Song of desperation (Part 2)
We pushed through the Ice snow and rugged tempest, each step a defiance and struggle against the wind. Our band moved southward in a fleeting attempt to find an easier place to ride out winter, without camp or tribe. Making tracks through the snow, I dragged my feet through the never ending snow. I glanced around me, catching the gaunt faces of my companions, as their eyes steeled forward staring into far distant realm.
Days blurred into untraceable moments before my eyes, my mind soared free from hunger and pain, finding a strange peace in the vast sky. However, my fleeting flesh shackled me to the harsh realities of life. Memories shifting and time warping, facing into the heavy Trek.
Our southward travels had been made exponentially more difficult by the fact that a tribe had set up their camp betwixt the mountains, forcing us into a strange junction. Either face the treacherous mountain pass with minimal supplies, or venture forth clinging to the edges of the Tribes territory. We decided to form a brief camp while the eldest among us discussed. Starvation crept and wormed into our bones, rending our faces emotionless, with only eyes gleaming for the next feast.
The gloom gathered around our fires. Moses the eldest among us, began to speak with his rasping voice. Weaving tails and recounting stories. A world comprised of "Nations" and "countries", a world made illuminated through countless torches, and Immeasurable settlements. Great spiders connecting the world through an invisible web. Moses' eyes lit up filled with wonder, captivating our weary souls. He painted us stories, till the sun failed to darkness, shrouding us in a blanket of gloom.
It was unanimous- we couldn't risk the mountain pass. It was decided that we should attempt to slink around the gluttons camp, emboldened by the nights darkness. With snow, wind and night as our cover, and adrenalin surging to keep my exhaustion at bay. My legs propelled through the snow bounding with the wind.
A petrifying sound, cracked my immersion in the night and run.—a child crying out in the underbrush, tenderly wrapped in warm furs by its loving mother, It couldn't have been more that 5 winters old. Yanna, once new to our band, succumbed to her hunger, she leaped towards the child. With savage, desperation she sank her false fangs into the frostbitten flesh, sending screams echoing into the tall forest trees. Something bound me to my spot, as Yanna's starved form attempted to devour the child.
By the time that others in the band pulled Yanna away, the blood had already been mixing with the snow creating a macabre cocktail, and the child was surrendering to death. Moses rasped in his shrill voice, his words where lost to my ears as the metallic, sweet smell of blood filled my nostrils, noises shrank to a dull thrumming in my ears; Plunging my brain into a fog of hunger. My stomach knotted in pain, twitching in anticipation. The world warped In front of me a divine meal. I began to sink my starving maw in with no resistance.
The shaking of the world brought me to my senses, the taste and texture of flesh still in my gaping mouth. Moses stood over me, his hands locked with my shoulders shaking me. Angry voices filled the empty woods, the rest of the band had already fled the impending danger. Only Moses remained his eyes filled with concern and understanding.