Tame

Dawn felt miserable as she stood by the road out to say her goodbyes to Kalen. She loaded additional supplies to his saddle bag which Kalen had already hitched to himself.

“Here’s a flask of water and some snacks for the trip.” She feared if she did not keep talking to distract her brewing emotions, tears would well up. Kalen remained silent and just stared at her as Dawn avoided direct eye contact with him.

"Also, a spare shirt and pants which were my brother’s. There’s also a potion in there in case-”

Dawn had no time to react as all distance between them fell away and Kalen’s mouth met hers. Her entire body felt an overwhelming pang. Even the impressive split on her lip forgot it was an injury in that moment and instead of stinging in pain experienced a pure giddy warmth.

Had Kalen not been holding on to her, she would have probably blissfully fallen backward as he pushed even further into her.

Just as quickly as it happened, it was over and Kalen was embracing Dawn in a tight hug. Dawn was so dazed that she didn’t even attempt to hug him back, then suddenly he was leaving.

She wanted to ask him to not go. To just stay with her instead. But she forced her tingling mouth to stay silent as she watched him disappear down the small pathway up to the main road.

Kalen’s absence affected Dawn much harder than she thought it would and the loneliness left a heavy feeling of gloom in her heart.

Constantly reminding herself that he was better now, and he had a life and important things to do seemed to do nothing to change how she felt.

She couldn’t deny that she missed him terribly and tried fruitlessly to distract herself from the hollow feeling by doing extra duties around the house.

A week passed, and then two.But still, she felt hollow.

Dawn was mucking out Mack’s night stall one morning when loud crashing sounds from up at the house worriedly grabbed her attention. She swiftly packed away her cleaning supplies so she could investigate the source of the noise. And was shocked to find her front door bashed in.

She entered the home to find an onslaught of damage. All the wooden furniture was mercilessly smashed to pieces. Any plants, bottled medicines and remedies were shattered all over. It left a potentially toxic mix of liquids bubbling on the floor. The kitchen had been ransacked of the utensils and equipment. Even the walls had been carved with shocking slurs. But most alarmingly of all, three men stared at her from around a mound of clothing all pulled out from Dawn’s wardrobe. One was using a torched wooden chair leg to set the pile alight.

“Why are you doing this?” She yelled fearfully at the intruders.

But of course, their response was not friendly. They glared back at her in utter disgust.

Their faces were familiar and she knew that they were all from the village. She was pretty sure all of them were also market stall owners. One gruff-looking man in particular, who was wearing a stained apron and wielding a meat mallet, she recognised as the owner of the butcher shop. She could hear his anger in his voice as he spoke.

“We know you’re responsible for the attack on the village. You summoned those monsters here with your magic to do your bidding.”

Dawn stiffened as the images of that horrific day flooded her mind. She shook her head in both disbelief and denial. She did not have even a slither of magic or superhuman ability. She did not have the ability to summon. But she felt the sting of guilt at the possibility that she could be partially to blame.

Dawn let out a shriek as a fourth person she did not initially see yanked her hair from behind and threw her against the wall. Black spots danced across her vision as she tried to pull herself up. Her hair curtained over her face and she did not see the man’s foot coming down to crush her hand.

She let out a scream as his hefty weight pounded against her fingers. It had been healing well, and the stitches were no longer there, but the force of the attack reopened Kalen’s bite and fresh blood trickled onto the rug beneath her.

Dawn was pleading with them to stop but that just seemed to aggravate the men more. They hurled vulgar cusses at her and the man who still had her under his foot towered over her to raise his hand and beat her.

“Don’t touch her. She might curse you.” Another man stopped him and scoffed.“Use this instead.” He offered, passing Dawn’s assailant a steel fire poker.

Dawn looked up horrified as he blissfully accepted the weapon and the other men laughed at her terrified expression. There was no sympathy in his cruel face consisting of dark brown eyes and dark bags under them to match. He was easily three times her size and Dawn would be no match for him, especially with all the other men backing him up.

She sobbed pitifully and waited for blows to hit her. But they never came. Instead, a familiar voice loudly shouted her name, and her attacker was punched so heavily in the jaw that he was unconscious before he hit the floor.

Heavy tears trickled down Dawn’s face as Kalen helped her to her feet. His brow was creased with concern as he looked over her, and then back at the scene unfolding in Dawn’s house.

“You came back.” Dawn could not stop her voice breaking as she spoke.

Part of her stared in disbelief trying to process if she was just imagining Kalen, while another part was so relieved that she felt like fainting.

“Barely in time, it seems.”

Kalen looked back to the door frame where two of his comrades, dressed uncannily similar, also stared into Dawn’s home with hard expressions. Dawn was far too frazzled to take in more of their features and dug her face overwhelmingly into Kalen’s chest.

She felt limp as Kalen picked her up and headed outside. He stopped for just a brief moment and she heard him order his men through gritted teeth. Anger apparent in Kalen’s tone.

“Deal with them.”

He then continued out to the garden where he cradled her. Holding her tight as Dawn’s tears continued to soak the front of his uniform and she tried to ignore the horrible sounds of screaming and yelling coming from her home.

Dawn stood in front of her grandmother’s grave to place down a bunch of freshly picked flowers. It was a mixed bouquet, but Dawn was sure to include red geraniums, which had always been her favourite.

Dawn had agreed to relocate up north with Kalen. His clan was impressed by Kalen’s story of recovery and very interested in her apothecary services. So they offered her a generous and important position. Although the clan was currently experiencing dramas, Kalen had promised Dawn a far better life alongside him.

The clan had also offered to supply Dawn with whatever she needed to promote her work ethic. But she still loaded up her cart with anything that was spared or intact enough to keep.

She was happy. But also incredibly sad. It was hard to leave all she had ever known. Even if, now more than ever before, she felt ostracized by the village. She always hoped that the opinion of her would perhaps change one day. But clearly that was never going to happen.

She wished she was braver. And she wished she could find some important final words to say. But all she felt was shame and dejection and no words came. Instead, she held back tears and touched the cold stone of her grandmother’s memorial for one last time.

She headed back towards where Kalen stood waiting for her patiently, blinking her tears back. Mack was looking unimpressed as usual to be put to work and Kalen was offering his typical grin that made him glow. It was a smile that filled Dawn with hope for brighter days ahead in a place where she could belong.