Chapter 2

The Promise

She fell down again and started crying over her bleeding knee, but started running again to hear the sound of the leaders and their dogs racing in her direction. She hated them, they murdered her family, worked them to death then gave them all the tortures possible in the camp but she survived.

Being in the forest at night wasn't a good for a child as young as her (she's only 100 yrs. at this time, so she's six years old in Earth years), and the Merciless Wolves always fed at this time.

Merciless Wolves were said to be as strong and merciless as the four leaders themselves, judging from the many tales told of their existence. Sometimes the four leaders would hold tournaments in the camp to see which prisoner was the strongest of fighting seven Merciless Wolves at once, only using a sword and a dull wooden shield and most never survived.

If any prisoner survived, they would be rewarded freedom to leave the camp with new clothes and food, never to be bothered again but she never believed the trash the leaders spoke of to the prisoners, but sadly all believed them. 'Their minds are corrupted from seeing their own kind die suffer, and from the beatings,' she always thought to herself as she grew up in the camp since she was two, four years of pain and suffering.

But one day three years ago, a prisoner was victorious against the seven wolves and he really was awarded freedom to leave. His name was Lyle, a wind demon with fuzzy brown hair and a small build for a boy of 300 yrs. old (in this story, he would be 8 in Earth years). She had met him after his victory, as he was leaving the camp…

'You were great out there Lyle!' she complimented happily, but made sure she spoke quietly, for the leader's rules said that every prisoner was forbidden to speak out loud ever…if so, death was the penalty, no matter who it was. 'Thanks Loreena, I'll miss talking with you at night,' he whispered, ruffling her hair playfully and laughing softly. 'I'll miss you too Lyle, be careful oks?' she asked, her toothy smile making him pick her up and hug her. They had known each other ever since they became partners in the shack they shared for 200 yrs, they always trusted each other with their secrets and futures if they ever got out alive. 'Always remember me ok Lyle?' she asked nervously, hearing some rustling in the bushes and scooted closer to him. He held her at his side and looked around for a moment, then bent down and told her to hold out her small hand.

She opened her hand to see a beautiful round blue diamond held up by golden wings on a gold chain. 'This was my mother's before she died, and since you remind me of my family, I want you to have it Loreena, he whispered, placing is hand over hers. He mouthed goodbye before he strolled out of the bushes, waving goodbye to her.

But suddenly, she heard a scream of pain and she rushed into the forest to see Lyle fall to the ground dead, a knife in his head and in his back.

'LYLE NO!' she screamed in her mind and snarled to see Rathan jump down from a tall tree and laugh to himself, kicking the body aside and going back to camp. Loreena started to run away when Rathan, using his inhuman agility, grabbed by the hair from behind and laughed cruelly.

'Sorry, no emotions are to be shown in this territory,' he whispered slyly in her ear, taking her back to the camp and that's what happened to her that changed her forever.

Once back at the hell camp, a collar of the Vow of Silence was placed on her neck and she was terribly beaten by all the torture options…Rathan teaching her to be obedient and never turn down an order from anyone, even her family who was killed shortly after Lyle was burned for trying to escape with Loreena…and that's how she started running for her life that night, and met that one person she could trust.

She stopped running and hid inside an old log by a large pond, relaxing with relief in her mind as the footsteps went in the opposite direction.

Once they had gone the other way, she slowly crawled out of the log but only stopped to see a pack of Merciless Wolves standing a few feet away from her. 'Oh no, they must've caught my scent as I was running and must've followed me!' she thought, remembering the skills her father taught her: never make any sudden moves when standing before a pack of Merciless Wolves.

They snarled before her, drool hanging on the edge of their jaws, showing the hunger and lust reflected in their hellfire eyes. She whimpered softly as they circled her slowly, though she didn't dare move. A small breeze sent her falling to her knees and shivering, and the wolves leapt in to feed. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" she yelled, but her voice was soon choked with fear and tears as the leader began biting her arm.

Her scream sent the wind to pick up and seem more threatening as a figure appeared in sight, and the wolves started running after her savior.

But her rescuer was too strong for the wolves and pretty soon it was raining wolf skin, blood and bones. She trembled with fear as the figure came closer but she was shocked to see that the figure was about her age, or at least two hundred years older (which means two years in my fic!).

He had red hair sticking up with a single white horn on his head and he had bright ice blue eyes, he was wearing white pants with two white stripes of fabric crisscrossing on his chest…not to mention he had big muscles for a little wind master and that he had a cute smile with two small fangs poking out.

"Doncha kno' 's dangerous 'ere a' noight lassie?" he asked, his childish Scottish accent making her smile a little as he held out his hand. "Let me help yu up." His smile was kind of goofy but she seemed to like him, brushing herself off but held her arm tight from the wolf attack. "Does tha' hurt?" he asked quietly, examining the wide teeth marks. She didn't answer, so he knew something was preventing her from talking.

And then he saw the collar on her neck that had the language of the Netherworld on it. "Yu 're from tha' camp aren't yu?" he asked softly, she nodded and looked down. He walked closer to her and tried to get the collar off but his hand was shocked and he stepped back a little. "Wha's yu're name lassie?" She pointed to the collar and he saw her name imprinted on the top in black print: LOREENA. "Me name is Jin, noice t' meet yu Loreena." He shook her undamaged hand, then took her bleeding arm and whispered ancient healing words of his clan.

Soon enough, the bite mark was gone and nothing but dried blood remained. She smiled as thank you and he smiled nervously as he studied her for a bit, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

Her hair was died black with tar, her face had a couple of scratches and her black working kimono worn out and her skin was pale as ever. She noticed he was studying her and she felt tears come to her eyes, but he banished them away with his small hand.

"Yu're a Night Maiden, 'ren't yu?" he asked and she nodded sadly, pointing to her now black hair, trying to make him understand it was once another color.

He seemed to get the idea and told her to wash her hair in the pond ahead, and that her real hair color would come back in no time at all. She seemed to believe him and walked over and dipped her head inside the clear water…and he was right. Her hair was now back to bright auburn and shone brightly in the moonlight, and she ran back to him to show him.

"Told yu it would work," he assured her and led her to the small cabin by the pond.

It was warm and cozy inside, the scent of lemon, rosemary and berries filled the room and Loreena looked around in excitement. Jin led her to far side of the cabin by the window and gave her a towel to dry her hair, and he laughed when she shook her hair and little bits of water splashed in his face.

The cabin had a long looking burgundy colored couch with big fluffy looking white pillows, a small fire glowing brightly in the hole by the wall. A couple of beds were made neatly and extra blankets were stacked nicely by the beds, and Loreena noticed that dried herbs were hanging from the ceiling.

"Yu hungry a' all?" he wondered, turning to see her exploring the small space. She nodded gratefully and followed him as he led her outside where he started a fire and stuck two dead ducks on a large cooking stick and they watched them cook.

While they waited, Jin wandered off and came back with fresh fruit such as ripe red and green apples, all kinds of berries, almonds and water canteens. Her eyes showed amazement that he was so strong and clever for someone as young as her, but she helped him set up their dinner and took out her special Night Knife and cut the duck into sections.

After they ate, while she was helping putting the fire out, Jin noticed the necklace on Loreena's neck and he walked over to look at it. She undid the clasp and let it drop in his hand.

"Is dis wha' I think 't is?" he asked in amazement, surprised as the stone changed to pure white and he held it up to the moonlight…the white color in the stone remained. "Dis is a Mirror stone!"

She looked at it with him and when he gave it back to her, the stone changed to pure black. "I 'eard tha' stone loik dis are supposed to possess amazin' powers. Where di' yu get dis from?" She wanted to tell him but she couldn't find a way to explain of how Lyle gave it to her before he was killed by Rathan.

He saw that she couldn't explain since she was forced to be mute, so he hooked it back on for her then led her back inside, for thunder threatened rain. They left the seeds of the berries and the bones of the duck to be soaked in the rain; the only thing that mattered was not getting wet.

The fire welcomed warmth as they both sat down and nibbled on the last of the berries in silence. Then before the embers died, Jin put more wood inside the hole and the fire continued to burn.

But suddenly, Loreena started crying and Jin put a hand on her shoulder. "Wha's wrong Loreena?" he asked, nervous if he did anything to offend her. She looked at him with watery eyes and looked around the room, and he seemed to get her idea. "Yu never really 'ad a home, yu miss yu're family?" he guessed and she nodded and started crying again.

He really didn't know what to do, but he scooted closer and hugged her close, letting her cry for a while and settle down. She was surprised inside that she was being held and comforted by a complete stranger that was alone like her…had no family to look up to while growing up. But she hugged him too for a little bit, wanting to share her pain and loneliness with Jin.

He released her when she sat up and wiped her face, but she smiled and grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. He was shocked by her reaction but when he realized she was snickering he grabbed the same pillow and hit her this time and they started to have a pillow fight.

They jumped up and down on the couch, and then started running all over the room, hitting and dodging each other's hits. The pillow fight lasted a while longer before Loreena surrendered and yawned sleepily.

"Tha' was fun!" Jin said cheerfully, dropping tired on the couch next to her. She nodded and yawned again, the sound making her more cute looking, but out of the blue Jin started tickling her and they laughed again as they wrestled on the couch trying not be tickled by the other.

But Jin stopped when Loreena fell off the couch and hit her head but she just laughed hysterically and jumped back on the couch but yawned again, totally tired out from fun.

"Moight as weel git some sleep," he said tiredly, jumping on one of the beds. She followed and sat next to him by the bed and prayed to the Gods above for peace and for the torture to end.

After the prayer, they got into each of the two beds and fell asleep within a few minutes, the storm not bothering them at all.

When morning came, it was cloudy and misty when Jin woke Loreena up by jumping on the bed and starting another pillow fight. She was awake instantly and attacked him back with her pillow and it lasted longer than the other last night.

But it didn't last long before their stomachs growled louder than the sound of hitting pillows, so they carefully went outside to get breakfast.

They ate more apples and drank lots more water, and then Jin found some bread left over in the small cupboard next to his bed so they together made toast with fresh raspberry and gooseberry jam.

After that, they were going to go back inside but Jin spotted two tall looking demons searching the house. They started trashing the place apart, and they both ran into the forest quietly.

After hiding in large thick bushes, they caught their breath and she scooted closer to Jin as she heard Jacknife and Rathan come closer but was glad to hear that they didn't bring their three headed dogs to hunt them down easier.

"Who 're t'ose demons?" he asked her softly, she pointed to her collar and he was shocked that the demons who were chasing them two of the four leaders of the camp Loreena was from.

She wrapped her small arms around his arm in fear, the demons coming closer. He looked around carefully, and then looked back at her, taking her hands in his.

"Will I see yu again Loreena?" he asked quickly, her eyes weren't sure but she undid the necklace and gave it to him. She mouthed the words to him what to do and he did so, using his wind powers to break the stone in half, one piece white and one piece black, the golden wings supporting the stone were also broken down the middle.

They took each other's hands and whispered an oath, trying to hurry up for the demons were almost onto their trial. "I Jin, of th' Wind Clan promise yu Loreena tha' we will meet again. An' when we do, I will protect yu from them," he said, she mouthed the words best she could.

"Goodbye, Loreena," he whispered sadly, putting the stone in his pocket and kissed her cheek, then they tried to run out of the bushes to try and get away from Rathan and Jacknife.

But the demons were faster and caught the children from behind, Jacknife holding Jin and Rath holding Loreena by her auburn hair.

"Seems like our little troublemaker dislikes the way we do things," Rathan said to his partner, Jacknife nodded but suddenly let go of Jin as the wind demon bit deeply into the ice demon's hand.

"You little maggot!" Jacknife cursed, but Rathan held him back. "We got what he came for, we can't mess with little runts like him, he'd be too stubborn to break," Rathan assured his companion, Jacknife disappeared and started jumping from tree to tree back to the castle.

Jin tried to follow them but Rathan used his Bind Dagger to pin Jin against the tall tree, and he extended his wings and started flying away. "LOREENA!" Jin called out, trying to escape to help Loreena. Loreena struggled to get free of Rathan's grip on her but it was no use.

But suddenly, she felt this strange power come from her half of the stone. She felt the enormous power of the collar cease and she felt her voice come back, but only for a few seconds.

"JIN!" she yelled, her voice like an angel and high and sweet sounding. Rathan wanted to cover his ears from the sound but he tightened his grip on Loreena's waist and he made her go unconscious.

Jin finally got down from the knife and ran back home, but it was trashed everywhere. He stepped back when he saw the red writing on the wall above the fire hole, a curse written in red demon blood:

YE WHO BREAKS THE LAW OF BLACK CROSS FORTRESS SHALL NEVER SEE DAYLIGHT AGAIN! THE DEPTHS OF THE NETHERWORLD CURSES YOU FOR ETERNITY!

"Nah, not Loreena," Jin whispered, feeling hot tears of anger run down his heartbroken face. "I will find 'er…an' kill those meanies!" he swore, but kept his cool and started cleaning up his damaged home but didn't dare clean off the demon curse.

'This is a' me fault,' he thought. 'I failed her, but I will see 'er again. I promised her after all.'

TO BE CONTINUED…