Other Realms - Tiger in a Wolf's Den

Chapter 2

Soramena reached the edge of the mountains and she stopped the cart. She got down and walked over to a. She wrapped her arms around the tree and lifted it. As she lifted the tree is exposed its roots which seemed to be cut neatly to appear as if they had been dug into the ground. She set the tree over on the side of the now visible path. She climbed back into the cart and with a sigh she snapped the reigns of the cart and the horse turned down the path. After stopping once again to place the tree back into its place to block the path, she was down the path again.

After about a mile a small cabin came into view. She snapped the reigns and the horse moved quickly to the cabin heading directly for the barn attached to the cabin. She pulled into the barn and halted the horse to a stop. She climbed down and detached the horse leading it into it's stall. She added fresh foot to the feed bag and filled the water pail. After pulling away all of the harnesses she headed into the cabin.

"Shanna!" Soramena screamed out as she closed the door behind her. The cabin was neat and clean the main room was very simple containing two chairs with hand sewn cushions attached and a small table between chairs. Across the room was a small fireplace. Wood was stacked neatly inside of the fireplace and a few logs were stacked on the side. A hand sewn rug had been added to the room recently and it seemed to brighten the room a bit with it's bright red and orange colors.

Soramena head footsteps in the other room and the bedroom door opened. Out of the room emerged a girl about 15 years old. The girl had light brown hair that was down past her back. Her hair was braided into a neat braid stopping at the base of her back. She smiled as she saw Soramena her baby blue eyes glowing like blue lakes. She wrapped her arms around Soramena giving her a big hug. Soramena smiled at the girl, "So what have you been up to today?"

Shanna smiled, "I finished that book you got me."

"You finished already?" Soramena asked shocked. She had just given Shanna the book a week ago and it was rather large.

Shanna nodded and she headed over the water pumped and pumped some water into a pot. "Will you be staying for dinner?" Shana asked as she walked over the fireplace and bent down to start lighting the fire.

"Unfortunately I can't you know how the boys are about their ale," Soramena sighed and Shanna frowned.

"That's fine I'd hate to upset your brothers," Shanna said plastering a fake smile onto her face.

Soramena frowned. She hated leaving Shanna alone but it was unavoidable. She had taken Shanna in when she was only five years old. At the time Soramena herself was only 15 and wasn't prepared to raise a child, but she longed for someone more like her someone who she could share her secrets with. She watched at Shanna got the fire going and had hung the pot in the fireplace. The young girl had already learned so much about taking care of herself that Soramena was surprised that she hadn't left this cabin yet. There were days when she thought that she would show up and Shanna would be gone, but the girl was always waiting for Soramena. She was always happy and eager to see her. Soramena was snapped out of her thoughts when Shanna broke the silence, "When will you be coming back?"

"I'll be back tomorrow night. I have to find out what all they need for me to pick up when we travel to Rumond," Soramena stated.

Shanna nodded, "That's nice...wait...we?"

"Did you not want to go with me to Rumond? I figured you might like to choose some of your own books and things," Soramena said smiling. She didn't take Shanna with her often to the city because of the trouble she always seemed to get into. In Rumond though she didn't have to worry as much.

Shanna jumped up and hugged Soramena, "I wanna go! Thank-you!"

"Hey! It's not that exciting you know," Soramena said laughing.

Shanna smiled and released Soramena going back to her cooking, "I know, but I'm just happy I get to go with you."

Soramena smiled, "Well that's good." She sighed, "Well I better head out before they head this way looking for their drinks."

Shanna smiled, "Have a good night. I'll have a good dinner ready for you when you get here tomorrow."

Soramena turned and left the cabin heading back to the barn. She grabbed a harness like strap as she entered the barn and she walked over to the cart. She pulled out one of the barrels with one hand and wrapped the harness around it. Once it was secure she pulled her arms through two other straps and lifted it onto her back. The large barrel looked odd strapped to her small frame but it was a lot easier to carry as she climbed. She slid out another barrel and grabbed two harnesses that were similar to the first one but each had one long strap instead of two shorter ones. She strapped one harness to the barrel and strapped the strap over the left side of her body so it crossed across her chest. She pulled out the third barrel and repeated the process strapping it across the right side of her body. She slid the fourth and last barrel out of the cart. Unfortunately she hadn't found a way to strap this one to her where she would still be able to climb so she was forced to carry it. Soramena looked like a strange beast with the three barrels surrounding her body. She stood up and headed out of the barn. She was thankful that the one thing she did get from her family genes was her strength. Without it she doubted she would have been able to move with one barrel much less all four. She could lift up to about ten times her weight without it affecting her much. The four barrels for her were more bulky then heavy. She headed down around the cabin to the edge of the mountains and began climbing.

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Hope you're enjoying this so far.

P.S. Picture on the right is of Shanna.