The wind that blew was cold and harsh. It ripped leaves from their trees and sent them hailing down upon the forest floor. The leaves were crisp and dry, and signs of autumn showed as the surrounding trees rippled with a fiery glow.
A lone bird soared overhead, circling a figure that struggled below. The bird, a falcon rather large for its kind, tucked in its wings and dove toward the shape. It landed in front of the traveler and ruffled its feathers indignantly. The traveler sighed when she noticed the bird, and shrugged the carcass of a doe she had shot off of her shoulders, setting it gently on the ground.
“I told you,” she said, kneeling beside the bird and stroking its golden feathers. “That deer is heavy enough on its own. Not to mention this hike’s uphill. I can’t carry you. Anyway, we’re almost there. Surely you can fly a bit further.”
The bird nipped her fingers affectionately and then took off into the air once more. With another sigh, the girl heaved the deer back over her shoulder and continued her climb. As she climbed, her breath showed as white mist in the early morning air. The higher she climbed, the more ragged her breathing became. It wasn’t until she choked and sputtered that she noticed the thick grey smoke that was billowing in the wind over the peak of the hill ahead.
Dropping the deer, she sprinted up the hill to where she could look out over the town of Ra’kei. But where there should have been a small but wealthy port on the coast of the Ai’em River was a wreck of smoldering buildings.
“No…” she whispered under her breath, yet she stood rooted to the spot. Her eyes scanned the ruins, searching for someone, anyone, that had survived the horrid scene.
She ran a hand through her hair and started to make her way, stumbling, down from the overlooking peak, silent tears streaming down her face. Once she reached level ground, she walked slowly through the ash, taking in the wreckage that surrounded her. To any onlooker it would have seemed she stopped to kneel at a random place among the ruins, but she did, in fact, know the spot well. She pictured it in her mind: the small, but cozy cabin she had shared with her father and younger sister. The little garden in the back that they had kept as a tribute to their mother was now merely an area of the town not covered in debris and forgotten possessions.
Her old home had sat on the edge of the river that flowed into the sea beyond, where she had learned to fish. Beyond the river was the Forest of Azun, where her father had first taught her to use a bow. She looked across the river at the forest now, movement in the trees catching her attention. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up cautiously, pulling her bow from over her shoulder, an arrow from the quiver on her back, and notching it in one swift motion.
A figure that seemed to be made of shadows stood watching her from the shade underneath the ancient trees. The girl pursed her lips and lowered her bow, though she kept the string drawn taut. She wasn’t unfamiliar with the spirits who inhabited the Forest of Azun; she’d been seeing them ever since she could remember, at least eleven years, now that she was sixteen. She never minded the shades, despite the fact that no one else ever saw them flitting through the forest, but now, in the eerie silence that followed death, the figure frightened her immensely.
A shout interrupted her stare down with the shadow-figure, and she turned toward where the river poured out into the ocean. Two ships were coming into the port of Re’kei from out at sea, and she eyed them warily. It took her a moment to recognize the King’s crest, a sun rising over two crossed swords, on the sails, and only then did she put her arrow back in its quiver and sling her bow over her shoulder. With a glance back toward the forest, she noted that the figure had disappeared.
“Oy there, girl! Come ‘ere! Over to the edge of the water now, nice an’ slow!”
The shout came from someone on the leading ship and echoed through the ruins, sounding abnormally loud against the stillness of the place, and making the girl flinch. She hesitated, a seed of doubt growing inside of her. She didn’t know who was on the ships, or if they expected her to know what had happened here. On the other hand, the ships had the King’s crest, and it probably wouldn’t be wise to turn away.
They’re probably armed. She thought, taking care not to make any sudden movements as she raised her arms above her head and worked her way towards through the rubble and towards where the ships were docking.
“That’s ‘ight. Keep comin’:”
As she reached the place where the dock met the land, a thought struck her, and she paused again. The ships had already anchored against the dock, and gangplanks were being lowered down so the sailors could come ashore. But the man who had been shouting orders at her had spoken with a distinctly southern accent, and the Castle of the Sun Kings was to the north, on the tip of Cape Asham.
She knew soldiers came from all over to join the Legion of the Rising Sun, but what if two of the Legion’s ships had been raided by pirates who had come to pillage what was left of Ra’kei?
The men were starting to come ashore now, and she made a split second decision, turned, and sprinted back toward the hills.
“Oy, grab the girl!”
She risked a glance over her shoulder and saw a man part of the first group off the ship running after her. With her one glance, she realized running was pointless. Whoever was chasing her had much longer legs, and would catch up to her with ease.
At the base of the overhang she’d used as a lookout point earlier, she pushed herself to not lose speed as she climbed. She slipped once or twice in the dirt, but didn’t stop when she grazed her knees. At the peak, she glanced back again. Her pursuer was at the bottom of the hill, only just beginning to climb, but even as she watched, he was making his way up faster than she had.
Her only chance was the forest. She had grown up here, so she knew the land. Maybe she could shake the man off her trail before he caught up to her.
She jumped over the carcass of her deer and sprinted toward the edge of the trees that inhabited this side of the river, ignoring the stitch in her side. Once under the cover of the forest, she slowed. Which way should she go? She could run west toward the river, or she could turn east toward the Nour’am Mountains. To the north the road led through trading towns until it reached the Castle of the Sun Kings.
She turned west. Perhaps she could swim the length of the river and then double back after following it awhile, heading deeper into Azun.
She set off again, the crunch of leaves marking her pursuer’s progress getting closer, and she imagined someone grabbing her at any second. Was the heavy breathing coming from behind her imagination?
Taking a deep breath, she dove into the river, the icy water setting her teeth on edge. She was usually a great swimmer, but the strain from her day of hiking and being chased was starting to catch up to her. The current was strong at this time of year, and the rains of late had caused the river to swell to double its normal size. She could feel the water tugging at her, coaxing her to let it pull her along with its waters, but that would take her back towards the ships.
She felt sand beneath her, and struggled to pull herself out of the water. She breathed in, her chest heaving.
Hands grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back into the water.
“No!” She struggled wildly against her captor, and they were pulled underneath the water. Still, he held her with a grip like iron, not letting her break away. She could feel him kicking out in the water, and then pulling her out of the river and back onto the first side. “Let go!”
Once standing safely on the bank, they both stopped their struggles and gasped for air. The man was still holding her against his chest, but he had relaxed his grip on her slightly. She could feel his frantic heartbeat, almost as fast as her own.
Now was her chance, before he caught his breath.
She swung backwards with her elbow, hitting him in the face with as much force as she could muster. He staggered backwards with a grunt, his hands going up to his right eye. She took two steps away in the other direction and pulled her dagger out of the sheath that hung from her belt, gripping it tighter than she should have been. Wielding a blade properly was something she’d never managed to get used to.
For the first time she took a good look at him. He was young, probably only couple years older than herself. He was tall, and though not particularly big or burly, he had the muscles that came with training as a soldier. His hair was brown and cropped short like that of a soldier’s. The eye that he wasn’t covering was brown, and was focused on the knife she was holding. Slowly, he dropped one hand to where his sword hung at his waist.
He opened his mouth to say something, but the girl lunged forward, swiping out at him awkwardly. He sidestepped the blade with speed that took the girl by surprise, and she barreled past him, off balance. Before she knew what had happened he’d grabbed her arm and twisted it painfully behind her back, causing her to drop the dagger, and had forced her down onto her knees.
The girl struggled against his grip, letting out a ragged sob.
“We aren’t here to hurt you!” He said, kicking the dagger away from where they were wresting so that no one accidentally got stabbed.
“Then let me go!” The girl snarled.
“I can’t do that!” The boy shouted back, shaking her slightly. “Think! How long could you survive out here alone? Maybe you were fine on a little hunting trip, but you had provisions then. You had a plan! Just come back to camp with me. We can take care of you!” He pulled her back up onto her feet and began lead her out from under the trees and back onto the road.
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” she muttered, then took a deep breath and called out as loudly as she could “Khan!”
The boy tensed and looked around, expecting someone to come out of the trees to the girl’s aid. For a long moment, nothing happened, but just as the boy began to relax, a deafening screech filled the air.
The falcon swooped down from overhead and clawed at the boy with merciless talons. With a start, the boy released his grip on the girl, and she sprinted back toward the trees.
“Wait!” Something in his voice made the girl falter and turn around.
The soldier was holding the falcon, Khan, tightly in his hands.
“Don’t, please.” She whispered, taking a step forward.
“It seems I’ve found your weakness,” He said, grinning as if this were all a game. Then his grin turned to a frown and he squinted at her through his one eye that wasn’t swollen shut from her elbowing him. “Your eyes.”
The girl unconsciously put a hand up to feel her face, confused. “What of them?”
“They’re two different colors. One’s blue, the other’s purple!” He shook his head, laughing, it seemed, at his own private joke. “Come on, let’s get you back to the ships. Just walk on in front of me.”
They made their way down the hill together, back towards the port. Walking through the ruins a second time was harder than the first, and it was all the girl could do to keep back the tears that stung her eyes.
The area around the port was a mess of activity. Most of the men were setting up tents or starting campfires, but small groups of two or three were scouring the ruins. What they expected to find, the girl didn’t know. They stopped and stared as the odd group of girl, soldier, and bird walked by, but hastily turned back to what they were doing when a familiar voice bellowed, “Oy, get back to work!”
Only a small huddle of people was left on the wooden planks of the port: a girl who looked about seventeen and four men. They looked up at the newcomers, and the girl shooed two of the men away, ignoring their mutterings as they went to go help set up the camp. The girl was dressed in brown riding leggings and a red tunic, both embroidered with golden thread. The two remaining men standing at her shoulders could not have appeared more opposite. The one by her left shoulder was wearing an officer’s uniform. He had a gruff beard and an ugly scowl on his face. The other man wasn’t wearing a uniform at all, but was in dress clothes, rather fancy for one just off of a ship. He was well groomed and held an air of self-importance. Though he couldn’t have been any older than forty, his hair was graying considerably.
“Thank you, Grayson.” The girl said, raising her eyebrow as she noticed that he was holding a falcon.
“Hers.” He said, grinning again. “Trained really well. She would have gotten away if I hadn’t grabbed it.”
“Khan.” The girl whispered, not meeting anyone’s gazes.
“Whad’ya say?” The officer spoke in that rough southern accent.
“Khan. His name’s Khan.”
“The bird?” The older girl asked, in a slightly gentler voice. The first nodded and the latter turned to Grayson again. “You can let him go. I doubt she could make it five feet away if we didn’t want her to.”
So this girl was obviously in charge, even though she appeared to be the youngest.
Grayson immediately let go of Khan, who flapped his wings once or twice and landed on his owner’s shoulder. The girl stroked its feathers, finding comfort in his familiar presence. After a moment, she dropped her hand back to her side.
“Fly,” she said to the bird. He took off obediently and began to circle overhead once more.
The officer moved to stand behind their captive and Grayson took his position by the lady’s side. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, “She’s a Tovenaar”.
“I noticed. One eye blue, the other purple. Can’t say I’ve ever seen that combination before. What’s your name?” The lady asked the girl gently.
Like I’d tell you my name’s Hailee. Hailee bit her lip and didn’t answer.
The officer shoved her from behind, forcing her down into a kneeling position. “Princess Luna asked yuh uh question!” he snarled, placing his foot on Hailee’s back and pressing down so that she was in a sort of bow.
“Morgan!” The princess snapped, all gentleness gone from her voice. “I’d ask you not to manhandle her!”
Morgan removed his foot from Hailee’s back, but Hailee stayed frozen in that position.
Her head had snapped up at the mention of the older girl’s name, and she met the gaze of Princess Luna. She had wavy brown hair and was very pretty. She almost matched Grayson in height, though he had maybe an inch on her, but what stuck out most to Hailee were her eyes. One was blue and the other green. Two colors, just like Hailee’s.
“What the hell’s a Tovenaar?”
Luna glanced at Grayson and when he shrugged in response the princess knelt down before Hailee.
“Have you ever seen any strange things? Things no one but you can see?”