-Chapter I
As the moon began to rise after it’s daylight counterpart had set, pale light spilled over Surion’s Capital. The light, blue-hued rays reflected off the windows of homes and shops, all else was dark. Except for a window in the Royal Castle, where a very- for lack of a better word- pissed off Princess sat on her bed, pouting furiously, her shoulder-length mahogany hair shadowing her exotic light grey eyes. Those idiots, alongside her mother, had started yet another war! But of course, it never mattered what she thought, even being royalty herself. The girl sighed to herself; this time…She thought, this time they’ll be sorry… This Princess was sick of Surion, fed up with war, and most of all, done with her mother’s constant abuse and overuse of power. If only father were here… He was supposed to return today… She pulled on her armor- golden dragon scale-style, a traditional armor for her station. The golden plates covered a crimson garb and skirt. Along with this was leather, gold-plated boots. It was quite heavy gear, but being reinforced with steel, it could take just about anything. On her back were her twin golden scimitars, and around her neck was a royal family crystal, a transparent opal, containing a magic of sorts.
However, she then wondered how she was planning on getting out. After thinking about this a moment, it suddenly became obvious. Earth Magic would help her. She stepped up to the windowsill, looking down the five stories, and smiled, leaping out. The moment her feet touched the ground, the earth sank to cushion the landing, then rebounded, giving her a little hop and leaving her unscathed, in the courtyard of the castle. Donning her cloak and pulling her hood up, she practically walked right past the exhausted guards, needing little stealth to avoid their tired eyes- it was quite late, and they’d been on duty all day and the night before. Ana smiled to herself, this was too easy. She took off running, not sure where she was going But she was sure of this- it was going to be an adventure of a thousand lifetimes.
Her thoughts of escape were painfully interrupted by sudden contact. CLANG! Her armor contacted with someone else’s sending her to the ground flat on her behind. It’d felt like hitting a steel wall. From a considerable six and a half feet up, a huge beast in Surionian Knight armor stared down at her. A werewolf. Ana froze, not because of his being a werewolf, but because he was a guard. Werewolves and werecreatures in general were common the world over. He stared at her with calm sky-blue eyes, his helm under his arm, revealing his pointed wolf ears, a few rings in each, and his white fur. Being a werewolf, he was quite tall, as most were, he had the legs of a wolf- only longer, along with claw-like nails, long canines, or fangs, and a wolf tail. The rest was human-shaped, covered in white fur. Many scars were visible even with his fur, all from past battles and years of war.
Keeping her hood over her head still, Ana lowered her eyes, praying he didn’t recognize her. She offered a child-like half-curtsey, “Forgive me… I-I guess I need to pay more attention to where I’m going.” With a blush, she made to walk around him.
“You really shouldn’t be running alone in these times of war, Princess.” His calm voice made her freeze, and she whipped around to face him.
“Please!” She begged. “You mustn’t say you’ve seen me! I…” she sighed, lowering her eyes once more, not knowing what excuse she could give. So she settled on the truth- “I’m tired of war, I’m sick of the palace… And… Honestly, I’m sick of Surion. All I want right now is to get away- to see the world. So please… Excuse me.” She turned again to walk away, cautious this time.
“Then I must go with you,” his deep, calm voice came once more. It only took him two strides to come up beside her, compared to her six. “We’ll get a pair of horses and some more suitable supplies. I cannot allow you to go alone, therefore, I must go with you.” She looked up at him in puzzlement. Although the knights were sworn to the royal family, most weren’t known to like them much. This werewolf was far different.
“Um… T-Thank you,” Ana said quietly, not knowing what else to say, nor how or if to decline. “Who… are you?”
“Brigadier General Baredo Hart Longsmith, milady,” he answered, bowing his head in respect to her. She noticed the light and charming highland (commonly called Scottish) accent in his voice. She smiled at him, which, needless to say, warmed his already gentle heart. She lowered her hood, revealing bright mahogany hair, her eyes a pale green. As with the rest of the royal family, her skin was a dark tan.
“I’m Ana,” she replied, addressing him with far less formality than her position required, “Thank you for your help, I’d be happy for your assistance.” Baredo nodded to her, a smile on his wolf face, walking with her toward the stables. He stopped her, keeping her hidden, and stepped up to the guards, addressing them, and requested two horses and travel rations. He waited about ten minutes and was given all he needed. He brought the horses back to Ana, giving her the reins of one. Ana easily swung herself up onto the saddle, having loved to ride her whole life. She nodded her thanks, and after a pause as he got on his mount, she asked, “Why do you care?” She blushed, quickly adding, “I mean… you aren’t reporting me. Why?”
Baredo only smiled warmly, “Because I believe everyone, rich or poor, royalty or citizen, deserves freedom and their own free will.” He answered calmly, his blue eyes determined but gentle.
“I appreciate that,” she offered a small smile, “There’s not many like you, so… Thank you, again.”
“Of course milady.”
“So… Um… Where are we going?”
“Perhaps north would be the direction of choice.”
“Sounds good to me, but… um…” She looked at him curiously, “What’s up north?” Her mother had made sure she lived a sheltered life, so she could never escape. Ana barely knew her own country’s geography, much less around it. Baredo knew this, and offered an understanding smile.
“The free lands of Northe Endro.” Ana’s eyes widened at her escort’s words.
“Is there such a place?!” Throwing caution to the wind, she let out a beautiful, happy laugh, “Let’s go then, Baredo!” The two practically raced to the wood’s edge, and trotted on into it. But their happiness and joy of freedom didn’t last long. Clashing metal screams of pain and rage, and the shadows cast by flames came into view within minutes. Ana looked up, “What’s going on…?” Baredo took his spear from its clip on his back, watching cautiously. Ana nudged her horse a little further on, and she saw a flash of a familiar face, “Wait- that’s CAL!” Cal had been a servant in the palace, now a noble in service to Surion. Hearing his name, the man turned to look at her, costing him his attention, and a powerful blow struck his shoulder. “CAL!!!!” She yelled, dismounting and entering the fray of battle herself, scimitars slashing.
Feeling an instant need to protect a fellow knight, Baredo leapt at Cal’s attacker, running him clean through with the spear shaft. “Where-“ Ana noticed Baredo was gone from the horses, and then saw him in the midst of a circle of men. Helping Baredo but hating death, she parried, blocked, and pushed back the men, refusing to actually hurt them, she just couldn’t. Because she was a girl, they thought she couldn’t fight, and got cocky, but were soon put out of their over-prideful dazes by Baredo’s lance. “I’m sorry I got you into this,” Ana called above the growls and cries of their enemies, to Baredo. Ana then suffered a slash to her side, and her breath left her in surprise.
Ashrick Thenalle’s hand fell limp in his wife’s grasp, and she cried out in agony. “ASHRICK!!!!!” She cried into his shoulder, clinging to his now lifeless form. She sobbed uncontrollably, knowing now, after years of secrecy, that her husband had bound himself to their daughter, and when she was hurt, so was he, with a mark. He’d now received his last mark, cutting his life short.
Ana recovered, the wound not so bad, but it hurt like hell. She looked to her companion, “Are you okay?” She called worriedly.
“Don’t worry about m-“ Baredo was cut off as one of the ruffians slashed him across the face; he’d not put his helm back on, having taken it off while they were riding. He roared in pain, and blood spilled into his eyes. Despite being blinded, he gave a monstrous growl, running the man through like he had Cal’s attacker. Ana gasped in horror, and seeing her kind escort hurt, anger flashed over her face- This is all my fault… she thought, and I’ll end it! She grabbed Baredo’s arm, and stamped a foot onto the ground. Everything shook around them, and she pulled Baredo further back, a huge crevice appearing in the earth as the small earthquake shook the forest. The crevice grew to near ten feet, and several screaming bandits lost their balance and fell in. Ana looked away, disgusted. The rest of the barbarians stood back in astonishment, and ran for dear life.
Ana pulled Baredo back to Cal, “Sit.” She ordered, undoing the clasp on her choker. Baredo wiped blood from his eyes with a cloth from his saddlebag, washing the rest out with the water of his canteen. Ana pressed the opal pendant into the white werewolf’s hand, and the slash across his muzzle and above his eye, as well as any other cuts he had, scabbed over immediately. “I’m afraid it doesn’t have much more power than that,” she admitted, “But it’ll keep blood out of your eyes… I’m so sorry…
“Don’t worry about it,” Baredo assured her. Ana healed Cal’s shoulder in the same fashion.
“What in Brahn’s name are you two doing out here? Don’t you know there’s a war on?” Cal looked at them, a bit angry, a bit surprised. Ana blushed slightly in embarrassment.
“Freedom is worth risking danger for.” Baredo answered instantly and simply as he placed a bandage over the slash on his face. Cal raised and eyebrow and looked at Ana.
“So you’re really doing it then? You’re leaving?” He looked astonished. Voices called in the distance, and he turned quickly, “I’ll hold them off as long as I can, but it won’t be long before they notice you’re gone, Ana.” Cal vanished into the trees. Ana refastened her choker, and then turned to her escort.
“Are you going to be okay?” She shook her head in disgust at herself, “This is all my fault…”
“Stop blaming yourself, I wasn’t careful enough, and it’s over.” Baredo told her, helping her onto her horse. He mounted his own, then at his lead; they took off north at a gallop.
The whole ride, Ana’s heart raced with fear- Cal was right- there wouldn’t be much time before the alarm was raised. They’d ridden straight through the night, and the sun had begun to rise. Ana nudged her horse up next to Baredo’s.
“How far do we have to go?”
“At least four more days’ riding before we’re in a safe place…” He sighed. He pulled his horse to a halt, “We’d better just rest a while.” He dismounted, and stumbled slightly, his foot slipping out of the stirrup. He was exhausted, having been on duty the entire day before, gone through the battle in the night, and traveled until morning. He was running on empty.
Ana didn’t have so much a problem, her adrenaline still too spiked to really rest. She jumped off her horse, tying the two steeds up to a tree. She pulled a sleeping mat from his horse’s saddlebag, and gave it to him. “You rest, I’ll cook something up.” He only nodded, sitting down on it, and pulling off his armor, chainmail, and protective clothing. Underneath was just a plain black pair of pants and sleeveless shirt covering his muscular, handsome body, though scarred in many places. He set his gear aside, laying down and closing his eyes.
Ana smiled to herself, it was nice to be with someone who felt the same as she about freedom, though she didn’t know much about this odd, kind gentleman. She pulled a cloth pack of various food items from her own saddle; there was plenty for a few days. She piled some deadwood in the clearing, and it took her some time to spark the flint, but eventually she got the fire going. Ana paused- now what? She’d never done this before, at the castle, there were servants for this kind of thing. She managed to get water boiling in a tin, deep pan above the fire and began slicing vegetables and bits of beef, trying to be quiet and not wake her escort. Once or twice, there was a hastily bitten-off word that young ladies were not supposed to know- she was clumsy at slicing. Soon, the smell of stew filled the air, and she sighed, leaning back, hoping she’d done it right.
-Taiylor Wallace
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