The Chosen Dawnseeker

Chapter 3

As the night began to roll around and the sky changed its color to a bright orange and purple, Hannah couldn't take her eyes off the jungle. Something about it was drawing her to it and she didn't know what. She needed to know what was out there in that jungle.

She was walking around the center of the village with Ethan, the other villagers throwing some sort of party. She didn't know it yet, but it was Kieran's 14th birthday. She couldn't get him a present or anything, but she thought going to the party was enough. Ethan joined her. Birthday parties in Misthaven were not what you'd expect. They didn't have cake or presents, no. There was a huge fire set up in the middle of the village, and cheering could be heard. Sparring took place in another area, with Thalia winning the lot of them. Hannah wasn't shocked. Hannah sat down near the party, resting on a circular fountain near the center of the village. Ethan sat down next to her.
"Talk about a first day, huh Hannah?" Ethan asked. She only nodded, not really having anything to say to that.
"Eat up. No one sleeps well on an empty stomach" He said, offering her some cheese and crackers. Despite the environment, the food was shockingly normal. She hesitated but she took some and ate them. She immediately spit them out onto the ground.
"Jesus-! Fucking Christ, what the hell is that?" Hannah exclaimed.
"I really wish I knew. Ask Thalia, she made them for this party. No one was eating them so I wanted to try them. Well....you tried them" He laughed a bit, putting them away. Hannah looked over at Thalia winning all the fights.
"Well in my opinion, she's still a bitch. Didn't have to throw me to the ground like that" Hannah grumbled.
"You should be thankful she was there. If she had let you go out into the jungle, you might not have come back. And I'm beginning to like you, so it'd be real unfortunate for the both of us. Believe me, the jungle is dangerous in more ways than one" Ethan explained to her. "That mist that hurt your hand earlier? We call it the Veil of Mystique. Every morning, it whisks away, allowing for entry but at nightfall, it reforms and shuts anyone in Misthaven out and anyone in the jungle inside of the jungle" Ethan continued.
"There's no way out of here, is there?" Hannah realized.
"For right now. But there's still hope. Look, you see that group of men and woman over there?" Ethan said, pointing to some chairs with really muscular men and scary, serious looking women. "We call them The Dawnseekers. The man in the middle right there? His name is Rylan" Ethan said, gesturing to a man sitting in a middle chair. He was muscular, and he had a beard and dark hair. He was white, and he had a blue button down shirt on and some army cargo pants and combat boots on.
"He leads the Dawnseekers. And every day, when the mist clears, they explore the jungle. Searching, finding anything they can to look for a way out" Ethan explained to me.
"Hm ok. And have they found anything? How long have they been searching?" Hannah asked.
"2 years. And no, they haven't, unfortunately. It's not as easy as it sounds" Ethan said. "Look, the dawnseekers are the only ones who can go out there. They're the most athletic, the strongest, and the fastest ones in Misthaven, and that's really fortunate for our sake. Because if the mist reforms and they're still out there....the jungle is their home until morning" Ethan said, darkly. "And it's almost impossible to survive in the jungle for a full night" He told Hannah.
"How is it impossible? What's out there?" Hannah asked curiously. Ethan sat quiet for a second but then spoke. "The dawnseekers call them Baneclaws. I mean, no one's ever seen one or came into contact with one and lived to tell about it so I don't know what they look like. Not even the dawnseekers do. They only identify them by the noises they make. The baneclaws only come out at night, which is when the jungle is the most dangerous so the dawnseekers avoid being out in the jungle at night. But the baneclaws are there. They're always there." Ethan said, and Hannah heard a form of howling come from the jungle.
"There was this one Dawnseeker. Her name was Aria. She was a really good archer and was fast as hell and agile. But she got trapped out there one day. She didn't make it back in time. She never returned, even after the mist cleared" Ethan said, drearily.
"And you guys didn't look for her at all?" Hannah exclaimed.
"Obviously we looked for her, but we never found her" Ethan explained.
"How long has she been out there?" Hannah asked.
"If somehow she's still alive out there, she's been out there for a year and 2 months. But the most likely possibility is that she's dead" Ethan responded.
"Is there any way to help them? The dawnseekers, that is?" Hannah asked.
"Well Misthaven is a big Celtic village. So we have a Druidic council. Really old guys, with alot of knowledge. And they have a prophecy. That one day, someone will arrive here in Misthaven and will be what they call The Chosen Dawnseeker. They're really special, the best Dawnseeker of them all, and are supposed to help the Dawnseekers look for a way out of this place. But it's just a myth, they probably don't even exist" Ethan said.
"What about those really big walls? What are those for?" Hannah asked.
"Well....its said that there's a really powerful entity living in the jungle, named Eldran. Those walls were put there to keep him inside the jungle, and prevent him from going out into the real world where he could potentially cause chaos and destruction and death. The Chosen Dawnseeker is said to find some kind of cursed blade and kill Eldran" Ethan informed Hannah. Ethan took a deep breath and his happy mood resurfaced.
"Alright, Ms. Questions. That's enough for tonight. Listen, Kieran wants you as the guest of honor for the party. It's his party but he wants you to be the star of the show. I think he really likes you" Ethan informed Hannah.
"Look, I don't know-" Hannah started.
"Come on, get up" Ethan said as he helped her stand up and they began walking.

"Over here, we have the harvesters. They spend most of their time planting and growing food, so we have enough supply" Ethan said as they passed a group of people who were mostly dirty. They walked past them and found a girl. She had black tied back hair and a pendant engraved around her neck. "This is Lena. She's one of the smartest here, and she's our medic. Have any injuries, she'll patch you right up. She's the leader of the medics, obviously since we need more than one" Ethan said. Hannah shook Lena's hand. "Hey" She said to Lena. Lena just nodded at her and they started to walk. "And then over there are cookers. As the name suggest, they fry up and turn the food that the harvesters make into things that are actually edible" Ethan informed Hannah.
"Yeah this is cool and all but is there anyway I could become a dawnseeker?" Hannah asked.
"If you've got a death wish, maybe you could find a way. But no one actually volunteers to be a dawnseeker. Besides it's not your decision. You have to prove yourself, it's gotta be decided whether or not someone's ready to be one" Ethan responded.
"Who decides?" Hannah asked but was interrupted by someone getting the absolute shit beat out of them by Thalia. Thalia called over to the two of them.
"Hey, Cindy! I doubt that you liked me pushing you down earlier. You wanna get back at me? Come on then" Thalia challenged. "Let's see what you got" She said.
Hannah was reluctant but she stepped over towards Thalia. People around them erupted into cheers, including Aelar and Kieran.
"I thought we weren't allowed to hurt someone else" Hannah questioned.
"Well yeah but that's only if it's for any reason other than a spar at a birthday party" Thalia laughed.
"Also yeah you shoved me down but it's nothing to fight you over" Hannah stuttered.
"Oh stop being scared. Come on" Thalia insisted. Hannah stepped forward. "Ok. Yeah, sure, let's fight" She told Thalia.
"That's more like it" Thalia said excited. "Now, there aren't really any rules to this. Don't hold back, hit me as hard as you can. Like you really wanna hurt me, ok? It's a fair match, so I'll give it my all too. Back out while you can" Thalia warned. Hannah shook her head. "No. Let's go" She said, getting into a fighting stance. Thalia looked to the others, slightly laughed and got into a fighting position as well. Hannah didn't waste any time, she ran and immediately tackled her to the ground. Thalia grabbed onto Hannah and slammed her on the ground next to them. Hannah didn't seem tired, she wanted to keep fighting. The adrenaline pumped through her. She got to her feet and proceeded to lay punch after punch on Thalia, channeling her inner anger. Thalia caught a few punches, but took more than one to the face and tumbled to the ground. She stood up and Hannah went for another punch but Thalia caught it, twisted Hannah's arm behind her back and pinned her to the ground, Hannah's face smacking onto the cement floor and becoming cut on her cheek and forehead. "Gotta do better than that, Cindy" Thalia hissed. Hannah threw her head back, smacking it into Thalia's face, causing her nose to bleed. She stumbled back and Hannah scrambled to her feet. "My name isn't Cindy" Hannah scolded. "I don't know you or respect you well enough to give a shit about your name, so until then, you're Cindy" Thalia antagonized. Hannah attempted to kick Thalia straight in the head but Thalia caught it and sent her to the ground. The crowd whooped and cheered at this and they got louder when she was sent to the ground. Thalia smirked. "Now this is a competition. Not bad for a newbie" Thalia said as she then quickly swept Hannah's leg, causing her to fly in the air and fall on her head. Hannah groaned in immense pain as the impact disoriented her. The fall had bruised some of her arms and cut her face even more. She shook her head, gaining her focus back and stood to her feet. Hannah punched Thalia in the gut and kicked her to the ground.
"Ooohhhh" The crowd went. Thalia put her hand up. "I surrender. I'm done" She said, tired. The crowd roared and began congratulating Hannah on something that she didn't even see as that big. It was a spar, at a birthday party. Thalia stood up and walked towards Hannah. She shook her hand. "Nice work, Hannah" Thalia said, signaling that Hannah had gained her respect. In all their celebration, a horrifying roar echoed out through the village from the jungle.
"What was that? A baneclaw?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah. There's no need to worry though, my friend. As long as you stay within the village, there's no way they can get you. Nothing gets past the mist" Thalia said. "Come on, it's getting late. Let's all get ready for bed" Thalia said as they all walked away from the center. Hannah stayed there, and stared at the jungle. Curiosity picked at her brain but she was taken out of her thoughts by Ethan bringing her back to the treehouse.

"Ah!" Hannah winced as Lena began patching her up back at the treehouse. "Sorry, sorry. You both roughed each other up pretty well, so yeah this is going to hurt" Lena said to Hannah. As she finished up, she placed a hand on Hannah's shoulder. "Have a good night, Hannah" She said. Hannah looked up at her as she left. There was something about Lena, something that Hannah liked. She didn't know what it was though. Hannah walked out to the sleeping area in the treehouse and didn't even waste any time. She was tired, so she got right into the sleeping bag and closed her eyes.