Eote - Chapter 8

Within the forest, there was no concept of day and night due to the absence of a sun in the sky. If one was to look upwards then apart from the textured grey clouds, there was nothing. This unceasing source of light was perfect when it came to productivity.

At all times, nearly a hundred people could be seen scurrying around, practicing, performing maintenance or simply socialising in the open. Now and then, the odd few would enter their huts at irregular intervals in order to get a few hours of rest before emerging again to continue their routines.

These short cycles of sleep allowed for there to be a constant, although lax and disorderly, surveillance of the area to be maintained at all times due to the busyness of the inhabitants. The only exceptions to this haphazard way of life were the regular intervals for training the younger generation and for food distribution which were signalled by a piercing whistle.

Without raising the alarm of the village, the shadows of Loki and Rykar could be seen flitting through the trees on the outskirts while sticking close to the ground. Hesitation was evident in their movements as they constantly drew closer only to quickly retreat once again as the slightest movements and sounds startled them. Their own tension was bouncing between themselves, feeding into each other’s fears of what was ahead.

Their goal wasn’t food or material values. They had come back solely for the purpose of taking their mother back to their new home and finally being free of the restraints their father and the rest of the village had placed on their family. In their hearts, the village may as well have been completely empty besides Linda. There was nothing to be missed or longed for in a place like this.

Despite knowing that they had to wait until the distribution period, they realised that the closer they were to the village’s structures, the less time it would take for them to get to the main hut and back, reducing the risk of them getting caught.

They were currently eyeing up the training field with scorn plastered across their faces as they watched the instructors guide Chris and the rest of the children through their archery and knife play exercises. It was like watching the bad teach the worse, the instructors were able to hit the targets, but their accuracy was questionable at best. The majority younger generation were a far cry from being able to match up to the instructor’s rough skills and technique, but Chris was able to step above and beyond his peers, performing even better than those teaching them.

Watching his success while thinking back to his shameful display of cowardice in the forest only served to fuel the deep set hate the twins had already amassed towards him and the rest. They had been loitering on the edge of the village for quite a while now, while watching the youths train for the last hour.

For that hour, the smiling faces of all present were burned into their brains. Every time they hit a target. Every time they cheered. Every time they hugged one another. Every time they praised one another.

Every action that was performed only went to remind the twins of how unimportant they were towards the others. Maybe, just maybe most of the others did not know about the request to have them killed but even then, their disappearance was taken underfoot just like fleeting clouds. The ones that bore witness to it all, the remaining three that had escaped showed no remorse or discomfort on their faces. They had survived and would live in comfort, what more was there for them to think about?

‘Did they not even care that James, their friend, wasn’t able to make it back with them?’

*SCREEEEEECH*

Their thoughts were broken as a whistle tore through the air. Shortly after, the entire village could be heard stirring as everyone began moving towards the source of the sound, the largest structure which was neighbouring the training field.

As the instructors and students began making their way, the twins finally broke past their hesitation and rapidly circled towards the blind side of the field in order to infiltrate. While looking at their backs from an outsider’s perspective, Loki felt like the villagers resembled mindless puppets as they one dimensionally drifted towards the tent after dropping whatever was preoccupying them or rolling out of their homes.

On the tails of these people, Loki and Rykar were slowly approaching the centre of the domestic space while checking the entrances of the tents they approached in order to make sure they were vacant. Stress built up rapidly as their hearts thundered within them. Despite moving slowly, the pressure made them feel as though their energy was being drained rapidly and Rykar, who was struggling to pull in enough air through his nose, had begun quietly panting from his dry mouth.

Their mother and the other wives of their father would be the exception to this. They had always stayed within the main tent or pre-occupied themselves when this time came, after all, there was no need for them to queue for their distribution if it all practically belonged to them. This was their target. After checking their old hut before hand and assuring themselves that she wasn’t there, this was the second most likely place they could think to find her. If she was still absent, they would be clueless as to where to search unless they went through each hut one by one.

Just as they approached the main tent, they paused. The chances were, it wasn’t just their mother within, but the rest of the wives also and maybe others too. This meant that they had to rush in, pick out their mother and get her to follow them while explaining what was happening And this all had to take place under the chaos that may be caused by the others in the room.

That’s how they had planned it out beforehand.

Just as they were about to make a dash for the entrance, the piece mat that had been covering the entrance shifted open with a man who looked around fifty or sixty years old stepping out. Despite the grey hairs which covered the majority of his head and beard, traces of dark blond still remained as though reminding others that there was time yet before his decline.

Grey wolfs hide covered him from head to toe which had been sewn together using the tendons of animals with a layer of cloth underneath which could be seen through the few areas which revealed weathering. Besides the clothing of the men within the tree, this was the most majestic attire they had been in the presence of.

Despite walking out, the man’s eyes were concentrated down towards his waist as he struggled while fastening his belt. Taking a few steps from the entrance, he saw two dirty pairs of feet from the corner of his eyes. “Didn’t you hear the whistle? Go get in line or go hungry.” Without giving it any thought, he growled in their direction before turning in the direction of the distribution tent and leaving.

After walking for a short while, he realised he hadn’t had a response from the two that were lagging behind. It had long since become a custom within the village to reply to his words with ‘Yes Chief’. A custom which he gladly indulged in at any opportunity and which he began thinking of as a privilege which belonged to him. “Didn’t you hear wha-“.

As he turned around with the intend of withholding their rations, the remainder of his words caught in his throat as he froze in fear. Before him stood two creatures which were staring at him dead in the eyes. Their oddly coloured pupils shone while trembling softly as they locked gazes without blinking.

The figures were scantily dressed in tattered leather and cloth which was barely held together and dangling from their bodies. There were blood stains mottling areas of the clothing while mould and dried dirt were covering their limbs causing them to resemble corpses which has clawed their way out of the ground before making their way into the village. In contrast to this, their faces were oddly clean, as though the rest of their bodies were irrelevant, yet they had gone out of their way to make sure they were recognisable.

This is when The Chief realised the most haunting thing about the creatures, that despite their repulsive appearance, their faces were immaculate while bearing a perfect resemblance to his unwanted sons which were supposed to have long since been dead.

“Gaaaaugh” Taking large steps backwards, The Chief screamed as he retreated while releasing his grip on his belt and pushing his arms out in front of himself defensively. As he tripped over himself and fell to the ground, his wild shout drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity, easily loud enough to be heard from distribution hut as everyone ran in the direction of the commotion.

People appeared from all directions, quickly encircling the space and filling up the gaps between the tents in order to see what was going on. As the villages rushed over, they were shouting questions towards each other and hollering however everyone, without fail, fell silent as they bore witness to the twins who were stood within the encirclement.

“A-Are they demons”

An inconspicuous little girl muttered softly from the side of her mother, who then grabbed her and held her closely against her leg. The word would usually have gone un-heard in such a large group of people, however the pin drop silence was broken by nothing but the wind which allowed the words spread out clearly.

From the back of the encirclement there was a strong movement as Chris, recognising the shout, burst through and ran to his fathers side, helping him up from the ground. “What happened?! Are you ok?” Without scanning the area, he glanced over his dad looking for injuries while questioning him and supporting his limp frame.

Due to not having tied his belt properly, his pants had slid to the ground as soon as Chris propped him up against his shoulder, which caused his sons face to turn red as he struggled with the situation. The chief of the village was laying limp across his sons shoulder while on full display to the entire village yet no one so much as chuckled.

“Someone help! Don’t F*ucking stand there you braindead idiots!” Chris began shouting into the crowd as the embarrassment began to turn into anger. A short, very short lived anger.

While staring daggers into the crowd, he finally caught sight of the duo which caused of the disturbance. He was instantly able to see past the change of skin colour and the eyes, recognising his half brothers who were still frozen to their places as they stared at their father who had ordered their deaths.

*BURGHH*

Without skipping a beat, Chris emptied the contents of his stomach over his fathers’ body while crumpling to the floor alongside him. His heart had run cold as it clenched tightly within his chest while his stomach squeezed itself like a wet rag.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, NO. This can’t be happening” his legs and arms had stopped working, not allowing him to put any more distance between them as he screamed in their direction with bits of sick still flowing down his chin.

“I saw them die! It wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t my idea!!” It seemed as though he was screaming at himself rather than anyone in front of him as his head bounced between the twins and the faces in the crowd. His sanity had betrayed him as he broke down, clinging onto the words the little girl had absentmindedly spoken “YES DEMONS! They’ve been possessed by the demons! They have come for me! Father, mother you won’t let the demons take me, will you? HAHAHAH-“. The last thing to come out of his mouth before his head hit the ground was the crazed laughter which was cut short as he lost consciousness due to the stress of his mental breakdown.

Hearing the screams of Chris on the outside of the tent, the curtains once again began to drift apart as someone pushed their way outside