Darken Rahl awoke and slowly opened his eyes. He was laying in a grove in the woods, the day was warm and he could hear bird song. He sat up and looked around, he was alone. How did he get here? He examined himself; he had no visible wounds and was wearing a D'Haran uniform. He had no weapons, just a water bottle and a bag that contained a piece of bread and some apples. Darken was confused, did they just let him go? He heard voices and instinctively ran out of the clearing and hid in the tall bracken. Two men entered the clearing; they were not wearing uniforms, but were armed, they looked well used to fighting so Darken remained hidden.
"Stop for a minute, I've got a stone in my boot" one of the men sat on the ground and removed his boot.
"Well hurry up, there's only a few hours till dark, he must be found before then!"
"How did he escape anyway?"
"General Egremont helped him, though he won't be doing that again."
"Why not?"
"Didn't you hear, the general was put to death."
"That's a bit harsh for helping his former master."
"He said it would serve as a warning, man woman or child, anyone trying to help Darken Rahl will be put to death."
Darken shrunk back into the woods a little, but continued to listen.
"Haven't you finished yet?"
The first man stamped on his boot. "Done, let's get going I want to get that reward."
The men moved out of the clearing, Darken sat for a moment, Egremont dead? He got up, wiped his face and moving as quietly as he could and headed in the opposite direction. He didn't know where he was going, but he needed to get as far away from those men as possible.
Darken had been walking for about half an hour when he first heard the hounds baying. He started to run through the trees, avoiding the main paths, but the sounds got closer and men were shouting, the hounds had got his scent. Fear made Darken run faster and as he ran, brambles tore at his clothes and skin, he stepped on a bramble and a large thorn stuck in his boot, after that, every time he placed weight on that foot he felt a small stabbing pain, but dared not stop running for fear of being caught. The sounds of men and hounds grew ever louder, Darken stumbled across a shallow ditch; he jumped in and ran in ankle deep water, splashing his way up stream hoping that as his scent travelled down stream it would confuse the hounds. The banks of the ditch started to get deeper and Darken decided to climb out, he was hot and tired, his lungs felt raw as he gasped in every breath and his feet slipped in the mud as he climbed, but he had to keep going he couldn't stop now, as tired as he was he managed to crawl out of the ditch on his hands and knees.
In front of him he saw a pair of boots, he looked up and a man's body was silhouetted against the sun. Darken put up his hand to shield his eyes, but still could not see the man's face, dread filled his soul as the man spoke.
"So brother we meet at last."
"Who are you?"
"I am the Seeker, the rightful leader of D'Hara and I have come to claim my throne."
"But, but I am the elder brother, I should inherit fathers title."
"Yes Darken, but you are not worthy and anyway," the Seeker knelt down beside Darken and whispered in his ear "Father always loved me the best."
"Father loved me too, he…he just didn't show it very often." His voice trailed off as he realised it wasn't true, he knew his father loved his other son 'The Seeker' more. In a quiet defeated voice he asked "What are you going to do to me?"
The Seeker stood again "Why, I am going to kill you. Goodbye brother."
The Seeker lifted the Sword of Truth high into the air, then swung it full force down towards Darken.
"No!"
Darken Rahl awoke and opened his eyes. The room was dim and he was in a soft warm bed, he had been having "The Nightmare" again, it had haunted him for years throughout his childhood and had only stopped after… after he had 'resolved' the situation. He still on occasions felt pangs of guilt over what he had done, but they were insignificant to the dread and horror that had filled his heart as a child knowing that his brother would one day hunt him down and murder him.
His head hurt and when he tried to move every muscle in his body screamed out in pain. He closed his eyes and tried to breath without it hurting. A soft hand touched his forehead and a female voice said.
"Drink this My Lord, it should help with the pain, I've sweetened it with honey to make it more palatable."
She helped him drink the bitter/sweet liquid and he felt relief course through his body. He opened his eyes and saw it was the young woman; he tried to call for the guards but could only manage a whisper.
"You need to sleep My Lord and regain your strength."
Darken tried to struggle up and croaked "Don't want to sleep, don't want to dream."
"Then sleep without dreams."
She placed a hand on the side of his head and Darken fell into a dreamless sleep…...
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To be continued... next chapter- Prisoner or Patient?