Chapter Ten: Escape

second part of the chapter i split.

            Torin was confused at the turn the mood had taken. Who was back? She had never seen any of the men before in her life, so it certainly couldn’t be them. Could it?

            Cori’s expression, however, immediately became unreadable, and she became immediately silent. She leaned back against the chair and folded her hands in her lap, staring at them intently.

            “That’s what I thought,” Kyrill smirked. Now, for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about,” he turned to the rest of them, fixing them with his hazel eyes. “I have a little story to tell you.”

            Torin sat still in an armchair, the very same one she had sat in the first day she came to see Kye; it seemed like an eternity ago. She began to feel uneasy. The last time Kyrill had a story to tell her, it wasn’t exactly a good one. She had found out about his inability to love, all because some angel and demi-god had ruined it for him. She figured this could only be a story of the same sort; where nothing good could come of it.

            “Up north, there’s a small country that goes by the name of Feralis,” he began, leaning back into the cushions of a sofa. “On their very northern border are mountains that seemed unsuited for life. The capital of Feralis was called Ezrith, and was home to some of the cruelest people this world has ever known. They prided themselves on all being pureblooded human, and nothing else. Because of this, they despised half-lings,” he looked around the room. “Like all of us.

            “And because they hated our kind so much, they built high stone walls and towers around their borders, trying to keep their kind in, and our kind out. However, that wasn’t good enough for some of the people there. They didn’t just want to be separated from us; they wanted us wiped off the planet for good. Secret meetings were held, unnoticed to the rest of the world. During these meetings, a cult was formed; they called themselves the Bloods.

            “They set up a base camp in the lower part of the mountains, and began their plans to end the lives of all half-lings. There was one problem that they realized almost before it was too late: they were just mortals, and were willingly putting themselves up against super human beings that could kill each and every one of them with ease. So before they set off on their first battle, they invented an elixir that would make them considerably stronger than they were and gave them the ability to disappear quickly and easily. For some reason, they didn’t think it was odd that they were fighting for the end of mutants by becoming mutants themselves,” he rolled his eyes and glanced one more around the room before starting up again.

            “After planning out their conquest of the lower parts of the world, they set out for the one place they knew they could get the most half-lings at one time, the country of Estinmoor. Aside from being a mutant country, there were three cities that were particularly full: Saderon, Losari, and Dritton. This was thirty years ago, and there were more of us then than there are now. They attacked three times, once in each of the major cities. The citizens, having no idea what was going on, weren’t prepared for the attacks; as a result, many helpless people were taken. A few warriors have been sent to look since then, but none have come back.

            “The bloods seemed to take a break after that, and after ten years without hearing a word, they faded into memory, being something that mothers told to their children to make them behave.

            “Apparently, they’ve come back, and have threatened to do it again. Like you all heard, they plan on returning to Dritton, and it could be worse the next time.”

            “So what are we supposed to do about it?” Nia interjected quietly, sitting on the edge of her seat.

            “Nothing right now,” Kyrill said. But we should make plans.”

            “How long is it going to be until we actually get something done?” Torin asked, raising her voice slightly.

            “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “It could be a while until anything’s confirmed.”

            “People are in danger!” she responded. “We’re in danger!”

            “Torin. You need to relax,” Kye said quietly from where he sat next to her.

            She complied for the moment, but planned to do something about it later that night. She was not just going to let this all go.

           

            A few hours after nightfall, Torin left the quiet little suburb in Dritton City and headed out for the stables with no more than a light bag on her back. If nobody was going to help her save the city, maybe even the world, than she was going to do it herself.

             Few lights were still on, and she noticed in passing that Kye’s bedroom was still lit up. Sneaking past the house she made her way on the short dirt road towards the country. As the minutes passed during her walk, she got the strange feeling that she was being followed, but brushed it off as paranoia.

            She passed the little pathway to the cliff where Kye had taken her on her second day in Dritton, the night after they met at the party. That was arguably one of the best days of her life, another being the night he had met her by the ocean.

            She blushed, though wasn’t sure why she was embarrassed if there wasn’t anybody around to see her. Though she was sure this was what she had to do, she wasn’t sure it was what she wanted. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Kye behind in Dritton while she tried single handedly to save the world.

            Reaching the stables, she pulled open the heavy wooden door, trying not to wake Cori who was probably already sleeping peacefully in the house next door. Moren was in his usual place in the far right corner of the barn. Torin moved through the hay-covered aisle quietly, trying not to scare any of the other horses.

            Unlatching the gate quietly, she put the saddle on the half-asleep horse, slipping him a sugar cube to quiet him before slipping on and urging him outside.

            The moonlight fell about the grassy area calmingly, but seemed almost eerie. Was she really going to go off by herself? What if something happened to her, and nobody was there to save her?

            Her self-doubt only lasted a few seconds before she lightly prodded Moren forward and into the night. Nothing was going to happen to her, she was sure of that. Though she was still uneasy about going off by herself, she kept moving forwards and into the edge of a wooded area.

            Something in the bushes rustled ahead of them and Torin looked around uneasily before patting Moren’s dark mane in attempt to calm him down. Thinking it was just a small animal, she nudged him on. Within a matter of minutes the same thing happened again, only this time it had more of an effect. Moren reared back and let out an ear-piercing scream that didn’t sound like it could come from a horse, or any animal for that matter. Torin was thrown off and landed hard on the ground, a sharp pain spreading through her head.

            There were a series of loud noises coming from behind her, and a deep voice swearing rather loudly. Though she couldn’t move or see, Torin realized that she could hear everything.

            “Kyrill! Get over here! Now!” Kye’s voice was yelling, somewhere near her. Suddenly Torin found her head being lifted up and wrapped in something soft before being placed back down, though higher than the rest of her body. “She’s bleeding,” he said softly.

            “So she fell, what’s the big deal?” came a second voice, this one belonging to Kyrill. “We can fix that.”

            “But what if we can’t?” Kye’s voice came back, worry evident.

            “We will,” he assured, seeming to struggle with something. “Stupid horse,” he muttered.

            “You don’t know if we can for sure,” Kye pointed out, sounding as if he were about to cry.

            “Why do you even care so much?” Kyrill asked.

            Torin found herself suddenly airborne, being lifted up by two strong arms and carried off. “Why do you think?” Kye retorted, rather sharply. “I think I’m in love with her.”

            If Kyrill had made a reply, Torin hadn’t heard it. Her thoughts grew fuzzy and her mind drifted off, almost as if going to sleep, and she heard no more.