Eternal Forest: Savage Rising by Joe Naff Page A

travels.”
                  A loud groan echoed through the small room as the iron door opened slowly. Everyone in the cell rose to their feet and turned towards the entrance. From the dim light of the evening sun came Viyana. In her hands, she held a pile of clothes and a small, leather sack. “Lady’s grace,” she said as she approached the cell. “You two are still alive.”
                  Heeska crouched low against the floor, letting out a slow hiss and flicking his tail against the bars. Azalea turned away. Zehlyr leaned his back against the wall.
                  “These are for you,” Viyana said as she reached her items through the bars and dropped them on the dusty floor. The faint thud echoed off the oak walls. “Real clothes for the lady and something for the two of you to eat.”
                  Azalea bent down and snatched the clothes off the floor. It was an old brown dress that came down to her knees. Though tattered and worn, it did look to be her size. Retreating to the corner, she made quick work of getting dressed with her back to the others, eager to wear something she didn’t have to keep holding closed.
                  Zehlyr bent down and picked up the sack. In it, he found two apples, some berries, and a small cluster of nuts. “For the two of us, you said?” he questioned as his finger moved towards Heeska. “What about him?”
                  “I brought nothing for the beast,” Viyana said coldly. “To be honest, I was expecting it to eat the both of you. Why hasn’t it, if you don’t mind my asking?”
                  “You humans do not taste as good as you may think,” Heeska remarked. His words drew the woman’s attention.
                  “So, it really can speak,” she said. “Absolutely fascinating. Lord Sansehr will have many questions for this creature in the morning.”
                  “And what is to be my fate after he has his answers?” Heeska asked.
                  Viyana paused, her eyelids fluttering rapidly as her mind searched for an answer. “That is not my decision to make,” she answered.
                  “There’s no reason to hold us in here,” Azalea remarked. Now finally dressed, she returned to the barred wall of the cell. “We have committed no crime.”
                  “We do not know what happened today in the Savage Lands, but this creature and its kind were clearly responsible. We also found you both there without justification, and you clearly have an interest in this beast’s well-being. The fact that it hasn’t killed you is proof enough of your guilt. You clearly have some kind of workings together that his lordship will investigate thoroughly tomorrow.”
                  “We had nothing to do with what happened in the forest!” Zehlyr snapped. He realized that yelling wasn’t helping his situation, but up to this point, neither had begging.
                  “That will be for his lordship to decide,” Viyana replied coldly. “Now, eat.”
                  Zehlyr looked again into the bag he’d been handed. His stomach was sick with hunger, but he couldn’t bring himself to partake of anything within. “No,” he said, clenching his fist around the top of the bag to hide the contents from his sight. “I will not eat until there is enough food for all of us.”
                  Azalea stood firm at Zehlyr’s side. Her hand wrapped around his wrist. “All three of us,” she proclaimed.
                  Heeska smiled warmly.
                  Viyana pulled her lips tight as her eyes rolled back in her head. “Very well,” she said, exasperated by the whole notion. “I will fetch some food for the balisekt.” With that, she took her leave, slamming the iron door behind her with as much strength as she could