Cabin in The Woods Part One

Kamelia clambered over a fallen log as she made her way through the forest. The sound of the bandits voices were still clear to hear and came from multiple directions. She hoped that the others had managed to slip through but she realised her only hope was to hide out somewhere and wait for the men to give up their search.

She had a general idea of where she was in the forest, having played here with her siblings when they were young. There was an abandoned woodcutter’s hut nearby. Kamelia’s mother had forbidden them from going there but the siblings often went there to play.

She kept low and moved quickly between the trees, arriving at the overgrown path that led to the cabin. The path was nearly invisible as no one had walked it for sometime. The stems of wild flowers and the tall blades of wild grass hung over the pounded dirt, obscuring it from all but the most observant viewers' eyes.

She ran along the path and arrived at the front of the cabin. It was a single story building made in the same style as the houses in Meadowfort. It had been in a bad way when she was a little girl; it was in an even worse state now. The whole left side of the roof sagged inwards and the exterior of the building was covered in climbing plants and weeds.

No longer able to hear the sound of the bandits, Kamelia let out a sigh and slung her staff back over her shoulder. She approached the front door and put a tentative foot onto the wood floor. It groaned in protest but didn’t give way.

Kamelia stepped through the door into what had once been a living area for the family that had lived here. Discarded furniture lay in broken heaps around the room, some pieces no longer recognisable. Amongst the debris Kamelia saw things left behind from her time playing here with Jarel and Sari. A toy knight missing both his head and his sword arm, evidence of Jarel. A faded picture of a lepsi on the wall, the work of Sari. She turned to the right and saw that the collapsed roof had made the next room, uninhabitable, the doorway completely filled up with debris.

She turned around and approached the room on the opposite side of the house. The other room of the house was still in one piece, give or take a few holes in the ceiling letting sunlight in. She stepped in when suddenly...

“Aaaah!” An old man in a frayed tunic let out a yell and fell from a broken stool on the other side of the room.

Kamelia drew her staff from over her shoulder and pointed it at the old man. She said a prayer to Cataril, feeling the warmth of the god enter her body and restore her strength.

“Stay where you are!” She ordered.

“Oh thank the Machine! I thought you were one of those bandits.” The old man exclaimed, raising his hands submissively.

“Who are you?” Kamelia asked warily, not quite ready to drop her guard.

“Names Sid.” The old man said, his hands still raised, “I’m travellin’ to Sanqvist from Derwent. Some bandits attacked by caravan and I came ‘ere to ‘ide.”

He grimaced and one of his hands went down to his side.

“You are hurt?” Kamelia asked, noticing the wet red stain on the man’s torso, close to his armpit.

“Yea...One of the buggers got me good.” Sid sat back down on the stool and braced himself against the wall.

Kamelia looked at the man over from where she stood. He was shorter than her, and scrawny to boot. Even without the power of Cataril coursing through her veins she could probably have taken him down.

“Let me have a look.” Kamelia put down her staff on the wooden floor and approached Sid. The old man watched her as she went down beside him and began examining the wound. It wasn’ going to kill him anytime soon, but whatever weapon had done this had cut deep and quite probably broken at least one of his ribs.

“I can heal this.” She said guiding Sid down to the floor, “Just lie still and focus on breathing.”

“Tis’ a little painful when I breathe too deep.” The old man replied scrunching his face in pain.

“Hold still.” Kamelia reached out and placed her hands over the wound. She had already taken in power from Cataril earlier and she directed it into her hands, letting it flow over the wound. She pushed it into the wound so that it could reach the broken ribs. The energy shifted the broken bits of rib towards each other, the movement making Sid hiss in pain.

“Almost done.” Kamelia said soothingly, “You are doing really well.”

The power she had drawn from Cataril was beginning to run dry but she pushed it all into the old man’s wound. The rib was soon set and the flesh began the knit.

“There. Done. There will be a scar but otherwise you are as good as new.” Kamelia said sitting down beside Sid.

The old man gingerly pulled himself back into a sitting position and prodded the healed wound.

“No pain at all!” He said amazed.

“That’s the power of Cataril.” Kamelia replied. She attempted to stand up to go get her staff, but immediately she felt woozy and light headed.

“Woah woah. Easy there.” Sid caught Kamelia around the waist and helped her down to sit on the floor, “Took a lot out you didn’t it?”

“Yeah. I’ll live though.”

“What’s yer name, healer?” Sid asked, he still had his arm around Kamelia, holding her against the side of his body.

“Kamelia. Kamelia Merenian. I live not too far from here.”

“Ah. Meadowfort?” One of Sid’s fingers grazed the underside of one of her breasts. Kamelia was sure it was just an innocent touch and made nothing of it.

“That’s right!” Kamelia smiled, glad that this traveler from Derwent knew of her humble village.

“Well you have me’ thanks Kamelia of Meadowfort.” The old man pulled out a flask and held it out to Kamelia. “‘ere, have a drink of water. You will feel much better after a drop.”