The Unending Epic Written to Appease a Friend, Tell a Tale, an...

10

          Asher blinks. Saman's warning echoes in his mind. Her kind always bring bad luck! "Mayhem?"

          She nods.

          "Well what kind of name is that? Why would anyone want a child to be named Mayhem?"

          The girl lifts her hands into the air and gestures at the forest around them. "The world. Nature. Forces," she says.

          Asher follows her gaze and looks at the trees around them. Wind blows through their canopies and the leaves flicker in the sunlight. "Your people are named after forces?" She nods again, but he frowns. "Even so, why would they choose the name Mayhem?"

          The girl lifts a hand to chest height and flicks it back at the wrist, a gesture that's remarkably reminiscent of a shrug. She looks self-conscious, and he feels bad for pressing. "How about I call you May?" he says after a pause. "Is that all right?"

          The girl smiles. "Yes."

          He feels relieved. He left out that calling her Mayhem would only remind him of his parents. There's a small piece of his mind that he can hear still blaming her for their death.

          "And I'm Asher," he says.

          "Asher," she repeats. She inclines her head and lifts her arm again, this time with the wrist bent downward and her fingers pointed toward the ground. "Thank you, Asher."

          He blushes. "You're welcome."

          She looks confused for a moment and then drops her hand, as if she was expecting him to do something with it.

          Awkwardly he looks back the way they came. There's still no sound of the men, but he quickly realizes that he won't be able to return to his house today. Perhaps for several days, if the men are as intent on finding the girl as they seemed.

         "So, May," he says. "Do you know of anywhere we can go that's safe?" His stomach rumbles, and he's reminded of the breakfast he never ate. "And somewhere that has food?"

          She smiles at his rumbling stomach, and turns again toward the trees. "Follow," she says as she starts walking away.

          After only the smallest hesitation, Asher follows Mayhem into the forest.