Unlifting Mist

Injured and Frail

After a few days Taro began to find his place in our small village. The beasts continued their endless pacing about on the perimiter of our misty blanket. The world almost, almost seemed peaceful in Dargor and with each day I began to think more and more about the mysterious man that had seemingly run into our village.

Taro came to my cottage every day with fresh meat from a new hunt. He was extremely strong and capable in the field. Some days I would borrow a long outgrown pair of his pants and put on my swede hunting boots to go with him. My arrow was fast as a falcon and my accuracy like that of an eagle. We were truly an amazing pair according to Rosette.

Sadly not all Taro's life was fun and games... he had a twin brother who had been traveling with him before the mist. His name was Kaelan but they called him Kael. When the crisp morning glory-sun awoke him on the day Taro stumbled upon our gruesome village Kaelan was gone... his sleeping furs were set aside and the spicy smell Taro had been used to was gone. Kaelan always had the scent of fresh herbs around him since he was an excellent chef.

 That day, wandering alone, Taro had stumbled upon our tiny village.His life was not perfect either. I mourned with him over the sudden and sorrowful loss of an important village but there was no time to be lost. We were in a critical situation right now that involved all of the men and women on Dargor's miserable premises to be in top condition.

The year of the mist was arriving. Year Of The Mist comes only once every seventeen years. The mist cycle is five days. Our foggy wall of protection from the dark beasts is broken and dissolved into nothing...the mist will clear for a maximum of five days. Excitingly enough the beginning of the cycle was on my seventeenth birthday. The last cycle was when I was a newborn child. My mother was killed by a beast shortly after giving birth to me. She had been weak and a simple blow to the head and she was gone...

I never got to know my mother, living only on drawings and stories of her many fun times and accomplishments with my father for the village. Apparently I am much like her, physically and mentally. I'm caring, beautiful, athletic and clever. We share the same curly blonde hair and sky blue eyes that seem to be on an endless horizon. Both our lives full of possiblity. her dying words were as quoted, "Take care my Juliette... may you be blessed with a powerful gift that will change our world and that of these horrible beasts...and put an end to our fearful suffering..."

I never did know what she meant by a gift...

I was quickly flashed back to reality when I felt Taro's presence close beside me.

"Are you feeling alright Ju?" his face had a worried frown and a furrowed brow.

I looked up into his enchanting green eyes and replied, "...Uh, yeah just a little memory. I'm okay, we can keep hunting."

I looked down to see my bow and arrow lying on the soft earthen ground. It must have dropped as I had my flashback. Looking at it and thinking about the cycle made me feel frail and vulnerable.

Suddenly a blood curdling shriek erupted from the forest and a cloud of frightened birds exploded from the trees just north-west of us. More screams followed and I jumped and quickly looked to Taro.

"What is that?!" I called over the noise.

"Lets go check it out!" he yelled back.

We both dropped out hunting gear on the grass and started sprinting towards the origional cause of the masculine screams.

Reaching the barrier of mist we stayed at a comfortable distance from the untelling wall. A cry for help seeped into my sore ears, so pleading and weak.

"...Help...please, someone there are monsters! Horrible beasts they are coming....! ...It is almost to late for me,  god tell my brother wherever  he is that I love him..."

I glanced over at Taro who had a mix of surprise, sorrow, fear and pain on his face. Also desperation.

"...god bless his soul..."

"KAELAN!" Taro screamed from his position  at my side.

"KAELAN I'M COMING FOR YOU!" I looked over at him in fear.

My voice came out as a soft whisper, " No! I'm not losing you after what happened to my mother!" I pushed away his had as he placed it on my shoulder in attempt to calm me "there has to be another way...!"

I put my hand on his arm, trying to soothe him, restrain him... I really didn't want to loose another friend or family member to those horrible, bone-crushing beasts.

He gently brushed off my hand from his am and looked at me sadly, "Not much time, made it through once I can do it again." he murmured.

Before I could react or do anything to stop him Taro plunged through the thick wall of mist.

___________________________________________________________________________

What were mere minutes seemed like hours as I waited for Taro to emerge. I feared the worst as images of him bleeding, a bite on his neck or a dagger in his strong, muscular chest flashed pain stakingly through my head. Suddenly there was a sound from the opposite of the wall.

A faint moan and leaves rustling, seconds later a blood-drenched Taro and a crumpled young man with a blood soaked Agolu leaf wrapped around one arm and black and purple up one leg emerged slowly from the mist.

Rushing over I shakily asked, " Ohmygosh! Are you okay? Is he okay?!! I'll go get papa and Simone!"

Simone was our medicine and herb expert.

Now I really felt weak...

...So injured and frail...