The Secret Within

Chapter 4

As Freya and Frederick emerged from the chimney, they realized that they were on the top of the roof of the mansion. However, the mansion was not ruined or old at all. It was quite lovely. The shingles on the roof were all neatly in place and there was a garden that surrounded the mansion. The forest that surrounded them was lush and green. Freya took a step forward and looked around. She could not see anything but forest from where she stood. Except for a single brown horse that was standing tied in front of the mansion, there was no sign of life. 

"Well, where do you reckon we are?" asked Frederick as he gazed out into the thick forest. 

"I suppose we are standing on the roof of Mr. Stockholm's mansion. Except it would seem that we have gone back in time a bit." 

"How far back do you suppose we've gone?" asked Frederick. 

"Well, judging from the state of the mansion when we saw it first, I would say about fifty years," replied Freya. 

Although this was a good guess, it was far from the truth. In fact, the mansion was not lived in by Mr. Stockholm at all. The adventurers were in a world that was five hundred years older than the one that they lived in. 

Suddenly, they heard horses hooves galloping toward the mansion. There were at least forty or fifty horses that were being driven towards the mansion. All of the horses were jet black and were ridden by very fierce looking soldiers. They were wearing dirty silver armor and long black cloaks with hoods that covered their faces. As they neared the mansion, the tied up brown horse neighed violently and reared up on its hind legs. 

Freya and Frederick laid down flat on the roof so that they would not be seen and watched. 

"Burn it!!" yelled one of the terrible looking soldiers. He was a little taller than the rest and carried a long sword at his side. One of the other soldiers hastened to obey his command and snatched a flaming torch from the soldier behind him. He swung off his black horse and ran with the torch to the mansion and threw it on the porch in front of the door. Freya and Frederick gasped in shock as the flames from the torch leapt up and began to devour the mansion. 

"Freya, we have to get out of here!" whispered Frederick. 

"We can't! They will catch us if they see us trying to escape," she replied. "Look, they are surrounding the mansion." 

Suddenly, they heard a scream from below. A young woman had rushed out from a back door. 

"What are doing?! Please don't hurt us!" she screamed as she ran into one of the soldiers. 

The soldier pushed her aside. 

"What do we do with them?" he asked the man who seemed to be in charge. 

"Kill them all!!" he yelled. 

The soldier drew out his sword and charged at the young woman. Just then, something flew out from one of the nearby trees. With a flurry of red, a strange figure jumped on the soldier and knocked him to the ground. The cloaked figure stood in front of the soldiers and drew out a sword that was almost twice the length of the others swords. 

"Hey, get aside!" yelled the soldier as he tried to get past the figure. 

"I don't think so," said the figure. The figure pulled the hood of her red cloak aside and Freya and Frederick were shocked to see that it was a girl. Her black locks of hair flew behind her as she charged towards the soldier. She thrust herself at him and escaped his sword which sliced through the air in vain. Grabbing a low hanging branch she swung herself up and behind him while pushing him down to the ground with her boot. The other soldiers had all gathered around to see what the commotion was about. The strange girl continued to fight off the soldiers. She was too fast for their movements and her fighting skills were vastly different from theirs. Freya and Frederick seized their opportunity to escape. As the house was now beginning to burn up, they decided not to go back down the chimney. Freya slid herself onto one of the beams that held the mansion up and slid down. She was followed hastily by Frederick who landed on the ground with a crash. 

"Come on! Run!" screamed Freya as she grabbed Frederick's hand and started to run. 

"Who was that girl?" asked Frederick as they ran into the forest away from the burning mansion and the fighting. 

"I don't know her any better than you," replied Freya. 

The two of them kept running until they could no longer hear the burning and fighting. They stopped by a tree to catch their breath. 

Back at the mansion, the girl in the red cloak continued to fight off the relentless soldiers. She dodged their attacks and used her sword and clever footwork to outdo them. The captain of the group sat proudly on his horse as he watched his soldiers falling around the girl. When there were only three soldiers left, he got off his horse and walked calmly up to the girl. 

"Who are you?" he asked as he unmasked his face. He had a very cruel looking expression. 

The girl defeated the remaining soldiers and looked up at the terrible captain. 

"Why?" she panted, "Why should I tell you that?" 

"Because," he said, "I admire your skill as you are a girl and I like to know the names of those that I kill." 

"Oh, well, you will not be killing anyone. Neither will I tell you my name." 

The captain gritted his teeth and charged at the girl with his sword. 

The girl quickly let out a shrill whistle and a dazzling white horse galloped out from the forest. With one fluid movement, she swept herself onto the horse and with a flurry of her cloak she mounted the horse. She turned the horse to face the captain and pulled an arrow from behind her. She grabbed her bow that was hanging from the saddle of the horse and aimed it at the captain. She shot the arrow at his heart, but it landed in his ribs instead. 

He stumbled to his own horse and mounted it as he held his hand to where the arrow had stuck. With a swift tug, he pulled the arrow out and rode off into the forest. 

The girl quickly dismounted the horse and rushed into the flaming mansion just in time to help put out the fire. Half of the mansion was in complete ruins, but the young woman inside thanked the girl heartily. 

"Oh, thank you, I don't know what I would have done without you. It's just me and my little boy here. My husband has been away for two weeks now. He is on an errand for the King. Who are you?" 

"Of course, no need to worry. I knew something was wrong when I saw that group of villains heading here. As for my name, you may call me Rosaline. And now, you must excuse me. I must be on my way as I too am on an errand for the King." 

The girl politely took her leave and galloped into the forest. 

Freya and Frederick were still sitting by a tree when they heard heavy hooves galloping towards them. 

"Quick, Frederick, hide behind this tree. Don't let yourself be seen." 

The two of them hid as they heard the hoofbeats coming closer. Suddenly, the horse stopped in front of the tree and the rider dismounted. 

"You might as well come out from behind that tree," said a voice.