Reighlyn

Chapter 1 - How it all began

She was making her own path. Silently treading through the woods as she kept her eyes peeled for a flash of fur. Occasionally glancing up at the harsh light of the sun to keep track of the time. She had her slingshot in her hand, and her dagger on her belt. The coarse material of her breeches was rough against her legs as she crept through the forest.

Silence.

There was only the sound of one foot in front of the other. Not even a bird song would break the tension. How she longed for the soft pants and occasional yaps of her normal hunting companion. But the tiny little dog was out, along with all the males who occupied the village. Same old, same old. But that meant tonight there would be a feast.

You can't have a feast without roasted wild boar. The very thought is inconceivable.

A rustle came from the bush to her left. Slowly she turned her body to the side as she watched the bush rustle its leaves once more. But obviously it wasn't the bush that was moving. It was the animal in it.

As gently as she could, to avoid the clink of stones meeting, she reached for two pebbles from the purse dangling from her waist. She placed one in her sling, and began to swing it round. Once, twice, thrice, until enough momentum had gathered for her to take aim.

If her fathers could see her now, they would have been impressed. She let go of her sling, grabbing a secound from her waist and putting the next pebble in almost in one fluid movement.

With a loud snort the animal burst from the undergrowth, rushing through the forest to escape its predator. And, by Toutatis, she was a predator. Years of practice had lad her bounding steps to be as graceful and as powerful as Caesar's panther. Yet, for a moment, she found herself feeling more animal than human. The way the beast ran from her filled her with delight. She wanted to hunt it down, to hurt it, to kill it. Bursts of speed that she had never known before filled her legs, which barely touched the ground as she began to

Catch up?

She slowed her pace, keeping track of the problem at hand as she wondered what in all of Gaul had just overcome her. No one who had not drunk the magic potion should be able to catch up with a boar. Taking aim once more, a tricky but doable task, even with the trees, she flung her secound stone. It bounced off the boar's back, making it squeal in pain, but it kept running. Her eyes narrowed, glad that there was no one around to witness her, for the first time in years, miss a shot. Whatever had just happened was irrelevant. To have a feast without boar was barbaric and not matter what Rome, or Cacofonix, might say; Gauls are not barbarians.

As she let out a soft hiss of annoyance she picked up her pace again, although not being able to match her last run. Her hand fumbled at her purse again, noise didn't matter now as the boar had been disturbed. Slipping her new stone into her third sling she began the spin.

She let it fly.

It made its mark. Landing on the back of the boar's head, the animal stopped dead in its tracks and slumped to the woodland floor, unconscious. Unable to stop running for a secound she sped past it, slowing, then turning back at a light jog up to the motionless body.

She looked at it. Whatever had overcome her earlier was long gone, now all she felt was pity for the animal at her feet. She could let it go, but she didn't want to be the only teenager in the village to not bring home a boar.

But then, was that really more important than the life of an animal? For all she knew, boars had to take care of their young. Had families just like humans. Had lives. Who was she to take that away from them?

A Gaul. Trying not to look at the face of the beast, she lifted its head and brought her dagger to its throat. And slit it. The guilt rose up in her as she stared at the corpse.

Light burst, in a powerful beam, out of her chest. Light so bright it was leaving scorch marks on the trees. Light filling the air, light covering her eyes with a white, painful blanket. Blinding her. Her heart felt funny, getting heavier and heavier. She felt as if her young body couldn't take it, the weight in her chest, as if her heart was trying to relocate to her pelvis. It was starting to be more than she could handle, it began to hurt. She screamed out in pain, but the voice wasn't hers, it was beyond animalistic, it was a guttural, horse deep voice. The light was getting stronger as she felt waves of terror crash into her. How could it get stronger, it was already blinding her. Her eyes hurt, her head hurt and her chest hurt.

There is only so much the body can take. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped down next to the dead body.

Darkness surrounded her.

The reason that we haven't updated for ages ^^^

Lucy xx