Chapter Two - Run

After the Arasin attack, Caera and Takeri escape, thinking all of their friends have been murdered. They hide out in Berek forest.

 

Amril and Caera ran as fast as their legs would take them to the center of the village. It was immediate chaos. The two broke apart, Caera wheeling in the direction of his tent, praying that Takeri would be there. Amril continued to the south end of the encampment, to find out what was really happening. Caera shouted for Takeri, and the smaller boy stepped out of the tent where he had been tending to their father.

 

“Get our weapons together!” Caera commanded without hesitation.

 

“What’s going on?” Takeri asked when Caera reached him.

 

“Arasin. Come on, we have to go now.” Caera strung his quiver across his back with fluidity, grabbed up a bow and sheathed his sword.

 

“Leave? We’re jut going to run? I want to fight Caera!” Takeri shouted.

 

“We’re not fighting!”

 

But just as the words left his mouth, the familiar whiz of an arrow resounded in Caera’s ears and his heart nearly stopped as he saw Takeri’s dark blonde hair flit as the arrow narrowly missed his neck.

 

“Down!” Caera and Takeri crawled to the other side of their tent as Maera and Koi spotted them. Koi led the way, running towards the two young men, dodging arrows.

 

“Caera what do we do?” Koi asked as he and Maera fell to the ground on their hands and knees.

 

Caera was bewildered, afraid to take on such a leadership role in the midst of such chaos. His heart was telling him to fight alongside his brothers and sisters but his head said run. However, the Arasin chose for him. Maera shouted in surprise as a huge soldier grabbed him by the neck of his tunic. Caera, reacting on instinct, pulled out his sword with a metallic whisper and lunged for the man.

 

Violently throwing Maera to the ground, the soldier retaliated and met Caera’s blade with his own, the impact vibrating through Caera’s bones. Although the Arasin soldier was a full foot taller than Caera, he could not take on four opponents at once. Takeri ended the mans life with a swift stab in the spine.

 

The camp was alight with torches and burning tents while Caera and the three others readied themselves for the next attack. They worked as a team, half of them distracting while the other half went in for the kill. Screams spread through the camp as the Arasin killed mercilessly, slaughtering every Lataeri they could get their grimy hands on. In the midst of the chaos, Takeri and Caera were separated from Maera and Koi.

 

Caera sliced down his fifth Arasin, and taking the only window yet, he grabbed Takeri’s arm and ran. Away from the camp, away from the Arasin, and away from his fellow Lataeri.

 

“Caera we can’t do this!” Takeri fought, but not physically resisting Caera.

 

“Takeri we don’t have time for this. Lokai, Amril, our father, they have always told us to run!”

 

“Well where are we going?” Takeri shouted, despair knitted into his voice.

 

Caera didn’t answer, but kept running. Both of them constantly looked back, squinting into the darkness, for fear of being pursued. By the time they stopped, the sun was beginning to rise and their small camp was a speck against the horizon. Takeri collapsed on the ground in a heap of sobs.

 

Caera dropped to his knees in front of him, cupping Takeri’s face to make eye contact. “Come on Takeri, we have to keep going.”

 

“Amril, Koi, Maera. We should have stayed.” Takeri said quietly, almost inaudibly. Caera was quiet as his mind began to fight itself. He hadn’t know what the right thing to do was. Caera’s base instinct had been the same since he was three years old: protect Takeri. When their camp was attacked, that was exactly what he did. Koi, Maera, Amril, their father¾ they were all second in Caera’s mind and heart. Takeri was the only person Caera had ever trusted, had ever truly cared for. Their father was infinitely cruel to Caera, ungrateful for taking care of him, ungrateful for Caera’s ever watchful eye over Takeri. Their mother had died when Caera was four, and even she had treated him like he was a blemish on their family. Caera had never known why.

 

“It doesn’t matter what we should have done.” Caera said, standing up slowly and helping Takeri up. “It’s over.”

 

After that Takeri followed in Caera’s tracks silently as they walked east to Berek forest. By a sheer stroke of luck they had not been followed by Arasin soldiers. By mid-day the two young men were exhausted and footsore, not to mention thirsty.

 

“How much longer?” Inquired Takeri, his voice raspy.

 

Caera stopped to pant and squinted against the cruel sun. Berek forest seemed much further away than it truly was.

 

“We should be there by nightfall.” he said breathlessly. Some unknown force, perhaps the human will to survive, pushed them forward and they reached the forest as the sun nestled into the horizon. They had walked for nearly twenty four hours straight, and as soon as they reached the soft forest floor, the two brothers collapsed. The soft leaves were cool and moist, a feeling they were longer accustomed to. Takeri breathed deeply, taking the cold, wet air into his parched lungs.

 

The boys had slept deeply through the night, too overcome with physical exhaustion to let their grief keep them awake. Dappled sunlight shone on their faces, resting on their eyelids and eventually coaxing to boys to wake up. Both of their bodies were weighted down by the searing ache of their muscles, a product of dehydration. Caera stared at the forest canopy.

 

He had never seen such a forest in his nineteen years of life. Sunlight broke through the top, created glowing pools of light among the hundred shades of rich green leaves. Small drops of dew clung to the green clusters, adding an ethereal and diamond-like texture. Along with his own breathing, Caera could hear the soft tune of the forest’s birds, the chatter of rodents, and a quiet buzzing of mosquitoes. He breathed deeply, amazed at how clear and clean the air was. It was a hard contrast to the dry, dust-filled desert air Caera was used to breathing.

 

Caera sat up slightly, rolling to his side to see his brother. Takeri was awake, staring at the forest canopy just as Caera had been doing. He looked terrible, his skin dry and tired, long dirty blonde hair a mess. Caera scratched his own mop of hair, assuming that he looked just as bad.

 

“Come on Takeri, let’s find some water.” Caera said, his voice cracking. He stood, wincing at his aching limbs. Nonetheless, he helped his littler brother up and they stood quietly for a moment. Ignoring the birds, rodents, and the rush of the leaves, the brothers could hear the faint trickling of a stream. Focusing on the sound of the water, they walked in a straight line towards it. The trees were so dense that traveling was hard, as the wound one tree to find another an inch from their nose. Finally, the forest thinned and came to a small clearing surrounding the river.

 

They nearly dove in. Takeri thrust the entire upper part of his body into the cool, rushing water as Caera splashed his face and neck. It has been years since the two brothers had experienced water so fresh. The stagnant water of small oases had been their only water for so long. They drank their fill and then sat on the river bank for a long time, feet hanging in the water. The death of their tribe was still sinking in, and neither could get a true grasp on it. Caera hoped, though he knew it was in vain, that Amril, Koi, and Maera had escaped as well. He kept stealing glances at Takeri, who was already looking healthier from the water, to reassure himself that his brother was really there with him. Caera looked up from his daze in the sparkling water as Takeri suddenly spoke.

 

“What do we do now?”

 

There was a moment of silence as Caera struggled to find an answer.

 

“We survive.”

Author's Note

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