"Come on, don't stay far behind, Kailee."
My uncle Liam walked swiftly between the crowd, pulling along the horse we had just bought. I was struggling to keep up, my small skinny legs were too slow to match his quick pace and my long messy hair kept getting in my eyes which were trying to take in every sight from the tangled city, every single strange person that walked in the filthy streets under the looming presence of the eerie cathedral. The children running around on the streets had their clothes and faces maybe even dirtier than the streets itself.
We had come to the city of Dras-Leona in need of a horse since our last one had sadly been killed in a raid. My uncle Liam and I made our living by transporting goods from city to city throughout the kingdom. It was quite fun traveling around, but it was very dangerous. Lately, raids had increased and we were forced to be extra cautious and take longer routes.
Nevertheless, we had been attacked about two weeks ago. Uncle was a man in his late forties; his graying hair, heavy wrinkles, and thin body made him seem a vulnerable and easy target, and a small eight-year-old girl wasn't going to help much.
And so, on our way to Uru'baen, a group of five men had been following us for the last couple of leagues, waiting to attack until night fell. That night our camp was silent. We tried to stay alert, feigning sleep, our sharp swords ready by our side. I kept my bow in my hands, it made me feel safe.
And attacked they did. Not so long after 'falling asleep,' two men jumped out from behind the trees and went directly to kill my uncle. The other three rushed to take over our horse and wagon. My uncle was up in a flash, swords clanging fiercely with the two men.
I too jumped up on my feet, nocking an arrow and pointing at the men raiding the goods in our wagon. One of them, who seemed to be the most clumsy and obnoxious one of the group, killed our horse for no other reason than his perverse pleasure.
"Are you an idiot? We could have used that horse," argued the one in charge.
I aimed at the obnoxious one, anger and sorrow crashing through my mind. The arrow whizzed by, claiming the target and sinking into the large man's head. His heavy weight fell to the ground beside the now dead horse, a thick thud resounding in the dark. I couldn't see the blood, but just thinking about it made me nauseous.
The other two were surprised of their companion's sudden death and searched for where the arrow had come from. Their eyes widened a bit, not expecting to see a child as the attacker, and then ran towards me, swords glinting and yearning for blood. I was still a bit shocked but recovered in time to shoot one of them down. Before the other one reached me, I pulled out my sword and blocked his strike. His blows were heavier but messy and I thrust my sword into his side when he left himself wide open.
"Kailee, are you alright?" Uncle Liam asked, suddenly appearing, stepping over the dead body and placing his hands on my shoulder.
"Yes...yes I'm okay Liam, but they killed Hinny," I said, pointing towards the dead horse. We lost almost everything as most of the goods had been destroyed and we didn't have the horse to pull the wagon anymore, forcing us to leave the wagon behind.
The closest city to us was Dras-Leona, but it took us a while to reach on foot and by the time we arrived, our feet were so sore from walking. The breaks we had taken barely helped at all.
Uncle pointed out the bare jagged rock that grew bigger as we neared the city. "Helgrind," he said, "the city worships it," and proceeded to tell me more about it. Hearing about the city's religion creeped me out. No wonder uncle never brought us here.
We stayed in an inn for the night, finally getting to rest our tired feet. I stayed awake for a while, thinking of our poor Hinny, and the men I had killed, and about Helgrind and the scary cathedral that sent shivers down my spine just thinking of. And the bed was so uncomfortable, maybe the floor would have been better...
The next morning we went out onto the streets, stopping to buy some bread for breakfast, then searching for what we needed to refill our supplies and searching for a strong sturdy horse. After hours of wandering around, we finally found the perfect horse. He was lean and strong with a beautiful black coat dotted with white spots.
"What are we going to name him Kailee?" asked Uncle Liam after paying for the horse, our money pouch sadly depleting.
"Hmm what about...Avery! Or maybe Jeremy?"
"I like Avery," he said after a moment of thinking. He smiled at me, his gray eyes glinting, and patted the horse's head. "From now on you will be honored with the name, Avery."
"Great!" I beamed at Uncle Liam and jumped happily.
"Come on, don't stay far behind, Kailee," he chuckled.
We finished buying our supplies by mid afternoon and decided to head out immediately to Uru'baen, which was where we had been heading to before being attacked, and where lived a close friend of Uncle Liam who might be able to help us recover from our loss.
We were grateful to have Avery to ride on to Uru'baen, no way would we have been able to reach that distance by foot.
I loved traveling with Uncle Liam. Uncle never ran out of good stories to tell, most of them being about his adventures when he was younger. And every evening one of us would hunt while the other cooked, changing routine every other day. After eating, we would spar with our swords or we would practice our archery, usually making a game out of it, which would lead to a bet on which the loser would end up walking instead of riding on Avery the next day. It was our common routine while traveling, and we always traveled, never staying more than a week in any city.
After days of riding, we came upon Uru'baen. We were able to pass into the city with no trouble and decided it would be best to find Uncle Liam's friend as soon as we could.
Uncle Liam's friend was a grumpy, but really kind man. He had his own prospering trading businessand was able to help us, although, for some reason, he almost denied to do so. He and Uncle spent a long time talking, meanwhile, I had some free time to myself which I happily spent wondering around the city.
We stayed the night at his home, finally eating a good delicious meal and resting in a comfortable bed.
Uncle wanted to leave the very next day, even though his friend wished for us to spend a few more days in his company. But it made Uncle a bit nervous, he never wanted to stay too long. We compromised and spent the next day wandering around the city with him, but set upon leaving the day afterward. I kind of wished we could have stayed there for a while, after all, a soft comfy bed is a nice change from sleeping in the ground or bug infested beds.
We were finally all set to leave, our new wagon was up and ready to go. Uncle had already spoken with his customers and made agreements and different arrangements to accommodate the loss of the previous goods. We slowly made our way out of the city, stopping here and there to speak with people who recognized us from previous trips.
Everything was fine. But it all changed when a strange man called out to my Uncle and ran towards us. Somehow he seemed vaguely familiar. He spoke with my Uncle in hurried whispers and kept looking behind him. I wondered if something was wrong until I saw two soldiers also run towards us. Something was definitely not right. I sat inside the wagon, unsure of what to do. My hand rested nervously on my sword's handle.
My Uncle took notice of the soldiers and cursed under his breath. "Hurry, get up," he motioned to the strange man. I leaned over the edge of the wagon and reached my hand out to help him get up, and Uncle took off just as the man's feet left the floor. He tumbled inside and took a moment to balance himself as much as he could, but the wagon kept swerving and jostling, and he fell to his side.
"Are you okay?" I asked, still very much confused with the sudden change of events and our newcomer. He was an average man with dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes, that couldn't have been over his thirties. His clothes were ruffled but were of better quality than I had ever seen. Who could he be?
"Quite fine," he answered, crouching down and taking a look outside. A curse flew out of his mouth and he took out his rapier, keeping it ready to attack. I looked at it, feeling scared of the events that were rolling out, but it seemed Uncle trusted him so I stayed quiet, my hand never leaving my sword.
We started hearing loud shouts from outside. The man turned to me andoffered an apologetic smile, his blue eyes tinted with a hint of sadness. "The name's Darin...I'm sorry for the trouble, little lady."
"What's go-"
The wagon came to a sudden halt and we almost fell out. Uncle Liam jumped off, drawing his sword out and defending himself from the group of soldiers that had surrounded the wagon.
"Liam!" I cried out. Uncle Liam bested them easily, but they were too many for him alone. Darin joined him and together they took down many of the soldiers.
I stood frozen, just watching the scene before my eyes. Why? Why is Uncle doing this? Why would he be fighting against the king's men? We despised the king, but I never thought to see him- No, wait. Why am I not by his side? I battered myself for not going to his aid sooner and took out my sword. Whatever is going on, I have to be with him. I jumped down from the wagon and joined in, taking down as many soldiers as I could.
But there were too many. This is suicide, I thought. From the corner of my eye, I saw Darin easily take down two men. Who is he? What trouble has he stirred us in? I barely dodged a slash from a sword, dancing away and stabbing the soldier on his thigh, and then slashing it across the abdomen of the one behind me. I had never fought for a long period and was getting tired way too quickly.
Uncle Liam took notice of me and his face grimaced in concern.
"Darin, take Kailee into the wagon and leave," he shouted amidst the clanging of metal.
"No!" I stared at him in disbelief. But Darin pulled me away with one arm while still fighting with the other one.
"Get in." His face was red and sweaty, veins pulsing against skin.
Most of the soldiers were down, but we could see more coming from the empty streets that had been busy with people just a few minutes earlier. I turned to look at Uncle. Blood was splattered everywhere on his clothes. "Liam," I whispered.
Darin heaved me up into the wagon and then got up beside me, taking Avery's reins. Avery lurched forward knocking down a man or two and fled down the streets. Uncle Liam grabbed onto the wagon as it passed by and managed to hold on and get inside. We fled through the city, avoiding people and hanging on as the wagon swerved dangerously and many times stood precariously at the edge of turning over.
Once we managed to get out of the denser part of the city, arrows buzzed past us from the archers on top of the city walls. Darin kept a hold on the reins and kept glancing back at the soldiers as Avery strained his muscles to go faster. The soldiers riding their horses were trailing right behind us, it didn't look like we would make it in time to the gates.
"Liam..." I whimpered and touched his shoulder.
"It'll be fine, Kailee. Just remember," he said, looking at me straight in the eyes, "stay strong, always keep fighting, and keep your mind safe." I nodded, his tone and words only adding to my fright, but I tried hard not to show it. Liam turned and rummaged through our possessions and grabbed my bow and pack of arrows and aimed at the archers, bringing them down one by one.
The huge gates rumbled as the soldiers raced to get them close in time. We were still too far, and Uncle Liam swore, his eyes skimming everywhere, desperately searching for a way to get us out.
"The soldiers are upon us," said Darin, his bloodied sword poised for another attack.
"Darin, you go on," responded Uncle Liam. His voice sounded close to defeat, but his face hardened with determination. He stole a quick glance my way, then jumped out of the wagon, rolled, and charged onto the wave of soldiers. Darin grimaced but kept on going.
"Wait, what? No!" I panicked as Liam left. "Darin, we can't leave him!"
Darin shook his head and was about to apologize, but didn't get to as he saw me jump out of the wagon and go after Liam. "Kailee!" he shouted but was too late. He cursed and stopped the wagon. He couldn't get caught, but he couldn't leave us behind either. He shook his head and turned the wagon around, charging it towards the soldiers and knocking a few down with the help of Avery. Darin turned the wagon around again, but this time, it fell over as Avery was stabbed and he tumbled down. Darin threw himself out of the wagon before it could trap him. He landed on his side and immediately reached out for a sword that laid close by from a fallen soldier, just in time to defend himself.
The soldiers surrounded us and closed us in together. We fought hard for what seemed like an eternity but was most likely only a couple of minutes. Weariness was taking a claim on us and holding on tightly. Numerous scratches decorated our bodies. I felt like giving up and falling onto the soiled ground as soldiers after soldiers replaced the fallen ones before us.
All of a sudden, a wave of silence swept through the area as little by little the clanging of swords stopped as the king's men halted their attacks and they parted somewhere in the middle as someone walked in between them and toward us.
We wearily held our swords, confused to what was happening. At that moment from the corner of my eye, I watched as one of the soldiers took advantage of the distraction and attacked Uncle Liam from behind. I blinked and turned around, paralyzed in horror as Uncle Liam turned and tried to block the attack, but was too late and the sword dug into his chest. Surprise took over Liam's face before he fell to the ground, his sword falling beside him as his hands clutched the sword that now protruded from him.
"Liam!" I screamed and ran towards him but was pulled to a stop by Darin. I turned and stared incredulously at him, but he was paying attention to what was going on in front of us.
A tall man strode proudly out from the group of men. His face was a white deadly pale, and his hair and eyes were darker and more crimson than the blood spilled on the soiled ground.
He took a look at us and raised an eyebrow, assimulating disbelief.
"This is what the commotion is about? You couldn't take care of these three fools?" he said, turning to look at the king's men.
Darin tightened his grip on my arm and his face paled. "Curse our luck, it's a Shade." He then leaned in and whispered to my ear.
"It's Darin, a traitor who has been leaking information to the Varden," spoke out one of the soldiers.
The Shade turned back to us and chuckled, "and a mere child? Surely you should have killed them easily."
Darin let my arm go and ran towards the Shade, sword ready to attack. I took my chance and attacked the man who had killed my uncle.
The Shade lifted his hand up and muttered a string of words, a feral smile lighting his face, and Darin and I fell to the ground unconscious.
"Lock them up," ordered the Shade and then turned and walked away.