Smoke and Death writing prompt

Julie from my writing group challenged us all to do a writing prompt this week. I finally made some time tonight to work on it. It's a little cliched, but it was fun to get the creative juices flowing.

She had smoke in her eyes and death at her back.

It hadn’t taken long. A few minutes at most.

She didn’t turn around or cover her mouth. Enah wanted them to see her confident as she walked away from the carnage.

But even as she did it, that little worm of doubt nibbled at her insides. Was this the path she truly wanted for herself? Or was it just the easy one?

Miviam and Canessa stood at the top of the next rise, their stances casual. As if a lone woman killing an entire gang of armed bandits was everyday stuff.

Miviam had her arms crossed under her chest, the tight leather bodice she wore showing off a disgusting amount of cleavage. Enah had never understood the desire to show off your body to attract men, but Miviam seemed steeped in it.

Canessa wore her conjuring cloak, even though it had to be sweltering under there in this heat. Enah had never seen her without it, which made her extremely glad she hadn’t chosen to apprentice to a conjurer last year.

The two of them waited until Enah reached the trough in front of them before turning around and heading to the silver maple that grew near the bend in the river. Neither of them congratulated her on completing her assignment. Neither gave correction either, so Enah knew she did well.

When the ground evened out, she took a cloth out of the bag strapped over her leggings and began wiping down her daggers, careful not to nick herself in the process.

Each swipe brought a different man’s face to mind. A man who deserved to die, she told herself with a grimace.

The blades clean, she holstered them behind her hips and stuffed the cloth back into the bag. Her fingers brushed something there and she pulled it out.

The drawing she’d found as she’d walked out of the camp. A drawing of a little girl with long, dark braids and a smile on her lips as she danced.

A man with a family.

“What’s that?” Miviam had reached the tree and turned around. Her words startled Enah.

Folding it up, she shoved it back into the bag with the cloth. “Nothing. Just some scrap paper I found. Thought it would come in handy to practice my scribing.”

Miviam didn’t look pleased, but she didn’t protest. Instead she grabbed Canessa’s hand with her left and held her right out to Enah. “Let’s go.”

A moment later, they were back in their own camp next to the ancient silver maple that grew at its center.