A World That Will Not Turn to Ash (English)(From Ashes Vol.1)

Chapter 12 - Nightmares

Guy was completely alone.
The forest was dark and hostile, and he couldn't orient himself in the trees. He was walking slow and painfully, stumbling through the bushes of the undergrowth that entangled his legs scratching his skin.
He felt that someone was watching him and the forest resounded with disturbing rustles, but when Guy turned he couldn't see anyone. He put his hand to the hilt of the sword, but his fingers encountered only the empty scabbard.
He followed a twisted path until he reached a clearing and he saw Allan waiting for him, with his back against a tree and his arms crossed over his chest.
Guy hurried to reach him, comforted by his presence, but when he approached him, Allan opened his arms in a dejected gesture and Guy saw the blood dripping from Allan's cut throat.
Allan looked at him with the veiled eyes of a corpse and Gisborne cried, then he fled in a panic, trying to make his way through the increasingly dense bushes that held him.
Behind him something was approaching more and more with a great noise of broken branches and Guy could almost feel its breath on the back: soon his pursuer would be able to grasp him.

Marian returned home after spending most of the day along with Tuck to comfort the suffering families from Locksley. Many peasants shunned her, giving her malicious looks, but other ones were genuinely grateful and they seemed not to care about the gossip.
She felt tired, but satisfied and she smiled to see Allan sitting in the kitchen and eating with appetite.
"Where is everyone?"
Allan finished chewing before answering.
"Sir Edward retired early."
"And Guy?"
"He sleeps too. In front of you he tries to look stronger than he is. You saw his wounds, didn't you? It will take some time for him to recover completely."
"I'm going to see how he's feeling." Marian said with a sad sigh and Allan smiled slyly.
"I bet he won't object."
The girl looked at him reproachfully before heading to the stairs and Allan happily returned to take care of his meal.
Marian came to the door of Guy's room and she realized that he was fidgeting again in the grip of a nightmare.
The girl approached the bed, worried, and she touched his shoulder to wake him, but Gisborne cried and he reacted instinctively, hitting Marian hard enough to throw her to the ground, then he pounced on her, squeezing his hand on her neck.
The girl tried to loosen his tight, grasping his wrist with both hands and it was only then that Guy seemed to realize what had happened.
He pulled his hand away as if he had been burned and he jumped back and fell down on the floor.
"Marian." He gasped, then he saw the blood on the lip of the girl, where he had struck her. "No... No!"
"It's all right, it was just a dream." Marian said, trying to get close to him, but Guy stepped back with a jerk.
"Don't come near! Don't touch me!" Gisborne cried, horrified, then he got up and ran out the door.
The first impulse of Guy was to leave the house, take a horse from the stables and then get as far away as possible from Marian so he couldn't hurt her, but he only arrived near the stairs when he stopped suddenly, seeing Allan who was running towards him, alerted by the noise.
The image of Allan, dead and bleeding, he had seen in his dream appeared in his mind as the worried young man approached and Guy was filled with terror that he could hurt him too.
With a groan, he turned around and took refuge in one of the empty rooms, blocking the door behind him, then he collapsed to the ground, shaking.
Allan stared at the closed door, then he looked at Marian who had come running, shocked and with a bloody lip.
"What the hell happened?"
The girl ignored him and grabbed the door handle, shaking it.
"Guy! Open! You didn't hurt me, I swear."
"Marian!" Allan grabbed her arm to get her attention. "You are hurt! Did he do it to you?"
Marian touched her lip and she looked down at her fingers, realizing only then that they were stained with blood. She dabbed at her mouth with a handkerchief, without taking her eyes off the closed door.
On the other side there was only silence.
"It was just an accident." She said to Allan, then she returned to knock. "Guy!"
Marian gave a last look at the closed door, then she walked quickly down the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Allan asked.
"Stay here," Marian whispered "do not let him go away. If Guy doesn't open the door, I will pass through the window, you know I am able to do so."
"Won't it be dangerous? You're bleeding..."
"Allan! Guy would never hurt me voluntarily." Marian scolded him, then ran down the stairs.
Gisborne could hear the voices of Marian and Allan beyond the closed door, but he couldn't make out their words. Even if they spoke more loudly, probably he wouldn't be able to understand their speech because he couldn't think straight.
He had struck Marian and her had pressed his hands to her throat threatening to choke her, it was the only thing he was certain about, and that thought was so horrible to made him sink in a paralyzing panic.
He hadn't realized what he was doing until it was almost too late and Guy did not dare to think what might have happened if he had a sword or a knife within reach.
Even so he had hurt her and the only idea of it was intolerable.
He thought vaguely that he should get out of that house, run away as far as possible before being driven out as the rabid dog he was, but he hadn't the strength to move. He lay on the ground looking at the wooden planks of the floor that were slowly being swallowed by the shadow as the light of the setting sun grew dimmer.
But he felt he was already enveloped in darkness.