Red Moon Rising

Chapter 1




She stumbled through the forest, her body trembling violently and her vision blurred. The sun was setting slowly and she could see her breath in the cold air. She had used her shirt as a bandage, but the blood from the wounds on her side had already soaked through it and dark rivers of blood were streaming down her leg.

She was dying. She had managed to kill one of the beasts, more from luck than any kind of skill, but not before it had wounded her mortally. She staggered on anyway. The other two would soon discover their dead brother, and it would not take them long to find her. They would smell her blood and track her down. If the gods were merciful, she would already be dead before they found her and ripped her body to pieces.

She stopped and leaned against one of the thick trees, the bark scraping against her bare back as she took shallow, gasping breaths. The small dog at her feet whined nervously and pawed at her leg.

“Tia.” Her voice was thick and she coughed weakly, moaning when it made her sides burn. Blood coated her mouth and lips. Her ribs were broken, she was sure of it. She had both heard and felt the crack when the beast threw her against the tree.

She raised her hand and touched her face gingerly. Her battle with the beast had left her face battered and bruised. One eye was swollen shut completely, and her lips were bruised and swollen from having her mouth punched. She touched her front teeth experimentally with her tongue, wincing when they wiggled loosely in their sockets. She was surprised they hadn’t been knocked out completely.

“Tia.” She tried again. “When I die, you have to leave me.”

The dog stood and rested its small paws on her shin. It whined again and she smiled at the dog. “Don’t stick around. They’ll kill you if they see you. You have to – “

She coughed again, moaning and crying out with the pain as fresh blood poured from the wounds on her side.

“You have to run away. Find a new family okay?” She whispered.

The dog barked once, shrilly, and she winced. “Hush Tia.”

She made herself push away from the tree. Oddly enough the pain was a little better. It had been replaced by a curious feeling of numbness. She pulled the sodden material of her shirt away from her wound, and stared at the blood spurting from the four deep slashes.

“That can’t be good.” She whispered and then laughed weakly. She replaced the drenched material against the wounds, why she bothered she didn’t know, and stared down at the dog.

“Do you hear me Tia? Find a new family. Don’t stay with me.” She stared into Tia’s soft brown eyes and then frowned when the dog cocked its head, stared into the trees, and then bolted away.

“I’m not dead yet damn you.” She muttered. Her heart squeezed painfully. The little dog’s abandonment hurt more than her broken body did, but it was for the better. She swiped a shaking hand across her mouth, staring dully at the blood on her fingers, and lurched on.

They would bring her head back and stick it on a pole beside the others. She cringed at the thought that her brother would see it. He had screamed and raged, and begged the beasts to allow him to take her place in the hunt. They had laughed and sneered at him. He was too valuable to be used in hunting.

They had stopped laughing when he had attacked and killed one of them with his bare hands. Valuable or not, they would have torn him apart if she had not gotten on her knees and begged Draken to spare his life.

They hadn’t let her say goodbye to him. They hadn’t let her hug him and tell him she loved him. The last time she had seen him he had been pinned to the ground, his face red and his muscles straining against his captors as he fought to get to her.

She swallowed thickly, tasting the metallic tang of blood, as tears began to slip down her cheeks. She was suddenly so weary she couldn’t take another single step. She collapsed to the ground, her breath wheezing in and out as her lungs laboured to draw in air.

She was cold and so very tired. Her eyes slipped shut and she pictured her brother’s face - his strong jaw and clear blue eyes. His eyes had once danced with laughter, but it had been many moons since there had been anything but anger and sorrow in them.

There was snuffling beside her and a warm, wet tongue licked her forehead. She forced her one good eye open and stared at the small dog.

“Tia.” She whispered.

Tia whimpered softly and looked behind her. The dying woman followed the dog’s gaze, squinting at the two figures behind the dog. Dread filled her body. They had found her.

One of them crouched beside her, and she realized with a faint thread of relief that it was not one of the beasts. The man was as big as her brother, his shoulders broad and heavily muscled. His eyes were a dark brown, they looked nearly black in the dim light, and his hair was a rich, dark red.