palms sizzling at his touch. “Tubal, please, not again, not again.” Her voice was cracking with fright, her hand reached to her back, producing her canteen. Holding his head as sturdy as possible she poured the water into his mouth, closed it, and put her other hand to his nose, pinching it. He continued to convulse, his body rejecting life itself, she placed her head to his chest and closed her eyes. She reached out, she felt his all consuming pain, the rage produced by it, she felt his core, and she wept.
She lost track of time in that position, tears falling to his bare, burning chest. No, she thought to herself, I can’t lose you too, I’m sorry I waited so long. She held him closer and his spasms reduced. You aren’t allowed to die, I need you, Erets needs you, everyone needs you. You pushed yourself too far again didn’t you, I told you not to, this is killing you. Her eyes flooded over him, until he finally ceased.
She held him as he grew colder, panic sweeping her, was he okay, or had he passed, she didn’t want to know, so she held him, her thoughts swimming between grief and relief, between happiness and despair. She felt a hand at her back and she looked at the man’s eyes. She looked into crystal blue orbs for an unsteady moment, she released a long too captured breath. She held him there, his breath shallow, but gaining strength. She eventually broke his embrace to stand. “Wait here.” She spoke in a cold tone. He barely noticed her absence as he stared upwards, his body crying in agony. “Ilixa. I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes, he was so close, he could even smell her around him, her scent intoxicating, why, why did he have to come back? “Here, you need to eat, you’ve used up all your fat, again.” A shaky voice broke his thoughts. He looked at Lydia and nodded, he grabbed the meat and pasta and began to eat as she dropped to the floor, both legs to one side. “You ran out of fat, you pushed yourself beyond your limits again. Did you even try to talk to them or did you just kill them all again?” She looked at him and shook her head. “Nevermind, I don’t want to know.” She paused for a moment, Tubal remained silent as he slowly ate. “We can barely take care of the eight we have.” “Nine.” He interjected, her face flushing in response, after an intense moment, she sighed. “Yes, nine, but you have to understand, me and Erets can only do so much, it's bad enough that Erets is ridiculously lazy, and if he isn’t hunting or cooking he’s worthless, but with you always being gone, I feel like you’re just abandoning us, returning only to throw another kid on us.” His head turned away at that, she was right after all. “Erets idolizes you, you know, the kids think you’re a hero, but, I don’t know how long that will last. We need you, we can’t do this alone, I, I don’t want these kids to grow up like I did, Erets is a different story, but these kids are still young. I’m afraid they’ll all see you as a monster, the new girl seemed so terrified it was overwhelming, I’m not asking you to change in an instant, but give these kids what they need, please.” She stood up and looked at him, then began to turn out. “I can’t.” He whispered, causing her to pause mid motion, then spun around. “Can’t, or won’t?” And then she was gone.
She left him there, her final words hanging upon him. What can I possibly give to these kids that wouldn’t destroy them? I’m not a hero, I’m not even a father, I am a monster, I have to be, if I’m not a monster, then I’m nothing. He felt the heat rising off his body again. He could never stop thinking of that day nearly sixteen years ago, the day he failed.