When Night Came Calling by Emily Asimov

Author:Emily Asimov [Asimov, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reagent Press

4

“I scavenged what I could from what was left,” the zombie said. “There wasn’t much of use, for the Romans had burned what they hadn’t looted. I picked amongst the charred bodies and burned hulls for as long as I dared. Then I fled into the hills with what I had found and left behind everything I had ever known.

“The wilds were a lonely place for a young boy. I sheltered out of sight and where I could while my supplies lasted. I hunted for what I could find. I drank from the nearby streams.

“I lasted a few weeks in the wilds. It was hunger that brought me from my hiding. My fair skin and hair made it impossible for me to dream of trying to blend in with the Anglians and I wanted nothing of the Romans and their forts.

“I knew enough that I dared not become a beggar, so I became a thief instead. Not that I was a good thief, but I’d always been quick and light on my feet. I’d steal into villages in the night and take what I could find. Bread, meat, drink.

“I lasted through what remained of spring and summer. In the fall, I built a fine shelter against the coming cold in deep woods far from any village. It meant a run of several leagues each night to steal. I welcomed the long runs and the night started to become my friend.

“I carried my father’s sword and shield, wore my father’s armor. I no longer feared the howls of creatures I could not see. I no longer feared the wrath of Romans or Anglians.

“At times, I dared myself to get caught so that I could fight them at last but whenever a moment of such truth came I heard my father’s voice in my ears. ‘When sword and shield and arms are one, it will be time,’ he said and so I waited. I waited for the day when my father’s sword and shield were like my hands and the weight of them were as feathers to wind.

“Living on my own, I became increasingly like a wild thing, though I, as yet, did not see this. I answered to no one and no one answered to me. Winter’s biting chill had no power over me. I ran through the cold dark nights, took what I needed from this village or that.

“When the thaw came, I returned to shelters by the shore and started watching for the arrival of my kin. The first sails I recognized arrived some weeks later, but I wasn’t the only one to see the sails. Roman guards lit warnings fires, ensuring an army was there to greet my kin on the shores.

“No matter, I waited and came to blows against Romans and Anglians alike as my kin came ashore. I battled until the last of us had fallen or been taken and only just managed my escape. I tried to spirit some few away, but even though I’d fought beside them they did not trust me.

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