by Tiya Rayne
“We can give it a try.” I say, only half paying attention.
Even though I know going out looking for her is best, I still hate to give up the time with her in the dreamscape. I’m usually always anxious to see her in the dreams, but this time I feel a need so deep that it is burning a hole inside me. Not only does my body yearn for her, but so does my heart.
I feel incomplete.
“Assassin!” Augustus calls my name.
“Yes?”
“Are you listening?”
I hear laughter from the table. They know I am not listening.
“My apologies, Augustus, I was thinking about…”
“…Lilly?” Bilal jokes.
The room fills with laughter again.
I do not begrudge them their moments like this. There is so little to laugh about lately that I relish moments such as these. It is the moments like these that gets us through the fighting and the searching.
“Whenever you think of Lilly you get a boyish grin on your face.” Hyland says “Miriam thinks it is adorable.” He bats his lashes playfully.
“That look is nothing compared to the look on his face after one of his dreams of Lilly. The man is practically glowing.” Himrol jokes and everyone laughs.
“Actually…” I start but get interrupted when the doors of the secret meeting room burst open. Miriam rushes in, followed by Lydell, Cleo, Kema and Mogo.
“Avalia, we need you.” Miriam shouts in a panic.
“What is it, Baby? Are you hurt?” Hyland is the first to reach Miriam.
The panic and fear is written all over his face as he searches her for any signs of harm. A brief moment of jealousy hits me seeing Hyland get to touch and hold Miriam. Not because it is Miriam, but because he has the ability to soothe the woman he loves when she is upset. I tamper down my feelings, now is not the time. Miriam turns and points to Mogo, and that’s when we notice the small body he is carrying in his arms. I immediately rush to the giant boy and take Matthias from his arms.
“Lie him down.” Avalia says as she clears a table for the boy.
I lie his limp body on the table and take inventory of him. A busted lip and a dark bruise on his face, but the most severe problem is the knife wound in his side.
“Avalia…” I call for her assistance as I try to stop the blood flow.
“I’m trying, Assassin.” Her magic is shining in her eyes as she tries to heal the boy’s wound.
Matthias’s eyes open and looks at me. He cracks a triumphant smile.
“I….found…her.” he says.
“What?”
“I…. found Lilly.”
I hear someone gasp near me but I can’t focus on that.
He found Lilly.
“Where?”
“They didn’t suspect… a kid.”
I smile down at the lad.
He fought us so hard when we made him go back to his mother. He swore to us that he could be more useful in the search for Lilly. His reason, people never suspected kids to be spies so they talked more freely around them. I told him that it was too dangerous. Apparently, we were both right. It took Avalia giving the boy a talisman that allows him to trace that got him to finally go home. Or so we thought.
Matthias grabs my hand and looks at me desperately. The smile from before gone. “You must hurry, the Dark King…. he knows where she is.”
“Is that who did this? Is that who hurt you, Matthias?” I try to keep the red haze of rage from clouding my vision as I spoke.
He nods. “She….broke free…she’s in the….Dead Forest.” He coughs up blood and starts to choke.
“Hurry, Avalia!” I shout.
“I can’t, Assassin. It’s too late, I can’t save him.”
My sight blurs as I stare at the tears that cloud Avalia’s eyes.
I look back down at the small boy in my hands, he was a fighter until the end. And one of Lilly’s biggest fans.
“Tell her…” he coughs again fighting for breath. “Tell her….” He never got to finish his sentence. His life slips away from him right there on that table.
I hear the soft mewls around me from the females and even the sniffling of my fellow men. I do not blame them, a warrior died tonight. A young man so brave that I was honored to have met him.
My body becomes numb to it. I place my fingertips over the boy’s eyes and close them. There was no doubt in my mind that had this young man been allowed to grow up he would have been a great leader. He was braver than most men I knew and smarter as well. Yet he was just a non-magical that could not afford a piece of bread. His body will be laid to rest in some unmarked burial out in the fields near his home. He will be forgotten by most. No one knowing of his bravery and sacrifice.
That cannot happen.
“Kema,” I turn to the small fairy. “Go to the Southern Kingdom and tell his mother of his death. Tell her he died a hero and will receive a full nobleman’s burial. He will be laid to rest among the great kings. If anyone should object…”
“…..I’ll kill them myself.” Her lyrical voice replies boldly.
I nod at the little fairy.
“Let his mother know I will pay for it all.”
“Yes, Assassin, I will go now.”
She flitters out of the room and takes off into the night.
I turn to the remaining women. “The rest of you ladies take his body and prepare him for his burial. I want nothing but the finest for him.”
A chorus of sorrowful yeses go up.
I turn to the men before me, Augustus, Bilal, Hyland, Himrol, and Mogo.
“We bring Lilly home tonight. Matthias risked his life to bring us this information and we will not waste it. And if you see the Dark King, He. Is. Mine!”
Before I could trace away from the glass castle a startling scream goes up into the air. Avalia!
I rush to her side as she collapses to the floor.
“Avalia…. What is it? What’s wrong?” I’m on my knees beside her head.
The queen screams again and clutches her hands to her head. Our connection sparks to life and I’m bombarded by images—devastating images. The Locke is a wasteland of death and blood. It looks nothing of the land that it is now. Images flash in my mind and I see the Dark King standing at a throne made of skulls and bones. My body and Avalia’s lay at his feet. There is madness in his eyes—more than usual. But the most alarming thing is the two young men standing beside him. Both boys have a dark tan skin tone, one is slightly taller than the other. The tallest one has near black hair that falls in waves pass his shoulders and eyes the color of dark chocolate. The other boy’s hair is a little more brown but shaved to the scalp and his eyes are a startling hazel. I gasp as I realize who the two men are. They are Lilly’s sons, the future Kings. They stand beside the Dark King with the same cruel look on their faces.
Why is Avalia seeing this? What does this mean for our future?
“Assassin!” Avalia calls out to me.
I finally focus on her as she seizures in my arms.
“Miriam, go get the healer.” I yell to the teary-eyed elf.
She rushes out of the room.
Avalia places a hand on my arm. “You must hurry, Assassin.” She squints in pain as she fights through her tremors. “I will be fine. It’s Lilly.”
“What about Lilly?” Augustus asks before I can.
“She’s going in labor. If she has the boys in those woods, she will not survive. Our fate…” She doesn’t finish as she looks at me.
I understood her. If Lilly has the boys tonight and dies, then the future I just saw will be our fate. I will not have that. I guess we finally know why the blood coats the moon.
“Go!” I yell to Augustus and the others.
Without further delay the men trace to the Dead Forest to begin their search for Lilly.
“How do I stop this?” I ask Avalia.
“Find her, bring her here. Hurry Assassin. I may be able to help her.” I hand Avalia over to the healer a
s he and Miriam rush back into the room. I watch the elder elf kneel down to Avalia’s side, before I trace to the Dead Forest to save the love of my life.
Chapter Seven
“Run faster, Girl”
I push my tired and weak legs as hard as I can. My lungs burn and my legs ache, but Plinket is hot on our trail.
I’ve been running for what feels like hours. I’m pretty sure that if I dropped at least one of the objects in my hand I would be able to move faster. But yet, I clutch the wooden box and the jar with the black snake and butterfly pendant to my chest. I know it was stupid to take the jar, but I felt like that necklace belonged to me. I had an instinctual pull to it. The moment Tipper had cleared the tunnel out of the cabin, I grabbed the jar and the box and made my way out. We hadn’t even cleared the view of the cabin before we heard Plinket on our trail.
“Tipper,” I call out to the silver fox. “I can’t go anymore.”
I collapse to my knees dropping the items in my hand to my sides. A sharp pain shoots up my stomach and I clutch my belly.
Tipper nudges my side with her head. While running from Plinket, we heard a frightening roar in the woods. Tipper immediately stopped along with every other creature in the forest that night. Whatever made that noise was large and I had no doubt that it would kill us. Since then, Tipper has been urging us to get as far away from the Dead Forest as we could.
“Are you alright, Girl?”
The pain radiates out and I want to scream. I think I’ve pushed too hard tonight.
I can hear the sound of Plinket’s heavy paws crashing through the forest behind us. No matter how bad it hurts, I have to get up. I climb to my feet, biting down on my lip to ignore the pain in my belly.
“We just need to get further away from this forest. Then we can open the box and stab the heart.” Tipper tries to encourage me.
I know she is right. We can’t risk stopping now. I pick up my two fallen items and start to walk. Out of nowhere, Plinket’s wolf form crashes into my back knocking me down onto my heavy belly. The pain that hits me makes me howl into the sky. There is no denying it, I’m definitely in labor now. I don’t know if it’s too soon or if it’s on time. I don’t even know how far along I am. I guess it doesn’t matter now, they’re coming tonight.
Like a rocket, Tipper’s little silver fox form rams into Plinket knocking him off my back. They roll to the side and face off snarling at each other. Tipper is smaller than Plinket, but she isn’t backing down. She snarls at him and dips her head towards his front paws. Plinket leaps out the way and bats at her with a huge paw knocking her to the ground. He turns to me and charges, I flinch, but again Tipper is there. She snaps onto Plinket’s tail and the big black wolf howls.
“Hurry, Girl. Get the heart.”
I finally snap out of it and realize I have a job to do. I drag myself on my bottom to the fallen box with the heart. The pain in my belly rises up and down like waves. I fight the urge to lie down and cry through the painful contractions.
Just as I reach the box and open it, a sharp pain in my ankle has me crying out. Plinket has broken free of Tipper’s hold and now has his teeth sunk into my flesh. I strike his head with the box trying to force him to release my throbbing ankle. He shakes his head and his teeth rip the flesh at my foot. With the pain from my ankle and the contractions, I’m fighting off the urge to pass out. Just then Tipper appears and locks onto Plinket’s throat. The wolf releases my ankle and I take no time grabbing the blade attached to my thigh and opening the box. Still pulsing with life, an inky black mass of tissue sits on top of red velvet. I plunge the blade of the knife into the black heart. It explodes sending disgusting foul smelling black liquid everywhere.
Plinket immediately stops fighting and collapses to the ground.
For a moment Tipper and I just stare at his lifeless body. Neither of us moving. Could it really be over with? Could I actually be free from my two months of pure hell? Even though my ankle is screaming with pain and my contractions are clenching my belly, I start to laugh. Although coated in hysteria, it was still a joyful laugh. I’m finally free. I’m free from Medina’s hell.
“Have you gone mad, Girl?”
“I’m free.” I say to Tipper.
Limping, Tipper walks over to me and falls down. Her fur is stained with blood in some places. I run my hand through the matted fur on her back. She buries her nose in my hand and licks it. I never thought I would be this close to a Familiar, but the little silver fox has become my only friend.
Another contraction hits and I gasp in pain.
“We need to get you somewhere safe.” Tipper says stumbling to her feet. “Can you walk…..”
Her words cut off when something frightening crashes through the forest behind us. My heart stops dead in my chest. Red savage eyes, in a 7 foot frame stares down at me. Its intimidating height blocks out the red moon, casting Tipper and I in shadows. The muscles in its arms and legs are so huge that they look like tree trunks. The creature is shirtless, his upper chest is covered in gruesome scars. It looks as if his entire chest and abdomen had been cut open and roughly sewn back together. Its skin was the color of charred wood and long sharp teeth were barely contained in its mouth.
Those red eyes stayed on me the entire time. When it made a move towards me, Tipper growled and those savage eyes cut to Tipper. I knew that my little Familiar would not be capable of fighting this beast. She was already damaged from her battle with Plinket.
“You need to run. Turn into a bird.” I demand.
Tipper doesn’t respond. She snarls at the monster in front of me. When the monster looks back at me and takes another step towards me. Tipper charges. The beast catches Tipper in midair by the throat and tosses her body so far away I don’t see her land.
I scream her name, but I fear my little Familiar may not survive that. Now it’s just me and the creature. As he inches closer to me, I crab crawl back. The beast grabs my damaged ankle and yank me towards him so hard I think he might have dislocated my hip bone. He snarls down at me. When he bends to pick me up I take the small blade I use to stab Plinket’s heart and lodge it into the creature’s eye. He lets out a deafening roar that has me covering my ears from the sound.
“Lilly!” I hear a voice scream somewhere in the distance.
The sound of the voice triggers one of those slippery memories and a name appears.
“Augustus?” I call out the name.
I have no idea if my memories or real or fake, but I know for a fact that if I don’t do something this beast is going to kill me.
“Lilly?” the voice shouts again, louder.
I can tell from the echo that whoever it is is too far away from me.
The creature pulls the blade from his eye and drop it. This time he rushes towards me with so much fury in those red ferocious eyes that I know this may be the end of me. I try to find anything I can use to get away from him. My hand hits the glass jar with the snake and butterfly charm. I pick up the jar and throw it at the beast. It shatters upon contact with his chest. The glass, snake, and necklace tumble to the forest floor. The beast grabs my neck and lifts me from the ground, my feet dangle as he brings me face to face to him. Its rancid breath blows in hot waves against my face as it roars. Suddenly a blade comes straight through the creatures back and out through its throat. It gurgles and releases me. I fall to the ground with an oomph. The blade is removed and then slices through the beast’s neck. Its head rolls to the ground right beside me, those vicious eyes glossing over as they stare up at me. When I look up I see him. The handsome man from my dreams is standing before me. His sword dripping blood, his chest rising and falling with his rapid breaths. But none of that stands out more than the look in his eyes.
I know that I look horrible. I’m sweating profusely, I’m filthy, bloody and my hair is a tangled mess. But the way his silver iridescent eyes stare back at me you would think I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
“Lilly,” he calls my n
ame like a prayer.
It is almost as if he had been holding his breath for a long time and can only finally breathe.
He holds up his hand and dangling from his fist is that butterfly necklace.
“You dropped this.”
He takes a step towards me, then out of the woods comes five other men with weapons drawn. One of the men is a tall creature with a large disfigured head.
“Lilly safe!” the creature calls my name in broken English.
He rushes towards me and I drag myself against the ground to get away from him.
“No Mogo!” the handsome silver eyed man calls out and the tall creature stops.
I’m so scared, I’m shaking. Although the man from my dreams has always seemed friendly enough, I do not know him. What if he is the one that got me pregnant? Medina said that I was abused and raped and that’s how the boys came to be, what if the man in my dreams was behind it? What if these men with him were part of the soldiers that were abusing me in the forest when Medina found me? I’m scared, hurting, and confused. I have no idea who to trust.
“Assassin,” one of the men with the handsome dream guy calls out.
So that is the handsome man’s name.
“There are more of those things in the forest. We have to get out of here.” The man points down to the beast with the savage eyes.
Assassin never takes his eyes off of me. He stares at me as if he is afraid that even if he blinks I will disappear.
“I will not hurt you, Lilly. But you must come with me.” He moves towards me and I scurry back further. I stop when I’m hit with a contraction so strong it’s as if my insides are being tied into tight knots. I scream and grab at my belly.
I do not stop the strange men as they rush me at once. Immediately I am up in Assassin’s arms. I whimper into his chest, no longer caring about my fear.
“Tipper?” I call out. “Tipper!”
I can’t leave Tipper. I can only pray my silver friend survives.
“I’m here, Girl.” I feel her spider legs on the back of my neck.
“Hyland, take that creature’s body back to the castle.” The handsome elf named Assassin says before turning to me. “Hold on, little human.”
