A/N: Now my mass update is 75% done! Yay! And this sounded so much better when I wrote parts of it in my head. Anyways, here is chapter two – thank the gods that this year is a leap year because I got distracted this whole week by my Nintendo. Right, like me on facebook if you like my writing, and that's all. Enjoy!
A Heart-full Escape
Three Years Later
The walls and ceilings of the Telmar Angel Care Orphanage shook violently. Outside it was a peaceful spring day, with a shinning sun and clear blue sky. For everyone in the tiny Lantern Waste town it was a normal day. But in the far corner of it, in Narnia's 'best' orphanage, it wasn't quite normal. Some of the events taking place inside were normal, but not all of them.
If you listened hard enough, you could hear the angry voice of one well know woman named Miss. Felease. She was screaming hateful words; painful, harmful words in fact. Inside the orphanage a normal treatment was going on for the children there. Miss. Felease was screaming 'words of encouragement' at them. For the most part.
In the main room, hidden from view, the children were lined up against the wall in their horribly uncomfortable clothes. They were all shell-shocked and silent as they watched the eldest of them, the once beautiful Kalryn, get utterly destroyed. Kalryn was getting destroyed, well past her breaking point. Well past anyone's breaking point.
Kalryn was standing in the centre of the room, her arms at her side tensely and her back rigid. An expression of controlled and locked up terror and pain was on her face and visible in her clouded brown flecked forest green eyes. Directly in front of her was the owner of the orphanage. The hateful woman was getting in Kalryn's face and her sharp nails were already coated in blood – because she wouldn't want to use a weapon and hurt the children, now would she?
"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A MISERABLE CUR! YOU NO GOOD CRAP MADE GIRL!" the words hung in the air as Miss. Felease's hand flew. There was a sickening sound as she slapped Kalryn square in the face, her nails creating large gashes that trickled blood on her cheeks. Kalryn in flinched and blinked back tears; she was trembling and barely holding herself together. Still, she refused to back down, for her dead family.
Miss. Felease screamed a harsh oath and slapped Kalryn again, on the other cheek. It turned bright pink instantly. With a hateful glare Miss. Felease stepped back from Kalryn and went about thinking of the next punishment to inflict on her 'favourite' child. Kalryn trembled and shook as she waited. Inside, she was screaming and crying for release, if not for her promise.
As Kalryn stood there, a little girl of six cautiously walked over to her. The little girl's eyes were big with fright from their caretaker, but they also held respect for the older girl, because she seemed so strong. The little girl reached out in concern and gently touched Kalryn on the wrist. Kalryn flinched and pulled her hand away, stepping backwards at the same time. Fear was evident in her eyes, and she gently held her wrist as she trembled. The little girl stepped away, unsure and now nervous.
Miss. Felease stepped towards Kalryn again, realization and cruel pleasure shinning in her harsh eyes. She now knew exactly what to do. Kalryn stepped away as Miss. Felease stepped closer, like a game of cat and mouse. Kalryn could barely breathe, all she felt was utter terror. She was soon backed up against the wall.
"No, please," she whispered, her voice was airy and faint; it had long ago lost its beautiful, rich, and melodic quality. "Please – d – don't do this!" That was the most Kalryn had said in the past two years, every since the tortures had gotten near on unbearable for her. Miss. Felease stepped unbearably close for Kalryn.
The reaction was instantaneous.
Kalryn let out a scream and reached under her dress. She pulled out the battle knife she had once planned to kill herself with and held it in front of her, shaking. Miss. Felease stumbled back in surprise. Kalryn was sobbing now, and shaking so hard she could barely stand upright. There was a moment of tense silence.
Then Kalryn choked on her tears and made a dash for it. She bolted for the stairs and rushed up them, absolute terror fueling her steps. She raced up the stairs and through open a window. The warm spring air hit her like a punch in the face. She flinched back but at the sound of footsteps coming closer she stepped onto the ledge.
In all her years of torturement, Kalryn still hadn't lost her skill. The skill she had been born with. Still gripping the old knife in a death grip, Kalryn stood up and grabbed the roof. Kalryn took a deep breath and wriggled herself on to the creaky roof which swayed precariously. She let out a shriek and scrambled back, her heart hammering. The voice of Miss. Felease rang out, calling hateful words; Kalryn flinched at each word.
Trembling and with tears of terror streaming down her face, Kalryn crawled over to a covered hole in the roof. She reached inside with her free hand and pulled out her lyre bag. She pulled it over her shaking shoulders, wincing as the weight hit her bruised body. Kalryn's legs shook as she forced herself to stand.
There was a sudden crack as a piece of wood fell from the roof where Kalryn had climbed up. The terrified girl whirled around gasping. Miss. Felease was poking her head over the edge, screaming filthy words. Kalryn closed her eyes and shook as each one reached her. She couldn't take the terror and the pain anymore. She screamed. Kalryn let out the most high-pitched piercing scream possible, her usually beautiful voice marred and painful to hear. Everyone inside the orphanage shed from the sound; even the batty owner reacted.
The scream died into a strangled gasp and Kalryn's eyes flew open. They were full of terror and dull in light, they were barely recognizable. The knife almost slipped from Kalryn's gasp before she caught it. Her heart hammering against her chest and air not quite filling her lungs, Kalryn turned and fled.
Her feet crossed the rickety and creaking roof as fast as she could manage; awkwardly pinching, and gripless shoes causing her to stumble. Kalryn reached the far edge near an Oak tree taller than the building and stopped. She didn't have anywhere to go. She had trapped herself. A vile curse cut through the air behind her. Kalryn risked a glance and saw her hateful torturer gripping the roof and wringing her scarecrow like body onto it.
Kalryn chocked back a cry of terror as her legs gave out. Tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes as she trembled. She half covered her face with her hands and bowed her head.
"Oh Sara, Father," she whispered airily. "I've failed you. I haven't kept my promise." Kalryn continued to shake and give little squeaks and sobs. The orphanage owner had wriggled herself onto the roof and was now stumbling slowly over. Kalryn screamed and shot to her feet, gripping her knife shakily as she stepped backward. The toes of one of her feet slipped off the roof edge.
As Kalryn struggled to regain her balance, her arms pin wheeling frantically, she caught the Oak tree in the corner of her eye. "Help me," she breathed, pleadingly. Miss. Felease was merely a step away.
And then, like there was an invisible wind, the massive Oak tree groaned. The branches stirred and the leaves rustled. The trunk twisted as if under a massive weight. A huge nearby branch creaked through the air; it moved directly over Kalryn, whose eyes widen in surprise. The moving tree caught Kalryn in its branches and picked her up. Then tree bent in the invisible wind and dropped Kalryn on the ground next to the orphanage. Kalryn gasped as her feet touched the ground. Then the tree whipped back into place, the wind gone, and smashed into Miss. Felease – who then went flying backwards and crashed on to the orphanage roof, breaking through it.
Of course, at the exact moment, the town's guards and soldiers rushed in. They had heard the scream from Kalryn and rushed to find out what was happening. They stopped dead and gaped, arriving just in time to see Kalryn set on the ground and the tree crashing into Miss. Felease. Kalryn froze like a deer caught in headlights (not that they knew about those sort of things in Narnia) and trembled.
The guards, with their weapons ready, stared at her. They knew her. They knew the old admiral's daughter; they also all knew how strange and different she was. This only seemed to reinforce it. One thought struck them; she had consorted with the Woods. So they did the natural thing – they tried to capture her.
Kalryn let out a piercing shriek and sliced the knife through the air feebly before turning and running west. She ran along a pitiful dirt track that was used only by the bravest of people, because it was so close to the Woods. Kalryn ran as fast of her weak and bruised and injured legs would let her. Her heart was pounding against her chest with the speed and volume of an army warning drum. Her breath was coming in and out in short, harsh, and shallow bursts. She was so terrified she could barely get in enough air to keep conscious.
The guards raced after her, less eager than Kalryn to go along this route. They were terrified of the Woods. But they weren't the only terrified ones. Kalryn was scared to death of them, of the mere thought of them simply getting to close. It made her heart race harder and her breathing grow shallower. This only made her running worse. At some point, Kalryn must have taken a wrong turn; because she found herself with no more track to follow and a wall of dark trees in front of her.
Kalryn skidded to a stop, either panting or hyperventilating. It was hard to tell which. Kalryn stood before the Woods, shaking with uncertainty and fear as the guards rounded a corner and saw her. They gave a shout and ready their spears, prepared to take her in and hand her over to Miraz - for consorting with the Woods was deadly.
Kalryn looked back at them and gave a little scream. Her forest green eyes with the flecks of brown flickered back and forth between the trees and the soldiers. In her mind she made a split second decision without realizing it. In her heart, she knew exactly where she would rather be. With another cry at the sight of the soldiers closing in Kalryn turned to the large trees and ran in through the trunks. The guards froze and watched in horror and shock as the teenage girl disappeared into the Woods.
Through the dark and shadowy trees, past banks of wild flowers and ferns, under a canopy of glowing green leaves, ran Kalryn. She looked around in wide-eyed wonder with a kind of calm fright. Kalryn fell instantly in love with the Woods. She jump over rocks and roots, she ducked low bearing trees. She ran on and on. Her panic fading slightly, but the knife was still gripped with a white knuckled hand. At moments Kalryn thought she heard the voices of the Wood. Then there was the caw of a bird, Kalryn was so startled she stumbled over a root. She screamed as she began a head-long descent into darkness and knew no more.
Hours later, and far away in Miraz's castle, the Lord Protector, King, and uncle to the Crown Prince stood in a tower room listening to a report. It was about a girl who ran away from an orphanage on the far reaches of Narnia. The girl was an old admiral's last child, and that was an admiral who Miraz had quite liked. The girl, who would have been very useful for alliances, had been seen, supposedly, consorting with the Woods. Now Miraz wasn't stupid enough to lose soldiers by sending them to find out the truth, but he did order for the Woods to be watched very closely. He made a promise to himself. If the girl came out unharmed, she wouldn't be going back in alive.
A/N: What do you think? A bit short, I know. So review or fav or alert or whatever to let me know what you think. I want your feedback! And if you like me on facebook, I'll start replying to reviews there. Of course, this does not apply to you if you do not have facebook. But let me know how this was, see you next time!