I rummaged through my drawers, nothing taken. I saw my dagger where I hid it. Tracing the designs, I accidentally cut myself on the blade. When the first drop of blood hit it, a flash of white light radiated out from the point. I was back at the rich house
“Miss, I wouldn’t recommend getting out of bed right now, especially since you fell down the stairs and crashed into that big vase at the bottom,” somebody said.
“I need to change,” I bluntly stated. Fell down the stairs? Really? Of all the stupid circumstances, this was the silliest.
“Fine. I will take my leave for the moment. If you need anything, just call.”
This time, I picked a green dress with violet designs. The maids put it on me this time, all the while saying how my eyes matched it. Once they finished, they ushered me back into the bed and left. I resumed clutching my dagger and another dizzy spell hit me.
I walked out of the room calmly, greeted by a few glaring eyes and a bunch of surprised faces. I bit back a few words of my own as I descended the stairs, trying to look at the ground as often as possible. I could tell who’s itching for a fight by looking at their feet. If they were jittering, then obviously I got trouble. I’m best friends with trouble, though. Never could get enough back in the village, I shouldn’t go into that right now. Focus on the present; otherwise you might regret it later. Upon reaching the kitchen, I saw enough food for at least 4 people (if the guys out there ate a lot). I purposely chose the seat where the food smelled a little like nightshade. It’s not enough to kill me, they knew that. I guess I’ll act oblivious, besides, I need more sleep. Keiran tried to hide his shock when he saw me sitting at the place. I smirked and waved him over.
“We’ve been waiting for you to come, the food’s getting cold.” I said, as cheerfully as I could.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever, you seem to like that seat…” he trailed off
“Well? What’s wrong?” I played stupid, apparently it worked.
“Uh… n-n-n-nothing.” He stammered.
“You’re acting suspicious, what did you do?”
“I SAID NOTHING!”
“Sure you didn’t, can we eat now?”
I picked up the fork, prompting the others to do so. When I had enough food, I tottered towards the stairs. Ugh, it’s been
a while since I had tried nightshade; the poison is acting on me faster than I thought, oh well. He’ll probably catch me, or… I used the pommel of the dagger to crush my bruised rib even more. Crying out in pain, I fell down the stairs, blacking out just as the nightshade was taking over my consciousness.
Just as I expected, I entered the dream world. Except this time, I was alone in this purple haze. I ended up falling through the haze onto the ground, landing on my back. My weapons weren’t with me, either. Something about the place clicked in the back of my mind. What could possibly remind me of purple haze? While exploring the place, I felt a presence at my shoulder, yet nothing was there when I looked. Oh, man, now I’ve got ghosts in my dreams, too. Or was I hallucinating? It’s possible if somebody overdoses on nightshade. I heard it, though, “You are not of this world,” it whispered to me, “Although you still have work to do here,” the mist blurred and I was dropped off at a riverbank. The water reflected my face, glowing slightly. This time, my hair was black and held back with an expensive metal clip. My violet eyes rested on the pebble at the bottom of the river. It was sunset, and the rock shone like silver in the light. The faint memory of a dead body at the end of the river steered me towards the forest. How did I know there was a corpse there? The presence was there, at the petrified tree.
“I was right, you are many, but one,” its voice sounded more like the wind in the trees.
“Wait! What? Hey! Get back here!” my shouting was in vain, it had already dissipated. I sat against the tree trying to understand what it meant. Many, but one what? Does it have anything to do with the odd memory I had back at the riverbank? Should I even trust that thing? I shouldn’t trust anyone, yet I trusted that Keiran would catch me if I fell from the top of the stairs. Should I do the same with the presence? I guess I’ll figure it out later. It was already starting to get dark, the moon rising halfway between the horizon and its apex. I think I should climb a tree so I could sleep. So dizzy, why couldn’t I see any stars? Was it just me, or did the moon look blood-red? Oh, that night, I remember the moon round and red as it is. Dad said it was the day I was supposedly born. Considered the unlucky child, all the parents forbade me from coming near their kid. It got worse, too. Schools didn’t want me. I was constantly being moved from one to another throughout the course of the few years until I finally gave up on my education. Then, Dad started to teach me codes. How to send help messages that were really subtle, how to tell which people were trustworthy by the way they wrote their name. I never knew my last name; I just went by Nel Atroviolacens if I had to give out a last name. I closed my eyes; everything was a mystery to me. I can’t sleep here; I got up and made notice of the position of where the moon was and headed north.
“Found her! Now! Catch her while she’s unarmed!” a bunch of footsteps followed.
That voice didn’t sound familiar. I sprinted towards the lake; I have to get to the end of the river. I think there was a hidden passage of some sort there. Running was too slow. I jumped into the river and started swimming. The voices grew fainter as I swam towards where the water pooled at the end of the river. Taking a deep breath, I dove and kicked my way into the cave. Collapsing on the white sand, I pulled myself up and onto firm ground. Unaccustomed to the darkness, I waited for a few minutes before exploring the cave. While walking around, I kicked something hard. Crawling around, I finally found it again and picked it up. Ow! I cut my finger on a sharp side. It might be flint, I thought, as I looked at the cut. It was a clean cut, not that deep, either. Now if only I had some wood and metal… wait. I think I already might have the metal. I hope the clip is strong enough to withstand being hit on a piece of flint. Wandering around a little more, I tripped over a pile of something. Upon closer examination, I saw that it was some wood. Making the fire was really tough. The clip didn’t hold up as well as I thought. After a few tries, a blaze started up. Shielding my eyes from the sudden brightness, my eyes fell on an outstretched hand. Stifling my shriek, I stepped back, eyes wide with alarm. Was this the corpse that had appeared in my memories? I examined the body for the cause of death. Since there were no cuts whatsoever, I thought that it might’ve been caused by a snake. They liked to drop from the ceiling onto unexpected prey and kill them. Sitting down, I examined myself. On my right ankle, there was this simple tattoo that encircled it, ovals with dots in the middle. My white dress was tattered and had mud splotches. From what I could tell, I had been running away for at least a few days. When I went back to the body, I saw an arrow protruding from the back. His hand was clutching something of importance, a letter. When I broke the seal and opened it, I saw a code. Let’s see if I still remembered the lessons I learned…
To whom it may concern,
In a certain cave,
There lay some answers.
Isn’t it obvious?
Shouldn’t the king want it?
Lives shouldn’t be wasted,
Openly on the battlefield,
Such tyranny is frowned upon.
The truth lies in the magic.
Guarding,
It awaits the day,
Vaguely aware that nothing stays.
Everything goes through change.
Useless.
Please, help.
-A
Odd message, it makes. The King would definitely search for answers, though. The meaning also makes sense. I just decoded it. There seems to be another code, that’s what they do during wars. They would layer code upon code… OH! Wow, seems like the person that wrote this didn’t have much time, reading down the first column, I saw ‘It Is Lost Give Up’ interesting. Are they talking about a war or something? Why would they drag the body into this cave? Maybe they purposely wanted to burn the buildings and slaughter the people. If that’s the case, I might be a fugitive. I’m really tired, I might just go nod off and explore this place at a later time. The presence appeared, again. “Do you want to go back? You still haven’t finished the work. You are close, though…”
“Hey!” That voice sounded awfully familiar.
“I shall take my leave for now,” it whispered to me.
“Keiran stop that!” I think it was Soren’s voice…
My eyes snapped open just as something was coming down. I guess I have to use my least favorite technique; hopefully it doesn’t sting as much as before. Whipping my left hand up, I formed my index and middle fingers’ knuckles into a v-shape, catching the blade in the process.
“So you’re finally awake,” Keiran said coolly, “I didn’t think you’d be knocked out for around a half-day…”
I glared at him before responding, “Maybe if there wasn’t any nightshade in my food,” he paled at that, “So what did I do while I was passed out?”
“Uh…” Keiran motioned towards a few dents in the wall.
“And why’d you try to cut me?”
“Actually, you seemed to be having a nightmare,” he shrugged, “and I decided to wake you up.”
“All right. Hey, did you decide to take me somewhere?” I felt tight bandages around my rib, clearly not my doing, as I was passed out.
“Yeah, actually, when you didn’t wake up after a few hours, we took you to this healer. She said something about poison resistance as well as saying how the normal person should be in a coma for at least 3 days. She mentioned briefly how you were in the middle of being passed out and dreaming, I’m not sure what that means… She also said you fractured a rib and patched you up.” That explains it. But what was the middle ground for being passed out and dreaming?
“Sure. What time is it?”
“You’re the better judge at that,” helping me up, he took me to the window. The sunset was really nice today, and since it was around autumn, I guessed around six-thirty. I limped back to bed and lay down. “Poison resistance” HA! Dad had a lot of nightshade lying around the house because, as he said it, when I was a baby, I would cry nonstop throughout the night. In order for him to get sleep, he dabbed a bit of nightshade on my lips so I would sleep. He had to gradually increase the dose as I had started to become resistant to it as time passed. Years passed and, as the villagers said, my inheritance started to show, they tried to catch me asleep by putting in little traces of nightshade in our well. I didn’t fall asleep and they were surprised, also adding to my nickname “Demon’s Child” because that amount could make a grown man fall asleep. My nickname was mostly due to the fact that I had violet eyes and was born on a day when the red moon shone. That’s how I managed to remember my birthdays; it would come every year, some years more orange than others. I hated that day, but I can’t just break away from it. There was just something special in the air on that particular night. Every year, on that day, I wouldn’t be able to sleep. They said it was like seeing someone possessed by a spirit when that night came. I would slightly glow and my eyes would turn a bit darker, but it was only for that night.
“How long are you going to stay?” I asked Keiran.
“Until we figure out what to do with you,” He smirked. It seems like he liked riddles, too.
“You mean until I tell you my history,” I mumbled, eyes darkening, “You know I don’t trust you.”
He sighed, “Would it be better if I went first, then?” I continued to stare out the window. He took it as a yes and continued, “I was born in a place called Flythe, south of here. It’ll probably take a week’s run to get there. Over there, learning how to fight was essential to how we survived. Everyone learned for one year, and then the head slowly whittled down on the people that had talent. I got kicked out after a few years. My parents were on the verge of disowning me. They couldn’t afford one more mouth to feed, so we moved to another place, Meich, I think for a few months. Some of our relatives living there were quite rich and were happy to have us for a few months. Eventually, we had to move on to Sylv,” I tried my best not to seem interested. “At around Soren’s age during summer,” That makes sense, I should’ve been 13 then. Arlia was killed around spring, which would mean that I had already secluded myself from the rest of the village. Anything that happened in the village wouldn’t come my way.
“We settled down close to the center of the village, where the gangs were the thickest. I daresay that was the worst year of my life. The only good that came out of it was that my 3 years of training wasn’t for nothing. I also learned how to fight multiple people; back in Flythe, the finals were one on one matches, pitting two people with similar styles to see who would win. We only lived there until late spring because of this one incident that had us convinced that Sylv was haunted. I still remember that night clearly. It was the night of the red moon; everyone was holed up just as twilight ended, which was odd in a way. My parents didn’t believe in that nonsense and took us out for a walk. That night, I saw this spirit; at least I thought it was a spirit. My parents also saw it from a distance and agreed that the rumors were true. It had on this gown and its skin glowed slightly. It had long hair, I think it was just flowing behind her, like an invisible breeze was blowing and was seen more like gliding than walking,” I continued to stare out the window, but my nails were digging into my wrist. Shit! He saw me! What do I do now? I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “I’m telling the truth,” he said to me and continued, “One week afterwards, we moved out and started our trek to this town.
“After a few days of walking, at night, I went out to climb the tallest tree in order to see how much progress we made. During that period of time, I heard screaming coming from the camp,” his hands clenched into fists, “I had to stay put because my muscles had already frozen up, but honestly, I would’ve stayed put, anyways because from the screaming, I could tell that they were entirely above my level. When it finally died down, people covered in black walked under the bough I was hiding in. They were carrying some stuff, and since that night was really cloudy, I only had my imagination to guide me. Once I got back to camp, my fears were confirmed. My sister lay, dead. My parents were nowhere to be seen, and the food as well as the other valuable belongings weren’t there, either,” I looked long and hard at him, and finally decided that he wasn’t lying, mainly because I could see that he was having trouble trying not to get too emotional over this. “It took me so long to get here, but once I got here, it felt like I was meant to stay here, it was nice. The only problem I had was the gangs, but now that is also resolved.”
I nodded. That was a plausible story, but one thing was nagging at me, “A spirit at Sylv? Is there such a thing?” I decided that was the best way to ask.
“Actually, the villagers called it ‘Demon’s Child’ but I thought that was weird. If they seemed to know it was human, why would they go great lengths to avoid it? When I questioned them about this topic, it was like walking on eggs. Some would gossip at great lengths, but others would give me nasty looks. From what I gleaned, nobody had seen the ‘Demon’s Child’ for a number of years, yet they all insisted that it lived. They said that it would murder anyone it wished, it was born on that day, and some gang members even showed me scars and wounds they had received. The worst one I saw was from a person that was really good friends with the one that was murdered when his friend, he said the name was Arlia or something. The ligaments in his arm were torn, and he wouldn’t be able to use his right hand to fight anymore. It was such a sad sight, I couldn’t believe it was only a few months ago. He said he didn’t wish to see it anymore. I was shocked enough to swear to kill the ‘Demon’s Child’ on sight! Nobody kills anybody just because they think its fun,” he whispered the last part.
I had resumed staring out the window, again, but this time, I was fingering my dagger. It’s no use, he won’t trust me if I tell the truth. Damn him. I didn’t know he’d tell everyone that I killed Arlia. He was the one that bribed her, and when he later learned that she was a friend of mine and decided to save me rather than her. With no use from her, he killed her. I tried to appear shocked; I think it sort of worked.
“Hey, I told you all this stuff about me, can’t you share?”
“You’d be my enemy.”
“Who says I’m not your enemy right now? Remember, I was the one that poisoned your food.”
“So why should I trust you? For all I know, you might be lying to me.”
“Fine, then. Just a little bit about yourself.”
I bit my lip, hand clenching my dagger, safely hidden in my dress, in case anything went wrong. “I’ll just use a few words. My nickname was ‘Demon’s Child’, good day to you, too,” I immediately jumped out the window, rolling as soon as I touched the ground, glass crunching when I got up. Damn, was it fate that led me here? I probably have to get out of here as soon as I could. I hate this stupid cracked rib. Good thing it was bound up really tightly. It should hold out for at least an hour of running. The trees should make good cover. As soon as I hit the forest, I scampered up the tallest pine and started jumping bough to bough. It really hurt, but I had to do it this way, otherwise they’d see my footprints on the ground. Oh, I can’t believe I just made my tongue slip like that… well the past won’t change now would it? It’s no use; I better get in a few more boughs before I collapse from exhaustion. After I got two more in, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Settling down in the crook of the tree, I drifted off…
I was back in the cave, yet something was missing. I couldn’t quite place it until I saw a huge pile of ashes. Where was the body? I nearly puked when I figured out (which didn’t take long). I have to get out of here, fast. Yet, when I touched the water, it felt like somebody decided to overdose on the poison. I felt some scales while trying out the water. A drop of blood confirmed my suspicions. It violently reacted with the water, boiling in some places, and in others, hissing. There has to be another way out… after all, the body was dry when I first collapsed on the sand. I had to start another fire before anything… hopefully there were still were some glowing embers in the pile of ashes. No? I guess I’ll be the blind (and unlucky) person wandering around. Just what I always wanted, I ground my teeth in frustration. Starting on one side of the cave, I felt my way until the wall turned into a tunnel. It was somewhat spacious; I guess it’s enough room to drag a corpse through. Gently, I eased my way through the dark for about a few paces before… I stifled yet another scream. Something slimy, wet, and cold brushed against my leg. When I looked, I didn’t see the remnants of that weird thing… just my ankle glowing, a light blue color where the tattoo was. That’s it. I sprinted for the other end taking random turns here and there until I knew I was hopelessly lost. Stopping to catch my breath, another memory came. This time it was a hidden passage which contained a weapon of some sort. It should be close by; I straightened up and started to move. This time, I just used my memory to guide me. Left. Middle. Right. Right… So many turns, this is driving me crazy! I finally rounded the last corner when I thought I wouldn’t see sunlight. There was a bit of sunlight coming in from one of the cracks overhead and alighted on a misshapen rock carved with a rune. I stood there staring at it for the longest time, wondering what I should be doing. Finally, a tiny flashback of me touching the indent left by the rune came. As soon as I touched the marble, the rock was suffused with an emerald light. Finishing the first diagonal, the rune started to glow a dull, light blue. With apprehension gnawing at the back of my mind, I finally completed tracing the vertical line. Light blue lines appeared on the rock and immediately infected the stone surface touching it, until a ripple effect occurred. Was this good or bad? I couldn’t recollect anything after remembering to trace the rune… It looked like ice cracking, the fine tendrils of blue running through the whole room. The only time this happened was when something’s about to break, this doesn’t bode well. A bright light came on suddenly. Shielding my eyes from the glare, I lowered my hand to see… nothing. What? Just in light? It felt like I was falling, but something kept me aloft. Straightening my body out, I looked around me. Just white, then a glimmer that got brighter as it neared me. I unsuccessfully tried to move, it seems like I’m going to have to get it here somehow. My voice wasn’t working, either. Is this it? Why am I so tired, again? Dizzy, I blinked. Was it just me, or was the light really blue? I blinked again, wait. Why was the light blue? I thought it was supposed to be white, looking down, I realized what was happening. The tattoo was still radiating a light blue. I in turn, could see some sort of surface below me. When enough of the fog (?) had collected, I was gently set down. The presence appeared, “Now, then, this is where all life passes through, living and dead… I sense that you want to talk to someone alive; you can only do that through their dream. There’s a mirror, here. Please think of their name and enter.” It departed before I could ask what it was. I didn’t notice that I was walking with it, either. The mirror was only a few paces away. Should I? I stood there for at least five minutes deciding. Eventually I decided to jump through all at once; otherwise I would’ve turned down this opportunity. He was asleep; otherwise I would’ve been spit out by the mirror. Something appeared in front of me; somehow I understood how to transfer what I wanted right away. Keiran, you should know the truth, in increments. I first put. And then the memory he was exposed to, first.
Which would be the reason why he wanted to kill me, but this time around, I put in my feelings, and everything I thought. I also substituted “Demon’s Child” for my name until Arlia comes and screams my name. At the end, I put a mirror because I like those.
It was a night of the full moon, sometime during spring. I remember that because the moon casted long shadows that could hide a lot of things. I thought it was just me when the forest sounded a bit quieter than normal. It seemed like the screech owls were also holding their breaths. I was coming home from my nightly gathering of various medicine/poison, as always, I had my arms length sword with me, strapped to my back since I had my arms full of various plants. Upon reaching the door, I set down a bundle to open the doorknob… my hand broke through something, there were such strings as thin as hair, I believed I broke through that, but remember, it was the dead of night. The shadows were merging with one another. There were enough clouds to make the whole thing seem surreal. Leaping back and dropping the other plants, I drew my sword just in time to stop a needle shooting at my neck.
“Demon’s Child always got fast reflexes, you have to do better than that,” I heard a mocking voice call out.
The moonlight was now obscured by the clouds entirely, this wasn’t good. I better rely on my sense of hearing, and as always, my sword. I closed my eyes to concentrate; I fingered a throwing knife as I knelt on the ground to feel for vibrations. The sound of rustling cloth brought me to that time when I had to throw knives at a target when I was smaller. Judging by the noise, I figured that the person was moving relatively fast. Aiming a few feet on what I thought was in front of where he was now; I managed to catch him in the leg. A cry and a thump, the whole group was on me. There were only a few good fighters and the rest were just plain scared of me, especially when I didn’t open my eyes, but rather swung my sword with my eyes closed, as if I knew whom it would land on. The good ones didn’t bother with me until they realized I was wounding four, maybe five at a time. That’s when they decided to retreat. Followed by the rest of the group, the dead and the dying were left to the elements, or so I thought… I pushed open the door and quietly went upstairs.
“NEL!!! GET OUT OF HERE!!!!” I heard Arlia’s voice when I entered the bedroom. She pushed me out of the way just in time before the throwing knife could puncture me, harming her instead. I slipped out another one, facing the unusual intruder. He smiled; flashing pearl-white teeth at me, then took her outside. I followed in the drizzle that had started up, and there, I already learned that it was too late; Arlia was slumped on the ground, probably dying. In a rage of anger, I forgot who I was and attacked him with as much force as I could muster. This was what I remembered, time slowed even more than it should and I felt a strange sensation. Energy was surging through my body; my senses were sharper than before. I remember swinging my sword only once, but the damage I saw made me think that I had used it at least two or three times. Before that happened, his eyes rounded and he screeched something about the myth being true. The only myth I remembered was that there was a spirit, her name unknown. Eyes would glow slightly when angry. It terrorized the town. Crap like that. I thought I was being made fun of, and attacked. The damage was enough to rip some muscle off his right arm and rip his ligaments on his sword arm…
When I got to Arlia, I could tell she was slipping, fast. Cradling her head in my lap, her last breath brought more than unexpected words, “Stay true, Nel, please promise me, that,” She whispered. I bit my lip and nodded, my throat was already closing up. Then, she did something odd, holding up her left hand, she offered me her pure silver ring, adorned with the carvings of two butterflies, “That’s what I was going to give you, I hope you take it…” she had already breathed her last. Devoid of sorrow, I took her corpse away from there and started a fire. When the blaze was enough, I cremated her and some of her ashes in a river, the rest, I put into the tops of trees where the wind blew freely. She would’ve liked that…
I woke up on the stone floor clutching an odd item. Forcing my eyes open, I realized I wasn’t in a cave, anymore. I was back with the purple haze. The presence was there waiting for me to greet it. I managed a weak smile. “The weapon in your hands is magic, guard it wisely… we went through much trouble to send it to the True One, you should go back to your world now.”
I woke up with my face planted on the ground, signs of struggle evident on the ground. Who was it?
“Careful, she knows the breaking spell,” Somebody muttered as they secured my hands behind my back, “She also sleepwalks a great deal, didn’t you see the 5 people she dispatched and the tree she broke?” Dispatch 5 people? Broke a tree? These voices are unfamiliar as well. Could it be The Officials? Very plausible, especially since I didn’t know if I released any magic in the real world.
“She also lied to us on that day we barged in,” a gruffer voice sounded. “That dagger has been there for ages, but since we were new to that village, we didn’t know any better. Y’all reckon she’s The Warrior that that dusty prophet was talking about?” Warrior? I was already called the True One by the presence, Sylv’s prophet also foretold that I would be the one ending the world, and now I’m a warrior?
“You know the prophecy by heart, right? I seem to have forgotten it.” Some other guy was saying.
“One more time, and that’s it,” the gruffer voice said.
The corruption at core,
Wars need answers,
Unknown by most,
Not just by the king,
Lies a strange one,
A warrior in olden times,
Now,
Reborn,
Shunned,
Forgotten,
They come, seeking revenge,
On what the King has wrought upon the land.
Come, warrior.
Your courage is needed,
Come, to the dark land.
Get up,
Destroy the power-hungry,
To bring about a new peace.
Come.
Wars need answers,
Unknown by most,
Not just by the king,
Lies a strange one,
A warrior in olden times,
Now,
Reborn,
Shunned,
Forgotten,
They come, seeking revenge,
On what the King has wrought upon the land.
Come, warrior.
Your courage is needed,
Come, to the dark land.
Get up,
Destroy the power-hungry,
To bring about a new peace.
Come.
I’ve never heard of that before, but, coming from a secluded village, I didn’t hear much of anything that was supposed to happen. It was a really nice piece, though. Why would they assume I was the warrior mentioned?
“We better get going,” some other person said, “Check if she’s awake. Careful, now. She has the dagger, too. We can’t get it off of her.”
I closed my eyes and relaxed my muscles, hoping they’d fall for it. One guy kicked me in the stomach, just to make sure. I tried my hardest to keep it relaxed, it worked for a little bit.
“GET UP! NOW! YA LIL WEAKLING!” He roared.
“Unnngghhh…” I decided to try and act confused. He smacked me, hard right across my face.
“HAH! With your hands bound behind your back, no trick is going to work on us anymore, violet-eyed one,” Tricks? What tricks? I’m still wondering what the thing that the presence had given me. I had it clutched in my right fist, but since I couldn’t open it, I can’t figure out. The Dagger! Shit, where was it? I was frantic until I felt an ice cold blade on my rib. Now how do I stab myself without the use of my hands? Wait… they said something about a breaking spell. How should I know anything about that? They roughly shoved me forward, before I figured out what could have happened, hands grabbing the rope that tied my hands behind my back, “Lead us, murderer,” another voice commanded. Was it just me? Or did the voice sound familiar? Damn, if it were someone from Sylv, I wouldn’t escape with my life no matter how hard I tried. That rune… I remember the room breaking, I was unharmed, hopefully… no the soil is too dry here. My only hope is to get close to a riverbank or boulders. Maybe not. I’ll wait until they break for lunch and see if I can do that.
“Go on, will ya?!” some other person made me glare balefully at them. I better keep that notion to myself. Keep on walking, even though it hurts. You’re getting closer to your target… step after step I shuffled. A few hours before noon,
the crack on my rib started to hurt, again. I started to limp.
“Hey, cut that out, will you?” a pebble was thrown, probably aimed at my head. I dodged easily and it bounced off a tree. Seemingly annoyed at that, the next thing they did was throw a rock at my hands, obviously, I couldn’t dodge that one. I sighed and made it strike the knot, cutting my left wrist in the process. This was one of the days when a few minutes felt like an hour and an hour felt like eternity. I shouldn’t have run off, but if I didn’t, what would’ve become of me? It seems like pondering these things took a lot of time, because when I finally came to, one of them was tying me to a tree and the others were unsuccessfully trying to make a fire. They seemed to know what I was thinking, because when they finally started the fire, they didn’t feed me. Honestly, it looked like slop to me. I better try my newfound method, now, while they were still preoccupied with their food. Locating a sharp rock within range, I made a cut on the big toe of my right foot, too deep; I won’t die from this, though. Bleeding profusely, I drew the rune on the dry soil. Then the unexpected happened. The blood whipped around until it formed a small circle, instead of having the red branch out like I would think might happen. A needle shot out of the circle, seemingly untainted by the blood, hit exactly where the knot was. The rope broke like it was made of straw. Without the unexpected resistance, I fell forward; I automatically grabbed the dagger and landed on my left hand. It was a source of comfort these days, I liked the dagger. It seemed like it was made for me, the proportions were just right, which was odd. I liked the blade a bit longer than the average person, because, since I was small, it would provide more momentum for me to stab and counterattack with. Nicking my thumb, I quickly squeezed a drop of blood on the blade…
I was still on my knees, but this time, I was surrounded by a few worried ladies and a guy with four horses. There were telltale signs of a raid on the place.
“Lady Mira! Please, please don’t scare us again like that! If it weren’t for Zarek, you’d have been carried all the way to the kingdom! We don’t want you abducted again, please…”
“Ma’am? We still have to track down those guys and figure out why they did what they did. Would you like to go home now?” I assumed it was Zarek that was talking.
I slowly nodded, not trusting my voice to carry my demands. He led forward a chestnut-brown horse and had me pat it. It seemed to like me, so Zarek gently lifted me up and set me on the saddle, “Kuro, I trust that you take Lady Mira out of this accursed forest and back to her home, you know where it is, do you want to do it?” I’ve never seen such trusting bonds between an animal and its owner before. Kuro, on the other hand, nickered softly and nuzzled Zarek’s shoulder, “Then go like the wind, we still have to finish what we started.”
Kuro started trotting away from the group. He seemed very comfortable with me, so I let him take breaks whenever he wanted to. We arrived home a few hours later when the exertions of the day hit me. Kuro seemingly to have noticed the sudden change in me, promptly bolted to the front door and kicked it open. He whinnied until someone came to the door and eased me off of him. I hope somebody will take care of him while I slowly recover from these accumulating wounds. The last thing I remembered was being carried upstairs…
“The worlds are trying not to intermingle with one another, yet, you come along,” I was being informed again on how I was a burden to the entire civilization by the presence, “Did you see the charm?” When I shook my head, “Open your right fist,” it instructed me. I opened it, what else could I do? Upon seeing it, I immediately threw it down, disgusted. A pearl, the last gift that I got from Dad, a few days before he allegedly committed suicide. It wasn’t any ordinary pearl; it was a pitch black one. He bought it because it reminded him of the beautiful nights that we used to spend outside, with no worries.
“You seem to have some sort of connection with that,” I whirled around. Nothing. That voice didn’t sound like the wind blowing, either.
“Who…” no answer, not like I expected one, whatever. Bending down, I scooped up the orb; it was swirling from black to red back to black. What’s this supposed to do? I faintly remembered that the presence mentioned something about it being a weapon of magic. What was the black and red for, though? My birthday? That’s the only black and red combo I could think of besides black blades and blood, that combo tuned blue, though. It could also be white too… so many possibilities; all I remembered was that the orb wouldn’t stay as it is. It did something, but what conditions did I have to satisfy? It seems hazy; the only thing I could recall was a scar of some sort, a dull white against the tanned skin of its owner. Everything was so fuzzy; I blinked hard a few times before something caught my eye. The orb was white, and was burning my palm. Trying to throw it didn’t work out nicely, either.
“Close your eyes and try to be calm,” something whispered, again, that voice was unrecognizable. I think I listened to it, after all, what else could I do? The trance helped me cope with the sharp pain. I snapped out of it when I was slammed into a rock wall with my back taking most of the blow. How long did that last? Why did I wake up like this? My head whipped back and hit something. Disoriented, I sat there, something close to searing heat ripping through my whole right arm. I can’t stand this pain anymore, black out…
I was jolted awake when the thunder rattled the windows. The rain was pounding the roof and lightning flashed outside. I was sprawled on the cold, wood floor. Forcing an eye open, I surveyed my surroundings. It was dark out; I still don’t know where I am, though. It’s too dark to see anything other than what’s happening outside the window. I was still recovering from the pain that had ravaged me in my sleep. More importantly, which world am I in? If I could hear the rain above me, I might be in the attic, probably hiding from something. I need light; the brief flashes of lightning are doing no good except worsen the pain, pushing myself up. I might’ve seen a flash of something. No, just the lightning, I hope. Yet, the dull white glow still persisted; in fact, it turned up a bit brighter. My eyes followed the light to find something like a green gentian raised on the back of my right hand with the orb glowing from the middle. Now, then, where’s my dagger? If I had that, I’d be able to do at least figure out which world I’m in. The dim light confirmed that, yes, I was in an attic. The floors, cold beneath my bare feet, squeaked in protest as I walked around exploring the place. Something shiny caught my attention, I quickly walked over there to discover, the dagger. Where is this place, though? I know it isn’t in the real world, otherwise the pommel would be blue, but this one was opal. I gently lifted the dagger and placed it back in its sheath. Click. The light flared outwards from the center of the flower, engulfing me and my surroundings. I shielded my eyes just long enough to let them adjust, but by then, I realized a bit too late that I had moved, yet again.
“Don’t ever try that again,” the presence sounded upset.
“What? But I didn’t know what happened!”
“Never. Lie. To. Me,” it surrounded me with a chilling fog that locked my arms in place,
“You know something I don’t,” it tapped a few of my pressure points, I slumped over, unconscious.
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