Butterflies of Blood

Chapter 15

Aias stood with his back to a tree. His hands were spread before him, palm up. They were calloused and faint, white scars cut here and there. He clenched them into fists and watched as his palms turned white then red upon re-opening.

At his heels, Lupine grew restless. She put her paws on his leg and scratched for attention.

Aias rubbed behind her ears. "Aye, I hear you girl."

Grimly he stepped away from the tree, dropping Lupine to all fours once more and turned north.

The village looked almost exactly as he remembered.

The word 'Rasete' was spelt out in polished metal letters embedded in an artificially levelled plane. Beyond them houses sprawled out. They were built on the face of the mountain, granted is was flat as far as the mountain went. Never the less half of each house was propped up with long wooden poles while the other half was buried into the hard soil.

Paths between house had been carved out of the face and great trees sprouted at strange angles. Hammocks hung between them although most where wrapped up with the weather. Small tracks zig-zagged their way down the mountain and in particularly steep patches stairs were cut out.

Above Aias a young man was hanging washing and yelling over his shoulder at two children who were racing down the steep paths.

Further on a woman tended a small garden and another woman herded a group of chickens up the slope.

Underneath a simple four-pillared roof a man was carving meat.

Animals bleated in the distance and a horse picked its way across the mountain led by a young girl.

Suddenly a sharp whistle blew and everyone stopped.

The first to pick out Aias was the washing boy. He darted for the children who were looking around confused.

Aias raised his hands above his head.

A bow string's twang reverberated through the air. An arrow buried itself at Aias's feet.

"I know how well you shoot," Aias called out. "I bring no challenge."

The archer sat in the fork of a tree a good way above Aias's head and notched another arrow.

"Easy," the butcher called and slowly he made his way toward Aias.

Aias kept his hands up and waited.

Lupine snarled.

"Hush," Aias murmured gently.

The butcher got closer.

Lupine's snarl evolved into a furious bark. Her high-pitched voice cracked through the air and she ran at the man.

"Lupine!" Aias's voice lashed out, tinged with panic as the bow man retrained his arrow on her. "TO ME."

Lupine froze. She stood quivering half way between the butcher who had stopped and Aias who's hands remained in the air.

"To me, Lupine," he said quietly. "Come on, here."

Slowly Lupine turned and lopped back to him.

The whole village was watching him now.

"It's been a long time since I've heard that bark," the butcher said and his eyes ran Aias up and down as he continued forward.

He stopped on the far side of the metal letters. He crouched there and held out a loose fist. "Come here, Lupine. Good girl."

Lupine looked to Aias uncertainly.