New Blood

He had not expected the man to lift him in his maw, the Woman of the Sands had always left him to his own strength, as he trailed behind her like a lost lamb. His body curled instinctively into a ball as he hung limpy from the mouth of the other. If the man had asked him to walk, he would have done, he would have moved himself, one step after another until he was where he needed to be. He was obstinate like that, too busy drowning in his own world to have the common sense to stop when his body told him it had no strength left to give. He had been walking in a dream-world ever since the death of his mother, and it wasn’t until this day that he awoke from it.

The pain of losing her was stronger in reality, but he was soothed by the hatred that had began to blossom in his veins. He would live and strengthen, learn and grow, all in the name of revenge. As they turned from the desert, he thought he caught a glimpse of white, and the flicker of blue-grey eyes, darkened with sorrow, a last goodbye. He blinked, and the visage of his mother was gone.

They made quicktime from there, the ground eaten by the long strides of his new guardian. The terrain changed from sand to stone, and he was glad that the lands he was being taken to was not a forest. This bleak and open landscape was more welcome than the claustropic one of trees and foliage.

He was set down at last, and his head spun a little from the sudden lack of movement. He was parched from the heat of the desert, and his belly ached from hunger. He had not eaten his full in a while, the idea of food had always settled uneasily in his stomach after the scent of his mother’s dead flesh. He caught the scent of fresh-water, and was just lifting his head when his forehead was suddenly licked. The loving gesture seemed alien to him now, and he tried to mold his expressions into a smile. He wasn’t certain if he succeeded. He got shakily to his feet and stumbled towards the water that ran down the wall, licking the moisture with renewed vigor. He had reason to live now, a purpose to strengthen his body to.