Chapter 12: Awakening the Bones
“Lord of all those who live in the forest you have made, for those of us who follow, and so indeed, love to follow the simple rules of faith you have given us, we lift up this simple prayer for your protection,” said Sez, the chief cleric of the unnamed god of The Red Pines Forest.
His dedicated wife, Tatep, was one of six villagers who encircled the holy man of the unnamed deity. The other five encircling Sez, were females. They were all females, whose husbands had gone on a black fern hare hunting exposition. They were part of the Red Pines clan of humans. Most of the clan worshipped the same god. Most of their prayers were prayers of protection.
His wife was pregnant and was getting very close to the date of delivery. Her belly was round and very big. She would give a little yelp when the baby, inside her, would give a little kick. Tatep was excited due to her being the first female to conceive in the last five years, throughout the clan.
Sez wore simple clothing that would make it easy to move throughout the forest. His shirt and leggings were made from plant fibers, sewn in with furs from black fern hares and delucky squirrels. The combined colors made good camouflage. Most of the males would wear similar clothing.
The ladies, including Talep, wore dresses made from summer redding fern fibers and other plant fibers. They were not allowed to wear animal furs according to their faith. Females wearing animal furs was thought to cause infertility.
Singing was heard coming from the men coming back from a successful hunting party,
“We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed, we prayed.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed we prayed.
Five black fern hares you gave us.
Yes, indeed you gave us five.
Five black fern hares you gave us.
Yes, indeed you gave us five.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed, we prayed.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed we prayed.
Five black fern hares you gave us.
Yes, indeed you gave us five.
Five black fern hares you gave us.
Yes, indeed you gave us five.
We prayed for you to bless us.
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Yes, indeed, we prayed.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed we prayed.
Ladies will prepare the meals.
Yes, those meals you will bless.
Ladies will prepare the meals.
Yes, those meals you will bless.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed, we prayed.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed we prayed.
Five black fern hares you gave us.
Yes, indeed you gave us five.
Five black fern hares you gave us.
Yes, indeed you gave us five.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed, we prayed.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed we prayed.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed, we prayed.
We prayed for you to bless us.
Yes, indeed we prayed.”
The men started to laugh loudly, as they concluded their combination song and praise. The black fern hares were not small animals, but rather large. They were so large that five men carried each a hare, and the last carried all of the other’s weapons.
A loud roar came from behind the hunting party. A second, slightly different sounding roar was heard. The men looking back saw a pair of black dragons. The hares were dropped, and they began to run directly opposite of where their wives were.
It did not matter. The two dragons had separated. One went towards the hunting party, and the other went towards the prayer circle. The dragons were hunting as if they were life mates.
The larger black dragon chased the hunting party, They unfortunately did not think of separating and instead ran as a group. They were fast runners, but unfortunately faced the same fate as their game, they died within seconds, screaming, when the dragon’s acid breath covered them. The acid created a burnt flesh smell to fill the area.
The smaller dragon preferred chasing. It chased down two of the slower women, and simply killed them by giving them each a single bite to the top. It did not stop to eat them. There would be time to do that later.
Sez was running with Tatep. He was not going to leave his wife behind. He did not see a giant root, that seemed to just appear out of nowhere, and tripped. He screamed for his wife to keep on running. She did, but that smaller dragon flew over Sez, and knocked Tatep down.
At the same time the larger black dragon chased two ladies, who were sisters, that were running together. It must have preferred the flavor of flesh meaning seared with acid, because it used its breath again. The sisters’ death was quick.
The smaller dragon roared as it pawed at Tatep. Sez’s foot was caught in the root. They could hear as the other members were each being killed by the larger dragon.
Like a cat playing with a mouse, the smaller dragon kept on hitting Tatep. Most dragons were evil, but some preferred torturing and giving their targets mental anguish. Tatep was pregnant, abd that made her the easiest target. That may have been one reason why the dragon was toying with her.
The larger black dragon walked up to Sez, and the man screamed, looking towards the heavens, and said, “Damn you!”
At the sound of his scream, the smaller dragon ended her cat and mouse game. It bit Tatep’s top off from the shoulders up. The rest of the body collapsed to the ground.
Sez screamed and then shouted, “Death, you win!”
His eyes turned black, and looking at the larger dragon he muttered words that a mortal should never say. From his fingertips sprayed red acid. It was aimed straight at the larger dragon's head, blinding it. He took out a dagger that was used for skinning small animals, and stuck it in the throat. Within seconds the small weapon was dissolving in the red acid. The massive beast fell to the ground.
Sez then said, “Die!”
A black ooze came from his finders and was sprayed all over the dragon’s body. The dragon’s body started bubbling. It was dying, but it was going to be a long agonizing death. The smaller dragon started roaring. It was not a battle cry, but more like a mourning cry.
Sez did not attack the other dragon. The other dragon did not attack him. It had taken his one love, and he had done the same to her. Hatred for each other is what should have happened, but on that day, the opposite happened.
That was the day that the good within a man died. That was the day that an ever going evil arose in a man. That was the day that there was an awakening of the bones. That was the day that a new necromancer was born.
