The Chronicles Of Averia: Book 1: Dethroned

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The sun rose into the sky and filtered through her window when it hit Delimari's face, making her wake up. She sat up and stretched, then she looked around and saw that Cookie was sleeping at the edge of her bed next to her feet covered by the blankets.

"Cookie, time to wake up." She started giving little nudges with her foot, trying to push her awake and it worked. Cookie yawned and stretched her large mouth, showing off her small teeth and tried to roll over and go back to sleep. While doing this she slept off the bed.

"I'm okay!" Cookie yelped at the end of the bed.

Delimari giggled a bit and got up and went to her wardrobe and got her clothes, and went to the bathroom and changed out of her nightgown.

She came out and sat on her bed putting on her socks and boots and then went to her chest getting her bow and quiver with her arrows and her dagger.

"Ooo! Where are we going!?" Cookie said looking at Delimari.

"I'm going hunting and YOU are staying here." Delimari said, knowing that Cookie was a kid and that Cookie could let Delimari's name slip to random strangers, or, she thought with a shiver, the New Averia guards.

"Aww come on, I can be good. Ooo we can go get my hidden stash bag on the way there or back. Yeah we can do that, but Please let me go with you? Please?" Cookie pleaded

Delimari thought for a minute. "You promise you'll be good and keep your mouth closed?"

Cookie nodded her head.

"..Alright fine you can come but you only speak when I tell you. Got it?" Delimari said as Cookie nodded a yes and Delimari went out of her apartment along with Cookie.

The streets today were just as usual as before, all quiet and peaceful, every elf or creature going about their daily lives. Thankfully to Delimari, The New Averia Order was still new here and haven't paid more attention to her here in Pinesburgh.

Delimari and Cookie walked over to the horse rental station and rented one with a cart for carrying carcasses and left to the forest. Cookie was in front of Delimari while she held onto her and controlled the horse.

After a couple of minutes of riding into the woods, it was all clear for Cookie to speak. "Okay we're out of earshot of the village. You can speak now."

Cookie breathed in loudly like she was holding her breath. "HOW CAN SOMEONE GO SO LONG WITHOUT TALKING TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU CAN TALK!?" Cookie exclaimed.

"SHHHHH!" Delimari said to her so she wouldn't scare off any prey as they go deeper.

"Heh, sorry." She apologized as she flicked her tail nervously. "So what are we hunting today? Specifically, what are you hunting?"

"Well today we are just exploring before noon because all the animal life are more active at night and in the morning." Delimari knew how hunting worked like how she was taught at the Capital.

When she was young, around 12, her mother made her follow her ancestors roots and had some personal bodyguards to go to a nearby island filled with wildlife to teach her how to hunt with a bow and arrows, along with survival training as well.

Delimari stopped the horse. "We get off here." Delimari dismounted the horse and led it to a tree and hitched it.

"Alrighty." Cookie jumped off the horse and landed on her feet as a cat always does.

"Okay now Cookie follow me and stay quiet. We can't have you scare away any deer or moose because of how loud you can be." Delimari said to Cookie.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN-" Cookie hotly exclaimed before she caught herself. "Oh. I see what you mean."

Delimari rolled her eyes and started walking. A few minutes of walking, Delimari decided to crouch to prevent noise and Cookie was in a pounce-like crouch following behind her.

Delimari then saw something in the clearing and she was excited at what she saw. It was a big moose, it looked all nice and fat, and it would give her a lot of money, even with the new tax. It would even be enough for a very long while.

Delimari got out an arrow, aimed the bow at the moose, pulled back the arrow, and released it.

FWOOSH

The arrow hit the moose right in the head killing it as it collapsed onto the ground with a thud. "Woohoo!" Delimari cheered and ran over to it, making sure it was dead and it was.

"Cookie! We're eating good tonight! And you get to get cookies!" Delimari cheered.

"YAY!" Cookie said loudly that she didn't care if she was scaring away any animals nearby.

                                          ***

Delimari dragged the moose carcass back to her horse and loaded it onto the cart and tied it down as she and Cookie got back on the horse and rode off back to town.

Delimari could just imagine how much money she would make while Cookie looked as though she could not wait to eat some cookies, like she had said the night before.

Then all of a sudden a spear went through the horse's head killing it and as it fell it flung the cart forward, Delimari and Cookie were catapulted off the horse as Delimari hit head first on the ground hard.

Delimari stood up but everything was blurry as her ears were ringing but she could definitely hear Cookie screaming her name.

"DELIMARI! HELP ME! PLEASE!" Cookie yelled out but to her she couldn't see her and her vision slowly came back.

When it did, she saw that her horse was dead along with the cart being destroyed and the dead moose carcass being ripped and mangled in a way that looks terrible for being sold.

But that didn't matter to her anymore. What was important was finding Cookie. Her ears stopped ringing and she now heard Cookies screams off to the distance and ran to the noises of terror from the cat.

She just ran and ran to her as fast as she could. But as she was running she tripped and instead of falling on the ground she fell down a hole and slid down a bunch of rocks, hitting the ground hard.

She was nowhere as hurt as when she was flung off her cart, before so she staggered up and saw everything around her. She was in what looked to be a cave system that was hidden by the hole.

Then Delimari heard Cookie's yowls very faintly. Delimari couldn't leave her alone with whatever took her. She did have that thought though but decided that she was going to get out of this cave and save Cookie, no matter what happens here.