Darkness, Light, and darkness

It was the final hour before dawn. In every direction the fires of the city burned brightly. The castle itself the last and highest point in the city was still standing, but now it held a very different set of soldiers. "You are certain she is nowhere in the castle." The bent man's voice was cracking from the strain, "I do not bring back false reports to our master." He turned to the man beside him. "It would not do to disappoint him unnecessarily." He frowned and drew deeply on the pipe which jutted unceremoniously from his lip. "Take the men out. The destruction is done." Alone in the tower he watched as the first rays of the sun poured over the castle. Beside him the body of a soldier served for his used ashes as he tapped his pipe on the helmet. "Now she will go to him, that will be just as well. This was the plan after all." He frowned looking back at the castle. "I think we missed something though--can't say what." He climbed the stairs one by one his bent body contorting at every step.


The forest was lush with the sounds of morning life. In the west the silence of the castle lay cold and stiff, but beyond the trees a softer silence emerged no longer bound by emotions but only of the busy work of regretless life. Overhead the soft twitter of a morning thrush echoed off trunks and slid peacefully over swaying leaves which listened without comment. Sarah stirred amidst the pile of leaves brown and crackling and rolled over her body warm and her mind at ease. It was the sound harsh angry voices which woke her. She sat up shaking her head of the cobwebs of now forgotten dreams her hand found only air and she sucked in a gasp of shock. Rubbing her palm with thumb she counted three under her breath her father had taught that to her long ago.
"You'll hand what you have over, or we'll cut it from you--simple as that." She turned down towards the ravine. There below her three men stood facing a fourth weapons drawn. They were wearing the coat of arms of Nagasia--a dark lion on a yellow background standing rampant. That was the same symbol she had seen on the soldiers as she had escaped the castle.
"There are three of you and one of me, it doesn't hardly seem like a fair fight," the man stood straight and ridged his sword swaying lightly at his side. "I do not think this is how we should conduct our business." His voice was hard and lined with an edge of darkness Sarah did not understand. Behind him she saw now a child lay in the grass his leg torn and bloodied. "I don't think he will be helping any."
The three men charged in their weapons flailing in the air with a rush and clash as he thrust them backwards with a glancing blow of his arm. Two of them he knocked backwards off balance and followed quickly his sword driving the way forward. The last man went for the child. Sarah screamed. All three glanced upwards to where she stood fists clenched her body quivering with anger oblivious to the danger of revealing herself. The third man stepped backwards laying his hand on the head of child. Sarah felt the rage overwhelm her red seemed to flood her vision. Her foot slipped and she felt trees pulling at her skirt, arms, and face. She came to sudden halt at the bottom of the hill and fell back with a thud. Someone screamed, she didn't know who. Blood splattered across her face, warm wet and filled with terror and pain. She looked upwards to find the man standing over her. The vision was blurred and she tried to focus. Only darkness and shadows.

"You had quite a spell there, don't sit up." Sarah groaned as strong hands lifted her head and held a bowl to them. "Here, drink." She let the warm liquid run down her throat and fill a place she had almost forgotten that screamed and raged with joy as it accepted the nourishment. He held her there letting her guide the bowl with her head until the soup was gone and the bowl empty. He lay her head back down and moved away. Sarah opened her eyes. Stars shown overhead, even more numerous than she had seen above the city. Suddenly she felt very small. Beside her she could hear the soft crackling of the fire snapping and popping in the cool night air. Around her the forest was dark and quiet, but she could almost feel it moving about her. Trees dark and mysterious loomed all around, and creatures of the night danced their daily dance. The man beside her was only cold and hard. Sarah frowned. "Where am I?"
"You are in the forest of Tagui. It is only a handful of league from the castle you escaped from." She heard the sharp rasp of steel as he began working on the finer edges of his blade. "The child is gone. I left him in the care of a good man. He will grow strong and well." The rasping stopped for a moment, "or they will find him and force him to join their league and he will become twisted and bent."
"Cheery aren't you." Sarah snapped sitting upright far too quickly to escape the wave of nausea which washed over her. "You know if I hadn't distracted those men you could be dead by now." She cocked her head to one side, "I think you owe me now."
"Owe you," he turned to look at her his face unreadable in the darkness. "Hmmph." He turned back to his blade. "What need would you have of me even if I did owe you."
"You may not be able to take on three soldiers alone with your blade, but you have courage." She pursed her lips together. "I will require an escort, you will do."
"Escort," the word seemed to roll off his tongue uncertainly as if such an idea was unheard of. "Where are you going princess lips." He laughed his sides shaking as he did so.
"To the kingdom of Nagiosa. That is as far as I require."
There was a dark brooding silence. Sarah waited impatiently.
"The debt will be paid," he stood up his back to her, "sleep now, we will depart in the morning." He walked away from the fire slipping into darkness. She lay back down watching the flames dance like dragons on the smoldering wood. "I will take you as far as my path leads. The way is not straight, but I will go to Nagiosa." Sarah layed her head back down.
"What's your name?" Sarah asked.
"Gavin, my name is Gavin. Sleep now Sarah we travel hard and fast." Gavin leaned back against the tree and looked up towards the moon only a small crescent in the sky he watched the shimmering edges as it danced silently for him. He rubbed his hands together their surface rough and pocked with wear and use. As he rubbed they grew warm and the palm on the right glowed a deep firey orange in the night. He thrust it suddenly against the trunk of the tree a thin wisp of smoke trailing away from the edge. He slumped back against the wide broad base and fell into dreams and nightmares.