Editing CMU Chapter 02

= <span style="color: #FFFFFF !important;">Chapter Two: Debts of Living</span> =


Poleen Juvukis treads the muddy trail of her would-be killers, her bare feet whispering through the underbrush of a forest alive with the patter of rain and the distant howls of wolves. Her mind churns, grappling with the void where memories should be—her brother Benê’s face flickers, his laughter a cruel echo, yet she cannot summon the details of their bond or why they rode through these woods. Fleeting visions of a horse beneath her, a man with a roan mount, and a name just out of reach taunt her, but the questions of her past are overshadowed by the immediate: who wanted her dead, and why? The trail leads her to a lantern-lit clearing where a wagon waits, guarded by three men—two pacing, one perched on the driver’s seat—and two riders who soon depart into the night. Their crude banter reveals a job half-done, a plot tied to the Berjer tê Aprelêu and the Notoholis trade guild, but it’s the wolves’ yapping that chills her, conjuring fears they might desecrate Benê’s body. Poleen, naked save for her boots and a sash, feels the weight of her vulnerability but also the predatory pulse urging her to act, her dagger and stolen pouches her only allies in this dance of survival.

As the teamster ventures into the woods to check on the missing killers, Poleen seizes her chance, luring the remaining two—Spitter and Pacer—with a feigned stumble and a plea for help. Their recognition of her as the *Wakened Dead* ignites terror, and she capitalizes on it, dispatching Pacer with a brutal heel to his skull and Spitter in a frenzied dagger dance, her body trembling with the thrill of the kill. The teamster, Âvorê Môbudon, returns to find her bloodied but spares his life, kneeling in reverence to her as a soul forgiven by his Four Queens. His cryptic words paint her as a half-blood of Gorô and Mostulê descent, and he reveals the guild sought a mysterious box she allegedly stole—a box now in her possession, its locked contents a tantalizing enigma. When Âvorê speaks of her mother as the guild’s next target, Poleen’s fragmented memories flare: cobbled streets, a pond, a woman’s loving smile. Clutching the ornate box, she smashes open its crude chest, rejects Âvorê’s offer of aid, and strides northeast toward Nindi’vilu, driven by a fierce resolve to save her mother. The Sedûnyâ Road stretches before her, a path of peril and revelation, where each step stirs the predator within and the faint hope of reclaiming her shattered self.

[[CMU Chapter 01]] — Weight of Wakening<br>
[[CMU Chapter 03]] — Wait of Survival<br><br>
[[The Contessa of Mostul Ûbar]] - Main Chapter Listing

[[Category:Poleen]]

[[Category:Benê]]

[[Category:Gibelê Mention]]

[[Category:Nedrich Mention]]

[[Category:Relegôs Mention]]

[[Category:Âvorê]]

[[Category:Berjer Mention]]

[[Category:Nindi’vilu Mention]]

[[Category:Sedûnyâ Road Mention]]

[[Category:CMU Chapters]]