Living in a forest was a difficult thing but living there while isolated from the rest of the world like a hermit was something else. That was why Kamila was caught so off guard when she heard noises coming from places where there should have been none. It was a stark shock to hear human voices in the typical chirpings and howlings of birds and beasts.
It had started like any other day. Her father had been breaking shells with a heavy stone early in the morning when she woke up. The cave was lightly illuminated by the twilight of dawn. Different shapes in the cave were hazy to her sleep-addled eyes.
"Do you always have to start so early in the morning?" she groaned.
Her father didn't turn towards her as he answered. "It wouldn't kill you to do it once in a while." His voice was calm, lacking the whining quality of Kamila's own. "This is for your breakfast after all."
Kamila sat up, not answering, and adjusted the threadbare dress that she had outgrown and that barely reached her thighs. Her legs were red from the bites of insects as she unwound from the animal skin that she used as her quilt.
Her father's hands were cracked from years of hard work and Kamila was old enough now to take responsibilities of her father. She was even used to hard work but getting up early in the morning without a headache was out of her limits.
She took the mud pitcher from the makeshift shelf along with a handwoven basket that she had made herself after observing her father carefully over the years and left the cave.
The morning was still young and Kamila felt the calm settle over her that always came when she went for her morning walk. The diversity of the birds that started singing early morning was sweet music to her ears. Gradually her morning headache subsided as she passed the clump of trees and entered a meadow that held a beautiful sight.
The lake.
It was her favorite part of her home. Sometimes she bathed here when she knew that her father was taking his afternoon nap but most of the time she preferred nighttime for such activities. Even the cold and the fear of the wild couldn't lessen her desire every night to swim in the moonlit lake.
She sat down on the grass and filled the pitcher. That was when she heard it.
It was such a strange experience that at first, she didn't recognize what it was. Her hands stilled on the pitcher and she listened attentively.
The variation in tone and pitch couldn't be mistaken for anything else.
These were human voices.
Her eyes widened and the pitcher almost fell in the blue lake as she sat, frozen in the moment.
It had been three years that any humans passed this way through the forest. And Kamila and her father only knew this after they had left. They had traced the hooves of the horses and even human feet in the mud. It had been a surreal experience for Kamila who had grown up all alone, away from the human company except for her father's. Before this, there had been few other cases of human activity but whenever it happened, her father had kept her confined to the cave that they called their home. He always said that humans were the most dangerous creatures in the world. The wild boars and bears had nothing over them.
It had succeeded in creating a healthy fear of people in Kamila but nothing could squash her curiosity.
She pulled back the pitcher and stood up. She could hear the voices coming from the direction of the cave. Her heart started beating loudly. What if her father was in danger?
Trying not to make any noise she tiptoed in the jungle and came across the tallest tree that she was in the habit of climbing. Putting her things on the floor and hiding them with large leaves, she climbed as high as the tree's sturdy branches would allow. From here she had a clear view of the forest.
She couldn't see anyone near the cave. Her eyes wandered around. It was then that she came across her very first glimpse of humans.
Her breath caught. There they were. Two women and a man were sitting on horses and two men were standing on the ground. Kamila stared in wonder at the women. She had not seen a woman ever since she could remember. One was as young as her and the other was older. They seemed so elegant in their long dresses that came to their feet. Kamila couldn't make out what their dresses were made out of. The man on the horse had a sword and seemed like a warrior from the stories that her father told her. His body was covered in armor. Kamila had trouble closing her mouth. This was too much input for her starved eyes. It was a feast.
She was still in wonder when a strange thing happened.
One moment the warrior was sitting straight on his horse and the next moment, he had lost his head.
At first, she couldn't comprehend what she was seeing. Was this a dream? How could this grotesque picture even be real? But then the man's body fell down the horse with a thud and her trance broke. An unbidden gasp escaped her mouth just as the women started screaming.
It was then that Kamila understood what was happening. The people on the horses were being attacked by the ones on the ground. The picture was so absurd. The might should have been with the horseman and the women.
By the next moment, the older woman was killed too. Kamila held onto the tree with her shaking hands as she witnessed the gruesome sight. A sick feeling quickly rose to the fore. She was going to vomit.
Even when being chased by a hyena some two years ago, she hadn't felt this pressure taking over her chest. It was true fear that she was feeling. She looked to the cave which was closed to her relief and believed her father. Humans were the worst kind of creatures.
Suddenly an earsplitting scream ranged through the forest, disturbing the birds in the trees that flew away making Kamila wish that she could fly away too.
She didn't want to but her eyes took her to the young woman left alive.
The two men were pushing her to the ground.
Kamila stared at them listlessly.
One of them grabbed at the girl's dress.
Kamila didn't know most of the things that went around the world but some instinct told her that what they were going to do to her was going to be worst than death.
That was enough for her.
Before she could make a decision, she had jumped out of the tree, making as much noise as she could.
The men jumped in surprise and singlemindedly turned to where Kamila stood.