Chapter One: Loss
Faewyn choked as the poisoned air seared her lungs, the foggy vapors numbing her senses. She willed herself to at least smell- she stiffened when she caught a salty-sweet scent. She tasted it on her tongue, and suddenly a red haze flooded her mind.
A voice, soft but sure, lured her back to the real world. "Faewyn...Faewyn..." it called. Faewyn struggled through the thorns, hands reaching out for the source of the voice. "Where are you?" she cried desperately. She doubled over in pain, and fought to control herself as her body convulsed violently.
"Faewyn... let me go."
"What?" Her voice came out as squeak. She had heard those words before. An image of a woman robed in white flashed in Faewyn's blurred mind. Mother? Of course. It was just like then. She gritted her teeth. No! I can't give you up, too!
The haze lifted from Faewyn's view. Lying on the ground was the body of a torn girl, ragged gashes split in her skin and glittering crimson-red. Her eyes were wide open, but no life glistened in them anymore. Faewyn buried her face in her hands. "No..." she whispered. "Don't go away like mother... please don't leave me..." she coughed and collapsed next to the corpse of her sister.
Loneliness swallowed up Faewyn's heart, as she knew very well that she was now the only one left. She had no family- Her father had mysteriously vanished long ago, and her mother's life had been taken from illness. And now, her beloved sister was lost. Murdered by the sinister cloaked figures, and body left to shrivel in the merciless hungry blaze.
As she lay there, voices began to pierce the stifling air. Faewyn jerked her head up in alarm and pricked her ears. Had they come back to finish her off, like they did to her sister?
"I can't make out what caused this," one voice rasped. "It's too smoky. I can't even breathe normally."
"Why would anyone want to start a fire here, in the middle of nowhere?" A second, deep voice growled.
Faewyn shrank into the shadows. Whoever was here obviously wasn't the same group that had murdered her sister. She cautiously crawled across the clearing, as silently as a mouse. If I can just make for the trees, I'll be safe, she thought. She hated to leave her sister's body behind, but her need was dire.
"Break, we should check the ruins for any survivors. If there are any, they may be able to provide us some information," a third, girlish voice chirped. Faewyn's heart began to race as the footsteps became louder, crunching over dead leaves and other debris. She prodded her thoughts, trying to recall what had occurred. Even I don't know what happened, she admitted to herself. I only saw the figures and a burst of flame.
The voice, now revealed as the person called Break, scoffed. "Milady, who would have survived this disaster?"
There was a pause in which Faewyn squeezed her eyes tight and held her breath. She could feel the figures practically looming over her. "Looks like this one has," the deep voice remarked mildly.
Slowly she opened her eyes and raised her head, blinking like an owl in the early light. Three people stood over her, each with shocked expressions on. Two tall men were there- one with an open black overcoat, a white scarf and a black top hat. The other man was dressed in a strange fashion: with a white cape, purple shirt, short black pants, and strange white boots, gripping a slender cane. A little girl, dressed in a pink frilly dress stood beside them.
"My, my. What have we here? It appears I was wrong," the caped man said, with the voice Faewyn identified as the man called Break. She gulped, lost for words.
"Break, she's hurt! We must take her to the Reinsworth Mansion!" the girl cried.
Faewyn inspected herself. She was indeed covered with gashes and wounds. Pain seized her body once more, and she winced. "I'll get her," the man in black growled. He made no sound as he heaved Faewyn off of the damp, red earth. Her mind began to slip away, as the voices and rest of the world seemed to become distant and far off.
"Raven. Take her to the carriage," Break instructed the other man. "We'll stay here and investigate the rest of the area." He paused, and stared into Faewyn's closing eyes. "She had better be prepared for a long conversation once she is awake."
Faewyn's mind crashed into darkness.
Bright sunlight was the first thing Faewyn saw when she awoke. She glanced around her resting area, and saw that it was nothing she recognized. A chill ran up her spine when she realized that her body was bare, save for the clinging bandages around her skin, and a small white gown.
At that very moment, a thick blanket was draped over her shoulders. She looked up in surprise to see a young, golden-haired boy standing next to her bed, grinning from ear to ear. Faewyn rubbed her eyes in confusion.
"I'm sorry you were cold," the boy apologized, scratching the back of his head. "Something had come up, and we couldn't see to you right away."
"N-no," Faewyn stammered. "I'm fine. I-"
"Did you sleep all right?"
"Er… yes." Faewyn gulped and stared at her pillow, avoiding eye-contact with the strange boy. "Where am I? And who are you?"
The boy bowed his head. "This place is one of the bungalows belonging to the Reinsworth Family-"
"One of the four Duke Houses?" Faewyn gasped. She was fully awake now. "I'm in the house of a family of nobles?" What am I, a worthless rag-doll, doing here? She thought.
The boy nodded. "Yes. One of the Reinsworth girls rescued you from that horrible place. My name is Oz- Oz Bezarius."
Faewyn shrank into her blanket in fear. "You're- you're one of the heirs to the Four Dukes! The Bezarius family…." She dipped her head and knelt on the ground before Oz. "It's an honor to be in your presence," she murmured. "My name is Faewyn… I have no important status whatsoever, so please- do what you'd like with me."
There was a light tap on her shoulder, and Faewyn looked up to see Oz frowning. "I'll have none of that," he said with a dignified air. Then he smiled. "I'd like to be friends, not some of this "do what you'd like with me" nonsense. How about it, Fae?"
Faewyn was about to reply, when the door creaked open. In stepped the man called Break, and behind him was the girl she had seen previously. Break's face displayed the hint of a mischievous smile, while the girl's face was a dangerous tone of bright red.
Oz looked up. "Are you guys going to interrogate her now?" He asked.
Break nodded, still smiling a little. The girl sat herself in a chair in the corner of the room, a cloud seeming to hang over her.
"Miss Faewyn, correct?" Break murmured as he paced around the room, scratching his chin. Faewyn noticed for the first time that his spiked pale hair was covering the left side of his face, concealing his eye. A strange grinning doll sat on his left shoulder, and it almost appeared to be moving.
She stiffened when she heard her name. "Er- yeah," she muttered awkwardly. "How did you know what my n-"
Break waved one of his long sleeves at her dismissively. "Never mind how we knew," he chuckled. "Now." He leaned in close, so that he was almost nose-to-nose with Faewyn. His one visible eye was wide, and he was grinning wildly. "Do you know what caused the disaster?"
Faewyn narrowed her eyes and leaned backward. "No, I don't," she replied sourly. Her thoughts suddenly flashed back to what she had seen. For a brief second she was thrust back into the horror, but she quickly controlled herself. "…But I did glimpse four figures standing amidst the flame," she added.
Break stepped back, and began to pace once more. "Baskervilles?" he whispered in a soft, skeptical voice.
The girl in the corner suddenly stood up, clutching the folds of her dress. Her eyes were wide with alarm. "What is it, Miss Sharon?" Oz inquired cautiously.
"The Baskervilles? Again?" The girl, now revealed as Sharon fretted. "The last time Lord Oz encountered one of them, he nearly died!"
Oz gulped at this, and his emerald eyes clouded over, as if recalling a horrifying experience. Break nodded. "Yes… by Zwei, I believe. It'll be dangerous if the Baskervilles are lurking around, indeed."
Faewyn clutched her arm, which began to throb violently. She moaned and collapsed on the bed, as she felt sudden pain consume her.
"Break, Miss Sharon…" Oz whispered. "We should leave her be."
Faewyn hardly noticed as the group slowly filed out if the dimming room. Instead, something else had caught her attention.