Dwellers of the New World Chapter Fifteen ( Pt 10 ) On Hallowed Ground

Having spent the night at his parents cabin, It was very early next morning and still dark when Jay arrived back at Liora's dwelling. He was getting used to the passages, and was able to find his way around without help...now he had time on his hands. He had met up with Gibor the fire bearer on his way back, Jay wondered when the man slept, as he always seemed to be wandering from beacon to beacon, making sure the fires never went out, and that there were always plenty of torches at hand to see your way through the passages. Life was certainly a lot easier, now they didn't have to watch their backs and live in fear of Bracus and his wrath.

As dawn had still not risen, Jay decided to sit by the fire till daylight came, or Liora woke up. Placing some more sticks on the fire, flames started to rise reflecting on the sleeping woman. He wanted to get under the cover with her but thought better of it, Liora needed to sleep, it would be a long day of digging and incantations, the healers always chanted their blessings on the dead, no matter what the person had done whilst alive, it wasn't a healer's place to judge anyone once they'd moved on.

Jay must have dozed off, because all of a sudden he came too and was being woken. “Jay...Jay! Wake up.” Liora was gently shaking him. “When did you come back? I never heard you.”

As Jay was roused, he'd been dreaming and wasn't clear as to where he was straight away, but replied to Liora. “Earlier on this morning when it was still dark, I didn't want to disturb you, so I decided to stoke the fire to keep warm,” he said full of sleep and rubbing his eyes.

The woman walked over to the stone pot she'd set on the fire. “I've warmed up some milk, would you like some?” Liora yawned feeling happy that Jay was there.

“Um! I'd love that very much. There's a great deal to do before the day's out. We're going to need all our energy.” Replied Jay.

Sitting herself down beside him, Liora informed him of her earlier plans. “I've already sent my men down to the jetty to help get the bodies up from the catacombs.” She gazed at the children and wondered if they should be allowed to come with them. “What shall we do about the boys? We can hardly leave them here on their own.”

Jay contemplated the matter. “I think they'll be fine to come along, we can let them either help dig, or play amongst themselves...either way they've been through a lot worse that watching bodies being buried.”

With the thick snow covering the path, they were ready to make their way to Clear Wing Valley. As they picked up a couple of torches and made their way down Brimstone Passage, Jay remembered when him and Ben had met Gibor for the first time, if it hadn't been for the fire bearer, perhaps he'd never have met Liora. A smile crossed his face as he thought of how fate had brought them together. The walk to Clear Wing Valley seemed to get shorter and shorter, the more times Jay made the journey, it surprised him how he could ever have had a problem with getting lost.

The children were still in high spirits from the day before and were quite happy to be going on another adventure, even if it was just to Clear Wing Valley. As they arrived, the boys began play fighting, making snow balls and throwing them at eachother. Brigs, Varg and some other men had already brought a couple of bodies back up, they seemed worn out and in need of refreshment. Liora had brought some water bags with her, and gave them each a drink.

With the freezing temperatures refusing to rise, they knew it would be hard on everybody and thirst and hunger would be prevalent throughout the camp. “I think I need to send my men out hunting, we're all going to be starving by the time this day's over,” said an anxious Liora.

As they began digging the graves, Liora's friend Usha and her man Udi appeared on the scene ready to help out in any way possible. “Hello Liora, it's ages since I last saw you...how are things going here?”

Liora stopped digging and wiped her brow. “Usha, Udi, it's good to see you. Well...if you like you can help dig, or gather some food for later, it's up to you. Udi could you help with the digging? The more hands the better.”

“Of course!” Replied the man picking up a wooden shovel. “How many graves are you thinking of digging?” He asked looking at four bodies lying on the ground.

“I'm not sure,” replied Liora. “you'll have to ask Brigs when he comes back up. But I'd prefer if they had their own graves, rather than one big one.” The woman then turned to Usha smiling. “The good news is, that once they're buried, this will become sacred ground and nobody will be able to build on it.” Usha thought that was a brilliant idea keeping the valley as sacred ground, it was the best possible news yet and even their own people could be buried here, instead of just lying in the catacombs. “It's not much of a punishment for Bracus though, considering how bad the man was,” insisted Usha.

Liora smiled. “Oh! I don't know...I think it's punishment enough, considering he's a man that liked being at sea, I'm sure he would rather have been swept overboard, or gone down with his ship, than be buried here on Land.”

Usha thought about it, then agreed, Liora was right. She changed the subject. “So! How was your journey with the children? Did you manage to sort them out?”

“I think I helped them forget their troubles and Bracus, they seem quite content now, though I'll be glad when they return to their families, it's very tiring looking after so many...even with help.” Liora suddenly remembered about Addie. “Oh yes! I almost forgot, we picked up some strangers on our travels...I have no idea where they came from, but they claim to have travelled far, from another world called Obsidian.”

Usha gazed at her friend, a confused expression on her face. “How would they have come from another world? Don't you mean another Island?” She asked.

“I'm not sure,” replied Liora, “but I think it's another world where people exist.” Liora started to explain about their clothes and their manner as she began digging, once they'd dug through the snow, the earth was very fine and easy to manage, which the woman was very grateful for, even though the snow was a hindrance.

As the morning wore on, Liora was starting to tire. Putting her shovel down, she took a swig from her water bag and wiped the sweat from her forehead, even though it was cold, she'd worked up quite a sweat.

Suddenly her eyes beheld an unexpected sight, many people were coming out of Brimstone Passage and in the lead was Gibor the fire bearer. Liora hoped there wasn't going to be trouble, she knew the people of Wild Whistling Isle could be quite stubborn when it came to outsiders and they didn't like change. Breathing out, she sighed preparing herself for the worst.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Fifteen ( Pt 11 ) Helping Hands | ABCtales