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Authors: Kellie Steele
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two men stood on top of each other, and strong enough
to lift a tree from the ground if they wanted, and Lyron cats, much
like the auron cats but with white fur and a little bigger. They
are much more vicious, and will not hesitate to kill a man if they
come across them. Arella has no doubt the men would be able to
protect themselves against such creatures ordinarily, but when they
have not eaten or slept in weeks, would this be quite so easy? Then
there’s the shelter making. This isn’t too hard when you have the
materials. Even Arella manages to get a house made from wood
erected in less than a week, or nearly finished anyway, but in the
mountains with no materials, how would they fend? But then why
should she care? What had these men, or any men at all done for her
to make her care for them? Perhaps she is too soft, letting her
emotions get to her. But what harm could it do? She asked herself.
Nothing. Nothing was her answer.
The next
obstacle would be the black woods with their dense canopy and
minimal light. Arella heard stories of this forest, none of them
good. The bears from the snowy mountains make this their winter
home, and auron cats prowl these woodland, in number much greater
than the ones that live in the forest she inhabits. Even the
herbivores in the black wood are dangerous. The deer have great
spiked horns, capable of impaling a man and killing him outright,
and a lot of the food that looks edible isn’t. Arella’s elders used
to tell the children stories of men who, in the distant past, went
into this forest in search of wisdom and never returned. The only
man who ever made it back came back half-mad. Talking of giant
bears and auron cats hunting in packs and food that tastes nice but
makes you temporarily blind or paralyses you. He spoke often of
watching his friends get torn apart, or eaten, or starving to death
from not knowing what to eat, from watching others go insane and
kill themselves. Come to think of it, he was insane himself. How
can Arella believe any of what the elders told her. Maybe those
lands aren’t that bad. I mean, the forest isn’t anywhere near as
bad as the elders of her old tribe made it out to be. She is still
living there, and nothing has tried to kill her yet.
The next part of the young men’s trial is to visit the elders
and gain their blessing to go back men. Arella has no idea what
this might involve. Then the final trial is to make it back to the
village alive. Arella would love to be able to go with the young
men. To taste adventure up close. What she would give to have been
born a man in that tribe, and to be given the opportunity to prove
herself. “ Don’t run before you can walk
Arella.” She thinks. “ First I must finish my house and make sure I can live there
myself before I think about anything else.”
The deer skin
bag is beginning to get very heavy by the time she makes it back to
her tree house. She drags them up into the tree and is exhausted.
She sits on the floor of her tree house and looks at the tree
around her. She was lucky to find three trees so close together to
make her home, and with the branches flat and spread out beneath
her, there is loads of room. It is tall enough for her to walk, and
big enough that she can lie sideways and not touch the sides, while
she could lie three times on her head from one end of the platform
to the other. When she thinks about it that way, it is no wonder it
took so long to get it this far.
Arella looks around herself. “ Something’s not right. I can see the floor around myself. That
must mean that others would be able to see me up here too.” She thinks for a moment. Even if she puts up basic
walls around her house, she will still be seen.
“ Maybe I can train the branches of the tree
and the ivy to grow over the edges of the house?” It is a good idea, and while it might take a few
weeks for the branches to grow in the right direction, being spring
things grow quickly.
As the sky begins to
to lift a tree from the ground if they wanted, and Lyron cats, much
like the auron cats but with white fur and a little bigger. They
are much more vicious, and will not hesitate to kill a man if they
come across them. Arella has no doubt the men would be able to
protect themselves against such creatures ordinarily, but when they
have not eaten or slept in weeks, would this be quite so easy? Then
there’s the shelter making. This isn’t too hard when you have the
materials. Even Arella manages to get a house made from wood
erected in less than a week, or nearly finished anyway, but in the
mountains with no materials, how would they fend? But then why
should she care? What had these men, or any men at all done for her
to make her care for them? Perhaps she is too soft, letting her
emotions get to her. But what harm could it do? She asked herself.
Nothing. Nothing was her answer.
The next
obstacle would be the black woods with their dense canopy and
minimal light. Arella heard stories of this forest, none of them
good. The bears from the snowy mountains make this their winter
home, and auron cats prowl these woodland, in number much greater
than the ones that live in the forest she inhabits. Even the
herbivores in the black wood are dangerous. The deer have great
spiked horns, capable of impaling a man and killing him outright,
and a lot of the food that looks edible isn’t. Arella’s elders used
to tell the children stories of men who, in the distant past, went
into this forest in search of wisdom and never returned. The only
man who ever made it back came back half-mad. Talking of giant
bears and auron cats hunting in packs and food that tastes nice but
makes you temporarily blind or paralyses you. He spoke often of
watching his friends get torn apart, or eaten, or starving to death
from not knowing what to eat, from watching others go insane and
kill themselves. Come to think of it, he was insane himself. How
can Arella believe any of what the elders told her. Maybe those
lands aren’t that bad. I mean, the forest isn’t anywhere near as
bad as the elders of her old tribe made it out to be. She is still
living there, and nothing has tried to kill her yet.
The next part of the young men’s trial is to visit the elders
and gain their blessing to go back men. Arella has no idea what
this might involve. Then the final trial is to make it back to the
village alive. Arella would love to be able to go with the young
men. To taste adventure up close. What she would give to have been
born a man in that tribe, and to be given the opportunity to prove
herself. “ Don’t run before you can walk
Arella.” She thinks. “ First I must finish my house and make sure I can live there
myself before I think about anything else.”
The deer skin
bag is beginning to get very heavy by the time she makes it back to
her tree house. She drags them up into the tree and is exhausted.
She sits on the floor of her tree house and looks at the tree
around her. She was lucky to find three trees so close together to
make her home, and with the branches flat and spread out beneath
her, there is loads of room. It is tall enough for her to walk, and
big enough that she can lie sideways and not touch the sides, while
she could lie three times on her head from one end of the platform
to the other. When she thinks about it that way, it is no wonder it
took so long to get it this far.
Arella looks around herself. “ Something’s not right. I can see the floor around myself. That
must mean that others would be able to see me up here too.” She thinks for a moment. Even if she puts up basic
walls around her house, she will still be seen.
“ Maybe I can train the branches of the tree
and the ivy to grow over the edges of the house?” It is a good idea, and while it might take a few
weeks for the branches to grow in the right direction, being spring
things grow quickly.
As the sky begins to
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