A Druid, a teenager and a faun…
Deep within the thickets of the Forest of Killarney, various mystical creatures and deep, dark secrets lay covert for centuries. Creatures such as centaurs, unicorns, fauns, nymphs and others,dwell in an area far from ones that are searched by guards. It's untouched by the souls of the cold, heartless men under the King's forest was property of the mighty Kingdom of Oriel, who was currently under the reign of King Luigi who was utterly against the use of magic.
Hence, he had ordered his knights and other helpers to search the surrounding fields and forests for any signs of sorcery, especially for any Druids.
This was a very big problem for a small, scrawny Druid boy in the name of Ciaran and his little pet faun called Faun; they dwelled in the shelter of a huge, tangled tree at the very heart of the Forest of Killarney, which got searched by knights and guards daily, loaded with heavy armour, lethal weapons Pand who knows what. The only reason that Ciaran hadn't been caught yet was that he could sense evil and malevolence in the air, so he could scamper away before any guard could get their filthy hands on him. As for Faun, he has the ability to successfully camouflage into its surroundings and pass as a normal woodland creature.
Unfortunately, there came a day where Ciaran and Faun weren't as lucky as times before.
"Faun! Please get me some wood for the fire, will you?" yelled Ciaran from the tree. He had just got up from a long, perfect sleep, and was in his usual cantankerous state. "Oh, and good morning".
"I have two words for you: GET UP!" Faun gave his response just as loud as Ciaran did, as he was already on the hunt for fresh firewood. It was quite a tedious job for Faun, trying to search for firewood and other bits and bobs without being seen by the unwanted eye.
In Faun's hurried search for wood and Ciaran's haste to get dressed, both did not realise that someone was coming down from the castle and heading towards them. Their position in the woods was highly conspicuous to those who come barging into the area.
"Hey Ciaran, help me will you? It's easy for you to do things because you possess magic and I don't! Would it kill you to help me for once? Ciaran? Where did you go?" Faun fell silent after sometime of raging as he sensed the sudden stillness and the absence of Ciaran.
Indeed, Ciaran had gone and hid behind an aging tree as he finally caught sight of the intruder, who was carrying a sword. However, he noticed that the person was of quite a small stature and had an intimate aura to him.
"GOTCHA!" the boy had seen his target and made his move; he wrestled with Faun and pinned him down to the floor. Ciaran couldn't just stand there and watch Faun being assassinated by a stranger.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE! TAKE YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HIM! YOU CAN HAVE ME INSTEAD!" a brave Ciaran stepped out of his comfort zone and surrendered himself.
Both the boy and Faun were staring at Ciaran, gobsmacked, as if his face was horridly amputated. The boy's eyes darted back and forth from Faun to Ciaran. Finally, after due consideration, he laid down his weapons. Ciaran's thudding heart eased down a bit with relief.
"Consider yourselves fortunate. I may be able to spare you but it's highly unlikely that you'll get so lucky in the future," the boy's voice quavered a little and he shifted a little bit to the left. He was obviously uncomfortable; he was assigned a brutal job from the King to search the lands and kill any Druids that may be present, but he knew that he couldn't do that whatsoever. He wasn't one that was against magic and folklore, even though he possessed no magic. He wasn't malevolent and machine- like compared to the King's helpers. He was only doing this job out of force and sheer contempt; his parents had worked in the Royal Court until they died so his future was sealed. His teenage years were gone to waste.
"I am utterly grateful and I thank you. What's your name?" inquired Ciaran. He was beginning to think that this boy was of no threat to them and he hoped that he would help them.
"My name's Lachlan. I work under King Luigi's orders, but frankly, I think that he's a bit of a scumbag. I detest his methods of ruling, it's inhumane! Clearly, I feel sorry for your kind. You don't have to go through all this. If only there was a way I could help you guys out," Lachlan seemed to be entangled in his own thoughts for a while.
All the sudden and strange sentimentality from a boy, who was ready to kill a minute ago, was quite overwhelming for Ciaran and Faun. He had a slight plan, and that is to escape this forest that he was in and to live in a free anfd far off land that accept magic and his kind, along with Faun.
"Well, there is one thing that you might be able to do. I need you to aid me in escaping this horrid kingdom and taking me to a land where Faun and I can roam freely," Ciaran had a pleading look in his eyes that was hard to deny.
There was an awkward pause, in which Lachlan was contemplating what he was going to say next. After about a minute, he agreed, on one condition: that he keeps up the pretence of looking for some Druids and if they succeed, then he would be able to come and live with them.
During the next few days, Lachlan did his best to stay hidden when he was scavenging some food from the kitchens and grabbing some clothes and blankets from his own cupboard. When asked where he was taking a whole pile of clean washing, he replied with, "This is for 'such and such'. Now if you don't mind, I have another errand to run" but in most of the instances, he narrowly slipped out of trouble. Indeed, he was aware that he was taking a great risk for a small boy and a faun, but it was worth the trouble.
However, the day came when fate was against Lachlan and he was a goner. He was making his way to the forest with a pile of sheets and some cottage cheese with breadrolls, and took a glance back like he always did and nearly fainted; he saw that a few yards away, a guard was following him, but with no haste. It was, then, an immense relief that the guard took a different course and went to the other side of the forest.
Amazed by his extraodinary luck, Lachlan continued on his way to Ciaran and Faun, who were getting ready to start their journey and to escape. All their possessions were neatly put into place in a small, brown rucksack (Ciaran like to keep things organised) and there was another brown ruksack aside the other one, which carried dirty clothes and miscellaneous things.
As Lachlan was getting closer to the big tree, Ciaran popped his head out an inch and checked whether the coast was clear to come out.
"I thought a saw a guard following you a few minutes ago," stated Ciaran as he grabbed the food and clean clothes hastily. Ciaran chnaged his shirt and Faun put some pants over his goat legs.
"Yeah, and that was a close call. Our secret woul've been out if the guard questioned me. look, we only have a few hours left until the curfew for the guards is finished. You see, there's a special guest who's going to address the Royal Court at dinner, so almost everyone will be preoccupied with preparations. That is when we make a beeline for the gardener's hut. It's easier to escape from there as there's a bit of a foresty area; that way we can get to the palace gates through that area and we can hopefully escape!" Lachlan recited his whole plan of the escape and seemed to be proud of it.
Ciaran gave an appreciative nod, while Faun mentioned importantly, "Then we must start preparing and kepping a lookout, shouldn't we?". The other two hardly had time to nod as there was a sudden crunch of leaves nearby.
The eerie silence seemed to drag on for about a minute and then…
"ARRGGGHHHH! LET GO OF ME! I'M WARNING YOU! GO TACKLE SOMEONE YOUR OWN SPECIES!" Faun keeled over for the second time in a week as the same guard that was following Lachlan was awkwardly and violently wrestling Faun to the ground, and brandished his sword to Faun's throat.
"NOOOOO! GET LOST YOU MOTHER FLIPPING…" Ciaran's booming yell was silienced at once when he saw small beads of blood appear on Faun's throat. With everybody hushed, the guard picked up Faun and beckoned Ciaran and Lachlan to come with him to the castle.
There was not a movement as Ciaran, Faun, Lachlan and the guard entered the Hall. King Luigi's eyes widened with both excitement and rage. Lachlan knew that he felt betrayed but he didn't care.
The King stood up and spoke to the rest of the audience about what are the consequences that occur to those who meddle with the King's instructions. Meanwhile, the three were looking desperately at each other for plan B while knealing on the ground. Then, a mischeveous grin stretched across Faun's face as he looked across to Ciaran, who meerly nodded. It was time for Faun to shine. Suddnely, Ciaran faked a series of loud coughs which turned into a wild seizure.
A suspicious guard came near Ciaran who took a cautious look at him. Faun had no second to spare and he stood up, cut the rope of his hands against the guard's sword, knocked him out with his almighty goat legs, grabbed the sword and cut the other two's ropes, and then ran for it!
Ignoring the King's death threats, the three sprinted out of the Hall, out of the castle (Faun glave blood noses to anyone who tried to hinder them) and into the cool night. All three of them whooped and jumped for joy as they continued running across the grounds and reached the palace gates. Ciaran used his magic to open the gates and were just about to escape when a guard came out of nowhere and brandished his sword about, which made a deep gush in Lachlan's left arm and it was half severed off.
"Oh you slobbering codface!" retorted Ciaran, as they supported Lachlan and ran as fast as they could. Lachlan tried to resist the temptation to swear out loud and instead gave an ear-splitting cry.
They did it! They were free, free to roam around, practice magic and do whatever they wished. They stopped at a long and flowing river and laid Lachlan down on his side. Ciaran knew that he couldn't mend it fully, but did what he could to lessen the pain and clean the mess up.
"I can't believe it! Faun, you're amazing! Such a ninja! And Ciaran, I wish I had your magical abilities. Look, I know that I've lost an arm, but at least we got out and we can live however we want to! You guys are one of a kind" Lachlan managed to express a few words, and they all broke into a merry, joyful laugh which lasted through the whole wonderous night.