danger

light swallowed by darkness

        She huddled quietly underneath the table, hidden from her father's enemies by a tablecloth and a hastily cast illusion spell. They were tearing apart her father's store demanding that he give them something. She could not understand the language they were speaking. Panic rising in her chest, she watched as a man wearing red robes pressed a wicked blade against her father's neck. She fought the urge to cry out as she tightly clutched the small charm her father had given her for her birthday only days before. The small black cat sitting next to her quietly regarded its master, one ear turned towards the chaos outside the table's measly protection; if anybody thought to kick what looked like a solid panel of wood for a display table, their foot would go right through the tablecloth, shattering the illusion spell. She hoped they would find what they were looking for and leave but knew in her heart that was not to be. It was obvious they were looking for something small- like a charm.

She watched her father as he muttered under his breath while he slipped a charm onto a thread made of spun gold. He tied the ends together and held it up for her inspection. She was delighted by the charm, made of some silvery metal depicting a dragon curled around a red spherical jewel. Inside the jewel slept a smaller dragon curled around a spherical blue orb. Her father placed it around her neck. "As long as you live, do not remove this charm." She embraced her father, vowing to never take it off.

        She had a feeling they were looking for her charm. If it hadn't been for her father's strict orders not to move from underneath the table until the bad men were gone, she'd run out and give it to them. As much as she loved it, it was not worth her father getting hurt. However, in all her twelve years of existence, she had never once disobeyed her father. Father always knew best. She heard a noise, from the hallway, of bodies hitting the floor. She looked towards the door but there was no one. Turning back towards her father, she nearly screamed as the Red Man stabbed her father in the chest... on the wrong side. Tears fell silently as her father coughed up blood. The man demanded something but her father stayed silent. She cried out as her father was stabbed in the stomach, but her desperate wail was lost in the sound of an explosion coming from the hallway. The Red Man turned towards the door as one of his men, sporting a red sash around his waist, ran in shouting something in their language. The Red Man growled and turned back towards her father. He said something, repeating what he'd said before; her father spit blood in the man's face. Ludicrously, she thought of how the sticky red spots on his face matched the color of the man's robes. Her father's head snapped to the left as the Red Man backhanded him. Three more men wearing red sashes scrambled into the room. The Red Man was becoming distressed and kept yelling at her father in that foreign language.
        A new man entered the room in a blur of motion. He wore a simple green tunic and brown pants tucked into worn leather boots. A forest green cloak floated behind him as he twirled his sword in front of him, slashing at one of the men. The man was able to bring his sword up clanging against the newcomer's in defense but was not quick enough to remove it as the newcomer muttered a few words and upon touching his own blade, sent crackling lines of light coursing into his opponent. It looked like it could have been lightning from the sky but she'd never seen such magic before. The Red Man was still yelling at her father and she glanced back at the gruesome scene. Her father's blood pooled on the wooden floorboards; so much blood. Her tears ceased to fall and she silently willed the newcomer to finish off the other three men so he could kill the Red Man. Startled by her own vehemence and violent thoughts, she almost retracted her hateful words in her head when she realized what the Red Man was doing. He cracked her father with the hilt of his dagger and as her father's life slipped away, the Red Man cast a recovery spell so he could injure her father more while frantically demanding answers. She looked quickly back to the newcomer, fighting the urge to run out to her father. Her father would have suffered in vain if she gave herself up now. The newcomer had dispensed with two of four henchmen. The remaining two were on the offensive, viciously attacking from opposite directions, hoping to catch the newcomer at a disadvantage, and careful not to hurt the other by keeping the newcomer in between them at all times. The newcomer easily parried each attack with his sword or dagger and tired of turning circles. When one man attacked him head on, using his sword as a lance, the newcomer dropped suddenly onto his back and in one fluid motion, sent the man flying into his retreating companion. The airborne man dropped his sword so as to not injure his partner but still collided with him. He got up quickly to find himself disarmed and a small knife was embedded in his partner's forehead. Her attention turned back to her father who was being healed once again. This time, knowing that the rest of his men were down or were soon to be eliminated, the Red Man shouted something and slit her father's throat. She sobbed quietly as the Red Man turned towards his dying comrade's surprised yelp to face the newcomer. The newcomer exclaimed a short, dismayed "No!" when he saw her bloody mess of a father lying on the floor. "No!" he shouted again. Then, as the Red Man threw her father's body aside, the newcomer blurted a few words and sent a burst of lighting straight from his hands. She winced as the Red Man's body convulsed then fell to the floor; the smell of smoke and burning flesh permeating the room. To her utter amazement, the Red Man was still alive; he drew his arm up and fired a crackling ball of purple energy at the newcomer. The newcomer nearly completed a barrier spell but the missile shattered it and although he wasn't hit directly, the force of it blew the newcomer backwards against the wall. The newcomer sprang back onto his feet, already chanting another spell, but as he sent shards of solid ice flying, the Red Man disappeared.
        "NO!" she cried out as the icicles crashed into a shelf across the room, shattering priceless magical artifacts and ornate bottles filled with precious magical powders, causing a small explosion as the icicles made contact with some sort of magical amplifier. The newcomer cursed and stood to dust himself off.
        The newcomer knelt down next to her father's body and gently moved it onto its back. He closed her father's eyes and crossed the stiffening arms across the bloody chest. She watched, intrigued and heartbroken, as the man said a prayer then stood up. He went back into the hallway and came back with several small throwing knives which he cleaned and returned to several leather slots along the inside of his thick cloak. He scanned the room, sighed, then moved as if to jump out the window.
        "Wait," she cried, bursting out of her hiding place, shattering the spell, "take me with you!"
        He eyed her speculatively and she saw his eyes glint as he noticed the charm hanging around her neck. His slate grey eyes met hers.
        "You're just a child."
        "You're going after the Red Man, right? That man in the red robes."
        "This is none of your concern."
        "He killed my father!"
        "Can you fight? Do magic?"
        "No," she told him, pain and fury burning in her eyes, "but I can learn."
        "I have no time to babysit. Go to your family."
        He turned to go. She caught his rough hand in her delicate ones.
        "Please," she beseeched him. He looked down at her sharply, jerking his hand out of hers. "There's only my father... I have no one else."
        He knelt down and stared her in the eye, his fierce gaze searching for something. Her heart pounded but she did not fear him. She caught up the string right above her charm and held it up, knowing that it carried great importance, though not knowing why.
        "What are you called?"
        "Shariah. Shariah Iblis."
        Sounds came from downstairs, either looters or authorities, either way if they were found here they'd be detained. He put one foot onto the window sill and her heart caught in her throat for fear that he'd leave her but he held his hand out to her. He effortlessly swung her onto the roof of her father's shop, the place she'd called home since birth. He followed her onto the rooftop and motioned for her to get onto his back. She jumped up, trusting him implicitly.
        She held on tightly for dear life; a new life: life running from the law and chasing after some unknown enemy. She plotted her revenge as the man spirited her away towards the dark forests, tailed by a tiny black cat.