The Claws of Fear (Part One)

Chapter TWO

Author's Note: Hey guys, so here's Chapter 2! What did you think of the first chapter? Are you worried about Morena? All feedback is greatly appreciated, your suggestions help me write better, so keep em coming! I hope you like Chapter 2 and Kiva and I'll see you all in a few days!

- Eli

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Chapter TWO

It had been Kiva's sixteenth birthday when they sent her away. She still remembered it as if it were yesterday. With a bag over one shoulder, she climbed aboard the ship that would take her to Aovir's shores. She said a teary goodbye to her family and waved until they were out of sight and she was left to watch the frozen, barren lands of Feldwaen fade on the horizon.

Raised in such a desolate place, her surprise was almost tangible when she stepped onto Aovir's shores. Her eyes went wide as she took in the rolling hills and green pastures stretching on infinitely. This was a land fertile and ripe for settlement.

And so she would make it her home. With her small pack of belongings, she travelled down the coast until she reached the land Chief Kjarven had chosen; the land of Cawdor.

The village outside the castle was small, but it would do. She quickly found shelter and work to pay her way. In these times of war, no one questioned a lone girl seeking only to survive.

That was four months ago. Grandmother Whyra would say it was practically yesterday.

'Mornin' Elenia!' Soemnit, the village tanner, smiled and stopped by the barn, using the name she had adopted upon her arrival. It would be a foolish waste if her intentions were found out purely because of her name. 'How are they this morning?'

'Stubborn as goats,' she smiled and stood to greet him, leaving the impatient cow she was struggling to milk to contemplate its actions. 'What brings you to the farm?'

'Nothing good, I'm afraid. Felds have been sighted roundin' the cliffs. We're 'oping they'll pass us by but, just in case, everyone's supposed to 'ead on up to the keep until they've passed.'

'The Felds're here?' The bastards were a week early. She wasn't ready yet. 'I'll tell Daerin and we'll gather our things and join you.'

She barely noticed as Soemnit bade her farewell. He might hope they would pass Cawdor by, but she knew they wouldn't. They had come for Cawdor.

'Damn!' she hissed and ran inside the house.

'What is it, Elenia?' Daerin asked. He had never seen her so agitated.

'There's Felds coming, everyone is moving up to the keep. I have to go.'

'Go where?'

But she wasn't listening. She didn't have time to listen. Running to her room, she grabbed her pack. She was grateful she never settled, always keeping her things stored in her bag so she could grab them and go on this very day she had been waiting for.

'I'll join you at the keep,' she shouted back as she ran out of the house, leaving Daerin and his wife standing agape.

***

Curses of every kind under the sun poured forth from her lips as she ran into the forest. Why the hell were they already here? She had told them to wait a week longer.

The bloody oafs never listen!

Finding the tree under which she had buried her axe and chain-mail, she frantically dug them up. She shivered as she pulled the chain-mail on, the armour icy cold even through her shirt. She pulled an additional cloak on to conceal the mail and, burying her axe in the bottom her pack, made to leave.

'Elenia?' Daerin's voice was unmistakable and she froze where she stood.

Oh no. Why, Daerin?

'Elenia, what are you doing?'

The fool must have followed her. She cursed again and reached for her axe. She turned, weapon in hand. He stood only four or five metres from her. An easy throw if he tried to run.

'I'm so sorry Daerin,' she said and slowly walked toward him.

'What? No...' he backed away, eyes wide with fear as the fell on the axe.

Could she kill him? She didn't want to. She had never killed before. But if she didn't... Everything they had planned would be for nothing. If she let him go, he would tell the soldiers at the keep and they would kill her. If she died, so would her kinsmen.

She could run! She could leave it all behind.

No! You've trained for this, you knew when you met these people you might one day have to kill them.

She took a step closer, tightening her grasp on the axe. The weapon suddenly felt heavy and foreign, not at all like the axe she had trained and fought with since she was thirteen.

She felt a tear stumble down her cheek. There were no other options. This had to be done; Daerin had to die. She took a step closer. He turned and ran. It wouldn't save him. Steeling herself, blocking out her feelings, Kiva lifted the axe and hurled it through the trees. It wasn't a perfect shot.

The wooden shaft of the axe collided with Daerin's back and sent him stumbling into a tree, from where he fell into the wet dirt. He tried to scrabble away on his hands and knees but she wouldn't, she couldn't, let him.

She stamped her boot down hard against his back. She didn't want to see his face. Picking up the axe, she tried to ignore his sobbing pleas, tried to erase the smiling faces of him and his wife from her mind.

The fire crackled in the hearth, warming Kiva's cold bones. Working a farm was harder work than she had thought. Daerin and Cara sat on the woven rug beside her, the three of them in a comfortable silence, merely enjoying the company of one another.

'You're like the daughter we never had,' Cara had broken the silence, and Daerin had agreed with her. Without her consent, they pulled her into a bearish hug. She had never felt more loved.

The memory persisted. No matter how she tried, she could not shake it. She tried to ignore it, pressing the hungry steel to Daerin's throat.

'Please, Elenia. Why are you doing this?' the pain in his voice wretched her heart open, the broken sobs from this man who had loved her breaking down her resolve.

The axe fell from her hands, sinking into the dirt.

'Bloody hell!' she cursed the afterlife of the damned and stepped off him. She couldn't do it.

'You're not going to the keep,' she said and pulled him to his feet, staring him dead in the eye. 'Take Cara and run away from here. This land belongs to Clan Kjarven now.'

She put as much mettle into her voice as she could, hoping he wouldn't see past her red-rimmed, puffy eyes. He didn't say anything, just nodded and ran toward his farm. She followed closely behind, praying to all the gods he would do as she said. For once, contrary to their usual ignorance, her prayers were heard and, with Daerin and his wife heading in the opposite direction, Kiva ran to the keep.