Raven’s Edge

Chapter 2: Dumped

Phoenix reared, promptly dumping Rainn in the dirt. She landed on her side, grateful that it hadn’t been her back. She rolled over, staring at the place where the buck had been standing; he was gone now.

Idiot.

Phoenix had taken off running, his hooves beating on the trail that led to home. Slowly, she got to her feet. Despite the fact that she hadn’t had the wind knocked out of her, she was still having trouble breathing. She looked down, quickly locating the pistol in the grass.

“You moron!” A voice came from the other side of the hill. “I’ve been tracking him for hours, and then you show up and ruin all. Thanks for nothing.”

A boy emerged, a makeshift bow across his shoulder. But when he spotted her, he stopped in his tracks.

“You,” he said. “They’ve told me about you. You and the other fools who live in your village; you just can’t let us get ahead. We’re starving, too. Don’t you get that?”

Rainn frowned, surprised to see someone else out and about on the mountain other than Sebastian. She opened her mouth to argue, but the boy beat her to it.

“I swear, if it ever happens again…”

He took a few steps in her direction, his face outlined in fury. Immediately, she dropped back to the ground, her hands searching for the gun as she kept her eyes on him.

But he found it first. A moment later, he dived into the grass beside her, reaching for the metal grip.

She scrambled, and before he was able to capture it, she launched herself at him.

“Get out of here!” she said. “It doesn’t—”

But she didn’t get another word out. He was fighting for it, and she suddenly understood that he was someone from the camps below. He was one of them.

She tried to take a breath, but now he was grappling for her neck. Just as she was getting ready to scream for help, his thumbs found her airway and blocked it.

“I should kill you,” he said as she railed against him. “You would kill me in a second.”

But Rainn didn’t hear him, not really; she heard only muffled sounds as if listening to someone else talking behind a closed door. It didn’t matter, whatever he was saying, because whether he had the ability to kill her or not, she knew her life was in danger. She gripped onto his wrists, digging her fingernails into his skin, trying desperately to free herself from his grasp. Finally, she released his wrists and put both hands above her head, then spun herself around hard, breaking his hold.

The boy jumped off of her, launching himself away from her angry kicks. Then, as she coughed hopelessly, unable to think of anything other than getting that next delicious breath of air, the boy paused. She saw him reach, this time not for her, but for the gun.

Slowly, her ability to breathe resumed. She got to her feet, ready for another fight, even though a volley of coughs was all she seemed able to manage.

Besides, she was too late. The boy stood up, his place upon the hill making him slightly taller than she was. She noticed a long, deep scar from his temple to his chin. 

He pointed the gun right at her head.

She didn’t know what to do, and, in between coughs, she snarled. “It’s mine.”

The kid looked at the gun in his hands, twisting it slightly, admiring it.

“Looks like it’s mine now,” he said. “Now, go stand over there.”

But despite her compromised state, she was unwilling to be ordered around by some kid. Instead of doing as he instructed, she launched herself at him, taking him by surprise and knocking him to the ground.

“I don’t think I will,” she said as he struggled against her.

She reached for the gun, but this time when he got to it before she did, he picked it up and ran. Then, when he was far enough away, he turned and pointed it at her again.

“Well, I suppose this will make up for the lost buck. Thanks.”

But Rainn wasn’t to be thwarted so easily, for she knew a secret about that gun that the kid didn’t.

It held only one bullet; at least it had before she’d fired it.

She ran for him, and his eyes bulged. However brave he might’ve wanted to seem, clearly he didn’t have it in him to pull the trigger, even on a stranger.

She bent low as she ran, then tackled him to the ground. The gun went flying, but she didn’t go after it. Instead, she kneed the boy three times fast in the leg, and he yelped in pain. Only when she saw him roll over, gripping onto his thigh, did she turn her attention to the grass.

“I told you,” she said, scooping up a handful of dirt in her left hand and the gun in her right. “It’s mine. You should know better than to try and steal from a villager.” She approached him, and this time, she shoved the gun back into her belt. For a moment, she considered kicking him, but what she had in mind was better. She reached her left arm back and launched the handful of dirt right in the kid’s face. 

He sputtered, squinting his eyes shut and coughing.

“You bitch!” he shouted.

But this time, she didn’t intend to stay around to chat. She glanced over her shoulder, hoping she might find Phoenix, but no; she was on her own. She turned to run, but then he caught her attention.

“Wait!” he called. “Wait! It doesn’t need to be this way.”

She scowled. “You’re the one who made it this way.”

He pushed himself up to sitting, rubbing angrily at his eyes. “No, you’re the one that fired on the buck. And you missed. How could you miss with a gun?”

She felt the heat of shame rising within her, and her cheeks grew hot and red.

“How could you? You said you’d been tracking him; what was it that kept you from killing him, yourself?”

The kid sat back, his eyes red.

“So we’re both at our worst,” he said quietly. “I didn’t kill him because I don’t know how to shoot.” He pointed behind him. “This is the best I have; the others below gave it to me. I guess they think I’m strong because I’m young.”

She squinted at him. “If you think I’m going to feel sorry for you…”

But the truth was, she did. Her village was full of aging members, too; people who’d lived on the mountain for years, even decades. They were a dying breed; few ever made it to fifty, and they expected her to pick up the slack. She could relate, and she was horrified to realize that under different circumstances she and this boy might’ve been friends.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

She crossed her arms. “You first.”

He smirked. “Gideon. Now you tell me yours.”

But now, with learning the boy’s name, she felt danger.

He’s an enemy. Don’t forget that.

So, instead of answering him, she turned and ran for home.

After she was a quarter mile away, she stopped running. She had expected him to chase her, but when she took a few steps up the hill to her left, she could see his back as he walked down the trail in the other direction.

“Gideon,” she said quietly to herself. “What a fool.”

She jumped back down onto the trail, this time walking instead of running. What would she tell the others? Phoenix had surely made it back to the village without her; what would they think, their bellies empty for yet another day?

That’s all I’m good for to them: their next meal.

It wasn’t fair, the way she was treated. Despite the comfort of her tiny cabin with Nina and Ezra, it didn’t afford her any leeway with the others. Technically, she was an adult now, nineteen, and Gideon couldn’t be far behind her. Those who lived back in the village were all in their thirties or older, except for the two young ones and an older boy named Dax. Under different circumstances, they might’ve all been thriving, but the age of the tribe coupled with their hunger had ravaged the adults. Sure, there were times that she was given more to eat than the others, but that was only to give her energy as she sought out prey. True, it was mostly rabbits and, frequently, beetles, but hiking around the mountain on an empty stomach did not usually result in enough food to share.

She’d kissed Dax once; or rather, he’d kissed her. He had been aggressive with her even though he was meek amongst the elders in the village. He’d follow her around the barn, learning to ride from a young age, just like her. He’d long since tried to get in Sebastian’s good graces; he knew she listened to the old man. Dax was no idiot, and it seemed inevitable that they would eventually connect. There were no other choices. 

Not that she needed them.

She wondered what life would be like without a man. Never having known any younger than thirty, but for Dax, her instinct to stay away from him was hard to deny. 

But then, she stayed away from most folks these days. 

She slowed her walk as she neared the village, worried she would be forced to face the elders, forced to tell them about her failure.

So don’t go to the circle.

The circle was a place of the nightly fire where everyone would meet and share the goings-on of the day. She would be expected there.

This thought brought her to a stop.

Maybe she should stay away.

Maybe she should run away.

What was the worst that could happen? What would one less mouth to feed result in when that mouth was the one who brought in the day-to-day sustenance?

No, she couldn’t run away. Not yet. Not before she learned how to properly fire a gun, at least.

As the sun sank down behind the foothills and she saw the smoke rising up from the circle, she started moving again, a decision forming in her mind: she would go home tonight. There was no use in facing the others; she felt terrible already, and she didn’t think she could handle any more criticism after the day she’d had.

So, instead of taking the larger path that led to the center of the village, she broke away from the main trail and followed the familiar, smaller one toward home.

She wanted to go to Sebastian, to cry on his shoulder and tell him about all of her worries. But she feared he would be just as disappointed as all the others. She had no proof for this, no experience with him to indicate this was how he would react, but she’d almost lost the gun today. It was a secret she planned on keeping to herself.

Finally, feet throbbing inside her ill-fitting boots, she arrived at the small cabin where she lived with Nina and Ezra. Nina in particular would understand, and Rainn knew she wouldn’t ask too many questions. Despite the fact that she wasn’t her actual mother, Rainn would still take comfort in her embrace. It was that warm hug she was looking for, those kind eyes that would regard her as she cried about her failures of the day.

The little house had a small front porch, just big enough for two chairs. She was surprised not to see the two of them sitting outside. They would be waiting for her just as all the others did; the difference was, they wouldn’t shame her for her empty bag. Nina would simply throw some mushrooms into a pot and make do.

“Nina?” Rainn called, eager to burst through the front door.“Where are you guys?” 

It was strange, their silence.

Maybe they’re at the circle.

So, perhaps she would not receive that comfort tonight. She decided that she would simply go to bed and keep her secrets to herself.

But as she rounded the corner and reached for the handle, she realized the door was already ajar.