Together, Derek and Odette walked to the stables, recruiting castle guards to accompany them along the way.
It didn't take long for them to saddle up and leave, though Derek still wished Odette would not follow him. But that was the kind of woman she was. She'd always be at Derek's side, and he was grateful for it.
Still, he had a sense of foreboding. Something was definitely more wrong than it appeared.
He, Odette, and the guards rode through the forest along a dirt road that had seen much more traffic now that the prince and princess lived nearby. In fact, the town they were headed toward had only just sprung up since Swan Lake became inhabitable again.
So, of course Derek was worried. And so was Odette. A young village meant that it was fragile. If something were to bring it down, it might never rise again.
To their horror, as they exited the woods, Odette and Derek could see the whole village in flames. The cries of frightened and injured people could be heard from afar. Even the most battle hardened soldier shuddered.
"Stay here, Odette," Derek said. This time, it was not a polite request, and Odette put her independency aside for a moment and did as he asked.
"You men," Derek called, now addressing the guards, "come with me. We'll circle around and try to sneak in and drive whoever's doing this out."
"Be careful," Odette said, speaking mostly to Derek, but hoping for the safe return of everyone who would be following him.
In answer, Derek gave her a slight nod and a smile before he rode off.
For a while, she waited. But it didn't take her long to grow restless and even bored. She hated being left out of the action, though she knew Derek had only the best of intentions when he asked her to stay behind. But surely she could do something – anything – to help out.
So she rode a bit closer, hoping to find Derek and tell him that she wasn't afraid. She wanted to help in any way she could.
But upon seeing the true horror of what was happening, she stopped.
For once, Odette wished she had listened to Derek when he said "stay where it's safe."
Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. Nothing could have prepared her for what she heard.
Before her was the smoking inferno that was a quaint, quiet little village that morning. People ran toward her, fear radiating from them as they tried to escape. Behind them were the demons responsible for the destruction.
They were dressed in black and riding on black horses. Under their hoods, two inhuman glowing red eyes shone through. The horses kicked and bit anyone in their path while their riders slaughtered those who remained. Only a few villagers managed to escape.
Unfortunately for Odette, the ones that were escaping were also leading the horsemen toward her.
By providence, Derek was not far away with a few of the guards from the castle, having driven out some of the other invaders. Seeing Odette in harm's way made him lose any sense of self preservation. He gave his horse a mighty kick and rode at full speed toward his wife.
The guards followed him closely, knowing his fear to be something that could not be reasoned with. He would charge headlong into any trap if Odette was the bait, and they knew it. They made it just before the attackers could reach Odette.
This show of force – Derek and his ten men versus the five that were about to attack the wrong person entirely – seemed to make the vandals think twice. Rather than stay and fight, they turned and rode back through the village.
Derek rode over to Odette, relieved. "Are you alright?"
She nodded blankly. Those men were quite odd. In fact, they didn't seem like men at all. They made no noise, not even the sound of the horses' hooves pounding against the ground was audible.
She felt very cold, and not just from the weather. Something evil gripped her heart and was still holding on with an icy grasp.
Derek, seeing that Odette was, indeed, not alright, took her hand reassuringly. He had planned to at least act a little annoyed that she had not stayed behind as he had asked, but the look on her face made him change his mind.
"You should go home," he suggested quietly.
"No," she said quickly, snapping out of her trance. "I'm not leaving you."
Before Derek could protest, a piercing shriek emanated from the village. Then the church steeple collapsed. More screams followed.
"Come on!" Derek said, commanding soldiers and moving toward the village. He, the guards, and Odette made their way closer.
Upon their approach, it appeared most of the attackers were gone already, vanished into thin air. From afar, Odette could see a man try to defend his family from the last of the raiders, but was brutally struck down before his assailant rode away.
Derek and Odette waited in disgusted silence for a few minutes while the guards searched the village for any more invaders.
When the guards reported back with no news of any more attackers, Odette and Derek felt it best to split up and help those who remained.
Death and suffering was all around, and years later, the thoughts of that night would haunt Odette's mind. People crowded the village, most of them cut down as they tried to escape. She was in the presence of the dead and the dying, some of whom crying out unintelligibly for help, others passing away in silence. Odette helped those she could, but it was not an easy task.
One man was so horrifically injured that he was barely identifiable as a person. He laid on the side of the road, twisted and grotesque, the picture of murder most foul.
Odette winced and looked away, only to see two children crying over their fallen parents. Gathering her courage and swallowing her grief, she went over to the children and led them away, placing them in the care of a nearby guard.
It would have broken her heart to stay with them. She knew that.
Nearby, a young boy of about sixteen gripping his knee tightly as he grimaced in intense pain. He was dragging herself away from the road, unable to walk. Finally, he gave up, and fell back, laying on the ground in her exhaustion.
Odette went to him, hoping she could help and glad that at least someone was still alive.
As the boy fought to sit up, Odette gently pushed him back down. "Don't move."
Odette ripped a long piece off of the bottom of her dress and began to wrap the boy's wound, though it was more than a mere cut. It was very highly probable that the boy would never be able to use that leg again.
"What happened here?" Odette asked.
"I don't know. One minute, everything was fine. The next… this. None of them spoke. They just butchered everyone in their path. I don't understand… Listen. There are others much worse off than me. Help them. Please."
"But your leg…"
"I can wait. The others can't. Go. Please."
Odette reluctantly stood up. Honestly, it appeared to Odette that no other survivors would be found that night. She shuddered and looked around to see Derek standing amongst the smoldering buildings, looking as if he had lost his own home. She joined him at his side.
"All this senseless killing," he whispered, too disgusted and amazed to speak any louder. "Why?"
"I don't know," Odette replied, matching his volume. "I can't understand it either."
Derek nodded and spoke up. "I've sent some men back so they can bring aid to these people, though I don't know how much good it will do if we are attacked like this again. Everyone I've talked to – those who weren't too frightened or grief stricken – says the attackers didn't speak. They had no motive other than to kill these people and destroy the village."
They stood in a moment of silence as the flames roared around them. Weeping could be heard emanating from every alley and doorway. The houses that still stood were badly damaged and most were in the path of fires that the wind blew in all directions.
The attack had stopped, but the destruction would continue on through the night.
Finally deciding that standing around would do nothing, Odette and Derek agreed that they needed to continue to help whoever was still alive. Upon the guards' return with supplies, they split up again, agreeing to meet back at the town center at dawn.
Odette was glad to work alone. It hurt her to see Derek so upset. Often, he wasn't given credit for his empathy – that was usually her area of expertise – but tonight, he was as one with the villagers.
As for her thoughts, they were too muddled to describe. Things were taking a strange turn lately, one that she definitely did not like. This attack was certainly more than a random act of violence.
Hearing the cries of someone in pain, Odette followed the sound to a small hut that was directly in the path of an oncoming fire. Hoping to rescue at least one person that night, she let herself in and looked around. It was dark, the house being little more than a shack. She took a few steps inside and looked around, sure that this was the site where the cries were coming from, but not seeing anyone.
Suddenly, someone clapped a hand over help mouth, muffling a yelp of fear and surprise.
Before she could move, a voice hissed in her ear.
"Odette… This destruction… Do you like it? I didn't think so… but it's your fault… you and your husband have condemned these people to die… This was your doing…"
Odette was just about to shake herself free when the hand and the voice vanished, leaving her very frightened and very confused. No trace of whatever it was that spoke to her was left in the burning hut. The only thing left was a chill in the air.
Quickly, Odette left the house, quite sure that something much more evil going on than a raid was taking place.
Meanwhile, Derek had been fighting his frustration. He thought with the final destruction of the Forbidden Arts that he and Odette would have some peace for once.
"But I was wrong," he said bitterly. Worst of all, Odette had come very close to getting hurt. He wished she would listen to him a bit more when he asked her to stay behind.
He sighed. He knew she didn't do it to get in his way. She merely wanted to be close to him, even in times of danger.
This rationalization did little to ease his mind. But how could he ask Odette to listen to him when it took him almost two years of marriage – not to mention all the years of knowing each other prior to that – to do the very same thing? Who was he to say anything about listening to advice?
For the thousandth time, he silently rebuked himself for all the moments when he did not listen to Odette.
A sudden cry of help brought him back into the present. Quickly, he made his way into a narrow alley. An eerie chill hung in the air when he arrived.
A voice colder than the air around him whispered in Derek's ear, "Derek… look what you've done… you and Odette… this is your fault… You brought this suffering upon the people… It's your fault…"
Derek whirled around, his sword drawn, ready to confront the voice's owner, but the alley was empty. The voice, it appeared, belonged to no one.
"Our fault?" Derek asked himself. He was not at all in any disbelief that a disembodied voice had been speaking to him from God only knows where. After the things he'd seen over the past couple of years, a voice from nowhere wasn't entirely unbelievable.
It was preposterous, however, to think that he and Odette were the cause of the attack on the village. He and Odette would never bring about such a calamity. Not on purpose. Not even on accident if they could help it.
He decided not to mention it to Odette, though he had some reservations, considering what had happened the last time he did that. He didn't want her to think, however, that danger lurked around them when he himself could not be sure.
Finally, it was dawn, and the sun began to peer over the horizon.
Derek went back to Odette, hoping for good news.