Keys

             The haggard woman anxiously scribbled the words on the blank pages of the leather-bound book. Large beads of sweat formed on her forehead and slid down her face; mingling with her tears as they splattered on the parchment. Her hands shook as she heard the agonized screaming of dying people outside her hidden alcove, and she scribbled all the faster; knowing that her time was soon at hand. She heard sinister breaths of wind pass in front of the concealed door, and she glanced at the three small figures that huddled in the corner, fearing for their lives.

                The winds passed by, and she sighed with temporary relief. She finally penned her last words in her journal and closed it as a ragged exhale escaped her lips. She hugged it close to her chest before putting it on a shelf. She crouched next to the three children that hunkered in the corner.  The two older ones, a boy and a girl, stared up at her with wide, frightened eyes, while the third- only a year old "slept peacefully in the girl’s arms.

                “Mama?” The girl, a fifteen-year-old with luscious blond ringlets and dazzling blue eyes, asked “Is… is papa…?”

                Tears pricked the corners of the woman’s eyes and she looked down “Yes.” She said dully.

                The young girl stifled a sob. “Did he die, or was it the Darkness?” She asked in a small voice as she tried to hold back her tears.

                “The Darkness. It was the Darkness that seized him and stole away his life.” Her mother responded, her voice dead and numb.

                The girl could hold it in no longer. She wailed as great streams of tears ran down her cheeks, and she buried her face in the soft blankets that were wrapped around the baby’s body.

                The boy had listened to the exchange with horror etched on his handsome features. Despite him being only thirteen, he knew exactly what happened when the Darkness touched you. A great shudder wracked his frame, shaking loose a dark forelock of hair that fell into his stunning green eyes. Being touched by the Darkness was worse than death; to say the least.  No tears swam in his eyes; he just couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that his father was gone, and in the worst possible way.

                The mother let out another shuddering breath and enveloped her children in a hug; the only comfort in such dire circumstances. Suddenly, the concealed door began to shudder as someone- or something -tried to force its way in. All heads snapped towards the door; the fear plainly etched in all of their faces. Hurriedly, the mother touched her eldest children’s cheeks and made sure that they were looking at her.

                “Listen closely.” She whispered anxiously “I don’t have much time.”

                The children stared up at her with wide eyes.

                “Mama, what do you mean?” The girl almost shrieked “You’re not going to let it take you, are you?!”

                The woman touched her daughter’s cheek gently, a sad look in her eyes. “Yes, my sweet Rhianna.”

                The girl’s eyes widened even more, and she opened her mouth as if to scream. Her mother placed a gentle but firm hand over her daughter’s mouth. “Hush.” She whispered “It will hear you. I have made my decision. If I surrender myself to it, it will not think to pursue you.”

                The girl looked like she was about to go into shock, so the boy spoke up. “Pursue us? The only way it could pursue us is if we were running away.” His voice cracked; both from fear and also of evidence of him growing up.

                A small smile touched the woman’s lips as she remembered how much fun she and her husband had had when they gently ribbed him about his changing voice. She fondly brushed the errant lock of dark hair out of his face. “Yes, dear Ferren, you are correct. You are going to be leaving this place; but I hope that it will not be forever. Which brings me to this.”

From around her neck she removed a chord of leather, on which hung three keys. Each were a different size and design. One was about the size of a normal key, but the prongs and grip were intricately crafted with intertwining, golden filigree. Another was a large, brass key, with no frivolous decorations; just a circular grip, a long, straight neck, and jagged teeth. The very last key was silver and very small, with delicate floral carvings winding their way up its neck.

                The woman untied the strip of leather and removed the golden and brass keys.  She handed the golden key to Rhianna, and the brass went to Ferren. “Listen carefully.” She whispered urgently as the pounding on the door became louder and more incessant. “These are very special keys. You will have to figure out what they go to; but know this, when you find what each key unlocks, you will hold the power to defeat the Darkness.”

                Unbelievably, the two pairs of young eyes grew even wider with awe.

                The mother continued “Keep them safe and keep them hidden. I am giving one to each of you, so that you will have to stay together.” She tied the leather string with the smallest key around the baby’s neck. The concealed door began to crack under the crushing blows from whatever was outside. Tears began to stream down the mother’s face, as well as her children’s. She hugged them to her fiercely, her heart swelling with pride at how brave they were. She kissed them each and then whispered a final warning as she opened up a hidden passageway.

                “Whatever you do, do not tell anyone who you are. My sacrifice can only hold off the Darkness for so long, and then it will be after you. If you tell anyone who you are, the Darkness will hone in on that faster than you can imagine, and then all is lost. Luckily, it does not know your names; but it very well knows of your station.”

                The children nodded, hugged their mother one last time, and then disappeared into the dark tunnel. Their mother just managed to close the passageway when the other door finally flew off its hinges and crashed into one side of the room. A billowing, massive shadow invaded the room; its sinister tentacles brushing over everything in sight. Faces faded in and out of it in various forms of agony, and the woman gasped in horror when she saw the face of her husband, his face a mask of torturous pain.

                The Darkness- for that was what it was -converged on her, sucking the life force right out of her body. Her lifeless body fell the ground and began to disintegrate into dark ash. The golden crown that had perched on her head clattered to the ground, and the dark cloud felt a ripple of pleasure run through it. It whisked out of the room, and, just for the fun of it, destroyed the entrance completely. The stone walls of the palace tumbled down in front of the doorway, completely obscuring it from view.

 

                In the hidden tunnel, the three children scuttled along in the damp, cramped space. They heard the deafening crash of the door as it blew off its hinges, and the ominous rumble as debris fell into the secret room; and then complete and total silence. That silence told them all they needed to know. Their mother was dead.

                Rhianna choked back a sob, but strengthened her resolve. She had her little brother and sister to take care of now.

                “Come on.” She whispered “Let’s go before it finds us.” She stealthily proceeded down the long tunnel with her baby sister sleeping quietly in her arms and Ferren following along behind her. The tunnel was constructed with many twisting corridors and directions as the children traveled deep under the belly of the castle; and it was so dark that they were only able to walk if they spread their arms out in front of their bodies. This was particularly hard for Rhianna, since she had the one-year-old tucked in her arms. She wrapped her right arm around her sister and gently put the little girl’s head on her shoulder, and then she blindly held out her hand in front of her.

                They could still hear the noises up inside the castle; mostly the screaming from the Darkness’s victims. The terrible sounds echoed and reverberated through the tunnel, making it seem like demons lurked in every corner. The walls were slimy and pressed in on the children, often making them bend over double in order to pass through. Rhianna’s back ached from carrying her sister, but she never complained. She tightly clenched the key her mother had given her in her hand, determined not to let it go.

                Finally, after what seemed like hours, her hand ran into a wall. She felt all along it and realized it was a dead end. She was about to scream in frustration when she touched something that felt suspiciously like a latch. She pulled on it and a door opened before them.

                It was pitch black outside; the stars and moon completely obliterated by the Darkness. Rhianna peered out from the tunnel, and instantly flattened back into the passageway as black, scabby women with fiery manes of hair and scaly bodies walked past, speaking in a harsh language that Rhianna didn’t understand. They were Sí’Rakk, cousins of the Sirens from the West Seas, and daughters of the Darkness.

                Rhianna shuddered. Ferren placed a hand on her shoulder, bringing her back to the present. She watched until the fiery heads of the Sí’Rakk disappeared around the corner, and then quietly crept out of the shelter of the tunnel. Ferren kept his hand on her shoulder so that they wouldn’t get separated. Rhianna felt the heavy weight of responsibility on her shoulders as she finally came to grips with the fact that her younger siblings’ lives depended on her.

                With as much caution as she possibly could, she led Ferren through the veritable maze of debris from the castle and skirted past hordes of rebels that had sided with the Darkness. The rebels took to any moving thing with rabid ferocity, tearing it apart with glee as the rest cheered and chanted their encouragement. Rhianna could feel Ferren’s grip tighten on her shoulder as he watched one of his favorite dogs torn to pieces by the rabid men. Rhianna patted his hand soothingly, but inwardly she was screaming at how sick and twisted these people had become. They were more of an animal than the dog had been.

                The three children managed to get past the deranged rebels, and from the now dim light of groups’ torches, Rhianna could barely make out the knarled trunk of the ancient oak tree that marked the end of the castle grounds, and beyond that, a forest of tall pines. She knew that if they could get into those trees, then they should be safe.

                They were only a few meters away from the shading boughs of the tree when their baby sister, Tamahrah, began to cry. She had finally woken up from her slumber and had picked up on the anxiety of her brother and sister. When she realized that her mother was not around, she screamed all the louder.

                “Tammy, please!” Rhianna begged, bouncing the child up and down in an attempt to calm her. “Please, be quiet!”

                The baby screamed all the louder. Some of the rebels turned to investigate where the sound was coming from, and their torch lights illuminated the frightened faces of Rhianna, Ferren, and Tamahrah.

                “Hey, look!” One of the rebels called out roughly “It’s the royal brats!”

                “Naw, that can’t be them.” One of the others argued “How would they’ve gotten out o’ the castle?”

                Rhianna tensed. Now was their time to escape while the rebels were still indecisive.

                “Run!!!!” She screamed, startling the little princess into silence as she tore away towards the tree. Ferren pounded along after her, and the rebels stood there in dumbfounded silence for a minute. Then, with an angry roar, they surged after the fleeing figures. Rhianna looked back and watched as the rebels chased them, their movements clumsy and awkward as they seemed to trip over their own feet. They must’ve been drunk. Rhianna would’ve found it funny if they weren't chasing her down with a lust for blood in their eyes.

                As she looked back, she didn’t notice the rock that jutted out from the ground directly in her path. She stubbed her toe on it and fell, flipping over just in time so that she didn’t crush her baby sister. The baby stared at her with wide eyes, too stunned to even whimper. Rhianna was about to get back to her feet when she realized with horror that she had dropped her mother’s key. She set Tamahrah down and frantically combed the ground with her fingers as she tried to locate the precious key.

                Ferren came to a halt beside her, bending over double with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “Why… are we stopping?” He panted.

                “Take Tammy and keep going!” Rhianna commanded. “I lost my key. I’ll find it and then catch up.”

                Ferren’s eyes widened “I’m not leaving without…” He started, but Rhianna cut him off.

                “Go!! I’ll be fine. I’ll catch up with you in a minute. You need to get Tammy out of here!”

                Ferren would’ve argued, but he could see the sense in his sister’s words. He scooped Tamahrah up into his arms and dashed away as Rhianna continued to feverishly search for her key. He could hear the rebels getting closer, and could only hope that Rhianna had found her key in time.

                He made it to the edge of the forest the Rhianna had seen, and set his little sister down. He turned to see how close Rhianna was, and his heart leapt to his throat. Rhianna was running as fast as she could towards him. The rebels had given up the chase, but something much worse had taken their place. The large, billowing mass of the Darkness was bearing down in her, quickly gaining ground.

                “Rhianna!!!” Ferren yelled at the top of his lungs in warning, pointing behind her.

                She turned and immediately froze.

                “Rhianna, what are you doing?!!!” Ferren screamed “Don’t stop!!!! Keep running!!!!”

                Rhianna turned to slowly look at him, her face full of sadness. She knew that even if she did head her brother’s council, she wouldn’t make it.

                “I’m sorry.” She mouthed to him. She chucked the golden key away from her just as the Darkness engulfed her.

                “No!!!!!!!” Ferren screamed in agony as he watched his sister swallowed up by the Darkness. “Rhianna!!!!! RHIANNA!!!!!!!!!!!” He sank to his knees as complete and utter despair swept over him; sobbing uncontrollably and rocking back and forth; his arms hugging his chest tightly. He felt a small hand on his arm, and looked to see his baby sister staring up at him. Her gaze held wisdom beyond her years.

                His green eyes still swimming with tears, Ferren picked up his little sister and hugged her tightly to him. He had lost one sister, and there was no way that he was going to lose another. The rebels had picked up the chase again, following his tracks towards the forest. With his sister clutched tightly to his chest, Ferren ran as fast as he could; disappearing into the darkness of the forest.     

      

Author's Note

Okay, I am really excited about this one. If all goes according to plan and I make this into its own book, it will all tie into my "Long Forgotten" trilogy as a kind of prequel. If you've read "Long Forgotten", message me and I'll explain it more in detail to you. :)

Let me know what you think! This is a rough draft, so if you find any mistakes, please let me know. I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Reviews

[Rose of Gondor]

MMMM. :) That was a lovely snack...I mean, er....read.