Awakening (Born From Shadows #1)
Chapter Twenty-One

Tatianna stalked along the frozen woods; her eyes trained to her desire. A small rabbit stood amongst the white snow. She felt bad knowing that she going to be the reason for its death, but they ran out of apples a while ago and this was their only option.

Her feet glided along with the snow, trying not to make a sound. Had it not been for her Elven traits the rabbit would have heard her by now. Sneaking up behind the rabbit she latched her hands onto its back, quicker than it could run. She then lifted her knife, closed her eyes, and ran the blade of her dagger along the rabbit’s throat ensuring the death was quick.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to the innocent creature knowing that she would lose sleep over this.

Taking the rabbit back she saw Nik struggling to make a fire. “I don’t understand how people do this in such cold weather,” he complained, rubbing the sticks together to try and produce heat. If they didn’t get a fire started, they wouldn’t be able to cook the rabbit.

Tatianna felt something go through her, a sudden wave of power flooding through her veins. “Here,” she said and passed him the rabbit and her dagger. “Skin this, I will get the fire started.”

“Ok,” he replied and grabbed the carcass. “How are you planning on doing it?” he asked.

She did not respond but brought her hands towards the pile of sticks that they made. She grabbed the bit of hay at the bottom and closed her eyes. That power she was feeling went through her arms, out of her hands. She focused on how much she needed this fire. How her survival depended on it, then suddenly the hay lit up into flames. She quickly placed it back in with the sticks and watched the flames crawl.

“You just…” Nik said in amazement, “how did you know how to do that?”

“I just did,” she replied. It was like instinct had taken over her, “although I don’t know if I can do that again. It just kind of happened.”

“Well, it was amazing. You keep surprising me, Storm.”

She turned and looked at the pride in his eyes, and for a moment she thought she saw something else in them as well. An emotion she had never seen before.

“Have you skinned the rabbit?” she asked shaking away her thoughts. “I think the Hunt will most likely be stopped by the massacre at Cainva, but anyone walking near here will see the smoke. We need to make this quick.” Despite her words, she wished they could have the fire going all night. Its warmth spread through her frostbitten fingers and freezing feet.

“Yeah,” he said, placing the rabbit on a stick then above the fire.

“Do you think Riley and Freya were…like the others in Cainva?” she asked, watching the fire crackle as the fat from the rabbit dripped onto it.

“The Cararsak can only travel once the sun is down. I think they would have been about to leave or leaving the town once they came. They could have escaped, but they didn’t come back to where we were like we agreed upon. Whether the Cararsak followed them though…I guess we will replace out once we reach Faithorn.”

“How long of a trip is that anyway?” she asked, her mind trying to get rid of the images of Freya and Riley’s corpses.

“In a normal situation it’s about a four-five-day ride,” he replied. “For us constantly having to stop and hunt for food. It could take a week.”

“I feel like I’m the one always asking questions,” she realised, “it’s probably really annoying.”

“It’s alright. It’s understandable considering how you were raised. If I was you, I would probably ask questions too. Actually, I probably wouldn’t even be alive,” he confessed.

“It was difficult, but you tend to replace yourself a routine,” she described. “You get to know what places have food, where the water is, where the shelter is, and what places to avoid. I lived on the street for eleven years, I became an expert at it.”

“To survive all those years alone…you’re stronger than you know,” he complimented her.

“I wasn’t alone…just not for the beginning.”

“Then who were you with?” he asked.

“Someone who I thought was my friend, but like everyone he betrayed me,” her voice grew distant as the memories of him came to her mind.

“What happened?” he cautiously inquired.

“It doesn’t matter, he got what he deserved. The rabbit is cooked,” she said and grabbed the meat from the fire. The flames licked her skin, and she almost dropped their meal into the snow, a yelp escaped her mouth.

“Are you ok?” In a matter of seconds, he was standing by her side. She looked down at the back of her hand and saw a small burn mark there, then she watched as it slowly faded away.

“Yeah,” she said astonished. Not even a scar. All her life she had been getting bruises and cuts and the marks stayed on her skin yet now…it was like she was never burnt.

“That is incredible, do you feel any pain from it anymore?” he asked. He grabbed onto her hand and rubbed his thumb along the previously burnt skin.

“No,” she breathed as his thumb sent tingles throughout her body. She looked at him, noticing his eyes were focused on her skin. As if sensing her stare, he turned his head to face her, and she did not back away. They stared into each other eyes and it was as if they were both at the dance again, no Hunt, no dark creatures, just them.

Nik cleared his throat, “the um…foods getting cold,” he said looking down towards the rabbit and breaking their eye contact. Tatianna lingered her stare on him for a bit longer before turning to the food.

“Yeah,” she replied. “We should probably put out the fire now,” she suggested.

“Yeah,” he replied and moved away from her to place snow on top of the flames, smothering it so it danced no longer.

They sat by each other’s sides and ate in silence, watching as the sun slowly reached midday.

“We should keep some of this for the ride,” Tatianna told Nik.

“It won’t keep for long,” he replied.

“I know but eating it all in one hit is never good,” she replied and placed the remaining half of the rabbit into one of the saddlebags without hay on Ida’s back.

“We should get going,” she told him, lifting herself onto the horse. She was still bad at the action, but she was getting better with each try. He placed his foot in the stirrup and swung himself behind her telling Ida with his body to start trotting.