SONS OF GODS

Chapter Three: Kayana

As Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, gazed down upon the disarray that resulted from her brothers' and sisters' war, she wept uncontrollably. Those tears, over time, froze and gave way to the eastern ice caps of the Forcaian Mountains.

CHAPTER THREE

KAYANA

THE DANGEROUSLY COLD current of snow clawed at Kayana's cheeks and clutched onto the strands of her huntress-furs as she crouched behind a boulder. She kept a still, keen eye on any opportunistic signs in the nature around her that might suggest nearby game. Her frequent hunting companion, Meliken, squatted against the other side of the rock, squinting through the bite of blistering winds. He nodded toward her, signaling her with a chill. Small chunks of ice clumped between the gaps of his mustache. The entire scenario forced unbidden reminders of the cold on her. To thwart them, she thought of their centaurs, which lurked in the shadows of the forest, waiting the summoning from their masters to assist with their slayings.

When that did not work, she shut her eyes, ears ready like nets to seize any noise her eyes did not capture. But when her stomach growled with hunger, the constant reminders of the brutal weather with which the Forcaian Mountains had been punished over the last year once again struck. Hunting had become a daunting task for even the most experienced hunters. Prowling for ample-sized quarry had become nearly impossible. The concave bedding areas of deer at one point carved pockets across the mountains; now, in their places were mounds of freshly fallen flurries and fluffy quilts of snow that covered the grounds. Barren trees were festooned by slinking layers of ice, uncovering the sporadic petal; the small relics of the mountain's former beauty. Any stranger would be caught surprised by the dying world beneath, where outcroppings of rock and glazed rivulets clambered for warmth as they awaited signs of a thriving sun.

But Kayana knew this area well and, the mountains were her second home. She saw and remembered the life that once existed there. Before there was only snow.

She gazed up through the frosty haze, to the four layers of stacked white-stone blocks that made up the Keprian Lord's fortress. It sat perched at the edge of a high plain; black and violet massive iron doors warded off any unwanted guests. Hugging the outside of its perimeter was a low stone-and-iron wall with gold-tipped spikes, every support column crowned by bright violet fire to melt the snow. She recalled the words of her dapa', Terragon: Look, Kay, he'd say on their hunts. It looks like a fire moat. He was right, too. And under the veil of a blistering storm, the flames looked all too frightful and menacing.

Kayana spied a snow hare dart across the snow and burrowed itself under a boulder. She chuckled to herself. She had not seen a snow hare since she was a small girl. Their sightings had become infrequent and rare. As she recalled it, she had not seen one since the day she and her dapa' trudged their way through the village to the mountains. They had set into a hunt, following the foot trail left behind by a seemingly small snow hare. Along the way, they crossed paths with another hunter. Meliken. She would always remember that name. He would end up joining them on their trek. He talked a lot, she remembered; mostly questioning her dapa' on why he'd bring his daughter to hunt. "Little girls aren't made for the mountains," he'd blabber.

Kayana had discovered a pile of droppings. She knelt to smell a sample to determine its freshness. Then she spotted the small creature leap behind a pine tree and signaled to the others. She dismounted her centaur, Caleseus, and quietly crept toward the cluster of pines. She hadn't made it but three trees in before a striped elk emerged from the shadows. She had not anticipated the giant creature, and as a result of her surprise, she yelped and tumbled backward to the ground. The great elk escaped, taking along with it, any nearby game.