The Wild Hunt (Part One)

First Kill

"What's your name?" I asked, eyeing the young girl warily. So she was a servant of the royal palace. At least, she had been. I wasn't sure if I quite believed her, although her attire aided her truth.

I could hardly make out her face as I looked down on her. She was pretty short and had a plain looking face from what I could assess in the dark. Her hair was a mess of black, jagged locks that fell in disheveled pieces around her face and shoulders. It looked like someone who didn't know how to use a pair shears cut her hair. Weren't place servants supposed to be well groomed?

"It's uh Se- Sae. My name is Sae."

I didn't believe that either but I wouldn't question her about it. I was still reeling over my embarrassment having pissed on her unknowingly. Better yet having had my cock out in front of her.

A blush crept along my neck and I wondered anxiously if she saw it or not. Why it mattered? Perhaps the last shreds of my dignity- what I could managed to keep from years of Tewase teasing, grappled to cling to those proud parts of myself.

"Well... Sae. I really am sorry about pissing on you. I hope I didn't ruin your shoes."

She smiled faintly before chucking off the sodden slippers. "They weren't gonna last another ten feet walking through this forest."

I smiled and it didn't feel strained. I flicked my eyes to the tree tops and found the canopies to be dense and the star lit sky behind them, hardly visible. I hadn't been able to see the stars since venturing into this part of the forest. I kept my eyes on the North Star, hoping to come across YeGal or a village further north of Cona. I wanted to get as far away as possible. I had no clue if Chief Na-Wakee had sent out a search group for me yet. But I was tired and thirsty and hungry.

"We're you sleeping when I came through?"

She nodded and gestured towards the boulder. "I had been huddle up beneath the edge."

I looked around but saw no evidence or remains of a fire. She was going to sleep in the dark cold night like that? Didn't she know how to start a fire?

"Let me make a fire." I didn't wait for her to reject my request and set to work gathering kindling off the forest floor.

She stood by and watched as I erected a small fire within a matter of a few minutes. Starting the small flames took longer than usual since I didn't have my flint stones with me and had to resort to using another method.

But once the flames started to rise and build, I sat down and crossed my legs, tossing a little bit of kindling in every few seconds. The girl sat across from me with her knees pulled to her chest. She rested her cheek against them and I watched as her eyes began to droop.

She looked so innocent. So small, huddled in a ball. I felt my own eyes grow heavy with sleep and before I knew it, my head found the cool, damp earth and I was sung to sleep by its whispering secrets.

Twigs snapped and I jolted from my sleep. I hurriedly blinked away the blurriness and listened carefully.

Sae was still asleep. She lay on her side with her hands tucked beneath her head. I'm surprised she didn't hear the sound. She must be a heavy sleeper. Not a good trait to have in a forest filled with plenty of dangers. Especially, the Tewase.

I looked around us, scanning the trees that surrounded our little clearing. It was just after dawn and the blue-orange light that filtered through the forest canopy, stained the misty, damp air around us a cloudy blue.

Birds were chirping in a chaotic sort of chorus and I found myself straining to listen to their chatter. The Tewase used bird noises to communicate and I wanted to make sure there wasn't any sort of danger lurking near by.