A/N: WARNING: Some areas of the following chapter may be rather gory, disturbing, etc. read at your own risk.
Musical Harp
Chapter III: Destination Set
A bird stood on a lower branch of an insanely tall tree, flicking it's head from one direction to another in search for food.
Suddenly there was the sound of something shooting out of the bushes, the bird was startled and began to flap its wings to make a quick escape.
But the swift arrow had struck before it could launch itself from the branch, striking it straight through.
It dropped to the ground with a rustle as it fell through some thin brush.
"Gotcha" Lyra whispered in victory.
It had been about 2 days since Lyra found herself in the mess in the middle of nowhere, well nowhere she knew anyway.
"Never thought I'd actually ever get to use this thing again" Lyra muttered to herself as she stared at the small crossbow-like weapon in her hand, it appeared to be mainly shaped from carved wood along with some carefully selected sticks with a strand of strong elastic for the launcher.
Lyra had made it secretly with the help of one of the old soldiers that used to work at the castle when she was little, her father had originally confiscated it from her after learning that she almost shot a young boy in the head with it, but she eventually stole it back, but ever since then she had never actually used it.
"Can't believe it still works" Lyra mumbled as she smiled softly at the memories.
Putting the handmade weapon back into her duffel bag (which was now attached to a belt on her hip along with her sword on the opposite side) she picked the bird up by the arrow that was now stained in blood and headed off to find the river.
Lyra carefully extracted the small thin arrow from the bird being very careful so she didn't snap it during extraction; she then washed it and plucked it of all its feathers before slicing it open and gutting it completely.
After she was satisfied with the bird she took it back to where she had been staying for the last 2 or so days, she didn't know exactly how long she had actually been in this forest since it was dark at all times, it was as if day, or time for that matter, didn't even exist inside this thick forest.
She was shocked that she had managed stay alive under these conditions for so long; she really had no knowledge at all about survival on the "outside world" as her father would call it.
Lyra was just thinking it was luck that followed her for the last however many days it had been.
As the light of a small fire came into view, she hurried over to the inviting heat and began cooking her meal.
It tasted rather bland without any spices like the ones the cooks in the castle used, but in situations like this it tasted better than anything you could ever eat.
After finished off the last morsel of the bird, Lyra sat staring into the crackling flames…
"I've got to get out of here" She whispered to herself.
Lifting her still injured arm, she stared blankly at the bandage that was now rather dirty and began to subconsciously unwrap it.
As the bandage dropped to the dirt ground, Lyra stared at the words that had been carved into her…
"To obey is to succeed"
She hated those words so much, they were the words who belonged to her father, the very words that he carved into her arm out of rage; in attempt to put some respect into her.
Lyra remembered every bit of the event in every way, the pain, the way he had grabbed her arm more forcefully than he would normally, the words that he spoke that stung her to the core, everything in pure detail…
The blue haired girl found herself glaring at the infected wound in anger.
"Why won't you go away!" she bellowed, her voice echoing throughout the dense forest.
It had been about a month since that wound had been placed on her arm, Lyra took much care into treating the wound as best to her knowledge as she was capable of doing yet it refused to heal, if anything it got worse by each passing day.
"What have I done to deserve such a curse?" She asked no one in particular.
Lyra felt hot salty droplets fall from her eyes.
"Why did you have to leave us Mother?" Lyra asked in deep depression.
"You were in perfect health and you never did anything wrong, so why did death have to take you so early?" She wondered angrily as she punched the ground with her right fist, causing a jolting pain to run up her arm which Lyra was too angered to feel as fresh blood began to run from the carving upon her arm.
With her fist still on the ground Lyra lifted her left hand and gripped the blue stone.
"Draxilia, I don't know what to do…" She sobbed.
"Stay calm my child, you will find your way" The mystical voice encouraged her.
"But what if I can't, what if I just lose my way completely?" Lyra inquired losing all hope she had.
"Believe in yourself and don't forget what you're trying to achieve" came the wisdom of Draxilia.
"But what am I trying to achieve?" Lyra pressed on, convinced that she had no remaining duty in life.
"Well at present, you are attempting save your sister" Draxilia answered.
"What, since when?" Lyra asked as she quickly sat up.
"The bandits who attempted to capture you have taken your sister instead" Draxilia informed Lyra.
"…I should have known, why didn't I ever think of that possibility" Lyra growled, beating herself up mentally.
"Do not blame yourself, it is my fault for not informing you sooner, besides you have not been in the best conditions for the last few days" Draxilia's calm voice consoled Lyra.
"Do you know her current location?" Lyra questioned, returning to a more composed state.
"No, but I know her destination" Draxilia replied.
"Where are the bandits taking her?" Lyra asked her eyes narrowing.
"Fah-uria…" Came the whispered reply.
Lyra stood from her sitting position glancing at her wound once more before wrapping it a piece of material torn from what had remained of her right sleeve.
"Then this is where my journey will began, forward to bandit capital" Lyra whispered to herself as she stared at the now dying fire.
End of chapter 3, chapter 4 will be out soon whenever I finish it.