Silence Them (Luke Castellan)

01

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

Aim and throw.

Pull back.

Re-arm.

Run.

Again. And again. Fighting an onslaught of monsters. They kept coming. They screamed with glee as she felled each monster.

More, more, more!

As each knife flew, another came back to her, cutting down more creatures as they returned to their owner. Catching and throwing, years of fighting.

A tree, distinct and solitary, caught her eye. Another softer voice joined the screaming. It spoke over the mental massacre and commanded silence. Sweet and silky. Silence

It offered protection. A girl. Alanna knew the tree was distinct. She stopped her mass killing and turned and ran, loosing knives over her shoulder at anything she sensed too close. Each returning with more and more blood.

She reached the tree and her knees gave out. She rolled onto her back, watching the vile creations draw closer. Maybe in death she'd find peace. Maybe it would be quiet.

And it never came. They stopped at the tree. And they turned and left. She let her eyes flutter closed.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

She forced herself up onto her failing limbs, and took a gentle step. With the adrenaline worn off, Alanna was more damaged than she thought. Pain shrieked through her ankle, and she gasped a cry of agony.

Taking in her surroundings she found herself in a lush grass field, trees scattered and intensifying into a large forest. She spotted a large blue house beside an expanse of water, it's lights still on. Maybe people there would help.

Left foot.
Right foot.

Quick but not too fast.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

She reached the blue house after what felt like hours. Stumbling into a stained glass room, colours filtering out like starlight, she fell to her knees.

Two faint blurry figures.

Distant voices.

Darkness.

Beautiful quiet.

When Alanna had fallen at his hooves, Chiron was primarily worried, but he felt something. Something disturbing that he couldn't decipher made his skin crawl. This child was a ticking time bomb, he could feel it, but he could only hope her explosion would be for good.

Chiron called for a satyr, who hoisted her up and brought the girl to a room in the infirmary, leaving her with the nymphs and children of Apollo. The centaur ducked his head through the door once the child was stripped, cleaned and re-dressed, seeing her peaceful face put him at ease. She looked like she was in dire need of a rest, her gaunt features contoured by hollow shadows and purpling wrinkles.

"Treat her wounds please." Chiron's voice was soft, sympathetic, but commanding and the healers began to work their magic, salves, bandages, splint and charms. Slowly but surely her cuts and wounds were dressed, nursing her soul and her body.

The night was long for the centaur. Two children, less than 24 hours between their arrivals, both bringing a new disturbance. What concerned him most was that the girl had no Protector. She flew under the radar for years, one of the oldest children to arrive at camp, the only child to ever be unaccompanied by a satyr.

If they could not detect her, gods know what could.

Morning came faster than Alanna would've liked, her usual alarm of the chorus in her mind starting their chant. It was the first full night of sleep that she could remember, and she was relieved. But she was on edge. An unfamiliar room. Unfamiliar clothes.

Her knives.

Where were her knives?

She panicked momentarily, her only means of protection missing, until she laid eyes on the leather belt containing her knives. Her heartbeat slowed, and she swung her feet from the bed. Her bare feet hitting the cold tile felt like electric shock, the impact travelling up her body. As her feet moved over the floor silently, her eyes scanned every inch of the room.

White tile. Wooden bed. 3 by 3 window. Wooden desk. Bedside table. Stained glass, colours filtering out like starlight.

Familiar familiar starlight.

Searching her mind for an explanation as to why she was in this unfamiliar room with familiar colours, her questions stopped as a man walked in. Well not a man. More horse? He ducked to get through the door, and when at his full height, towered over the girl. Alanna tensed up.

Unfamiliar men in an unfamiliar place. She knew the feeling all too well. She stepped back, away from the horse-man-thing.

"Where am I?" her voice was harsh but quiet, hoarse, as if she hadn't spoken before. The words tasted sour on her tongue, the feeling a forgotten memory. To open her mouth and to speak, an uncomfortable thought, an uncomfortable moment. Her tongue danced like that of a retired ballerina, testing out sounds and noises, swiping over her teeth and lips.

"Camp Half Blood." so he spoke like a human.

"What are you?" Alanna was more confident this time, harsh vocals louder and less hesitant. Raspy, but audible.

"A centaur. Chiron." he extended a hand. "I am Chiron. Would you like to see the Camp?" His brown eyes were old, sunken in wisened skin the colour of oak, crow's feet decorating his soft gaze. Tufts of grey and white coils mixed with the chocolate hair that sprouted disorderly across his face, thickening into a healthy scalp of curls. He looked kind, but knowing. Alanna was on edge.

"No, I want to see my knives." she muttered, flipping through her leather pouch, empty of one black blade. "One is missing. I came with all 6." Her eyes didn't meet his.

"Maybe you lost one dear, you were fighting an armageddon to get here-" she wasn't stupid. He may be a creature of magic but expressions take longer to master than lies.

"No. They return to me. You have taken what is mine." in her head she could hear an anger, an uproar and it courses from her brain down through her nerves, building to an inexplicable rage.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

She called for her knife, and felt the air shift around her hand. Chiron shifted uncomfortably, he sensed it too. He sensed the imposing danger and the shockwave this girl would surely bring.

A shatter of glass startled the centaur, his old eyes widening. Light was swallowed through the window, devoured by a blade glinting death and demise, dripping with fresh crimson. It shot into her hand.

"Blood?" something about this girl made him uneasy, an unsettling fear growing in his heart. The glorious red that shone wickedly on her blade, accompanied by her wicked smirk made his animal instincts cower.

"Someone got in the way."

~x~xx~x~

Hello my darlings, and welcome to Silence Them. I do hope you enjoy. My Tumblr will be open to requests and one shots and is pretty much a place for me to go a bit mental. All feedback and love is greatly appreciated.
WC=1.2k

Love from,
AC