SWNOVELS Chapter Two: Marley
She stared down at her bowl of broth with a frown of disgust. Frog legs appeared now and then while she tried to avoid eating them. There was nothing wrong with the taste of frogs, the meat was quite tender and delicious, but her appetite was gone the moment she saw her father kissing another woman. Her father was never a loyal man, and neither was her mother, but the sight always disgusted her, in a world where everyone has a soulmate, you would think that you would keep your urges and loyalties to your partner. But then she remembered with bitter distaste that she was born human, and humans rarely get mates like all of the supernatural creatures around them.
The Thieves were commonly mistaken for humans, and they were the closest thing to having human blood beside the Assassins, but they all had their powers. The Thieves are known to own the ability to keep their youth for as long as they want. Some choose to stay young for thousands of years before finally accepting death and others choose to die as their natural life expectancy. They are the only ones to have this power, and nobody knows how they came to have it but there was speculation and mummers of some witch in The Guild of Assassins giving birth to a bastard child, the father being a member of the Thieves. That child grew up to be the first to have the power of youth but that was only a tiny story among many.
She had always wanted to go to The Guild of Assassins. She had always wanted to go everywhere on this giant island but being human had many disadvantages and the biggest one being that humans are the weakest link. There are seven separate kingdoms. The seventh was hidden away and it was known to be extinct. It was just another kingdom that was taken away by war and greed, but she had the smallest gut feeling that it was not true. The kingdom is known as The Cave of Beasts. Amongst the mountains and through underground caves, the beasts live and breathe. The dragons fly high, and the water is the brightest baby blue you will ever see but again, this place was just a myth, a story old folks say to keep children entertained.
The other disadvantage was the mate’s factor. All supernatural creatures had soulmates, whether the mate be their own species or a different one, it did not matter. Whereas being human, humans had no mates, there was no escape from that stupid island full of useless people and their lazy ways. Unless you have a father like Marley’s who marries off one daughter out of the two, he hates the most.
She pushed her bowl away with a scowl permanently on her face. From the moment she woke up she had that look but the reason was a simple one. The beating was not as harsh as they normally are but it still hurt, the muscles in her stomach, thighs and forearms ached and the slight headache that formed from when she hit her head on the wooden table, made the world spin every time she went to move her head but all in all, she was thankful nobody had taken notice. She was also thankful for the trousers and long sleeve shirt from her male siblings.
In Thieves, they did not have a dress code as she had originally thought instead, the women wore whatever they felt like and that made her happy to know that she was not bound to wear a dress anymore. Her legs felt free almost as if she was trapped in the skirts of those dresses knowing full well that they were a tripping hazard.
Her eyes suddenly snapped towards the entrance of the tavern. It was reasonably empty for early morning, with only three workers, a few early morning drunks, her dad and his latest lover and herself. The doors opened with a loud creak to the wooden panelling, an old man waddled in with a walking stick in one hand and his other holding his side as if he were in pain. What made her stare was because of how he looked. He had long white hair that almost touched the ground, a long purple and black robe and a weird-looking leather bag around his shoulder. His purple eyes had a misty look to them while he stood and looked around. A tight-lipped frown creased his face before they made eye contact. She felt her breath hitch and get caught in the back of her throat while she looked into those amethyst-looking eyes of his. It was almost as if he was staring straight into her soul as if he could see every part of her and because of that, fear arose from the pit of her stomach and settled deep into her heart.
He slowly walked towards her, her body was frozen in its place as he smiled and spoke. “Marley Lockheart.”
The way he said her name caused her eyes to widen and her heart to jump in her throat. “How… how do you know my name?”
“I know a lot of things girl.” The old man smiled wider. He take a seat in front of her so that he could take a closer look at her face. “I would not worry about this arranged marriage of yours. It will never come to pass.”
Her eyes frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Dragons!” He shouted. “The dragons are back!”
She sat back and flew out a breath of annoyance whilst folding her arms over her chest. “You are just another batty old man.”
“And you are just a human with the gift of a mate!” He laughed in a mocking tone. “Do not insult this wizard, I still have my wits!”
Marley watched him for a moment, biting her lip in thought before she spoke again. “So, if this human has a mate, how has this human never met him?”
The wizard’s eyes gleamed. “Very soon girl and then the dragons will come.”
“The dragons died thousands of years ago old man.”
He shook his head. “No, they have been in hiding. Deep in the caves and tunnels. Deep down in the depths where no man nor creature has ever gone before, that is where they are, but they are in danger, great danger and only the hunted prince and his princess can help save them from becoming instinct.”
She pulled a face that showed her disbelief. As much as she would like to believe him, it all sounded like a made-up story to tell children at night. Having a mate, having a destiny and then this so-called prince and princess were all hard to believe.
“I do not believe a word you just said.” She admitted although she wanted to tell the old man to go and get fucked and that his story is all made up, however, she knew that he already knew that very thought. “Nothing comes back from the dead.”
“You are wrong, girl.” He said with the same gleam in his eyes as before. “You will see. Once you leave this tavern next, you will never enter it again so, remember that sword you are hiding behind the drawers in your room before you leave.”
And with those words, he stood and left. She sat in her place in thought, dragon shifters were instinct. They were all wiped out in a war between all supernatural species. It was an in-depth story of how a vampire girl manipulated a dragon shifter and poisoned their drinks that same night. Thousands of dragon shifters died because of one girl but then she thought about it.
How could one little girl poison three thousand dragons? Marley was always rational, she tried to think as logically as possible and if something did not make any sense then she would question it. She was open to speaking her mind even if she was ignored for being a woman but, this was all too good to be true.
But then she realised that he knew where her sword was. Knowing her name was one thing but knowing where she hid her treasured possession was something else entirely.
Standing from her seat she eyed her father who was still busy with his lover and headed towards the stairs. The tavern was quite large for a tavern. Fifteen bedrooms occupied the second floor of the building and each room had private facilities. Marley’s room was six doors down. The old wooden door felt flimsy and the small holes that occupied it showed worm decay. The room itself provided a single two beds and a set of drawers with a mirror.
Walking towards it, she gently moved the drawers from the wall, the loud sound of wood scraping against wood hurt her ears, but she ignored it. Her sword was hidden in the wood panelling of the drawers, the metal held itself as she had found a small hole to squeeze the tip into. She was pretty proud of her hiding spot but thanks to the old man, she was now self-conscious about it and needed her sword by her side.
Slipping the metal around her waist she gripped the handle and put on her cloak. Marley tried to ignore the nagging feeling in her gut that the old man was right about her fate as she left the room and made her way back into the common area. Her table was long taken by four drunks eating their breakfast, their mouths open wide as they loudly chewed and laughed at their conversation.
Her father was nowhere in sight, and she tried to ignore the fact that he was probably upstairs in his room making another child with his lover. Shaking her disgust, she took a deep breath and left the confinements of the tavern.
The air was musty smelling as there was a light fog. It was hard to see but after walking around Thieves for a few days, she has gained her bearings. And if that was not enough, she had a few torches that were lit around her. The people seemed to be staying inside today which made her travels easier although she did not know where she was going yet.
Marley only had a few coins in her purse and with the markets closed, her plan of buying something for herself soon disappeared. Making a sudden decision she decided to cross the same bridge she has crossed the day before. A slight shiver went down her spine as the cold wind picked up, this part of the island was deserted, there was no sign of life anywhere and that did not help her feeling.
She kept looking behind herself, feeling eyes that were not there as she paused in her steps. It was a bad idea to go back to the top of the building she had climbed up on the day before. It was a bad idea to allow that wizard to get into her head and it was a bad idea to stare at the shadow shaped like a person.
Her entire body froze, her mind wanted to run, and her heart beating rapidly inside of her body encouraged her to run but she was still stuck in her place. The old man was wrong, there was no soulmate. She was never going to enter the tavern again because she was going to die.
The glimmer of the steal in the person’s hand gave that away while it came closer. She tried to swallow the lump that had formed inside of her throat, but she felt nothing but terror. She had only practised fighting, she had no way of defending herself and her sword was useless in that factor as she did not know how to use it. All of her practice was pretend and fake, and she wished then and there that she had been born a boy so she could defend herself.
The closer the dark shadow got the more she backed away from it. She could not tell if it was female or male, but she knew it was a person but that did not sum down what this person could be. Her hands tightened around the handle of her sword, the only piece of protection she had as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The motion of her eyes closing caused a bright flame of light to glow through the darkness of her eyelids.
A sudden gasp of shock caused her to open them as her oncoming murderer was now fighting for his life. Man on man, she watched as her mystery rescuer mutated in the fog, weird shapes formed around him as another bright light of flames came from his mutated mouth. Marley could not believe her eyes as her mystery shadow finally collapsed. Her rescuer now standing alone as his head shot towards her direction, bright blood-red eyes glowed in the darkness of the fog while she felt her breath hitch yet again.
The feeling that ran through her body was foreign, a feeling she could never describe if she was ever asked but that feeling was soon short-lived as the body stood again and stabbed her saviour before finally dying.