Chapter 3

A family escapes the wrath of a warlord and face an arduous journey.

Chapter 3

     Laslant the Heartless stood over the lifeless bloodied body of King Darvan of Gamerath.  The castle was on fire and he stones that held it were crumbling to the ground.  Waving his blood-stained battle axe hysterically over his head, he let out a vicious cry of disgust.  He was searching.
    Though his horde always looked forward to and enjoyed the looting and the pillaging, the treasures they came across and they women they found meant nothing to the warlord.  Lately, he had only one thing on his mind and one death he wanted more than anything else.  He was still in search of the one whose blood he truly wanted on his battle axe.
   
    The sorcerer who had raised him had told him of a twin brother, a royal heir whose destiny took so much more precedence over the life of the other child, that he was just tossed out in the cold to die, either by the teeth of wild animals or by the harsh elements.  Luck should have it that the sorcerer had happened across the child, frightened. Freezing and crying, and took him under his wing to raise him and to teach him.  He had been aware that the royal family had twins, and recognized this as one of the brothers.  The sorcerer had told him these things, and Laslant believed every lie.  He was taught hatred, and murder, and revenge.  He was taught that the throne his brother inherited should rightfully be his.  What he was not taught was the truth.
    In actuality, Laslant had been kidnapped by the sorcerer, stolen in the night.  The sorcerer had been advisor to the royal family for a few years, until his lust for power and the dark arts had been discovered, disguised under his seemingly unending loyalty.  He had been plotting the murder of the king, with him out of the way, taking his wife and becoming king himself, giving him power over the entire kingdom.  Upon discovering this treacherous plot, he was banned from the kingdom.  As revenge, he snuck back in when everything was dark and all were asleep and took Laslant from his crib, disappearing with him into the night.  He would seize power one way or another!
    When the king and queen found their son missing the next day, they had the entire village and surrounding area searched, but to no avail.  The queen wept, the sorrow in her heart heavy, and the royal couple did their best to go about daily business.
    Not knowing the truth, Laslant only saw hatred toward his long lost brother, and his lust for revenge is what drove him forward, always searching and longing for the day that he would finally come face to face with the object of his hatred and the reward for the other’s defeat.

     He stood there watching as his men went in and out of buildings, burning them as they went.  Even the sorcerer got in on the action, taking pure enjoyment out of the pain and suffering of the villagers.  One of his men approached him, bringing him out of his reverie.
    “Did you find what you were looking for milord?”  The man asked.
    “I didn’t find a goddamned thing.”  Laslant snarled.  “Are there any survivors?”
    “No milord.  Everyone in the village is dead.  They were not even aware that we were coming.”
    “Excellent.  The last thing we need is witness to our actions, and no other town needs warning.  I want to make sure my dear brother hasn’t a chance to escape me!”  He chuckled slightly.  “Ah, what a sight it will be to behold the look of sheer terror on his face when he sees himself in my features…and when he sees my blade at his throat.”  He looked around to see that all of the buildings were burning, and then looked back to his man. 
    To look into the eyes of the warlord was enough to send chills through even his own men, but they would never show their fear.  Only one other frightened them more, and that was the sorcerer.  They have seen the power that he held, and feared what would happen should that power ever be turned against them.  They knew better than to cross this man.
    “Gather the rest and take care of the castle.  Make it quick, we do not have time to waste.  And remember that everything gets divided equally!  I’ll not have quarreling amongst my men!”
    The bandit bowed.  “Yes milord.”  He ran off to gather the rest and they laid siege to the castle.
    Laslant gazed off into the horizon and roared. “Wherever you are brother, I will find you, and I will have my kingdom!  I swear this to you; I will get back what is rightfully mine!”  He raised his battle axe above his head and the air was filled with his maniacal laughter, the horrific sound scattering any nearby birds in all directions.

 The wild laughter sent chills running down the spines of the man and woman who were running quickly to the edge of their burning land.  The man clutched the hand of a young girl as she struggled to keep up.  As they quickened their pace, the woman, who was holding another young girl in her arms, risked a glance back to take one last look at the kingdom she had lved in for so long.  As she witnessed the castle of their beloved king crumble to the ground, she came to the realization that there would be no turning back. Once they reach the safety and cover of the dark forest, they would be crossing over the boundery of the kingdom of Gamerath.  They reached the forest within a matter of moments, and it took every ounce of her will not to drop to the ground and break down crying.  There would be time for mourning later.  For now, they needed to get out of sight and away from the warlord and his men as quickly as possible.
    “Mommy, I’m scared.”  The fiery haired maiden clutched her trembling four year old daughter tightly as she ran.
    “I know baby.  It’s alright.  Mommy won’t let anyone hurt you.”  The woman’s voice trembled with fear and was weak with exertion, but she kept up her pace.
    “Mommy, I want to go home.”
    “I am sorry Marianna, we can’t go home.  I’m afraid that we shall never be able to return to the village.”
    “Mommy; who were those people that came?”
    “Those were bad men baby…very bad men…”
    “Elona, honey…I-I don’t think…I can go on much further…” The husband panted breathlessly, growing weaker and weaker until he began to falter with each new step.  “I think…we need…to stop and rest…” he began to fall behind.  He felt on the verge of passing out when Elona stopped abruptly, turning on him, her eyes wild with fright.  He nearly stumbled into her and Marianna, but caught himself short.  Panting heavily, he slid to the ground, relief spread across his features for the moment of rest.
        “Rest?  Now?  Are you mad?!”  The look of fear and fury on his wife’s face frightened him, and guilt shattered his moment of relief.  “What if they catch us?  They meant for everyone in the village to be dead!  If they find us, we’ll be dead as well!”  She shuddered with fear at the thought of being found by those monsters.
    Derrik wrapped his strong arms comfortingly around Elona and Marianna, and whispered gently into his wife’s ear.  “Easy love, I’m quite sure they believe everyone to be dead.  They didn’t even see us leave.  The warning you had was enough to get us away before they even arrived.  Hell, knowing a bunch like them, they’ve more than likely set up camp for the night, which I believe we should do as well, if we are to make the journey to wherever we end up.  Please Elona; let us rest for the night.  We can get further once we’ve gotten some sleep.”
    Setting Marianna down, Elona closed her eyes, reaching into the back of her mind in search of the warlord and his army.  The image came to her of a large group of men sitting around a campfire, drinking and laughing.  There was a freshly killed deer roasting over the fire.  Behind them the entire village was destroyed, the houses still burning.  She saw no life save for the warlord’s wicked army, who were having the time of their lives.  Tears threatened to pour from her eyes, the grief nearly too much for Elona to bear.  All of her friends and family…men, women and children…their lives snuffed out as easily as candles, with no remorse from their killers.
    “Mama, where are we going to go?”  The voice sounded distant, but as Elona was brought abruptly back to herself, she found Trinity, her seven year old daughter, gently tugging at her sleeve. 
    Elona gazed at her daughter for a moment with tear stained eyes.  “I…I’m not quite sure honey…”
    “Mama, what did you see?”  Trinity kept her gaze steady on her mother, worry written on her face as sorrow threatened to overwhelm her.  Elona sat in silence, staring off into space.  “Everyone in the village is dead, aren’t they?”
    Images of the vision flashed before Elona, and as her grief finally took hold, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed, tears flowing freely as she mourned the loss of everyone and everything she loved.  She began to tremble with rage at the thought of the warlord and his men who had taken away her life and her home.  She remembered the hideous voice she had heard as they ran, and remembered his searching gaze in her visions.  He was looking for something in particular, she knew this.  She knew also that he would not rest until he found what he searched for, or until he was stopped–permanently.
    “It’s alright mama, I’m here.”  Trinity threw her arms around Elona’s neck and held her tightly, stroking her hair soothingly, making an effort to remain strong for her mother.
    Elona sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her sleeve. She gazed at her daughter and gently stroked her face with a trembling hand.  “I am afraid that, from what I’ve seen, there is nothing left of Gamerath.  Everything…has been destroyed.”  The memories of an earlier vision came flooding back to her.  She had seen it coming.  There was blood everywhere, and the horrible screams and cries had overwhelmed her senses.  She had seen a once beautiful land become barren, scorched by the fires of evil men.  Her blood boiled with rage.  “If only they had heeded my warning!”
    “Oh mama, I’m so sorry!  I wish this hadn’t happened.  It’s not your fault…They didn’t believe you, but we did.  We never doubted you.”
    Elona hugged Trinity tightly and gave a half-hearted smile.  “I know honey.  Thank you so much for your support.  When everyone else thought I was crazy, my family was always there for me.  You and your father have never doubted me.”  She sighed and held her eldest daughter silently for a moment.  After a short time, she gazed at Trinity, thinking of what she wanted to say next.  She sighed again.  “Trinity, there is something I need to tell you, and I need you to listen to me very carefully.”
    Trinity nodded, holding her mother’s gaze.  “Alright, mama.”
    Elona gave a wistful smile.  “Time has passed so quickly…it seems like only yesterday that you came into this world.  You do realize, don’t you, that you will one day inherit this power that I have?  Your sister will as well.  You will be able to see things that have not yet come to pass.  They will begin as fleeting glimpses, but will become stronger with the passing of time.  Do you understand my daughter?”   
    Trinity nodded slowly.  “Yes mama, I understand.”
    “That’s good.  Now, when you begin having these glimpses, I will need you to tell me.  Do you promise?”
    “I promise mama.”
    “Very good.  I will need to start teaching you how to use and control this power properly; otherwise the visions could drive you mad.  You will see too much all at once, or you will see things that would cause much emotional and mental pain.  I can help you to deal with this burden.  Do you understand?”
    I understand mama.  Who was that man that you saw in your vision?”
    Elona sighed, the grief returning to her eyes.  “That was a terrible man with much evil and hatred in his heart.  He is a force that is not to be reckoned with.”  She held her daughter’s face steady in her hands and stared deeply with complete seriousness into her eyes.  “You must promise me Trinity, that if you ever see this man, you must let me know straight away.  Please promise me...”
    “Do not worry mama; I would never go near anyone like him.  But…are we going to find help?”  She gazed at her mother with fear in her eyes.
    “Yes sweetie, we will find help.  I know we will.  We have a long journey ahead of us though, and we must travel quickly, otherwise I fear that we may not make it to the next village.  They will be heading in our direction once they decide to move on.  They have horses, but we don’t.  I only pray that we find a bit of help along the way.  If we do not, our trek may be useless.”
    Trinity hugged her mother tightly, whispering words of comfort into her ear.  “Please don’t say things like that.  We’ll make it, I know we will.  Have faith mama.  I do.”
    Elona smiled sincerely, for the first time since before she’d had the dreadful vision that changed their lives forever.  She kissed her daughter on the cheek and sighed.  “Thank you Trinity.  You have no idea how much better your words of wisdom make me feel.”  She pulled slowly away from her daughter’s embrace and gazed deeply into her brilliant blue eyes.  “So much maturity in one so young…sometimes you are more of a grown up than I am.”
    “I think it is time that we all get some sleep.  We have an early and long day ahead of us tomorrow, and we will need all the rest we can get.”  Derrik walked up behind Elona and placed a hand gently on her shoulder.
    She nodded with a sigh.  “You are right Derrik.  We will need all of the strength we can muster if we are to complete this journey.”  She glanced around.  “Where is Marianna?”
    “Do not fret love, she is fast asleep.  It has been a long and rough day for her, as it has been for all of us.”  He yawned.  “Trinity dear, you’d best be off to join your sister.  You need your sleep as well.”
    Trinity yawned as well, weariness finally beginning to catch up with her.  “Yes father; I am rather tired anyway.”  She gave her mother ne last hug and kissed her on the cheek.  “Goodnight mama.”
    Elona kissed Trinity on the cheek and smiled.  “Goodnight Trin.  Don’t stay up.  We have a long, hard journey ahead of us in the morning.”
    “No need to worry mama..." she let out a huge yawn.  I will definitely go straight to sleep.”  She went to her father and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek as well.  “Goodnight father, you get some sleep as well.”
    He hugged her back and kissed her on the forehead with a chuckle.  “Not to worry, I’ll be heading to slumber land myself shortly.  Goodnight Trinity.”
    Trinity shuffled wearily over to Marianna and laid down right beside her, falling asleep almost immediately.
    Derrik sat down beside Elona and took her hand in his, stroking it gently.  They sat in silence for a few moments, gazing into the distance as they listened to the sounds of the nighttime forest.  They heard the chirping of crickets, the hooting of owls and the squeaking of bats.  On occasion they even heard the distant howls of a wolf.  His wife’s brows were furrowed in thought and occasionally she would let out a soft sigh.
    After some time, the silence between the couple grew to be too much for Derrik, and he turned to his wife with a sigh.  “Elona?”  The sound of his voice broke her out of her reverie, and she turned to face him, her hand never leaving his as she gazed at him, a look of concern on her face.
    “Yes Derrik?  What’s wrong love?”
    He glanced down for a moment, and then his brown eyes met her of sky blue.  “Where are we going to find help?  From what you have told me of this man from your visions, it sounds to me that he seems, well, nearly unstoppable.  How could anyone possibly stand a chance against someone like this?”
    It was Elona’s turn this time to glance down, blushing slightly with embarrassment from her idea.  She knew that she may sound crazy to him, with what she was about to tell him, but she knew that this was something she had to say.  “Well…I do know someone who may be able to help.  She was a dear friend to me when I was younger…before I moved away.  Granted, it has been quite some time since she has seen me, but I am quite sure that she will remember who I am.”
    “Who is it?  Who can help us?”
    She gazed through the trees in the direction that their journey would take them, and saw the dark outline of the peak of a mountain that stood tall in the distance, not too far away.  “Perfect.  We are headed straight toward her home.  A day’s journey more and we will arrive at our destination.”  She murmured, more to herself than to her husband.
    He gazed in the direction that she was staring, his brows furrowing in confusion.  “Her home?  Who’s home?”  He grasped her shoulders and turned her to face him, staring deeply into her eyes with concern written on his face.  “Elona honey, what are you talking about?”
    Her face turned red with embarrassment.  “Um…I-I was…just talking to myself.”
    Derrik sighed.  “I understand love, but you know something.  Whose home do you speak of?  I didn’t think there were any other villages around for quite some time.”
    “There aren’t any other villages nearby, that is true.  Look, Derrik, I don’t know that I should even say anything more right now.  You would more than likely think I am crazy.”
    “What on earth do you mean?  You are making no sense right now love.  Come on Elona; please tell me what you are talking about.  Do not keep secrets from me!  I am begging you…”
    Elona sighed, closing her eyes to draw upon the memories of her friend from so long ago.  Opening her eyes once again, she gazed deeply into the pleading eyes of her husband.  “Alright love.  I give.  I supposed I would have to tell you sooner or later anyway.”  She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath, taking control over her lightheadedness and stopping herself from trembling.  She took his hands in hers and stared at him with all seriousness.  “The one who can help us…my friend…her name is Talon.”
    Derrik frowned.  “Talon?  What the hell kind of person has a name like Talon?!”
    She risked a wary glance at her husband, and then lowered her gaze for an instant, before bringing her eyes to his once again.  “Well you see…that’s the thing.  Talon is not…human.”  She breathed deeply again to gain her composure.  “She’s…well…she’s a…dragon.”
    Derrik gasped.  The shock of this news sent his head reeling.  “SHE’S a WHAT?! A dragon?!  Have you lost your bloody mind woman?!  Dragons are evil!  They’re dangerous!  They’re man-eating, blood-thirsty monsters!  And you intend to ask one for help?!  Why, that-that’s crazy!!”
    Elona dropped her husband’s hands sharply, her face growing hot with anger.  She gave him an icy cold stare, pain written across her usually soft features, hurt deeply by his outburst.
    It is most certainly not crazy, and I am most certainly not mad!  Look, I once thought that they were dangerous beasts as well, but I was proven wrong.  For ages dragons have been misjudged.  I found this out when I met Talon and her son Flame.  Talon became my dearest friend, and the best companion a girl could have.”  She smiled wistfully at the memories of the dragon.  “Until the day I was forced to leave, I would sneak away every day to visit her and Flame.  She even gave me a high honor by naming me as her son’s godmother.  Those two made me realize that even the largest and most ferocious seeming beasts could, in truth, be the gentlest creatures.  I was taught the greatest life lesson that I would always carry with me…don’t judge a book by its cover.  I doubt I could have ever found a better friendship than the friendship that I shared with her.  Talon was an absolute sweetheart, and Flame loved me to death.”  She sighed.  “I only hope that they still live in that cave.  I pray that no one has driven them away…or worse…killed them…”  She shuddered at the thought of something so terrible happening to her old friend.  “We could really use her help, and she is the closest one that I can think of, and frankly, I need her now more than ever.”  She yawned, her entire body beginning to droop with weariness.  “We need to get some sleep.  We have a rough day ahead of us, and we need our strength.”  She grasped her husband’s hands tightly and stared deeply into his eyes once more.  “Derrik, please do not worry about the dragon.  Talon was a very dear friend, and I am certain that her feelings would never change toward me.”
    He took one hand from her grasp and stroked her cheek gently.  “I trust you, my love.  I just urge you to be cautious.  It is always possible that she will not remember you, and she may be liable to attack.”
    She smiled softly.  “Dragons are not a dangerous as you may think…only if provoked, but yes, I will be careful.”  She kissed him softly on the lips.  “Derrik, I love you.”
    Derrik smiled as he returned the kiss.  “I love you too, Elona.  Goodnight, my love.”
    They lay down, finding much needed comfort in each other’s embrace, and within minutes they were asleep, their bodies preparing for the long, arduous journey that lay ahead.  

Author's Note

Any comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Reviews

[~The Queen~]

Hey! Hope you don't another one of my reviews:

1. One I have to say there are some excellent snipits of writing in there! Wow!
-" What he was not taught was the truth."
-"All of her friends and family�men, women and children�their lives snuffed out as easily as candles..."
-" She had seen a once beautiful land become barren, scorched by the fires of evil men."
-"You will be able to see things that have not yet come to pass."

Very well done! I loved these inparticular because you show in the first, rather than tell, the hate and sorrow the warlord felt. I was rather sorry for him. And the second one was genius. The comparision was very clever and I love it! Very well done here!

2.The seven-year old girl. I know that in the beginning the four-year was in her mothers cloak but the seven-year should be able to run and so she should have one of the shapes running the forest floor for safety. Her entrance to the story was rather sudden and it left me confused for a bit. Might want to rethink that scene. You don't want the reader to think that he/she missed something and have to reread a few times before they realize that you meant it to be like that.

3. "You must promise me Trinity, that if you ever see this man, you must let me know straight away! Please promise me!" With the exclamation marks it sounds as if she's screaming at her daughter. Try taking them out and making her sound desparate and quite enough for only her daughter to hear. It adds to the tension I assume you want there. Without the puncuation it canbe very subtle and demanding just the same. Did you know you can be alot more scarier if you whisper your anguish then yelling at the top of your lungs? Yup, true fact.

4. "No need to worry mama. I will definitely go straight to sleep!" again, the exlcamation marks in her speech betray the weakness and the tiredness that she should be feeling. Have her yawn in the middle, might add to the effect. And when she walks over to lay by her sister, she trotted. That, in mind, is a child who is happy and alive. This family should be half dead (not literally as much as verbally) Stumbling, yawning, stretching, and nodding off to sleep are things to think about the children. Even the four-year old should have fallen asleep the miute they stopped running. Just another thing to chew on.

5.Derrik frowned. "Talon? What the hell kind of person has a name like Talon?!" I get you are trying to add some comedy to this piece but I think right now at the moment, it's a bad time to introduce it. Maybe some other time, when the mood you create isn't so heavy and depressing.

All in all I liked this chapter just as much as I enjoyed the last few. Your idea for this is very original and true and I really am hoping you come out with more because I'm becoming hooked like a fish in a sea of hooks. (Corny >< :P)

-The Queen

[Pakino]

I guess dragons bane is going to pop up soon. Im starting to question one thing the setting. How big is the world, what lords are there. The suden fall of this castle really gave no indication of what happend prior or what political stance the king and people had. You discussed the other town's political stance but this was not shown.

These are my thoughts ...meh XD

[Aratma]

Verrrry interesting chapter ... Now we know not only dragons have telepathic powers. Love this little fact.

I add some of my own observations ...

1. The paragraph containing the description of Laslant's search is somewhat minimizing his search at first. "Lately he had only one thing on his mind". After that we are told that revenge on his brother is his only purpose in life.
2. "He ran off to gather the rest and they laid siege to the castle." A siege is the part of an invasion in which the castle is surrounded and attacked. Here the siege is already over and the castle turned to crumbles. So perhaps what you meant was "raising the siege on the castle"? I'm not sure if that is the right expression though.
3. "The wild laughter sent chills running down the spines of the man and woman who were running quickly to the edge of their burning land." I'm confused here about the timing. I'd think the family was already too far to see or hear what was going on, especially since Elona needed to reach into her mind to see what was going on. Also the siege and destruction must have taken some time to complete and they were gone some time before the invaders came.

That's all I could notice, and it made an impressing read, especially the part with the dragons.

- Ari -

[SakuraGirl]

Hi!
I'm enjoying this more and more!

I'll have to second QueenofKings on her remarks about "some excellent snippets of writing". There are indeed phrases that I really enjoyed, both as a reader and as a junior wannabe writer trying to play the critic :)

So, here are a few suggestions that I think might be useful. Nothing major, Miss QueenofKings has already pointed out the most important aspects, just some notes that you might wish to chew on when you re-edit this:

1. Laslant the Heartless stood over the lifeless bloodied body of King Darvan of Gamerath.
This and a later paragraph confused me a bit, because at first I thought it was a certain town/castle, governed by the named King Darvan. Later on, Laslant says he wants no witnesses, so that his dear brother doesn't get a warning about what's happening. What's confusing me is that I don;t know if the attacked town Gamerath belongs to the king as well, king Lottar. I thought not, but then again, you described it more like a village, belonging to the kingdom of Lottar, not a main town residence of King Darvan. Just a little detail that confused me a bit (though I only spotted this at the second reading), nothing really serious to bother about.

2. Luck should have it that the sorcerer had happened across the child, frightened.
Was the child frightened, or the sorcerer? From the phrasing, to me it sounds like the sorcerer.

3. The queen wept, the sorrow in her heart heavy, and the royal couple did their best to go about daily business.
Perhaps a bit more dramatism should be added. A couple of phrases to let us feel that the king and queen did feel sorrow for the lost child and did not forget about the whole ordeal so easily.

4. The man clutched the hand of a young girl as she struggled to keep up.
I only saw this at the second reading. I guess the man was holding Trinity's hand. I also missed this point of introducing the elder daugther and her appearance seemed a bit abrupt. But it seems it was just my speed reading, so no complains here :)

5. “I know honey. It’s alright sweetie. Mommy won’t let anyone hurt you baby.”
Just a bit too many tender words in one short paragraph: honey, sweetie, baby. I understand you want to show the sweet and strong bond between the mother and her daughter, it just sounded a bit too sweet for me. Just a personal taste :)

6. Derrik wrapped his strong arms comfortingly around Elona and Marianna...
and later on
Setting Marianna down, Elona closed her eyes...
From the first phrase it seems that both girls were standing o their own on the ground, but in tha later, we see the mother setting the little one down.

7. Elona sighed, closing her eyes to draw upon the memories of her friend from so long ago. Opening her eyes once again, she gazed deeply into the pleading eyes of her husband.
A bit of repetition of the word "eyes"

And that's about all. I've only mentioned these minor things because I really can't find anything major or important or disturbing. That means, I liked this very much and it is well written.

Next!