Silver Winds

Chapter 10

The overcast sky kept Astra in a foul mood.

It had been dark for nearly a week, and she had only found one new boy to join her crew. She was grateful for that, of course, but there were precious few days left in the month they had been given. Three days from this day, Astra would begin training. Whether her Munrskipan had enough men or not.

The clouds would let go of the occasional raindrop, splashing onto the forest floor around the well-concealed house. It was no mystery why they had never been discovered, living two kilometers from Mistport. The first was the rumor of the monster in the woods, which was really Volos, and the second was their house's design.

Directly between two trees, it was made entirely of wood. The bark had been left on the house, so it was inconspicuous. Then vines had grown over it, and the foliage was allowed to grow as much as it could. Their garden was four hundred meters east of the house, so there was no reason anyone would see the house until they walked right up to it.

Astra was perched in one of the trees, high enough that a normal person would be quaking in their boots. She crouched as she stared in the direction of Mistport, though the city was too far away and the foliage so dense for her to see it. In her head was a picture of Mistport, and she mapped out where she had looked for boys to join her Munrskipan.

She had discovered that Berg was creating his own Munrskipan, and had already collected all of the boys needed. He had twelve, most of them nasty boys and the rest too petrified to say no to him. Her mouth curled downward in disgust.

"Do you want to go into town today?"

Astra turned toward the voice, expecting to see Volos, but she saw her father instead. He was calling blindly outside of the house.

"Up here, Father!" she returned, allowing one foot to swing down to the next branch. She twisted around the branches she knew better than she knew Mistport, and dropped to the ground. Her father turned, his wrinkled eyes crinkling even more as he smiled.

"Astra," he greeted.

"Where's Volos?" Astra inquired. She threw a hand onto her hip. Ole's face fell.

"He's inside . . . he came down with a fever. He told me that you should just go ahead into town today, without him. He just wants you to be careful."

"Tell him I will, and that I've borrowed his bag instead of mine," she replied. She left her father standing by the door, groping for the handle. Her hair flew behind her as she sprinted through the woods, which reminded her that she needed to tie it up. She reached behind her head and gathered her fair strands into a high ponytail. Then she continued, but at a slower pace. She crossed the bridge and jumped over the fallen log that was just beginning to decay, her eyes shining just a bit more as a rabbit crossed her path. Her insides felt as though she had been run over by a boat, but the prospect of finding another person to join her Munrskipan excited her. But as she crossed the tree line, a huge feathered arrow landed between her feet. She froze, but then  jumped back behind a tree. Astra stared at the direction the arrow had come while reaching in Volos' bag for something useful to her. His bag was totally different, though, and the only thing she found that she could use was a long knife, just a bit longer and heavier than her dagger.

"Oi! Oi, don't run away! Where are you going?"

The strange voice caused Astra to poke her head around the tree trunk. A man had entered the plain.

He was of a medium height, about ten centimeters taller than Astra, and shiny black hair fell far past his waist, though it was tied at the top of his head. Astra's jaw had dropped at that, but there was more.