This story is dedicated to my best friend (You know who you are ;D) for test reading this story and encouraging me to publish it. Thank you for being so patient with me ;)
'Sparrows and Visions'
Prologue
'Father, I can't leave you here. They will kill you!' Rachel's voice was full of despair and fear. Her father looked into her blue eyes; the eyes that reminded him of his dead wife: 'You have to go, Rachel. The soldiers I killed when we were defending our village have come back from the dead. They will be here in a few minutes and by that time you have to be on your way to the Seeker. I taught you how to fight so you could one day find the Seeker and help protect him from the evil that has come over the Midlands since the veil was torn. For the first time in months we know exactly where the Seeker is. You have to face the task you were born to take now, and without me.' 'But…!' Rachel didn't want to believe what her father was saying.
A loud knock behind her made Rachel spin around to face the door of the little farm house in which she had spent her whole life. The farm had always seemed like the safest place in the world, but now it was like a small island surrounded by a stormy sea. For some months now Rachel had felt that her home couldn't protect her from the storm outside much longer, but when Darken Rahl had been defeated, it gave her a little comfort. However, she had been aware that this small victory would only extend the quiet before the storm, but couldn't hold it off.
Now that the moment she had waited for so long came, Rachel was still overwhelmed as her father pushed her to the backdoor, telling her she had to take her horse and ride off into the forest as fast and as quietly as she could. He embraced his beloved daughter for one last time before turning away from her to face his certain death. Rachel would never forget the look in her fathers eyes: so full of love and pride at how strong his daughter was. Only when the backdoor slammed shut before her face she had the heart to take the reins of her horse which her father had tied to a fence nearby. She mounted and rode straight into the forest which lay behind their house. Rachel didn't look back, knowing that if she did, she wouldn't be able to go on.
XXX
Inside the house, the Banelings had been watching the girl flee into the woods. One of them, a man with short blonde hair, spoke in a nervous, but impatient tone: 'We can't let her escape. She has to be killed now, before she can join the Seeker and protect him. Besides, if we follow her into the woods, we will have one day at the most until the Keeper calls us back.'
Their leader, a huge man with slightly darker hair, grinned and made his way towards the back door: 'Don't you worry about that. She won't get very far. Lucky for us the Keeper won't call us back before we get her. But I wouldn't waste any time. If we catch her soon, we can still have some fun with her.' The others let out a throaty laugh before charging through the backdoor of the small house, trampling the body of the old man lying on the ground.
XXX
For two days and a night she searched the forest, but couldn't find any tracks to show her where to find the Seeker and his companions. It was in the second night, when the moon was at its highest point, that she suddenly heard voices. The hope which had left her when she sought shelter in this dark cave came back, and it was stronger than her fear of being discovered by the Banelings. As she crawled out of the cave and slowly moved into the direction where she heard the voices, Rachel's heart lightened up, because two of the voices belonged to women. 'The Mother Confessor and the Mord'Sith' she thought, now being convinced she had found what her father had asked her to. The sound of a breaking twig behind her made Rachel jump to her feet and turn around.
'Now, look who's here? No doubt you're the child this old man sent to protect the Seeker and the Confessor. And now you've led us straight to them. The Keeper will reward you!' The Baneling laughed and Rachel saw that his face was already rotting. He needed to kill someone soon and his followers didn't seem to be less bloodthirsty. Her horse bolted at the sight of the man, and Rachel let go off the reins, watching it disappear into the mist. With a cry Rachel started to run in the direction she had heard the voices of the Mother Confessor and the Mord'Sith – this was her only hope to warn them; she couldn't fight the Banelings, they were too many. But Rachel didn't get very far, she suddenly felt a pain she had never experienced before, followed by a cold spreading from her left shoulder until it reached her heart. Rachel half realised that she would die before falling to the ground, darkness surrounding her…