The Darkest Dawn

Chapitre 8

Darius continued to shave the wooden dog. He sighed and shoved it in his personal little pouch. He opened the sack with food rations. Hm.... running low. Darius shifted his head to the right and smiled. "Wanna go get some food?" He asked the dog drooling next to him. The dog tilts its head, thumping the ground with it's large tail. Darius stood and slung the sack over his shoulder, grunting when it hit his back. "Let's go."

The soldier and the dog trudged through tall lush grass, flattening a path. Darius recalled passing a creek rich with brook trout. Darius kicked something and looked down. A long stick rolled and the dog stopped to sniff it. The soldier picked up the stick and examined it. Not as long as he'd like it to be, but it would have to do. The rushing of the wide creek echoed past a couple boulders. Darius followed the dog over them, reaching for the top and placing his feet in precarious footholds. The soldier perched on top of the large rocks and unsheathed his knife. While the dog beelined for the water, Darius shaved the end of the stick into a point. He paused then split the end into a tri-pointed spear. When he finished, he peeled the bark off so the spear was smooth.

Darius slid down the boulders and whistled. The dog bounded back to him, wagging its tail. "Watch and learn, Dog." Darius instructed. "Sit." Dog tilted its head, tongue hanging lopsided. Darius chuckled. "I guess we have to work on that."

Darius rolled up his pant legs and arm sleeves after he slipped off his shoes. The man approached the creek and gently waded into the shallows, careful not to scare too many fish away. Darius waited, spear aimed over water. Dark movement wiggled about a foot away. Darius held his breath and pointed directly at the shape. However, when he stabbed, he clearly missed and stabbed mud instead of flesh. Confused, Darius yanked the spear from the creek and cleaned the mud from the points. He waited a little longer than before, the fish now more weary. Bored, the soldier placed his hands in the freezing water to wash them. He paused, realizing his hands looked curved under the water.

Of course. Darius sighed and raised his spear again. After what seemed and eternity of waiting, another dark shape edged daringly close to him. Darius aimed slightly above the fish then stabbed. This time, the fish was pinned to the mud and struggled until it became limp. Darius rose the spear into the air and hooted. At the end of his tri-point was a green fish with yellow spots and red fins. Darius tossed the fish to shore, where Dog immediately dove and gobbled up the fish. "Hey!" Darius protested. The dog barked back at him, demanding more. Darius sighed. This was going to take a while.

Darius returned to camp with a sack full of brook trout. He looked up to see Lucien showing Malachai how to write. The soldier paused to watch as Lucien nodded at the young boy and spelled out silly yet simple words. Dog charged past Darius and into the camp. Lucien pointed at Dog and in a clear manner, spelled out d-o-g to Malachai. Lucien glance past the canine and at Darius, smiling. Darius cleared his throat and headed to the measly fire and brought out a few trout to cook.

Malachai abandoned his paper and skipped to Darius' side. The boy watched with wide eyes as the older man made a small incision from the base of the tail and little by little cut the skin from underneath. Darius worked the knife until the skin was loose and unattached from the meat. He peeled the skin off and tossed it into the fire. He began sawing the head off with the same knife, grunting when he reached bone and snapped the spine instead of trying to cut through that too.

After some more prepping, Darius began to smoke the fish. He watched the fire and made sure it did not prematurely die out. Darius prodded Malachai to return to Lucien and his papers. Lucien gestured the dog. "What are we naming it?"

"Dog." Darius replied simply.

"Dog...?" Lucien echoed dubiously.

"Dog is as good a name as any." Darius confirmed.