3rd day of the fifth moon. Year 879.Writing: Antony, Son of Maximilian
Not long before I finished, Maria had fallen asleep in Nick's arms. Her head resting upon his furry chest as her's rose and fall steadily in her sleep. He had his arms around her and had let his head fall upon her's, his jaw sitting on her forehead. Neither Oswald nor Tess seemed to be comfortable with the sight, to be honest neither was I. Seeing those two being so intimate, made me feel slightly sick. She was human and he was a fox. I silently prayed that it meant nothing. For both their sake. "Nick" I called lowly, knowing he had heard me. His ears perked and he opened an eye, looking at me. "We have to leave soon, immediately actually" I continued.
He nodded, tapped Maria on the head and sat her up as he got off the couch to stretch. "Are you finished?" Tess asked, standing up from the floor where she and Celestine had been sitting. "Yes, but now we have to relocate. His wounds will heal until we find another place to reside" I nodded, standing away from Peter. His fever had retreated and the frown on his face had faded away, now he was just peacefully laying on the bed. "How will we carry him, though? It will be too obvious if we are carrying an unconscious man in the middle of the city" Oswald said, casting a worried look at his friend.
"We'll need to hide somewhere close to St. Paul's cathedral, so we can be ready for the 'event' that the Kingsmen are preparing" Celestine suggested, pulling on Tess's hand to stand up. "You take him out of the back door, I'll go find a house or another inn closer to the cathedral" Nick said, picking up his jacket, cloak. "You are not leaving on your own Nick" I protested, locking the box with my herbs. "Oh but yes I am, now you better leave 'cause the soldiers won't be sitting on their asses while we talk about it" He scowled, pulling his hood over his head to hide his ears. The cloak, just like so many times before, fell upon his tail to cover it.
Tess looked at him, but said nothing, just like everyone else. Not even Maria spoke, her head tilted down as she looked at the ground with an absent look. Nick walked slowly towards the door, throwing his backpack over his shoulder as he walked out of the room without saying anything else. For what seemed like a minute we all stared at each other, sitting still. "We have to move" Tess finally said, walking close to Peter. "If we can carry him downstairs then we might be able to find a carriage or a cart of some sort to move him around" She continued, pulling him off the bed. Oswald silently followed her, holding Peter up from the other side.
I sighed and lifted up my box. My eyes met Maria's and stayed there for just a second, there was something different. I could not put my finger on it, though. "Celestine, open the door" Tess grunted as she and Oswald carried Peter towards it. She hurried to the door and opened it, making way for the injured man. Me and Maria followed from behind, keeping our distance. She did not look at me, did not talk to me. She had been silent before, her behavior was not new, but there was something... otherworldly in her silence. "Maria, I am beginning to worry about you. Is everything alright?" I asked, slightly turning to face her. She sighed.
"Yes, everything is fine" She murmured. She was lying, of course. "I am old enough to now that you are lying and young enough to know that it has to do with Nick" I gave her a grim smile. Her breath hitched, her eyes glanced at me before she casted her look back down on the floor. I looked in front of us. Celestine and the others were now walking down the stairs with us following them. On the base of the staircase laid the aftermath of Nick's battle with the soldiers. I had not seen the battle go down, but I could hear Nick's howls. Four men laid dead on the floor, blood streaming down their necks from the arrows that had pierced them. Tables were turned and chairs shattered into splinters. The innkeeper was cowering in a corner. Now whether he was crying about his shop being destroyed or from terror, nobody knew.
"How did you know?" Maria asked, her voice nothing more than a barely audible sound on the breeze that flew in from the shattered window. "I have witnessed him kill, before you joined us. I can say I was shocked" I spoke, the words just flowed out of my mouth. There was no particular emotion into them, maybe because I was afraid that I would not like what I felt about Nick killing without hesitation. I was more than sure that she felt the exact same thing. "H-he... I saw him, Antony. His eyes, these eyes betrayed him" She whispered, the last words lost in the breeze. "What about his eyes?" I asked as we walked past the innkeeper who paid no attention to us leaving. I felt pity for him, but there was nothing we could possibly do to help him.
"Take him" Tess called to Celestine and gave her the man's arm as she flung herself forward, kick chairs and tables aside to reach a well hidden back door right behind a few tables that had not been touched by the battle. "When I casted the spell on him, he changed. His eyes were... feral, wild. Like a..." She paused, whether she spoke the word or not I did not hear it. "Like an animal" I finished her sentence. I was no foreigner to the feeling, of being called nothing more than a mindless animal. But I am sure that in his case it was far more severe, he was a predator after all. "And then... then he held me close to him, he felt so warm and gentle. I felt... I knew he wouldn't hurt me. It was like an entirely different person" She paused, shaking her head.
The others were through the door and we followed, walking out into a back alley. Crates with what I supposed to be booze laid by the door, covered with cloth. "Through here, there's a carriage shop right by the next house" Tess called at us, pointing at the street in front of us. We were leaving the port, which scent was rather intense still. "It's so confusing..." She murmured at last. I nodded, showing her that I understood. "Seeing him fight so savagely, reminded me of all the things people speak about Blunts, but then..." She paused again, shaking her head. "Then he was more gentle than a sheep" I finished her sentence. She nodded silently.
"He is a mystery to me as well. How you treat him is your choice, Maria. Though I would always watch out for his... predatory side, the one you saw at the inn" I warned her, my voice was soft. I did not want to frighten her, but to merely warn her of the dangers that a friendship with Nick held. Tess signaled us to move out of the alley and into the street. It was empty, not a single wandering human to be seen. "Well that saves us the trouble, let's move" Celestine grunted and continued carrying Peter. Windows had been shut close, doors locked and all signs of life extinguished. "Where did they all go?" Maria murmured, looking all around her. We would continue our talk later.
"They're scared, all stuffed up in their houses until somebody tells them they're safe" Oswald said. All I could hear was the tapping sound of everyone's boots on the stone-paved street as we continued forward. "And that somebody is the army" I said, expressing everyone's thoughts. Even though the nearby streets were empty, there were many sounds echoing through the rest of the large city. The sailors at the port not too far away from us, their shouts could be heard almost clearly if it wasn't for the noise of thousands of refugees who were entering the city from all it's entrances. "True, that" Tess nodded. She was walking slowly, whether to keep at the same pace as the others or from exercising caution.
Steel boots could soon be heard in the distance. "Reinforcements" Celestine groaned at the sound. "We gotta hide. Fast!" Oswald called, turning to Tess who was scanning the entire street. My ears perked, the soldiers were shouting. "They found the inn" I warned. "In there!" Tess shouted and jolted at a wooden door of a building, she kicked it open, the rusty hinges flying out of the door frame. The woman standing behind the door screamed, grasping her child as of instinct. "Move!" Tess yelled at her and charged through the building, opening the path for us. Oswald and Celestine moved in first to carry Peter through while me and Maria followed last.
The house was of no royalty, that was for sure. The tight hallway along with the door-less rooms proved that. The mother, still holding her child, was staring at us. "Hurry! The second floor!" Tess shouted and ran upstairs, reaching the mater bedroom. "Great idea! What now?!" Celestine growled. "Shut up and let me do what I know best!" Tess yelled at her, unsheathing her dagger. She stabbed the window, shattering it into pieces. "Pass him through, one at a time" She said, jumping through. "Help me" Oswald said and I picked one of Peter's legs up. Maria picked up the other and Celestine took his arm.
"Carry him over, hurry!" Celestine said as we carried Peter over o the window, Oswald jumped through it first and then Celestine. Me and Maria placed the unconscious man on the windowsill for the, to carry him. Below us, a scream was heard and the door was broken down only to be followed by the sound of shouting. "Hurry for the love of God!" Celestine yelled, dragging Peter off from the window, "Go, I'll take him on my back" Oswald said as he brought Peter over on his back. I jumped through the window, landing on the rooftop outside.
I looked around us, roofs, back and forth. "Where do we go?" I asked. My paws were shaking, my ears perking with every single sound. Oswald had already began moving forward when he replied, "I don't bloody know! Just keep moving!". I glanced at Maria, she was shaking from fear just like me. I nodded and ran after the others. I was scared, I could do nothing to take the terror away. This was all new to me, but not in any good form or way. We are being hunted, by armed soldiers that number the thousands in this city.
Jump over a ledge. Careful. Another step. Move slow, careful, no we need to move fast. Soldiers hunting us, we are losing them, they are catching up. How? They have armor, it must be heavy, how are they catching up?
What am I doing? Climbing on a rooftop, yes. Maria is behind me, what is happening? More shouts, from below, the alarm has been raised. Oswald is yelling something at me, what is he saying?
My name. Antony. I look behind me, or in front of me? Humans, back and forth.
I jump down, a lower roof, a child calls for his mother. Celestine, no, Maria, she screams. Why? I Look back, she collapses.
Faceless steel following us. Tess yells at me, 'carry her'. I pick her up, blood. From where? Arrow, her back, blood.
Tess kicks open a door, we run through. Tears. Mine? No, Maria's. She's crying, what is she saying? My name. Antony. No, not my name. More tears, Maria's, no, mine. I'm crying. Nick. Who said that? Me? No, Maria.
The world is spinning, my vision is blurring. We're inside a house, Tess turns to me, or is it Celestine? She calls my name. Antony. I look at Maria, she's crying, blood on her.
Oswald throws Peter on a bed, he falls on a chair. A weight off my shoulders, no, I feel lighter. Yes, Tess took Maria off me. I can't walk, do I have my feet? I look down, they're there. The world is spinning.
Everyone is talking, shouting, I can't say. My shoulder aches, it's wet. Is it raining? No, I'm in a room. I touch my back. Arrow, blood. I look at Tess. I am laying somewhere, facing the ceiling. My name again. Antony. What is happening? Tess is talking to me, am I listening? No.
My eyes close, I'm sleeping, no I'm not. I can still see, I'm in the room. My vision has cleared up, everything seems alive yet dead, Tess and the others look frozen in time. Maria has blood running down her back and so do I. Tess and Celestine are trying to stop the bleeding while Oswald is taking care of Peter. Right before the world fades out I hear a word. A name. My name. Antony.