Chapter 7: The Night Inside Of A Night

The night chilled Angel to the bone, his deminutive campfire offered little help in keeping him warm.He left Rutee back in Cassel, her father offered to let him stay another night, but that little princess might start looking for him. Angel walked for two days already and   still another day lies to the border town Brekl. He tightened his grip on his cloak, sitting closer to the fire. He looked into the fire, watching the fire keep alive despite the cold. Angel narrowed his eyes at the fire, watching it spark and dance in front of him. The fire swirled with its various shades of red and orange. Angel stared further into the depths of the fire, hearing screams from one year past.


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The fire engulfed the shacks and houses that lined the beach. The salty air mixed with the rancid smell of burning blood made Angel's nose wrinkle in disgust. He hid in a small shed behind the Arya's house. It was small but large enough to hide Arya and himself from the bandits. Inside the shed smelt of fish and wood, as it was cluttered with fishing nets and stacks of wood for the festival that was supposed to happen that night. Arya sat covering her ears, trying to deafen out the screams from outside. The screams came from men,woman and even children. Her light pink hair veiled her face, sweat and worry drenched her face.Her festive kimono was ripped and tattered in some places. She cried silently while Angel opened the shed door slowly making a small crack he can see through.

The flames illuminated a line down his face, his right green eye taking in the events before him. Bandits were pillaging houses, dragging people out of them and spreading their blood in the streets. The boy that found him on the beach, Jib, ran out of Arya's burning house and sprinted faster to the shed, trying to escape his murderous pursuer. Just before he reached the door, an arrow pierced his chest which spurted blood all over the door, some dotting Angel's face. He turned his head, and slowly rubbed the blood away with his arm.

Arya was crying more,she was now muttering something to herself. Angel watched as the bandit came to the dead body and ripped the arrow out of the boy. He kicked him and then turned to return to his prior pillaging of the   house. Arya started to become louder, she was rocking back and forth saying,"Go away...Go away...Go away" , over and over.

Angel turned to her and placed his hand on her shoulder,"Please.. Be quiet. They will notice you if you don't. Arya please..", Angel whispered, but Arya didn't stop, she only became louder as the screams went on. Angel looked out the door to see a bandit staring at the shed, and then began walking toward it. Angel slowly reached for his sword and silently unsheathed it. He held it in front of him, but the blade shimmered slightly in the moonlight that hung over the chaotic town, the bandit stopped advancing toward the shed as he spied the glimmer between the cracks. He slowly backed away from the shed, and began moving to notify the bandit in the Arya's house. Angel quickly pushed open the door and sprinted to the bandit. T

he bandit had time to just say,"Help", before Angel thrusted his sword into his gut. Angel pulled his sword out and kicked the man down into the blood splattered sand.. Another bandit heard the plea for help and stopped setting fire to a neighbouring house. The man ran at Angel, and threw his torch at him. Angel ducked under it and guarded against the short blade of the bandit's dagger that was thrusted downward at him. The bandit curled an evil smile, Angel narrowed his eyes in disgust. The bandit threw a wild punch at Angel with his other hand. Angel stepped to the side, dodging the punch. The bandit stumbled off balance, Angel quickly slashed diagonally at the bandit's left leg which came completely off. The man fell to the ground howling in pain, clutching his leg that gushed all kinds of red. Angel gripped his sword with two hands and plunged it down into the bandit's chest. The bandit coughed blood   in the air and clutched the blade that stuck out of him.

"How dare you maggots enter this town!", Angel hissed, staring down at the bandit who was yelping   The man's last breath left, but at that moment Angel heard the twang of a bow. He looked up to see it all in slowmotion, the grinning bandit in Arya's house and the bloody arrow that flew past his head and straight toward the open shed door.

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"What do you mean by he just left?", Lanni asked, placing her hands on her hips.

The innkeeper looked up from his desk,"He dropped off Rutee and decided not to stay the night. I don't know why".   Lanni sighed," That stupid Rotheran, now he just leaves without a trace.", she turned to leave but she caught the eye of a woman who sat in the other room which was recently refurnished. She pointed at the girl and looked at the Innkeeper,"Is she Rutee?", the Innkeeper nodded. Lanni walked into the other room where Rutee sat cross-legged in a chair that was beside a small round table. Lanni noticed she was carving some type of figurine. Rutee's slender fingers held the wooden figure carefully while she carved artistically with a small knife. Rutee placed the knife down and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. She grabbed a cup that sat on the table Lanni came beside her, and placed her hands on her hips. Rutee didn't look up, she just blew some of the shavings off her craft and kept carving.

"Hey, where did Angel go?", Lanni asked forcefully, throwing a authoritative stare. Rutee didn't reply, she barely even acknowledged the princess was even there. Lanni became frustrated, she stood in front of Rutee and asked again, but she still didn't reply. Lanni blew up with anger and slapped the figurine out of Rutee's. The wooden carving flew through the air and landed in the other room. Lanni felt pain in her hand and was surprised to see blood welling up from her hand. Rutee stood up calmly and walked over to a closet nearby. She opened it and revealed bandages from within it. She came back and sat back down. She grabbed Lanni's hand but Lanni ripped her hand from her grip.

"Please", Rutee sighed, opening her hand to Lanni. Lanni was clutching her hand, but she noticed the blood was dripping from her hand now. Lanni sighed and relinquished her hand. Rutee lightly grabbed her hand and grabbed the cup with her other hand. She poured the water inside over Lanni's hand, making the blood disappear but the cut itself continued to overflow. She quickly wrapped Lanni's hand with the bandage, making sure no blood escaped. Lanni noticed one thing while she did all this, and that was she never once looked up at her. Like Angel, Rutee didn't even look at her while she did this.

"Doesn't most people usually say something to the person they are doing a service for? Like is this tight? Or does it hurt when I do this?",Lanni wondered. Rutee finished up and gave Lanni's hand back. She stood up from the chair and began to walk to the other room, but she stopped and said," He is going to Sylph." Lanni nodded and Rutee passed Lloyd and went into the other room where her father could be heard talking to her.

Lloyd crossed his arms,"Any luck, your highness?", he asked. Lanni nodded,"He is going to cross the border to Sylph, but why would he leave the country?", she wondered. Lloyd shook his head,"I do not know, but the Innkeeper was kind enough to give us some directions to Brekl, it seems it's a days journey south-west." he explained. Lanni smiled,"Then we must hurry then.", she walked into the other room and waved to the Innkeeper. He waved back and said,"C'mon back anytime,Princess!" Lloyd bowed to him and closed the door behind him and Lanni.