Ostium

Chapter 1

Sitting in my perch in a tree, I allow my mind to wander while I keep my eyes and ears open for movement. I think about my sister, I hate leaving her alone but we need food desperately. It took me almost two days to get to Sidus territory. Coming to their territory is a risk but it's better than starving or going into Insolo. Our world is called Medeis, there are three territories. The first territory is Sidus, home of the Sidusians who worship the moon and stars. Then there is Insolo, home of the Insoloarians who worship the sun and chaos. The last territory is Inanis; it means "the empty".  Home to criminals, outcasts and the occasional human that wanders through the Ostium that connects Medeis to Terra. My mother was from Terra. Terra, known as Earth by the Humans, is full of modern conveniences. We have some of them here in Medeis, if you can afford them, but generally we try to live off the land and live a minimalist lifestyle. It's also covered with dangerous landscape and deadly wildlife. Living in Inanis isn't easy but growing up my father made sure I understood that it was the safest of the territories, even with the cutthroats and Trux. Unfortunately, it also has a shortage of food.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a twitch. It's a young doe, barely out of its spots. I don't like killing the young ones if I can help it but sometimes you don't have a choice. My mouth waters as I notch and arrow, we have lived on tiny mice for months. I aim and release, my arrow hitting its mark. I drop down and hurry over. The deer is still alive, its eyes white with fear and pain. Killing is never easy but better the deer over me or my sister. I apologize to the deer and thank it for its life. I jerk my knife across its throat, hot blood spurts onto my hands. I make quick work of cleaning the deer. Between the giddiness of fresh venison and the slippery blood, I cut myself a few times but cleaning them can wait till I get home. I throw the carcass over my shoulders and turn to head home but stop dead in my tracks.  In front of me is a mountain of a man. He has wavy, shoulder length, reddish-blonde hair and a well groomed beard. Full lips and curious, indigo eyes that make my stomach feel funny, I'm not sure if the flutters are from fear or attraction. Neither of us say anything, we just look each other up and down. Does he like what he sees? I mentally kick myself, why does that matter? The skin on the back of my neck starts to tingle. After several seconds pass he opens his mouth to speak but before he can get any words out I swing the deer off my shoulders and throw it at him as hard as I can. I am turned around and running before it even hits him. Fuck the deer, I'll find a new one after I escape... hopefully. Luckily throwing the deer surprised him and gave me a bit of a head start. After giving most of my portion of food to my sister, I am left feeling weak and my legs tremble as I run. I'm sure the adrenaline doesn't help me out either. I hear the man gaining on me, to my left there is shouting and I see a second man join in on the chase. FUCK! I can never catch a break! I push myself to go faster, my muscles are on fire. I keep going, looking for something to give me an advantage. These men can't catch me, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what two men could want with a woman in the woods. I'll die before that happens, even if I have to slit my own throat. Fuck, what about Röta? Maybe if they catch me I can try to block it out until I can escape. I see a fast moving river coming up and I allow myself a little sign of relief, this could work. I throw myself in the churning water, the cold takes my breath away. I force my frigid muscles to keep working and swim with the current to move myself faster down the river. I hear the men shouting for me to get out of the water and I laugh to myself. Like that's gonna happen. The laugh quickly dies on my lips when I notice how fast the water has started moving. I look ahead and notice the source of the quick water. It's a fucking waterfall, of course it is. Dammit, why does this shit happen to me? It's too late to get out, even if I did I'd have to worry about the two men behind me; the river is my best option. I angle my feet in front of me and maneuver myself so I'm heading towards a huge rock just under the water at the edge of the falls. Once there I propel myself away from the falls, hoping to avoid any rocks at the bottom and pray it's deep. For a moment I feel like I'm floating before I fall towards the water, trying not to tense up. I smack the surface of the water hard but luckily it feels like I've just gotten a few bruises. I don't allow myself any time to catch my breath as I swim to the river bank. I glance over and see the men have already made it over half way down the rocky cliffs. I pull myself out of the water and run to a tree I can climb easily. Once I make it up I look at the branches of surrounding trees and scratch the tingly spot on my neck, it's starting to itch. Then men are now at the base of the tree looking up at me but make no move to climb up. The man I originally encountered yells up at me.