Scars, Scene v1

Kismet let herself out of the store. She returned to the willow by the riverbed to check on Lucas, but he was no longer there. Although it didn’t surprise her, she let out a drawn out sigh. Turning away from his footsteps that led into the forest, she continued along the river. She came to a halt at the sound of stirring bushes. Further down the riverside she saw a man stumble toward the edge of the river, groaning and clenching his chest. He dropped to his knees before reaching the water and vomited. Breathing heavily, he crawled to the river and tried to drink some water, only to violently choke as if it were poison.

Kismet approached him cautiously. He was still coughing and breathing heavily. “Are you alright? We should get you to a doctor.”

The sickly man snapped his head at the sound of her voice. His features were distinctly of Kival descent. He looked to be in his thirties, but his hair appeared to be graying, and his wide eyes seemed cold and lacking in color. His skin was pale and his body trembled weakly when he scurried onto his feet. In a panic, he ran into the woods as quickly as his body could take him, stumbling over roots and small brush.

Something about his actions puzzled Kismet. She followed him discreetly, carefully keeping out of sight. After a few minutes, he slowed to a stop and collapsed onto the floor. His breathing became a series of harsh wheezes, as if his throat and mouth were completely parched. She crouched there, watching him closely. He didn’t move, he only gasped for air with a pained look on his face. A black leopard prowled around the Kival, eyeing him warily. It came to a stop at his head, and cautiously pawed his face. The leopard roared at him threateningly and retracted its hand to swipe at him. In the blink of an eye, the Kival gripped the leopard’s throat and ripped it from its body. A hideous gurgle followed the sound of tearing flesh, as the leopard dropped to the floor.

Kismet watched with wide eyes. Never had she seen a person capable of doing such a thing, much less a person who appeared to have been dying. Even she would have difficulty tearing apart the throat of a leopard in such a short amount of time. The Kival’s coarse breathing hastened as he stared at the blood oozing from the leopard’s carcass. He crawled onto his knees beside the body and lifted the open neck to his mouth. His teeth sunk into the open flesh as he slurped the blood. After he feasted on the leopard’s neck for what felt like minutes, he dropped the carcass and vomited a small pool of blood before collapsing on the floor.

A chill ran up Kismet’s spine. She couldn’t believe that a human could do such a thing. She approached him slowly, watching his chest rise and fall. His breathing no longer sounded coarse, and his hair and skin were regaining its color. His blood-soaked face looked relieved from the suffering he was going through when she first saw him. Looking over his body, she found his hands and arms rife with scars, which looked much like veins, creeping toward his chest. The scars seemed to pulse along with his heartbeat.

Kismet stared curiously at the scars, mesmerized by the rhythmic beat, until he groaned and began waking up. She quickly made some distance and slipped behind a tree. The Kival climbed to his feet and rubbed his face with a hand. He slowly looked at his blood-covered hand, in the spotted moonlight, with terrified eyes. Trembling in fear, he ran off in a panic. Kismet watched him wander off into the night before returning to Yuin to see if Lucas decided to go back home.

She jogged up to the store as soon as she saw his horse missing. Scanning the floor, she followed his trail to the road leading east, toward the fishing village of Kelta. Knowing that she would be away from Delphi for at least another day, Kismet sighed. She returned to her horse she tied toward the rear of the village near a trough of water. Its peaceful sleep brought a small smile to her face. She couldn’t bear to have it travel so late in the night, so she jogged down the road toward Kelta.



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