Eternally Luminous

Chapter 6

She told Ana that her parents had abilities as well like her and Chloe do. Her mother, whose name was Maree was a beautiful woman whom Ana looked exactly like and she had telekinesis. She could move objects with her mind and with a flick of a finger. Ana’s aunt told her that one time their parents were out, Maree had moved the entire house ten meters away from where it originally was and their parents came home completely confused and dazed to realize how it got there. She knew very little of Ana’s father, Lukas, saying that he was busy with merchants and was never around when he was needed. Ana asked why she was sold and how she got to her Masters estate. Her aunt simply explained that her and Chloe were born at tough times, because their father had been called in for duty at the kings army and their mother was unfit to raise any children. Royan sat in the corner, fingering at her dirty gown with tears trickling down her face. Ana realized that all this talk about families only made Royan miss hers more. She felt guilty and wanted to help Royan, she felt bad that she had to sleep in a tree house that she had forced people to make for her with her ability.

They stayed a couple more nights at her aunts house. Ana had learned that the king along with Malgazon had been capturing people with abilities and holding them at Fort Greene in Northern Tustille. Her aunt speculated that Malgazon was manipulating the king into doing what he said, because he had an ability as well but she was unsure of what it was. Her aunt suggested that they were keeping people within the Palace and were then transporting them to Fort Greene secretly where they were held to be executed. The word “Executed” stung Ana, it pierced her like a nail hit by a hammer. She needed to find Chloe and others like her and save them.

She stood beside Lumen the following morning before dawn. It was still dark and the air had gotten colder. Winter must be approaching, she thought to herself. Royan appeared out of the house and stood in front of her, patting Lumen’s nose. “I want to come with you”, she told Ana. She had a look in her eyes that told Ana she was determined and had a reason to come along. “But Royan, it’s very dangerous and I’m scared that you might get injured, or even worse”, Ana protested. “I don’t care if I die, at least I would die trying to save people like us. I would die for a reason. I would die defending my family”, she said calmly, her voice becoming frustrated. Ana didn’t protest with the girl further because she knew that she would go anyway and concluded that it was definitely safer to ride with Ana than alone. They agreed that they would ride to Netherlile to the outskirts of town where they would station Lumen as well as another horse that they would buy for Royan.

The following day they had reached a safe and secure place where they would leave Lumen and the small stallion that they had bought Royan. She had decided to name him Dusty because he was a grayish colour with a jet-black mane and black specks over his body. They had also managed to buy gowns from a merchant travelling towards the Palace. They changed their clothes and hid them amongst the bushes along with the duffel bag of Ana’s. She kept the dagger in her boot again. Royan felt comfortable not carrying any weapon as the only weapon she needed were her hands. Casually strolling down the main path into the Palace they tried to blend in and not draw attention to themselves. They observed the large stonewall that towered over them and had to be about twenty feet high. Stationed along the wall were archers and at the base were swordsmen. The amount of people exiting and entering the palace gate was astounding. There was almost ten times the amount of people here than there were at the markets.

Ana was unsure what or who she was looking for, she needed to find someone that would be able to confirm what her aunt had said. She needed to find Chloe as there may be a good chance that she may be within the palace still. Royan focused on the minds of the guards, trying to pluck any loose information she could grasp but she was inexperienced with attempting to read the minds of people and found on a small detail from one of the patrol guards that there was a stable on the eastern side of the palace. Ana supposed that this may be where they were hiding people with abilities and then transporting them secretly from there out to down south across Ashen and then to Northern Tustille. Of course she wasn’t definite about these details but they were just a speculation.

They searched for hours but found no stable or no more clues about the kidnappings. Royan exhausted herself, pushing herself to dig into the minds of the guards but found it extremely difficult to do. She could barely walk and felt dizzy. Ana carried the small child on her back, and the searched along the streets for an inn. Eventually they found one and entered.

Men stared at them when they entered, and some even whistled at her but Ana headed straight for the man behind the bar and told him she needed a room for just the night. They man suspiciously looked at her and then the child. “Room 12, it’s the last one on ye left”, he said gesturing to the stairs that were over to the side of the room. When Ana climbed the stairs, still carrying the child, she could feel the eyes of the men burning into the back of her. She put the child down into the bed of the dense room and tucked her in. Royan was already asleep even before Ana had put her into the bed. Ana walked over and locked the damp, wooden door and then headed back over to the bed where she laid down next to her and stared at the roof. She found herself drifting off to sleep while trying to count the number of wooden boards that made up the roof.

Royan shook her quickly, trying to wake Ana up. “Ana, they’re here. They’re here.” She said, over and over. Ana sat upright and questioned the young child. “The kings army. The innkeeper must have suspected something” she said sounding scared. Ana jumped out of the bed and crept over to the door where she placed her ear to it. She heard the muffled sounds of men downstairs talking and then she heard them heading up the stairs. Ana looked around the room rapidly trying to figure out what they were going to do. She pointed to the window and told Royan to open it. The child did so and Ana ran and jumped out of the window, falling two stories below and landing on the hard dirt. The crack of her ankle followed by a whirlwind of pain didn’t stop her from standing up and holding her arms out at Royan. “Jump” she mouthed to her. There was banging of the bedroom door which startled Royan. She jumped, closing her eyes and then was swiftly caught by Ana. Ana placed the child down and cracked her ankle back into place trying to hold back the screams of pain that shot through her leg. Almost instantly the pain was gone. They ran, maneuvering down streets and alleys, which they had no idea where it lead. Ana clutched onto Royans hand, practically dragging the child. She heard the faint yells and commands of guards behind them as then ran which grew fainter and fainter with each turn they made. They came to a hault when they turned around one corner and was stunned by the five men that stood there blocking their paths.

They were dressed in the kings armour and two of them held their swords out directed at Ana while the two others, archers, had had their arrowed notched and aimed at Royan. Ana pushed the child behind her and defended the child. One man came at her with his sword swinging heavily and fast. Ana dodged the blade, pushing Royan over to the side behind a wine barrel. Ana reached into her boot and pulled out the small dagger, deflecting the sword with great strength. She stabbed one of the swordsmen in the chest and while he collapsed, an arrow shot her in the arm. She pulled it out and threw it onto the ground and sprinted towards the archer who had struck her. He dagger sliced his throat, while the other archer tried to notch his arrow directed at her chest. The archer stopped suddenly before letting go of the arrow. He then turned and struck the other swordsman in the chest. Ana looked over to Royan, who had come out from behind the wine barrel and now raised both her arms towards the archer. She flicked her wrist and the archer was sent flying through the air and into the stonewall of a house.

They made it back to their horses, both girls collapsing from exhaustion from their running and their fighting. All of a sudden a young man, not much older than Ana appeared. “You too ladies fought extremely well back then, I was tempted to jump in and join the fight for a moment but I saw you two had it under control”. Ana jumped to her feet as she had been startled. The young man who stood there took her by surprise, as he was gorgeous. His short brown hair was messed but in the perfect way and he had stubble which came down and across his chin and parted around his mouth. He was an average build and wore a tight navy long sleeved shirt, which had a V neck and his long dark brown pants were tucked into a pair of black leather boots. He smiled at Ana’s quick reflexes, and his laugh sent a warm sensation around Ana’s body. “I’m Leeroy”, the young man said.