Arakim's Legacy(#Wattys2015)

Chapter 3

Mena, a stunning statuesque tawny haired beauty of neither the Oduma clan nor the Aguu clan jumped effortlessly over the frozen lake, more than thirty feet wide, landing nimbly on her feet and without pause continued running at full speed towards the steep rocky incline in front of her. And never slowed down, deftly and sure-footed till she got to the very top, where she stopped to catch her breath, wiping her brows and pushing the tendrils of hair that got stuck to her face away from her eyes. When the slight cold breeze blowing across the valley blew it back, she impatiently loosened the thick braid letting the whole thing fall down her back to her waist in thick curly tresses of a rich tawny colour streaked with black strands and braided it again after combing her hands through it.

All the while looking down at the valley down below where she just completed the obstacle course set up there to help in training the juveniles' ___young shifters that were still too young to go on real hunts. The course was built with the natural terrain already there such as the trees, shrubs, boulders and the lake for jumping, climbing, and tracking preys, in both their human and animal forms. This late in the winter the place was covered in snow and ice. Mena loved coming here to play alone especially during the twilight hours.

She was here to get in some work out before meeting Tyr and the other sentinels to discuss Adani's disappearance. So much discussions but no action. And the worst culprit was no other than Tyr, treating the whole disappearance a non-issue. Like that should matter to her. All that mattered was Adani was gone and we should go after her. The fact that she was on her way to meet up with me in this very place several days ago for her training didn't weigh in any way.

Mena easily negotiated her way down the slope into the vale, running across the frozen lake, traversing the plants and shrubs and boulders to the northern side of the valley where she left her weapons and cloak hidden just underneath the large sized boulder at the north entrance.

The valley was surrounded by three mountains, smaller ones on the west and east side while the north side had a plateau that led to one of the highest mountain, Gabashili in Morag where the shifter community had made their home, and it was about a league from the valley. While the south end of the valley was a flatland.

Mena put on her cloak, swung the baldric over her head with her sword on her back, and the hilt well above the right shoulder. And a crossbow across her left shoulder with a full complement of barbed, steel-tipped bolts hanging from a leather strap and started the walk back home. It's always prudent to be prepared.

She could easily run home but she decided to walk, to let the cold air cool her body. But on getting to the top of the plateau and turning to her right, Mena wasn't surprised not to meet anyone on the trail at this time of the day. She walked about a mile with nothing but the soft breeze and the occasional call of birds that stayed around in the mountains all year round and her thoughts. Did she have time for a meal and a visit with her mother? She would rather share sex again with Djou than visit her mother. On second thought visit with mother.

My mother, a strong tigress in her day, and a former sentinel was always on her neck when it came to the subject dearest to her these days. My mother mated with father to start her own family not out of love but one of expedience, because father, a lion was one of the strongest males in the community and she reasoned that it would be beneficial to her and the clan to make very strong cubs to continue her legacy. And poor father even though was very strong had one weakness, my mother and could not say no to her even knowing she didn't love him. Mother grew to tolerate father before he was prematurely struck down the last time he went to the human world as he often did. That was a long time ago when she was still young enough not to understand some things. Mother hadn't settled with anyone else since father for any length of time, and that was the way she liked it and the way she would like me to be. Any protest she made fell on deaf ears.