Arrows pointed at their heads and were ready to fly. The straining of the bow creaked as the watchers held their aim in place.
"Help us! My friend is dying!" Claire yelled. She begged for help.
Eilonwy started muttering nonsense.
Tabitha shook with fear as thunder roared across the sky. She struggled to keep her friend up around her shoulders. Her legs were shaking. "Elle, it's going to be okay." She hardly believed what was coming out of her mouth.
"Stay your hands!" A strong and powerful voice echoed. A middle-aged man with a closely shaven head approached the edge of the watchtower. "Who are you?" He demanded. A faint Irish accent rolled off the top of his tongue.
Claire shook. The tone in his voice reminded her of her father. She bit the side of her tongue just enough to regain her self control. "My name is Claire. And these are my friends, Elle and Tabitha." She paused, all eyes on her. "We came from up that trail, from some ruins. We were attacked and separated from our families." There came an echo as her voice bounced off the stone walls.

The men in the watchtower were talking amongst themselves. Finally, the man from before spoke again.
"My name is Torin. I'm the captain of the watch here in Promise." He leaned his hands on the stone and grasped the edge. "What's wrong with your friend?"
How were they to answer him? They hadn't the faintest idea of what was wrong with Elle. Fire shot out of her hand like magic—it was magic! But how was that possible? Were they all asleep and dreaming? No. They were in too much pain to be dreaming.

After many long seconds, Tabitha opened her mouth. "My friend protected us from the creatures inside the ruins. She was only trying to keep us safe. Please, she's hurt badly." Perhaps it was the meek and helpless tone in her voice that helped the man known as Torin make up his mind. He raised a hand and then bawled it into a fist, and the men lowered their arrows.
"Open the gate!" He ordered. The rain started to pour.
There was some confusion to his command so, he repeated himself, louder this time. It seemed to do the trick, and as the gate started to open, the man, Torin, turned and started making his way down.

Claire and Tabitha walked a few more paces forward, their strength giving way from trying to keep Eilonwy on her feet.
The captain of the watch ran to meet them. He effortlessly took Eilonwy in his arms. His blue eyes bore into the younger girls. Little gray hairs scattered all over what was once a rich color of chocolate brown. He was tall, broad shoulders and large hands—large enough to wield a sword, which was ironically attached to his side with a thick leather belt and scabbard.

Eilonwy's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she stopped moaning and started having a coughing fit. Black liquid spurted out of her mouth. The same black liquid seeped from her hand where the stone sat snugly attached.
"Gods..." Torin breathed, hardly believing the sight himself. He turned on his heel quickly, Claire and Tabitha right behind him.

The gate quickly shut behind them with a loud thunk.
"Dad, what's going on?" A young boy walked quickly alongside them. He glanced back at Tabitha and Claire and then at Eilonwy. "Who are they? Why was the gate opened? I thought we—"
"Driskoll! Not now!" He picked up his pace. "Questions later. I order you to stay with the watch while I get these girls to the healers."
"Dad, I—"
"That is an order, son!"
The young boy stopped dead in his tracks, watching his father go and disappear into the crowd.

It felt like an eternity before they reached the healers. Walking up the gray stone steps was a challenge for Claire and Tabitha. Keeping up with the captain of the watch was nearly impossible. Thankfully he slowed his pace and called for help. The front doors swung open. Torin barked orders, Eilonwy leaving his arms and into the hands of more strangers. But it was these strangers whom the girls had to put their trust in; who else was going to help them?

Two women in fine brown and green robes ushered Tabitha and Claire to a separate room. They were unwilling at first as they watched Eilonwy carried off somewhere else.
"Your friend is safe with us. We will do what we can for her."
"You fucking better!" Claire spat out. She didn't mean to be rude, but she was at her wit's end, and her body wouldn't stop trembling. The moment Claire passed through the gate, her usual tough-self fell apart. She wanted to believe that she and her friends were safe. But she didn't know these people, and she didn't know where she was.

All thoughts racing through her mind came to an abrupt stop when Tabitha reached out to hold her hand.
"Claire..." Her voice shook. "Let's go with them."
Claire looked at her friend, eyes wide, and then back at the women. She nodded once and followed.

They could hear Eilonwy's screams as the clerics wetted down the cloth and cleaned the dirt from the girls' faces. They had a few scratches and bruises but nothing life-threatening.
"You are both lucky." Said one of the female clerics. Her voice was soft, and she jumped every time Eilonwy gave out a scream.
"What's wrong with our friend? Is she going to be okay?" Tabitha asked. Her cheeks and eyes were red from all the crying.
The female cleric bowed her head. "Do not worry."

Meanwhile, Claire watched everyone walk around her as she and Tabitha continued to sit. She surveyed her surroundings, looking for any clues as to where they were. Blue banners were hanging on the walls and ceiling with a white dragon embroidered in the middle of the velvety fabric.
"Now, stay perfectly still." The cleric said.
Claire focused her attention on the cleric as she watched the young woman stand and hover her hands over them both. A warm ray of light shined on them briefly.
Claire shot up out of her seat and grabbed the chair. "Stay back!" She warned the cleric, threatening to throw the chair.
Tabitha sat frozen in her seat as she stared at her hands. "I feel weird." She mumbled
"Miss, put that chair down, please. I'm trying to heal you."
Claire laughed nervously. "Ya right. What you just did is physically possible." Her voice squeaked and cracked.
The cleric looked mildly confused and offended. "I'm just trying to help." She tried to explain, but Claire didn't care.
"Where's the damn doctor?" Her voice cracked again, feeling hoarse from her previous yelling.

At that very moment, Tabitha slumped in her chair, completely unconscious.
"Tabby!" Claire was seconds away from throwing the chair when it slipped out of her hands. When she turned to see who the culprit was, she found it hovering in the air. An older male cleric had his hands in the air, all of his attention on the chair and keeping it afloat with an invisible force. He slowly let it down and away from Claire's reach.
Claire watched in disbelief, her shoulders drooping, eyelids fluttering, and knees buckling beneath her.

Eilonwy was not as fortunate as her friends as she still struggled with the pain. Her sanity was slipping from her. She couldn't talk, only scream. Nothing the clerics did for her made her feel better. Only screaming helped.
She stared up at the ceiling while lying on a bed and watched it twist. Next, she looked at the walls and swore to herself that they were melting. But no one else could see what she saw, and then reality clicked, and she soon realized that whatever was wrong with her was playing tricks on her mind. The walls were not melting, and the ceiling was not twisting. It was all in her head. So she closed her eyes tight and bit her lower lip, suppressing her screams. Her throat hurt too much to continue in this way.

Lastly, the clerics held her down. They grabbed her arm where the pain was coming from and held her palm upright, struggling to keep her from bawling her hand into a fist.
"This..." One cleric started.
"It's a curse." Another spoke.
"There's only one thing we can do for right now. We need to put a barrier on it."
"We'll need a wizard's help."
"Jourdain..."A cleric dared to leave the room. He opened the door and rushed down the halls. When he couldn't find who he was looking for he ran outside and saw the captain of the watch. "Sir, we need your wife's help!"
Torin said nothing but nodded.

Jourdain was halfway across town when she heard about all the commotion. As soon as she heard from Torin what was happening, she rushed to the cleric's to aid them.
Eilonwy was still fighting to stay awake.
Jourdain rolled up her sleeves. "Keep her awake." Her voice was firm and unwavering. She whispered an incantation, a foreign spell but a powerful one. The energy in the room died down, and the air became breathable again. It took a few tries, but within the hour, Eilonwy stopped tossing and turning and lay half-awake on the bed.
Jourdain rushed to her side while a cleric bandaged up her hand to cover the stone embedded into her palm.
"There there. All is well now." She caressed Eilonwy's hair, pushing back long locks out of her face. Before closing her eyes completely, Jourdain glimpsed at two different colored irises.

Jourdain rose to her feet calmly and asked the eldest cleric. "I was told there were three girls."
The cleric nodded. "They are being taken care of in a different room. It appears they are in better condition. Thank the Gods."
"Hmm. I see. And where did these girls come from?"
"The ruins, my lady."
Jourdain looked down at Eilwony's sleeping form, one brow raised. These girls were not here by accident.

Author's note: If you like the story so far, please please please leave a review! Otherwise I'll stop updating and leave it to gather dust (because ill assume nobody is interested) and keep the story locked away inside my head.