The family was let out into the cold evening air. Breath fogging with through sharp breaths. A young, clean-shaven man clad in a brown cloak and wielding both a spear and a scowl led them to an open shed, little more than a gazebo, yet it would provide them more cover than plains and meadows. Through hunger and hard wood they slept, a cold, dreamless sleep.
They awoke to a clear day. Not a cloud covering the blue sky. Still their eyes were downcast. They all knew they would have to scavenge for scraps to sate their hunger. Whatever berries could be found, whatever fruit grew in the surrounding forest they would take whatever could fill and give them the energy to push on to the next day.
As per the conditions of their stay, they brought Evard out along with them. The whole family remaining together. Carried by the parents and with Syndra in tow, they walked uphill the few miles of farm and grassland to the edge of the warm-hued woods. Their landmark, a tall quinlon stone monolith. The object in the distance had seemed small from a distance, but with every step they took, the size of the tower became more apparent. Not only was it an imposing structure in its own right, but the weight of the standing stone pushed Syndra further into the ground. When they finally arrived at its base, the soft red aura of the magical stone, affixed with rope and chain, that rested at the top of the menhir, engulfed Syndra like a terrible blanket. Her breathing shallow and muscles tired. She leaned her back against the stone for support.
The parents took stock of the situation, deeming it best to leave the children behind in the protective light of the magic-dampening artefact.
"Stay with your brother until we come back.” Their mother had demanded, before disappearing into the woods behind the gray tower, with the only backpack they had left. In truth Syndra did not look after him, for her mind had fogged, leaving her tired and lethargic.
It was unusual for the two siblings to be alone together. Syndra would avoid it where possible. Taking whatever chances to scavenge, to collect firewood, to simply be away from the others. Now she had barely the energy to stand. They two incapacitated children lay on the ground next to each other for many moments. While Evard had recovered superficially from the accident, he was still unable to walk. The two remained silent for long, neither truly wishing to expend more energy than necessary.
From the hilltop they could see into the valley below, stones large stones and rock formations littered the path that they had walked, like a maze of stone. The massive river parting the land, and small dots of villages and farmsteads decorating the land. Not having considered it much before, she now realized the abundance of humans in this area. The population seemed much denser than north of the mountain-range. The many villages and homesteads revealed as much. Looking northward she saw the blue-tinted mountains far in the distance, that they had passed to get there. Looming over them like mighty wards. Immovable and everlasting. Their size only amplified by the vast distance of woodland separating them.
She looked up at the quinlon above her. It’s presence demanding her attention with its oppressive glow and heat. The wind lazily tucked at her clothes and her hair, as it did with the thousands of leaves and the sea of grass. The sound reminded her of rain. She looked towards her brother who leisurely rested in his rudimentary stretcher a few paces from her. She took out her comb and ran her thumb across the bristles. She rested her eyes, thankful for a day where the wind did not bite, the sun shone, and the search for food was taken care of. With hunger still present she rested her eyes and slept.
Syndra awoke to a push at her shoulder. Evard had loosened himself from his blankets and crawled across the green to wake her. Their eyes locked, and for the first time in what could have been her entire life, he neither looked upon her with malice nor fear. At least not a fear directed at her.
He had his right index finger against his lips. His eyes darted towards the forest on the other side of the quinlons structure. His expression serious and adamant. He leaned in as quiet as he could.
“We have to leave.” He whispered. The tone of his voice revealed a desperation.
The whole world seemed quiet in that moment. Noise rarely noticed until gone. The birds had stopped singing, the forest still, even the grass and weeds had become frozen. A silence only broken by the quiet thrum of the quinlon, which seemed to emanate as much in her mind as through her ears. The sun’s warmth created a muggy weather in the still wind. She moved, careful to make as little sound as possible. Looking at her brother, she tilted her head and put a finger to her ear. She heard nothing. The silence thickening a weight upon her mind amplified by the magic suppressing stone. Their shallow breaths were the only noise emanating. She looked to her brother, scrunching her shoulders and furrowing her brow. He threw his head sideways, indicating something on the other side of the large tower they apparently used as cover. With as silent movement as possible, she crawled on all four toward the edge of the carved stone. She paused for a moment, looking back to her sibling. He had propped himself onto his elbow. Brows raised but remaining silent. Syndra held her breath and peeked around the corner.
Her eyes took an almost bulbous shape. An enormous feline creature had stalked out of the woods. Two people tall and three worax long. Wide as a cart. The twinned long, thick tails swished back and forth, mimicking a pair of whips. The power they gleaned was terrifying. Its strong back adorned with crystalline shapes. The head on the thick neck tilted downward, sniffing the dirt beneath it, tracking, searching. The creature hadn’t seen them, looking not directly toward the quinlon itself. She slowly backed away, and quietly crawled back to Evard. Placing a hand on the stretcher, she realized she would not be able to lift it off the ground by herself, especially with the wait of a young teen in it. She looked back to her brother she wouldn’t be able to carry him either. Judging the hill, it was far until the nearest farmstead or cover. The forest was on the other side of the monster. Spotting the nearby area, revealed a rock formation 60 steps away, close to the entrance of the forest, slightly downhill and nestled between the edge and dell. Perhaps it could create some cover, and maybe allow them to disappear into the forest. Syndra peered back at the crippled teen she would have to drag. She pointed toward the new hiding place. Evard looked to his legs, and slowly maneuvered onto the leather bindings, wrapped between the two solid branches. The two silently agreed that anywhere else was safer than being around the creature stalking.
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She looked around the corner once more, most of the large cat was hidden by the structure between it and them. The two tails and hind of the massive creature were visible, the rest on the other side of the quinlon itself, a sign that it is looking in the other direction. She took hold of the wooden handle, taking as silent steps as possible. Evard himself lifting the other side a half arm’s length off the ground, in an effort to avoid the scraping of wood against soil and rock. They quietly moved the human wheelbarrow, Syndra first, dragging Evard on his hands, towards a new hiding place. Slowly, step by step, silently as possible, the two took their first tentative steps across the weed meadow.They carefully pushed plants aside, trying to place as much weight as they could on soil and rock. Three steps became ten, became twenty until they had fully cleared the large tower. At twenty-four steps the feline slinked around the other side of the tower out of view. Thirty. Thirthy-seven. Forty. Evard looked back and locked eyes with the beast. He stopped moving, halting their advance. The two froze, hoping the creature might find them uninteresting. It lifted a massive paw and took a tentative step towards the siblings. The two responded in kind, calmly trying to maintain distance. It brought its head down, muscles tensing, wriggling its hind. Syndra new this behaviour from the cats of her village. It was about to pounce. Immediately Syndra broke into a sprint, surprising Evard who did what he could to push off the ground. Forty-five steps, her stride was longer now, and their head start had bought them some distance. The massive animal bounded and leapt the distance between the quinlon and its prey.
At fifty steps, she heard the impact of a heavy thud, at fifty-two the sound was right behind them. She heard a yelp from her brother. Looking back she saw that the predator had a single claw stuck in the fabric Evard was tied to. As if it was a kitten playing with yarn. She pulled, which ripped the fabric. A push from Evard followed by a ripping sound and they were free. The creature shook its paw trying to rid itself of the material stuck to its claws. Syndra grabbed her brother's legs and dragged herself and Evard between the rocks and stones.
With adrenaline pumping through their veins, they both breathed hard and pained. Syndra took a moment to look over herself. Though scraped and dirty she had come out of it relatively unscathed. Her brother looked worse, bleeding from a gash in his arm, and covered in various scrapes. They had no time to take stock, before a massive paw pushed itself between the rocks and towards them. Syndra tried pushing herself as far back as possible, but there was no room. Fear and panic overtook her.
She felt a hand on her back. A jolt pushed her forward, a claw stuck itself in her clothing. Yanking her out, and ripping her clothes. She was tossed a distance. A sting of betrayal. She had been sacrificed in an effort to save her brother, through no decision of her own.
In an instant her blood boiled. Rage filled her very being. She looked back to her brother, who was hiding as best he could. She had tried to save her kin, and this was how she was repaid? The monster leaped toward her. Invisible force coalesced around the child, kicking up wind and dust into a gale. She had expected to be thrown to the ground and ripped to pieces, but instead the attacker simply hovered limply in the air. As if grabbed by the scruff of its neck. It hung limply in the air. Trying to turn or pull itself up, but to no avail. The pitiful feline struggled against the force holding it in place. She threw it with overwhelming force against the quinlon. It impacted with a heavy thud and caught itself against the ground. It turned away to flee. Blinded by her rage, Syndra pushed her attacker against the structure. Applying an ever-increasing force. The coloration of the magical object shifted from the vibrant red, to lavender. Darkening further and further. Rasping, snapping the ropes. Pegs gave way to the force being exerted. stone as large as barrels came crashing to the ground. With a thunderous crack, the tower fractured and crumpled. Massive fragments falling down, onto the creature, burying it in rubble. The discolored crystal exploded raining shards of rock around the young mage. The tower crashed down, clouding the area in dust. Waves of energy radiated off the small girl, seemingly enhanced by the crystal’s destruction.
Letting the dust settle, Syndra breathed out. The adrenaline leaving her system. Unclenching her balled fists. She looked back to Evard. Now, she owed him nothing. He had curled into a fetal position, a pathetic display from a mean-spirited weakling. A weight felt lifted from her shoulders, now that she once reminded of the nature of her brother. She sat, trying to calm back down. The wind picked up, dispersing the cloud of dust, leaving now only rubble and the mangled cadaver of a once-mighty creature. Slowly the sound of the forest came back. Syndra looked her work. The pile of rubble a testament to her power, and how it could seemingly only kill and remove. Hoping to see a paw drag itself out, and limp to safety. Pulling her knees to her chest and clutching one hand in the other to hide their shaking. Her breathing slowly returned to normality.
The pile remained still.