The Lost Princess

Episode 7: Survival

Vestin hid behind a cluster of trees and slowly leaned forward to peek around one. He watched the small band of men dressed from head to toe in the Serenity Royal armor guide their horse down a path. They were the select few the queen trusted with her dirty work, and they had no remorse after carrying it out. Vestin watched as they led their horses down the narrow path through the woods keeping eyes out for anyone from Yorland, his village, which they destroyed six months ago in their search for Loraz; he clenched his fist trying his best to control his anger. His nails dug into his skin and were close to drawing blood. So many people, so many innocent people dead, left for dead, or homeless and in hiding. Once they found out that Velaira had passed on and there was no trace of Loraz they took to violence to get the answers they wanted. He himself just barely made it out of the village alive as he fought back and tried to save as many people as he could with his antics. The bruises on his side still stung, but he was still alive and the constant pain they gave off reminded him of that. His parents weren't so lucky. They were burned alive in the center of town with a couple of others. His father put his life on the line for him and his mother met the same fate as she tried to save a neighbor. A gruesome tactic used to try and get people to talk, but no one did, because no one knew a thing about what they were looking for. No one knew except him and the four knights that assisted him in saving the few people they could save.

He mumbled under his breath,

"Lowly cowards..."

His eyes grew dark, and his breathing increased as he watched them. So arrogant with their inflated egos. How he wished he could take them all out and send them to the judgment of the Ancestors.

He waited for them to pass by and when the close was clear he crept his way back towards a cave he found and the few people he managed to save hid. The cave was massive and the perfect size for a small band of villagers to take refuge. Luckily, he remembered it in the heat of things or many more would have died.

As he walked, he heard a twig snap and pressed himself to a tree and waited. Listening for anything that would give him a hint on what it was and where it came from, he carefully took out a small blade from out of his boot. He peered around the trunk of the tree and saw it was a cige, a round potbellied creature with a short snout and stubby legs and a coat perfect for crafting clothes, a great animal for roasting as well. He licked his lips and stared at the small creature with its red and orange marbled coat. If he could catch it and take it back to the cave, they would have a meal for the day. He waited for the cige to walk a bit closer, the timing was everything when trying to kill one of these creatures. They were fast and nasty when angered, not to mention they could poison you if they bit you. He had to catch the cige off guard and with one swift thrust to the neck. The cige walked closer and closer, its face buried in the ground looking for small bits of food. Pulling up roots and bugs as it made its way towards the tree he hid behind. Vestin inhaled deeply and slowly released it closing his eyes and when the cige stepped up to the side of him he lunged blade first towards the beast and caught it in the eye.

"Dammit, I didn't time it correctly..."

The creature squealed in pain and snapped away from Vestin. Blade still in its eye the cige turned to see Vestin standing there, his arms raised at the ready to deflect anything the cige did. With a snort and grunt, the cige charged at Vestin, its mouth wide open and two fangs snapped out. He spat on the ground in front of him and chuckled.

"What, did I piss you off?"

Planting his feet firmly in the dirt he braced himself for impact as the animal came flying toward him. The cige caught one of Vestin's shoulders in its mouth and bit down as Vestin reached with his good arm and grabbed hold of his knife pulling it free. The cige squirmed and clamped down harder. He groaned trying his best to keep his cool then rammed the blade into the belly of the beast several times.

The cige released its grip on his shoulder squealing and inching away from Vestin. It slumped over as it bled out onto the ground. It's one good eye frozen open. Vestin grabbed at his shoulder. He could feel the sting from the bite, but the burn from the venom is what hurt the most.

"Dammit. I must get back fast before the poison sets in. Okay, let's see if this ass is completely dead."

He looked over at the cige and saw its belly split in several places where it was stabbed. As it lay there in its own blood Vestin winced and then smiled.

"If it still lives after I did that the damn thing is a demon."

He looked around and found a vine then tied it to the cige as best he could. Then with his good arm he began dragging it towards the cave where his village people waited.

"Okay, let's get you back to the cave little buddy."

His breathing began to slow, and his shoulder was starting to go numb. Sweat dripped from his chin and his vision blurred, but he pushed on with his bounty behind him. Almost about to collapse he saw a figure walking towards him and froze in his tracks. His vision almost went completely; he at first thought he was hallucinating.

"Ya a reckless one aren't ya, boy," Sav said.

"What are you doing here," Vestin muttered, "I thought I was supposed to be the only one scouting while you guys watched over the villagers."

Sav walked towards him slowly and reached his hand out to him.

"Stop talking and don't move anymore. Looks like that there gave you a good spanking before ya took him down. Didn't we tell ya not to look for danger boy? We still haven't finished training yet."

"I was able to take it down and bring it back..."

"Yer almost dead, boy. Come on, let's get ya back to camp."

"Don't forget that cige, the people are hungry, especially the children."

Sav grabbed a hold of Vestin and threw him over his shoulder. Taking the vine, he held in his hand Sav looked at the beast and smiled.

"Always thinking of others aren't ya. Relax now ya done good, boy."

Vestin finally blacked outfrom the poison as Sav carried him back to the cave for medical treatment.