The Mountain That Bleeds

  The wind had grown harsher and hotter, slightly burning against my yellow?tinted skin. Indeed, the prophesied doom was close.

  The thought of death was of no concern to me. I had a duty to fulfill, and it was to provide for my family no matter what.

  Now, I had even taken on the responsibility of providing for Ougine’s family. His other Ma had also died just a few weeks ago. His Ma had made a whole fuss in the village about not letting him become a runner. I never questioned why she finally relented.

  It was too late now. No wonder his Ma had been in such a mood.

  Ma still has not recovered from losing Fa these past two months.

  Heat simmered against my soles. Still not enough to push me away. I had a duty — the responsibility to provide for my family.

  I pushed through the powerful gust, while lava coursed down the hill, burning everything in its path.

  Boom! Boom!

  The ground shook violently the closer I got to Rotana*.

  I persisted.

  Finally, I reached the plantation of tettara*.

  My eyes felt blessed to see so many, and they were ripe. Rotana was the largest active volcano on Ma-Oktava*. The tettara from here always had some sort of taste.

  But again, the runners rotated every hunt, so it wasn’t often we got to eat them.

  I raced over to the nearest bunch and plucked them out. One by one. I filled my pouch with them.

  Quen-alla would be fulfilled, and so would the others. They won’t go hungry for another day.

  BOOM!

  The excitement didn’t last long. My fingers gripped the pouch tighter, scared that it would drop and I would fail as a provider.

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  What was going on?

  The scene at Saktak* would happen again.

  I couldn’t risk it. Not for myself but for my family.

  BOOM!

  The loud voice came from behind me. My head snapped back and my eyes widened when I saw that the largest volcano on Ma-Oktava had erupted just like Saktak. This was more massive. Dark gray clouds poured out, and ashes rained down before me. Lava flowed down like the mountain was bleeding.

  Rocks rained down…

  My instinct took over, and I rushed through the darkest smoke, trying to evade the falling rocks.

  My hands gripped the pouch tighter. My feet carried me through the smoke.

  Thud. Thud.

  Feet that had once been soundless now produced heavy thuds. The bottoms of my feet were now burning from the heat.

  Whoosh!

  Lava sprayed out of the ground right before my eyes. Drops fell on my skin, burning them.

  “Tsss…”

  I hissed in pain. Stepping back. Behind me, more lava was flowing down from the hill. I was trapped. Everywhere I looked, lava was flowing down.

  My hand found the pouch made from tettara skin, gripping it tightly. I needed them to be safe for my family.

  The ground below grew hotter every second that passed by. The ground itself trapped me.

  Unconsciously, my hands curled up as I stared at the scorching hot lava. It mocked me for being a fool — for rushing out here.

  I was trapped.

  I was going to burn, the same way Fa had.

  ???