Chapter Eight; Nagos

Nagos ran training, trying to keep up with leanunya. It always amazed him at how fast she could run and have so much agility at the same time. He had already been training under her for over two years. The training was harsh most of the time and many times he had almost died. He managed to survive though and now he was almost ready to go home again. He could barely wait to see his father again. He was overly excited to see his father after two years. He had already grown at least a foot in height if not more though he wasn't positive on that.

He ran barely keeping up with Leanunya who was in front of him. Nagos was panting as he ran after her. He had learned to hunt and read a situation he was in since he had started training. He could now tell when to run or fight after a few minutes. He had also become good at spotting openings in his target. Leanunya had taught him to always go for the kill or any opening to wear his opponent down.

Leanunya had taken him out of the forbidden forest a few times to go to a nearby town for clothes. After a few times they had run into bandits and Nagos had to kill them to live. The first time he killed a person he had thrown up and got the shakes. He barely managed to pull himself together after that. He had seen Leanunya give him a condescending look when she saw his reaction to killing for the first time. He didn't really understand why she gave him that look but knew she wasn't pleased with him.

Nagos trained harder and the next time he killed he had gotten queasy but was better off then the first time but he still could tell Leanunya wasn't pleased. After the two times she put him under more rigorous training that often left him alone. He could tell by this she was no longer trying to train him personally like before. He killed again and wasn't really affected then and now he wasn't afraid or really affected by killing. He did feel bad though and disliked killing if he could help it he wouldn't kill He of course knew when he needed to kill and when he didn't.

He wasn't like Leanunya who killed others without hesitation. He had reservations about killing as his mother taught him to respect all life. He could tell though that Leanunya wasn't like that and to him it seemed she didn't care for others lives. He did enjoy her training him for the most part though. He only liked it because he could go home to his father after he finished training. He wouldn't have to stay hidden and he could live with his father.

He couldn't wait to see his father. He was really excited to be able to go home. Leanunya had told him she would take him home tomorrow as she had taught him to survive as she said. He wasn't too sure what she meant by that but was excited to go home. He wanted to see his father. Nagos had whined a few times before during his first year but after she made him train even harder he stopped. He knew she could be deadly; and as much as he liked her he feared her.

Nagos could tell she was dangerous and would kill him if she needed to. He had spent too much time with her to not know this. As much as he learned about himself he learned just as much about Leanunya. She was not someone to cross. He had seen her kill several bandits in moments when all they had done was call her a name. He never wanted to cross her so he always did what she told him to do and trained hard.

Nagos had learned that Leanunya was also someone who didn't speak unless need be. He had also started to pick up this habit as well. He had one to many times talked too much and Leanunya would force him to hunt in a dangerous spot in the forest and he couldn't come back until he had a kill. One too many times he had to stay out during the night and had his kill stolen from him. He had to train hard and more often than not never managed to get more than one meal a day. This made him realize just how important food was especially when he was in a cold place such as here.

He started to hate the cold of this forest but never voiced it to Leanunya. He made sure to always have one of the fur coats Leanunya made him, on his waist at all times. This made him want to go home even more as he was almost always cold. Though he could manage and it didn't bother him as much as it used to, he hated the cold. He never wanted to go to a cold place again after he left the forbidden forest. He of course knew the cold helped toughen him up and he knew he could survive things he used to not be able to. He just really hated the cold.

Nagos smiled as he ran after Leanunya panting, shaking his mind clear of his thoughts. He needed to stick with Leanunya as they were going after a zarowl. They were going to catch it to take its meat with them while they traveled. He wanted to leave this very moment but had learned the importance of preparation. He knew the meat wouldn't last them til they got to Rynion but it would make for a good few meals for a week. By then they would need to go without a fire.

Nagos spotted the zarowl ahead of them. It was running away. They had been chasing it for some time. He knew Leanunya could easily catch up and kill it but she wanted him to kill it. He would have an easier time if it was tired. He had lots of stamina thanks to Leanunya making him run everyday. He could run all day long now so waiting for the zarowl to tire out wasn't a big deal. It actually suited him just fine. He hated the zarowls. This was due to the first night being attacked by them. He even had a scar on his arm from them too.

As such Nagos didn't mind killing a zarowl. He actually liked the idea of turning the tables from being hunted to being the hunter. He drew the knife from his waistband as they neared the zarowl. He was ready to kill the tired beast. Nagos ran in towards the zarowl aiming for its eyes. The eyes were the best place to kill them as he had come to learn. Though this did bring lots of dangers with it and this time was no exception. This time was even more evident as he was too excited about going home as he missed.

The zarowl then swiped at Nagos and hit him, sending him flying backwards. Nagos finally stopped when he ran into a tree. He could tell the zarowl had sliced his arm with its claws and it made him focus. He had tears in his eyes already but refused to cry out as this displeased Leanunya as he came to find out. He stood back up biting his lip to keep from crying out in pain. He gripped the knife tighter in his uninjured arms hand. He ran at the zarowl again this time totally focused.

Nagos swiftly killed the zarowl after that and looked to Leanunya only to see a disappointed look on her face. He bit his lip and looked at his injured arm. The cuts weren't bad or deep which was a good thing. He looked to the zarowl as he pulled an herbal salve from his pocket Leanunya had made him and opened it. He put the salve on his cuts, flinching at the sting of it. He then put the salve back in his pocket before going to help take his kill back to the shack they had been living in.

Nagos helped pick up the zarowl and carried it to the shack. Once they reached the shack he helped string it up in a tree. He couldn't have done it by himself as he wasn't strong enough yet but he was also small in size too. He had to have help because of this. Once it was in the tree Leanunya went off to get water and such to make dinner for them. He then got to work gutting and skinning the zarowl. He found this a tedious and gross task but knew better than to not do it.

He finished after a little over an hour and left the skin to hang up in the tree while the guts were thrown away from the shack. He then went to eat the dinner Leanunya had cooked. He had learned long ago she was a very good cook and she had even taught him some. After he ate he went back to work on the carcass of the zarowls. He stripped the meat from the bones and laid it out to dry and freeze some during the night. He knew no predators would get to the meat as he knew Leanunya was a light sleeper.

Once he finished he washed up in the nearby stream, his teeth chattering from the ice cold water and air. He hated to bathe because it was always so cold. He maybe bathed once a week if that, if he could help it. But Leanunya would always make him wash his hands and face each day or he couldn't eat. If he got real dirty she would make him bathe as well but he understood her reasons why. Though what he couldn't understand is how she could be so relaxed in such cold temperatures.

He finished washing up and went to the shack and the warm fire inside it. He went over to the fire and warmed his hands and face before changing out of his bloody clothes and into clean ones. Leanunya always gave him privacy to change and almost always seemed to be gone around this time after dinner during sunsets. He didn't mind as it gave him time to relax by the fire before he went to bed.

Nagos yawned before he went to his bed to sleep. He was exhausted. Leanunya had run him to the ground in the morning. She had been sparing with him all morning before finally announcing he was going home to his father as his training was over. He then had to hunt the zarowl down afterwards. It made him extremely happy to be going home and nervous too.

Nagos was nervous as he didn't know how his father would react or even if he would recognize him and it made him worry. He of course knew he wanted to see his father again but was worried. He sighed and stretched tired. He crawled into his bed and curled up under the blankets, nothing of himself peeking out of the blankets. He never slept with his head out from under the blankets anymore as he would get too cold during the night. He soon fell fast asleep.