Reyr the Gold (Dragonwall Series # 2)

Chapter 21 - The Gobelins are Coming

Kaljah

Jeanine rose from her cot, grabbing her bow and quiver of arrows. She was careful not to make a sound as her bare feet crept over the dirt floor. She threw on her boots and left her cottage behind, heading deep into the hills. Many stars still dotted the night sky, but in little more than two hours, the sun would be upon her.

Dawn was the best time to hunt wild game and she intended to get a decent head start. She followed the same trail she always did, though she had never taken the trail to its end. It led up into the Eastern Barrier Range. Some said it would take one all the way into Pavv if one desired to go the distance. She shuddered. A person would need a death wish to take it far enough to reach Pavv.

As she followed the trail, her feet stepped in all the right places. The path was so ingrained in her mind that there was no need to watch the ground. It hadn't always been this way. She had once been an immigrant to these lands. Nearly eight years had passed since then; she was nine at the time of her coming. Before that, she had been a city girl. Her mother and father were well-off during those days, or so the story went.

Her father was a prestigious commander in the king's army, living and working with the kingdom's eastern troops. He was sent to these lands during the Gobelin Wars. She was a young child at the time, only five. She and her mother stayed behind in Lincastle. As time dragged on, she witnessed the hardships the war brought upon her mother. The separation of her mother and father was a difficult burden for her mother. After four long years, the fighting ended. She and her mother rejoiced. Then a carrier arrived bearing a disastrous letter; her father had lost his right leg in the final battle.

She never forgot her mother's face the day the news came. That night she watched her mother sobbing on the floor in the corner of their home. A woman she believed so strong was reduced to a heap of frilly fabric.

The following day they packed some of their belongings and sold the rest. Her mother hired a sell-sword to escort them to Kaljah, the village where her father was stationed during his recovery. It was a difficult journey. They were forced to take the cheapest route, which was also the fastest route, directly through the desert. All she remembered was the thirst, but sometimes sharper, more detailed memories came back in the form of nightmares.

As a child, everything was an adventure, including the first few days after they arrived in their new home. Kaljah, with its population of less than three hundred, was completely different compared to the life she'd known. Surrounded by harsh terrain, it took very little time for her to learn the dangers of the wilderness. She grew up quickly after that.

Terrible as fate had already been to their family, it had one last thing in store for them. The gods let her father live whilst taking her mother. Though she loved him, she would have given quite a lot to switch their fates.

The child her mother birthed did not survive. Had it lived, she would have grown up with a brother. Her father would have had his wish, for he always longed to have a son. What did it matter now? That was many years ago.

Her father didn't talk about her mother anymore—it was a forbidden topic. After she died, he never remarried. What woman would want a wood-legged man? Jeanine was the only one in his life now, and a hard life it was. She did most of the heavy work, though he helped where he could: gardening, cleaning, and tending to their cow.

She was left to the other tasks that required two legs, such as visiting the market, making repairs on the cottage, and hunting. She scorned everything but the hunting. It was the only time she had away from her hardships. As she got older, and with much practice and hard-learned lessons, she began to claim superiority in tracking and killing wild game. None could fell an animal as effectively as she, or track a wounded one into the mountains to finish it off.