The Unblessed Child

Chapter Five - Best Intentions

Aardriyah peered around the room noticing the sun was starting to rise. Sonas was fast asleep, surely exhausted from the night prior of water blessed battles. The small house was still in the rising sun, the only sound that echoed through was that of her father snoring in the lounge room. Aardriyah slowly crept out of bed and put on her clothes for work. As she made her way into the living area, she noticed Pateras was asleep across a few furs on top of some hay and feathers, a book rested upon his face while Old Man Teme's lantern shone brightly in the chill of the morning. He must have fallen asleep reading again, as was quite a common occurrence for the aging single father.

Aardriyah jumped at the sudden feeling of soft fur rubbing against her leg, surprised that the little canine from the night before looked hardly hindered at all by the accident. In fact, it was spritely and appeared to be hungry. She bent down to scruff its neck, looking into its majestic orange eyes - she was startled by the realisation they looked almost human. Noticing the bowl previously laid out for it was empty she poured some more water, which it eagerly lapped it. It still looked a little unsatisfied though, so she took out the one, small slither of meat she had put aside for her lunch. She threw it into the air above the canine's head and watched on as the canine leaped effortlessly and swallowed it in one breath. The canine, seeming somewhat satisfied, returned to the temporary nook Aardriyah had made for it the night before, curling around on itself before drifting back to sleep. Pateras awoke and quietly said,

"Take the lantern with you for work this morning. It's dark out still." Aardriyah moved closer to the aging man, pulling a fur blanket atop him and assured,

"I'll be fine, it's already lighting up and the fog isn't so bad this morning."

He looked up at her and put the handle of the lantern in her right hand, not taking no for an answer.

"Old Man Teme said he would come by and pick it up later." Pateras yawned, before rolling over on his side, indicating the conversation was concluded and no rebuttals were allowed. Aardriyah took the lantern along with her measly canvas bag of food and quietly made her way into the morning sun outside.

The walk was usually one she enjoyed, particularly at this time of the morning when no one was usually awake to gawk at her. Undina knew she needed the solace today particularly given all the events that had unfolded in the night before. It seemed that so much had happened in such a short amount of time and she wondered what had transpired between Old Man Teme and Pateras in relation to the canine. In the early morning light, she was able to make out its shape clearer, she knew she had read about this type of animal somewhere but could not, for the life of her, recall the name of the species. Either way, its presence brought her an unexplainable amount of joy in what had been such a short amount of time. She was already looking forward to getting home and playing with both the canine and Sonas.

As the sun rose higher in the morning sky, Aardriyah gazed at the familiar scenery around her. The land was dry and arid, tainted by the sea spray and volcanic rock. To her left were cliff faces that were unforgiving in their sudden drop to the ocean below. Beyond the cliffs stood the solitary figure of a large black volcano rising high into the sky. She hated the volcano, Mount Tromos, and everything it represented; but not for the same reasons as the rest of Veros.

Most Verosian's despised the looming volcano as it served as a constant reminder of the death and destruction the fire blessed wrought on Veros, essentially causing the Wars of the Elements. The fire blessed were said to have forced the eruption of the Mount Tromos and wiped out the mainland that the Island Nations of Veros were once a part of. All the children were taught in school that Veros was once part of a much larger colony attached to the mainland where travel was easy, fruits and vegetables grew freely, and their culture thrived in prosperity. Now, centuries later, the people of the Island Nations of Veros still held a grudge against the fire blessed. They continued to blame them for their nation now being cut off from the mainland, making exports expensive and the once thriving agriculture industry, scarce - nothing grew particularly well in volcanic soil. Aardriyah, on the other hand, hated the volcano because it was the reason her red hair was so loathed and despised in the island; why she faced years of bullying and hurtful taunts. These small-minded people couldn't accept anything even slightly associated to the downfall of their once great nation and since birth she bore the brunt of that hatred.