Read Online Six by Rachel Robinson - Free Book Online Page B

guess is the darklings have an opposing color. What they are good with is weapons.
    “I will not shoot any darklings,” I say through gritted teeth. As we walked to the crop she taught me how to use her bow. It feels awkward and very heavy in my hands. I know with complete certainty hitting anything will be impossible. Lana’s teaching is more like showing, with a few words mixed in. I place the bow and the leather quiver on the ground, careful not to spill her arrows. The black ash that shrouds the earth is thick in this area. This open area had nothing to protect it from the years of ash rain. I look up to the sky, thankful it has stopped and the gray haze has replaced it. Without the haze the world would be pitch black constantly.
    Lana pulls a few vegetables from the ground, smiles, places them in her brown sack, and continues down a long row. I worry she will get in trouble, however I cannot help the smile that crosses my face as I watch her break out in an obscene celebratory dance. My grin just mimics her appearance. The joy that resides behind her smile is absent behind mine. The emotions I watch Lana express weary me. They are so deep, profound, and full , I am not sure my mind can handle such things. I want them though. Every night Lana sits and talks to me about my childhood and about my mother. The feelings of anger always rise to the surface when we speak of her death. Lana says it is a good thing to feel anything at all. The greater the anger, the closer I am to the other four.
    “Did you hear that?” I ask. I pick up the bow and select an arrow from the quiver. My eyes scan the open fields at all angles as Lana jogs up to stand beside me, the gravelly dirt crunching beneath the soles of her shoes.
    “I did,” Lana says warily. She takes the bow from me. “Get your knife out,” she orders. I pull out the larger knife I carry since Finn left. Lana says I use it well, that my thrusting is promising. We practice killing savages every night and while Lana does the killing, my skills are improving rapidly. The savages have not clawed me again.
    “It’s a dark witch…” Lana says as she draws the bowstring back to rest on her creamy, white cheek. I glance where she aims and spot a group of darklings. Sure enough, the white glowing eyes of a dark witch show themselves. It is a female witch. I stagger back and close my eyes to keep my dark side at bay. Lana holds her breath, a signal she will release an arrow very soon. I hold my breath, too. She releases and the screaming hiss of the arrow cutting through the air comforts me.
    The dark witch screeches loudly. Lana hit her in the arm. She rarely misses a kill shot so I know Lana has spared the witch for some reason.
    The female darklings that surround the dark witch crowd around her, but they continue to walk in our direction. Lana shakes her head and loads another arrow. Darklings have sharp eyesight and at this fractionally closer distance I see that the dark witch’s eyes flicker. They aren’t solid bright white like the witches that came for me.
    “Wait. Did you see her eyes?” I ask, my breath catching in my throat. Lana lowers her bow as the eyes glint once again.
    “Yeah, she’s a freak like you,” she huffs, upset she does not get to send off another arrow. “Whoa, doggy. They are gonna be pissed off.” Lana swings her bow behind her back and slams the arrow back into the quiver.
    “It was an accident. We should go talk to them.” It is another unfeeling darkling like myself. I cannot help but be curious…and scared. I want to talk to her. I want to know what she feels. I want to know if she wants to be corrected. She clutches her bleeding arm. I recognize the look on her face. She likes the pain. Like me, she is trying to overcome the dark. Unlike me, she looks like the other darklings with her dark features. Brief irritation courses through me at the realization. I walk forward and she steps forward as she recognizes something in me,