White - The Winds Call

The Winds Call

A Novel of the Broken Lands

T.A. White

Copyright 2019

All rights reserved

To Jill

A dear friend and my expert in all things horse related.

Thank you

PROLOGUE

"Y ou're lost," her sister 's imaginary voice whispered.

"You have to have a destination to be considered lost.

And Eva had no destination. That was a luxury for someone else, someone who hadnt fled their home in fear for their life.

Branches creaked in the slight breeze. The forest below their canopy cool and dark, full of shadows and mystery.

The place shed chosen as her new home was called the Hags Forest because of the trees which really did look like hags, their forms hunched and misshapen, gray silk-like hair spiraling from their crowns to brush against the forest floor in places.

Walking beneath them left you with the feeling of eyes on your back. A silent presence that lasted until you felt the sun on your face again.

Eva had never feared the forest or the hags as so many in her village had. To her, they were old and dear friends. They'd been a source of comfort, a place she could retreat to when the village became stifling. The hags had taken her pain and loneliness, giving only silent acceptance back.

They were her friends, watching over her while she uncovered the hidden bounties under their canopy, guiding her to the best mushrooms and berries the wildlife might have overlooked.

Hunger had struck deep this winter. The fall harvest had been lackluster. Her family had only avoided starvation because of Eva's foraging. A mistake on her part. She should have been less efficient. Made more mistakes. Let them feel hunger. People always feared what was different, and she'd always been the oddball, almost from her first steps.

It wasn't natural to know what was wrong with an animal simply from looking at them. No one else felt their pain or happiness. Only Eva.

Turning down a proposal of marriage from the most powerful man in the village hadn't helped. It had only served to highlight her differences.

Her mother always told her that things that stuck out too much were eliminated. It turned out she was right. Eva was the nail and they the hammer. She could either get in line or be crushed.

She'd chosen a third option. To be her own person. She was now paying for that hubris.

Because with hunger, came desperation. With desperation, madness.

Good people put aside their conscience when survival was on the line. They abandoned their scruples. They threw them away like they were yesterday's trash while telling themselves it was for the best; it was the only way.

In the end, Eva had faced a decisiongo, or be the sacrifice they needed for their crops. They'd intended to water the ground with her blood in the hopes of a more fertile growing season. An old practice that hadn't been followed since Eva's grandmother was a child.

She'd chosen life.

Now, looking into the deep, dark interior of the forest, she feared she'd only prolonged the inevitable. The hags she'd once cherished might now be witnesses to her death.

People were not meant to survive for long on their own. Eleven days Eva had wandered beneath the hags watchful eyes.

She did not hunger. The forest provided plenty of food. But it was only a matter of time before she made a mistake.

While the hags might not intend her harm, the beasts roving at their feet would not be so kind. Already she had evaded two using the whispers of the trees to escape before danger drew too close.

Eventually, she would tire.

Armed with only a bread knife she'd swiped from her mother's dinner table, Eva didn't like her chances if she encountered one of the dangerous creatures that even the men in her village feared to face on their own.

Eva tilted her face up to catch a glimpse of the sun peeking through the leaves. Ah, well, at least shed tried. Better to die while fighting for her next breath than to go meekly to the slaughter.

"Besides, you're not dead yet," she told herself.

And until she was, she'd do what she could to survive.

There she went. Talking to herself again. She could practically hear her younger sister's voice in her ear, saying, "Don't let them see your crazy."

Of course, her sister would never be caught dead out here. She preferred the soft comforts of the village and had never understood Eva's fascination with the forest.

"Perhaps that's why you're here, and she's there," Eva muttered as she continued down one of the game trails she'd found that morning. She hoped it would eventually lead her to water, something she was in desperate need of.

Her breath plumed in front of her. Spring had already touched the land, but you couldn't tell it from the frost coating the branches and leaves.

Eva unhooked the water bladder from its spot on her small pack and held it to her lips. She hesitated. "Elis, I miss you."

Elis's voice was silent now. Not even a hint of criticism to keep Eva company.

Left with nothing else, she tilted the water bladder up, only the thinnest stream of liquid reaching her lips. Squeezing it did little good. It was flat and empty.

Eva hooked the bladder back on her pack, containing the rest of her pitifully small belongings. She hadn't had much time to grab things before she fled. A change of clothes, the water bladder, and a few other odds and ends were the extent of her belongings.

She'd never had much, and now she had less.

That wasn't a bad thing. Fewer belongings meant less to carry.

The only regret she had was leaving behind the small treasures she'd collected from the forest, a pearl tailed falcon feather, a rock the exact same shade as her faded green eyes, and a piece of white bark from the hags. Things that had no meaning to anyone but her. All gone now.

Eva set off again, trying to outwalk her dark thoughts. She needed to focus on the here and now. The past was gone; it wasn't coming back.

Yes, she might die out here. She also might not. She'd prefer she didn't.

That meant her next task was to find water and a place to stay for the night.

Preferably somewhere away from the game path.

As much as it made her travel easier, it would also be prime hunting ground for predators.

*

H ours later Eva lifted her head and sniffed. The smell of damp earth and crisp air greeted her. A stream was nearby.

The thought gave her tired legs a dose of energy.

Evening had set in, stealing the faint hint of warmth the sun had brought with it. Night came fast and early in the forest, the shadows lengthening as if they had a mind and will of their own.

It wouldn't be long before Eva was forced to stop for the night, to find a place to hole up. It would be too dangerous to travel once darkness fell.

Nighttime was when the predatory beasts were most active.

The sound of trickling water reached Eva as she hurried forward. She stepped into view of a small creek, the water flowing over rocks. Good. Moving water was better than stagnant water. There'd be less chance of it making her sick.