FOREST BRIDE (a gift from the river god)

As though the wars had not dealt them a heavy blow, now the plants were beginning to dry up and the animals, they all began dying. They were from a rather big village back then when the iron brothers had attacked their homes causing the survivors to go deep into the forest for survival. Their gods had abandoned them to their own fate, and now, they no longer could commune with them. There was no priest anymore to guide them, the last of the priestly lineage had been murdered in cold blood by those barbarians. The people of Wuwa were finally conquered and their years of greatness diminished in just one night of attack. Kuka looked at his people, sadness written in his eyes, he could not bear their pain. In the course of retreating to this forest, they had lost many, to dangerous insects, reptiles and even hungry. Now, he could no longer differentiate between hunger and sickness. It seemed like they had fused into them. Kuka was the last son of the late great king and as he wa

King Dorian looked at his twin sons as they played the sword with their wooden toy swords with all seriousness while the soldiers moved around doing their bit. Being a father to the two boys without a mother had not been really easy. He was really proud of his children and only wished that their mother had not been murdered in cold blood. He had decided never to make the mistake of leaving any member of his family behind as the last time had cost him dearly. His wife, Sophia, had been killed by enemy troops and barbarians from the south and so, he decided that since he could not detect exactly which of these barbarians had done the deed, he would continue killing all the way south to the very last of them. Their women and children as well will not be spared. He had only gone hunting with his brother, Troy, when he returned he saw the massacre. His wife had been impaled with a spear to the wall and she had been badly tortured obviously. Her naked body showed cut marks and burn

Dorian still had the scratch marks on his face from the tussle between him and the wild Wuwa lady. Of course, he had subsumed her and taken away her dignity. He was a soldier after all. He made up his mind to keep her alive for the time being and found a way to keep her in check. He would continually tie her to the pillar until she was tame enough to do his bidding whenever he got bored with playing the chase game with her. He of course did have time to feed her and his brother would laugh at him for keeping a pet. Troy had killed his own captive that night. According to him, his line of defense was that she had attempted to kill him at night, so he slit her throat. Talk about the savage nature of his brother. This morning however, they needed to get back to the Wuwa clearing, now turned into an arsenal. Word had come that they had found some survivors from the war night. Although they were pretty much as good as dead, he needed to rush. Troy had gotten the slaves to prepare

Kuka had moved to Orau’s hut where she lived quite farthest from him. She had picked that place to set up her hut since he obviously was not ready to accept the child, nor wanted to catch sight of her. He walked through his newly established Wuwa village and was rather proud of the things he was accomplishing. Yes, he had brought these people under his wings and protected them until safety. The admiration in their eyes and the nodded greetings told him that he would be forever etched in their heart’s pamphlets. He continued his walk calmly as he tried to think about words to tell Orau in order to make his decision open.Another part of him wondered what it would be like should she turn him down. Wait a minute, who would turn down such a powerful king and savior in one body? Unless, that person was selfish and blind. He puffed up his chest, definitely, she would say yes without thinking twice. After all, who had she been waiting for all this while that she stayed unmarried if

Arawa had been hanging around the river, sitting by the edge. She of course did notice the stares and glances thrown at her side but she was rather caught up in her own world. Her mind ruminates on her relationship with her father. Several times, she found herself wondering whether or not he was really her father rising from his attitude towards her. How would a man treat his daughter with such contempt, in fact, there must have been a big time secret which everyone in the village that had witnessed her birth period knew except her even though her mother was hiding it from her. Arawa lacked the love and comfort from a father. She would do her best to fulfill her task, who knows, maybe she would happen upon something favorable in the sight of her father. Who knows, maybe, he would accept her and acknowledge her as his daughter. The river side was gradually becoming empty. Arawa stood up and walked away from the side where the villagers stood. Making sure that her bow and arro