“They’re back,” the cloaked woman whispered to her friend while gently rocking her awake.
“Who?” her friend asked with a tired slur.
“Gather your senses quickly please. We are in danger,” the cloaked woman counseled.
“Deandre? Her monsters have returned? What do you need me to do,” the woman asked as she sat up.
The cloaked woman stood up and began slowly pacing around the enormous room. The thick rug covering the floor dampened the sounds from her footsteps, despite the intentional and impatient stomping.
After a moment, she turned, with a disappointed look across her brow, “I’m certain of it. As I said, we are in danger. I need you to get up, now.”
The woman wore a a full length night gown that pulled at the covers as she pulled herself out of the cocoon. Her arms raised above her head and her back arched as she stretched to get the blood flowing before she replied.
“Okay, Carmun, I understand. What do you need me to do?”
“Gather everyone. We have to leave,” Carmun announced.
“I don’t understand. Can’t you protect us?”
“I’m sorry, Jendre. Not this time. I’ve felt their presence. There are so many already here, and many more coming. I feel like Deandre is returning for what she left behind.”
“How much time do we have ?” Jendre asked.
“A few hours at most. Tell them to take what they can. We need to leave at dawn. We can find safety in the foothills.”
Jendre was hurriedly rummaging through her clothes, grabbing a set for the days travels and throwing the rest in a large rough bag she had.
“Dawn?” Jendre replied insinuating the question.
“We can’t risk being on the road at night. We will need to get out of the trees before nightfall. Please hurry.”
Carmun abruptly turned to the door and disappeared without another word.
Jendre dawned her dress, a short pair of pants and a flowing cotton shirt with oversized boots. She finished gathering a few miscellaneous items of clothing, threw some trinkets and tools in the bag, then headed outside.
It was still early in the morning, and the streets perfectly reflected the time. A quarter moon provided just enough light to navigate from one street lamp to the next as Jendre began making her way through the streets banging on doors and sending neighbor after neighbor to do the same.
On occasion, peering through the night from deep in the trees, Jendre would catch a glimpse of blood red eyes, floating through the trees and making witness to every move and every contact. Jendre continued her work unabated by the glaring.
After a few hours, the entire town was gathered around a large house to the west of town. Some of the families were fully prepared with supplies, while others were still in their sleep wear. The frigid air forced several groups of small children to huddle and shiver as they waited.
Moments later, Carmun emerged from the house with a small leather bag hanging from across her opposite shoulder. She stood there, silently watching the crowd as Jendre pushed though to stand by her side.
“Where are we going?” A man’s voice bellowed through the mass.
“How long will we have to be gone?” a woman yelled.
Carmun set her bag down, looked across the crowd before speaking slowly, “I’m sorry, to all of you. I have kept this town safe as long as possible. Deandre is returning.”
Gasps echoes over an audience mostly stunned silence, then the fear in desperation rang out. Carmun lifted her arms to hush the crowd. They all fell silent and listened.
“We have all become comfortable here, and that we have to leave is unfortunate. But we are strong. We freed this town of the demon together, and we can rebuild. Now please, for those caught off-guard by this, please return to your homes and gather no more than what you can carry, and hurry. We must leave by dawn.”
The crowed dispersed, with only a minimal complaints and murmurs.
As the sun touched the horizon, the crowd was once again gathered, all carrying various sundries and ready for a days journey. Carmun looking across her followers, then turned to the road, ignore the red eyes in the distance watching their every move.
As she took the road out of town, she took the hand of one of the smaller children walking near her. Carmun began to proudly lead her flock out of the town they inhabited since before she came up them. It was the completion of her goal and the fruition of design, she had decided, until she whispers of disgruntled townsmen began drifting through the silence.
“Deandre brought us together, helped us build our homes. She’s cried with us, bled with us. This can’t be her doing,” one man suggested.
Another voice was heard complaining, “Why should we leave? If we fight together, we can beat them back. We shouldn’t just let ourselves be victims.”
Each new voice rang out louder than the last, until Carmun knew she could not simply ignore their demands. Finally, just past the outskirts of the town, surrounded by a thicket of trees to either side, Carmun stopped. She knelt to the ground and lifted a single berry from a vine it had been holding onto. She stood, ignoring the presence of everyone around her, and popped it into her mouth. She let the juices linger as she deepy inhaled through her nostrils, only then to reclaim the hand of a nearby child. It wasn’t the same one, but that mattered little, as she began humming some unknown and eerie melody. The notes carried on the wind, and the trees swayed to its rhythm. Carmun marched on.
“I see her! The witch! She’s coming,” a woman’s voice from the back of the pack cried out.
Just then several large black dog - like creatures emerged onto the trail behind them. It was not immediately clear if they had come from the town, or were in the trees preparing their ambush. It mattered little, as now, they were here.
“Run!” a man screamed.
“Carmun, save us, protect our families,” begged another woman who was carrying an infant on her back.
Carmun turned, resting her hand on the woman’s shoulder, “Claire, lead them east. I will stay here and turn Deandre off of our trail. Our people are counting on you.”
“Thank you. You are more than we deserve,” Claire said as she and a tall slender man hurried off.
Carmun turned toward the encroaching beasts, hands lifted high, fists balled tight. A faint glow emanated between her fingers, as she stared down her soon to be assailants. As the last of the townspeople disappeared over the horizon, Carmun was assaulted by a dig like creature launching from deep within the trees.
The last of the townspeople looked back, and screamed as she watched their savior fall, before being whipped away over the horizon by her parents.
Claire led the convoy, constantly advising of dangers real and imagined along the path. Her husband did his best to help those who struggled. From lifting their spirits to carrying the load for those who succumbed to the trip, Liam did his best to maintain hope.
Dawn crept well past mid-day before Claire finally called out, “We’ve arrived!”
“To what?” Liam responded without thinking. The efforts of keeping everyone’s spirit up had clearly drained his own.
A woman stepped forward, “He’s right. There is nothing here. Where does she expect us to live?”
Claire pointed toward the base of the mountain. Buried throughout the rock were numerous small caverns. Extending in all directions were tall thin trees, but otherwise the land was mostly flat.
“Carmun commanded we rebuild here. I know it doesn’t appear to be much, but the mountains will protect us from her power, from her minions,” Claire explained as she eyed a specific large cave.
The convoy separated, each setting up camp under whatever rocks they could fit under, before the community came together for make-shift community dinner. Mid way through the roast, Claire stood up clapping her hands for attention, but before she could speak a word, Carmun emerged over the horison, clothes ripped and torn, and blood dripping from her hands.
“I know this is not as comfortable as home, but here we are safe from the hag. Your tormentor will not find you here,” Carmun yelled to the people.
What followed was not the thunderous applause Carmun expected, but a silence of disbelief before questions began pouring out from every direction.
“It’s a days hike. How is this safe?”
“How is this different from home. We had our lives there. Here we have nothing.”
“We won’t last the night here. We have to go back.“
“I understand your concern, but we will be fine here. These mountains, there is power in these mountains. It feeds the corcra, and it shields us from her magic. We will rebuild, and thrive.”
Something in her tone, perhaps it was the obvious suffering she endured to ensure their safety, or just the years she spent guarding the community, but these words were accepted. Carmun was welcomed to the table, offered food and allegiance, and on that day she was elevated to the role of high priestess in the soon to be town of New Gavlia.