Skye's Arrival

I step forward and see two men fighting. One man is about six feet, the other five foot five. They’re both tanned. The tall one has grey eyes and ginger colored hair. The other one is bald and has brown eyes. He’s wearing thick glasses as well. The woman has blonde hair and is wearing jaded earrings. She’s very fair skinned and has ice blue eyes that fit with her complexion.

“Nate, why are you picking fights again?” I ask in a bored tone as I keep walking through their area.

They all suddenly stiffen and freeze, making me giggle. “I would start moving if I were you. Your soldiers were in Dulonth, and I don’t know how long Jon was able to hold them off.”

“What in Lorin’s name are you doing here?” Nate asks, completely dumbfounded as they all watch me go. Nate is the taller one of the men. He’s about thirty years old and loves to piss me off with his antics.

“I need supplies.” I answer when I start walking out of their view.

“Hold on.” Nate nearly yells as he stumbles over himself. “Skye please.” It’s not too long until he’s caught up to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me to a stop.

I stop and look at him, meeting his gaze at eyelevel as he looks me over. “What are you doing here?” He huffs, completely out of breath.

“I told you, I need supplies.” I pull my arm back and take a step back, slightly alarmed by how close he is.

“I know that.” He huffs then smiles. “I mean here specifically.”

I blush a little. “Oh. Well I was at the inn last night, and when I woke this morning there were soldiers trying to get information from Jon on who was there. I thought it best to stay off the road. Stumbling onto you was a complete accident.”

He pales. “They were there this morning? We need to get moving.”

“That’s what I said.” I huff with annoyance. “Now why are you in trouble this time?”

“Later,” he says as he grabs my arm and starts pulling me towards his friends. “We need to get moving, and you don’t want them to find you.”

“Nate, what did you do?” I demand, digging my heels into the ground.

“We stole the king’s crowned jewel,” he snaps, pulling me along.

“What, why?” I demand, still resisting.

“It was poisoned, okay? His Mystical Advisor is planning a coo. If the king were to wear it, it would make him insane.”

“He’s already insane.” I argue.

“It would make it worse.” he insists, nearly grunting as he pulls me along. “He’s going to order everyone under the king’s personal staff to be executed.”

That is alarming, but he forgot one thing. “If you’re involved in this, it’s worse than that and I don’t want to be anywhere near this mess.” I hiss as I pull again.

“Look, if you don’t come willingly, I will have to do this the hard way.” Nate says, giving me another yank, sending me stumbling into him.

“What is wrong with you?” I demand from him, getting prepared to fight. I consider him a friend, but I do have limits.

“Just trust I’m trying to protect you.” He grunts as he yanks me another step forward, dragging us into view.

“The last time you said that, I ended up in a prison cell.” I protest, seeing he’s dragging me towards his horse.

“One time!” He yells. “Just accept the ride. We’ll drop you off at the capitol if you stop fighting.”

I relax as I shrug, sensing I’m not getting out of this. “Fine, but I’m going to kick your shin if I end up in prison again.”

“Fair enough,” he huffs, throwing me up on his blue speckled horse. He looks at his very confused companions as he swings up to join me. “We need to leave. Now!”

“Nate, who is this?” The woman asks, giving me an intrigued look. What I notice, is that she’s not worried about me. Why is that?

“Skye. Skye, these are Alorin and Gabrielle.” He looks back at them after I wrap my arms around his waist. “Get on your horses. Now.”

I hesitate. “Uh…I would start using your fake names if I were you.” I warn him as he starts moving his horse, Larry, into a steady run.

“Why?” He demands.

“Because those soldiers were looking for the registry while I was there.” I hint, my tone implying he’s dumb. “Why are you using your real names?”

Nate swears and spits at the ground. “I thought we’d have more time. We’ve only been into this for a fortnight.”

“Well start using them. If you didn’t steal the registry, or Jon didn’t hide it, they’d be able to link you to that inn.” I lean in closer to him. “Why are you getting involved in this mess?”

“I stumbled onto these two completely beaten to a pulp and covered in mud. I took them back to one of my hideouts to clean them up. While I was doing that, we got attacked by soldiers. I’m stuck with them by default in those soldier’s eyes.”

I start laughing, making him tense. “You do have a way of finding trouble.”

“Well here is hoping it stays away from you.” He grumbles, his tone implying a double meaning.

“So do you want to give me the background on this…or no?” I ask, moving my hips to keep up with Larry as he jumps over a log.

“The King is aging, we all know this, and is showing his age with dementia. Again, something you already know. Now, as you know, the King has a son and daughter that are to be given the crown on his passing; which one in particular is to go through a series of tests. However, the Mystical Advisor wants the crown to go to him, so he’s using potions to manipulate the king’s mind to get him to change the law.

“Thing One and Thing Two stumbled onto this and decided to steal the jewel from the crown that was infected by his magic. Now I’m on the hook for kidnapping a royal and her royal guard. They’re likely to be murdered once captured. I’m dead no matter what.”

I hesitate. “Are you telling me, you have the princess with you?” Getting ready to jump from the horse.

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure that if you don’t get away from us, you’re going to be in the same boat as me.” He admits.

“I’m going to kill you,” I groan.

“Yeah...anyway, how are you doing?”

I squeeze him extra tight as I glare at him. “Fine.”

“Yep, I deserved that.” He gasps as he loosens my grip. “Are you…doing better?”

“Just fine,” I hiss, trying to ignore tears that are starting to form behind my eyes. There is a reason I tried to leave Nate here, and not go with him.

The next morning, we’re all tired. Nate pushed the horses through the night. They walked part of it, and he wouldn’t let me get off the horse. We’re nearing the capitol when I hear a dark feminine chuckle.

“Well well, look who I found.” We stop to look up to see a woman with hair and eyes a dark ebony with willow colored skin. I see carvings of ancient runed words in her arms. The princess screams and I immediately see the men flank her.

“Let’s see…” The woman clicks her tongue as she looks at them. “Three soon to be corpses. Maybe four if the new one doesn’t turn out to be a hostage.” She looks to me. “Now who is this lovely?

“Morticia, leave.” Nate orders.

“No, I suggest you three run.” I say as I hop off Larry. I put my hand on my bow as I stand in front of them.

Morticia giggles and launches herself at me in blinding speed, hitting me with enough force for me to feel my body break as I slam into a tree.

I start laughing, a little half crazed as a feral grin starts to grow on my face. A warm feeling spreads through me, warning a second nature is coming over me. It’s been awhile since I felt a good punch. “Do you want to try that again?” I ask her as I get up.

Her eyes widen while the other two are frozen in fear. Nate grabs the two royals and forces them to their horses. “I’d run before I’m done playing,” I warn Nate darkly.

“Stay where you are!” Morticia orders them.

I push off the ground as I shift into a lightning fast run, and slam my fist into her face, forcing her to the ground, her head in a crater. “Leave,” I tell them. Nate doesn’t hesitate and yells at Larry, the other two following.

Morticia chuckles darkly as she gets to her feet. “Who do you belong to?”

I look at her, her eyes widening once she sees my face. “No one,” I tell her as I grab her throat. My arm highlights in runes as I glare at her, white fire spreading it’s way to her face. “Tell your pathetic master to go back to the Dark World.”

Morticia vanishes from my grip as heat courses through me. I want to taste blood. I want more. I stalk forward, aware of the hearts that are near me. There is a part of me that is screaming for help. It’s kind and humane. This is not me.

I hear screaming a little further past the heartbeats I hunt, snapping some of my focus by an onslaught of memories. I physically flinch, as I recall the feelings they bring, slowing my steps until I eventually stop. A cold chill waves over me as I fall to my knees and begin to cry.