Chapter 28: Hunger

The light of dawn showed through the branches. Zell was on guard duty and noticed the light. He looked down at the sleeping Kaitlyn and remembered his old life, watching his children sleep. He smiled at the happy memory. He decided to let her sleep a bit longer and just continued to watch her.

After the sky was bright enough, Kaitlyn woke up from the light on her face. She yawned as she got up and stretched her arms high in the air.

"Good morning." Zell said. "Did you sleep well?"

"As well as I could." Kaitlyn said. "How about you? Did you sleep well during my shift?"

"The ground is not a comfortable bed." Zell said. "I hope we find better lodgings today."

"Yeah!" Kaitlyn agreed. "What we need right now though, is food." She rubbed her stomach. "I am starving."

"It has been an entire day since we ate." Zell sighed. "Maybe we can find an animal or some fruit to eat."

"Leave it to me!" Kaitlyn said. "I am a professional hunter. In our village all of our food is either hunted or gathered from our forest."

As they talked an arrow landed on the tree next to them, just missing Kaitlyn's head. She jumped back in surprise. And screamed. "What the!"

"You there." A voice in the distance called out. "That was your only warning shot. Who are you and how did you find this place?"

"A demon named Maximus tricked us into coming here." Zell explained. "We could use any help you could offer to get back home."

"Are you a demon?" The voice asked. "I have seen your kind in our books, your outfit matches that of a demon."

[Should I tell the truth or lie?] Zell thought to himself. [If I tell them I am a demon, I may slip up later and reveal I am lying and lose all trust. However, if I identify myself as a human, they may never trust me from the start. What should I do?]

"He is a human." Kaitlyn shouted out.

[Whelp I guess that is what we are going to go with.] Zell thought to himself.

"A human?!" The voice sounded afraid. "The ancient enemy has returned?! They have found us here! I must warn the others!"

"I come in peace." Zell shouted. [Great I sound like one of those corny aliens in a B movie. What am I going to say next? Take me to your leader?] Zell thought to himself while he waited for a response. He waited for a few minutes but heard nothing. "Hello?" He shouted out again. After another few moments he still heard nothing.

"I guess he ran away." Kaitlyn said as she walked over to the tree to remove the arrow. With a swift pull she yanked it out. "Oh, this is a pretty high-quality arrow." She said as she examined it. She flexed it and bent it, but it snapped back straight each time. She found a large rock nearby on the ground and smashed the tip in several times. The arrowhead did not chip or shatter, nor did it show any signs of wear. "Scratch that. This is an amazing arrow." Satisfied with her examination she walked over and handed the arrow over to Zell. "Check it out."

Zell took the arrow from Kaitlyn and looked it over. The arrow was made of an unknown black material, with a sharp metallic head. Golden runes were engraved along the body of the arrow as well. "So, this tells me nothing." Zell said with a sigh. "I must admit I am not an arrow expert, but it looks neat, I guess?"

"I have never seen an arrow of that quality." Kaitlyn explained. "And my tribe prides ourselves on our arrows. I wish we could have gotten a look at that guy, then we would at least know what race we were dealing with." Kaitlyn's stomach growled with unstoppable fury. "Oh, right, we need food."

"Yeah, we should also get moving." Zell said. "That guy could come back any moment with more of his kind. We could be facing a volley of those arrows. That person's voice came from a northern direction, so let's head West, then North. A direct path may cause us to run into them, we may be able to sneak around them this way."

"Okay." Kaitlyn agreed and the two started to move.

"Be on the lookout for fruit or animals." Zell said. "We really need to eat."

"Trust me I know." Kaitlyn said, her stomach still growling.

As they traveled West, they could hear a roar in the distance. It was not a roar of an animal, as it was constant and unchanging. The noise became louder the further West they traveled, until finally they emerged from the trees and found themselves standing at a waterfall with a pond and river beneath it. The waters of the pond overflowed with mana, so much so that it appeared to be glowing with a faint blue luminance.

"We are in luck!" Zell said. "I lived for five years apparently on this stuff. We should be able to refill ourselves if we drink this water. Or even bathe in it. As long as the mana is in and around us it will sustain us."

Kaitlyn rushed to the water's edge and scooped some water up with her hands. As she drank it, she could feel the mana flowing into her, replenishing her. "You were right!" She cheered. "I feel my hunger melting away!"

The surface of the water began to violently bubble. The bubbles continued to churn, forming a tower in the center of the water.

"What is happening?!" Zell shouted.

Kaitlyn ran back away from the water, over to Zell's side.

Suddenly an explosion of mist and vapor erupted from the pond. It obscured the duo's vision but they could see a great shadow swirl in the mist. Two giant aquamarine eyes pierced through the mist.

"Who dares drink from my sacred waters?!" A booming voice shouted that shook the very ground they stood on.