The Lost de Rolo

Chapter 1

I knew this was our only chance to escape. Our family was dead. It was just Percival and me now. And the Briarwoods were busy preparing for something else. I guess their next move in taking over our home. So I watched all day, waiting for the chance to run. Once they were busy, whatever it was they were doing, I slipped down into the dungeons. Percival was stuck in the cell. He wasn't the only one, but he was the one I cared about right now. He was the only family I had left.

"Percy?" I asked quietly as I walked through the cells, searching for him. He was down here. I knew he was. They said he was down here. The key was grasped tightly in my hand. I wasn't going to let anyone take it from me. I just had to figure out which cell Percy was in.

"Cassandra,'' he said softly,'' You're alive. What are you doing down here?"

"I'm here to get you out,'' I told him. My hand was shaking as I put the key in the lock. I was afraid it would make the slightest bit of noise, and somehow they would know.

"Where are the others?'' he asked me.

"It's just us," I told him, my voice trembling. "They killed everyone else."

He took in my words as I pulled the gate open, letting him out of his cell. He seemed like he's in disbelief. Just like I was. Only 24 hours ago, we were settling in for dinner with our guests. We didn't know that they wanted to kill us, that they would attack our family. My parents opened their home to old friends from Wildmount. How are we going to know that those old friends were here for a purpose? A sinister purpose.

"We need to go now," I told him. "They're distracted, but I don't know for how long. We need to be far away before they realize we're missing."

He nodded, understanding. Like me, he'd have to put away his grief until we were safe. He took my hand and headed into a dark corner. I still didn't know how we were getting out of the dungeon without being noticed. I just knew we had to. But he knew a way. Percival pushed aside a statue against the wall. There was a small hole. It was just big enough for us.

He motioned me to go first. I did. I moved slowly down the tunnel I heard scraped behind me. I assumed it was him putting the statue back in place somehow.

It only took a couple of minutes to reach the outside. We were in the woods. I knew my way from here well. I knew we could get to the trees to hide. But I didn't know where we could go. Who could we trust? Some of our friends from Whitestone turned against us in the fight last night. It's not like we could just go into town and find shelter.

"Don't stop," Percival said. "We need to keep moving. We need to get as far from here as we can."

"But where are we going?'' I asked.

"I don't know. I just know it isn't safe here. And right now, we just need distance. Once we're somewhere safe, we can figure out what to do."

I didn't like to run away. This was my home. This was all I had ever known. But I suppose he was right. We weren't safe here. And we could do anything to help our people like this. We needed to plan. We needed allies. We didn't have either.

I ran through the woods. Percy was a few steps ahead of me. We were moving for half an hour when I heard the dogs behind us. They found out we were going quicker than I thought. But still, I kept running. I caught up with Percy. He clasped my hand, and we moved as one.

We were near the river. I realize the person was taken there for a reason. Then when people track as if we just got through the river. And we could follow it down to the coast. We could find a boat, maybe we could get away.

Suddenly something hit me. I cried out in agony as another hit me. I stumbled. My hands moved to my chest. There were two arrows buried deep. "Percy," I cried out. "Help"

But he kept going. He left me bleeding in the snow. I didn't know what to do. What to think. I was going to die here. The last member of my family abandoned me. At that moment, I hoped they caught up to him. I hoped that they would bring him back to me. But he got away.

As I curled up in the snow, I knew that I wouldn't. I wouldn't get away.