LAY OF THE LAND III

 "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe " ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

As soon as I finished speaking with the village elder, I quickly left to find something to punch because I could feel a white hot rage tearing through me. 

This was because while I could understand being a coward because you are scared, how could I understand being a coward because of some old run down religious mentality?

Does this put paid to my plans of rallying the villagers?

(I thought sorely)

Not finding a suitable gym or punching bag, I settled for the stem of a big tree that grew some distance from the village and began releasing my frustration on it until Taurus interrupted me.

At first I was angry at his interruption but when he began speaking all I could feel was his concern for my well being. 

"Did something happen during the raid?" He asked with concern

"did they take your innocence?"

I fought back the urge to laugh and replied 

"They tried, they did not succeed "

To be honest, if it was anyone else who asked I would have simply ignored the question or made up a sick excuse but when it came to Taurus I could tell that he and the previous owner of this body were very close. Besides, he had a wealth of knowledge about the village and I had to keep him talking so I could ask him some very important questions. 

"Do you want to become a hunter?" He asked after answering a few of my questions 

"Certainly " I replied "though it won't be animals that I will be hunting"

He just sighed and shook his head 

"Fine" he said reluctantly

"If that's what you want, I will get you what is needed for a bow and a few arrows after work time tomorrow."

He then stood up to leave 

"Wait!" I called out "won't you..."

"Good night Olivia " he said without turning back.

He walked towards the village for a while then he stopped and turned to me. 

"Do you plan on sleeping here tonight?" He asked in a sarcastic tone 

Seeing that I had no choice as I had no idea where I was supposed to sleep, I rose up and followed him to a shelter that was built separately for boys and girls where after a few minutes of discomfort because of the straw mat I was given, I was finally able to fall into a deep dream less sleep.

.......................

 I could feel his approaching steps as I huddled in fear beneath the bed. They were slow, almost casual as if he knew where I was and he was taking his time to reach me. 

"Please don't find me, please don't find me " I prayed even though I knew it was useless 

As though confirming my worst fear, he slowly raised the cover of the bed where I was under and stared at me with eyes filled with lust.

"Did you think you could hide from me Olivia?" He asked as his hand gently caressed my hair "don't worry dear , just close your eyes and it will all be over "

I could not move,

I could not feel 

I could only scream.

.....................

 To say I woke up in a cold sweat would be an overstatement as I have been having these kinds of dreams ever since I was seven. Most of them don't even shake me anymore but there are still a few painful ones that did.

My major problem was that I had not had this particular dream about my father ever since I joined the army so why was I seeing him now?

Did the events of yesterday triggered it?

"Olivia" a little girl that slept beside me called 

"the guardian is calling for you. She says to come eat"

I simply nodded, got dressed in the same clothes I wore the previous day and followed her.

When we got to where the children were seated, I was a bit surprised at the number of children who sat in a semi circle, waiting for food 

 "Are all these children orphans?" I asked Taurus as soon as I sat down beside him 

"Most of them are" he replied 

"Their parents were killed during the bandit raids"

"And the others?"

"I guess their parents don't have enough to feed them." He replied with a shrug 

I looked at the almost fifty kids in the circle and I could feel the tears stinging my eyes.

We really need to do something about those bandits Taurus 

I thought dryly 

We really really do 

After breakfast that morning, the work in the village was assigned to each individual according to the quota system. While men were in charge of constructing and repairing damaged houses, women and children were put to work clearing bushes for the planting season under the watchful eye of the village elder and the older children.

 While I have never been to a farm in all my life, I had often dug ditches and trenches so I was quite confident in my digging and clearing ability. My only setback was that my ten years old body could not keep up with my mind so I often had to take some rest against my will.

Time flew by quickly and before I knew it the elder blew a horn to announce the end of the work day. As soon as he did this, most of the people picked up their tools and headed for home but I stayed back because I was waiting for Taurus. 

I waited for a while and was about to leave when I saw three figures approaching. I thought they were going to pass by but after a few minutes it became clear that they were heading for me. Any question as to whether they were friendly or not was quickly answered when I saw that they were all armed with clubs. 

Perfect I can finally get some practice 

I thought happily 

"Well well well, look who we have here" the first one said 

I rolled my eyes at his comment

"Don't you have any thing better to say Ramses?"

"No I don't" he replied "I prefer actions to words"

"How is the wrist?" I asked in false pity 

"Oh it is getting better " he countered "in fact let me show you "

His friends then moved to encircle me and I began to size them up 

Little discipline, little experience and an obvious exhaustion that will be advantageous. 

My mind summed 

"What is the matter dear Olivia " he said in a sing song voice "did you think you could run?"

Those words rang a bell

"What did you say?" I asked in a tone even I could not recognise 

I saw the fear enter his eyes but he quickly pushed it down 

"You can't run Olivia no matter how hard you..."

My brain finally snapped 

Before he could finish the words, I leaped forward and delivered a vicious uppercut to his jaw which sent him falling back a few feet with blood flying out of his mouth. Riding on the momentum I ducked a swing from the second one and used my right foot to sweep his legs thereby sending him face down to the floor. The third swung aggressively at me but I easily ducked his blow, caught his arm and delivered a heavy elbow that forced him to drop his club. As soon as it left his hands I caught the club and used it to deliver a blow that I was sure would cost him a few teeth.

Not giving them the chance to recover, I furiously charged at Ramses who was on the ground and began swinging. This forced him to put his hands beside his head in order to protect them. I was so focused on beating Ramses that I did not notice Aegon until he rushed me from behind and sent my small frame crashing to the ground with him on top of me. He then tried to punch my face but a fist full of sand to the eyes ended his efforts. Seeing that he was distracted, I placed my legs on his chest and pushed him away with all the force I could muster. I then waited until he had recovered enough to stand before launching a running knee that knocked him out cold.

By then Ramses was already on his feet but his third friend was slowly backing away 

"You did not say she was going to be like this Ramses" he cried in a voice choked with tears 

"Just shut up and charge " Ramses cried back 

Before either of them could move, I threw Aegon's club at Ramses (he avoided it) and used a running momentum to deliver a flying punch to the third that sent the last of the poor boy's teeth to the floor in a gory display of blood. 

Without another word the boy quickly scurried away from the fight. 

"Patracles , Patracles " Ramses called after the fleeing boy "come back here you coward "

"What's the matter dear Ramses " I said imitating his earlier tone "are you scared of fighting me alone?"

His fear became clear as daylight and his body began to shake. However rather than run, he picked up a discarded club, held onto it tightly and charged at me in a reckless and aggressive manner. 

'Perfect'

I easily evaded his reckless strikes and delivered fast jabs while dancing around him as though we were in a boxing match. Now don't get me wrong, I could have easily ended the fight but I wanted to know this body's limit so I decided to make him my practice dummy. After all I needed to stay in shape if I wanted to defeat the bandits and whatever else this world decided to throw at me. 

After I decided I had enough, I simply waved one of his already slow swings and delivered a heavy blow to the right side of the head that knocked him out. 

"Gods above and below!!"

I turned back to see Taurus looking as though he had seen a ghost. Then he expertly nooked an arrow and pointed it at me.

"What in the name of Zeus are you and what have you done to Olivia?"