I took the flight of stairs to the hall.
The screams still echoed throughout the castle and the sound of swords and armors hitting the floor was enough for me to tell that we lost the war. I took a left turn but the soldiers of the clan were there, they feasted on a knight that writhed on the floor. They left the moment the knight took his last breath and decided to terrorize somewhere else. I grabbed the chance and ran down the hall towards the combat room where William and I went yesterday.
I turned left towards the chamber but quickly went back in the shadows and backed myself against the wall. A soldier of the Northerners outside the door that had cornered a young woman in an emerald dress— a young woman from the Eastern Sea Kingdom. She begged and cried, she asked him to spare her life. But the vampire did not heed her and proceeded to pin her against the wall and bite her neck. She screamed and clawed his back, tears streamed down her face. She tried to push hi
I hurriedly took the King down the stairs and we soon reached a small chamber. I closed the door behind us and laid him down on the small bench. He tried to catch his breath as he winced in pain because of his wide wound. I ripped the curtain from the wall and tied it around his side to stop his bleeding. “Father, we need to go,” I said to him as his eyes were fixed on the ceiling, “I need to take you to the mausoleum…we are safe there.” I wiped the blood that had caked on his cheek. He did not respond. “Father…please, we need to go,” I reiterated. He shook his head from side to side. He took my hand in his palm and held it tight. “Where’s your crown?” He asked and I quickly reached for my crown and it wasn’t there, it must have fallen on my way to rescue him. He took his crown and placed it on my head, he secured it in place. “No…” I told him as tears streamed down my face, “I can’t let you do this,” I argued. He smiled at me and wipe
The rest of the Clan and the soldiers chased me as I made my way through the halls of the castle. I took the stairs towards the garden and went inside my mother’s mausoleum. I watched the Clan and the soldier stopped at the entrance of the garden. They looked at the vervain that covered the whole structure and I could see how their eyes burned in rage. I quickly locked the door and ran to the tomb of my mother. I kneeled beside her tomb and cried as the crown and sword fell to the ground. The sound of metal as it hit the floor echoed throughout the chamber. I cried loudly and called out to my mother. I laid on the floor and folded in a fetal position as I hugged my knees in fear. My mother died and now my father and possibly William. Sooner or later, they will find a way to get me. I need to get out of here. I tried to open the tomb of my mother. I struggled as I tried to push the heavy marble covers to pry it open. My palms pressed sharply against the marble and it
The sky was a burst of blue.The clouds and sun seemed like a dismantled sunny-side-up egg that swam in the ocean up above. I laid on the meadow with my head placed on my mother’s lap as she combed through my hair. My mother was a queen who knew how to straighten a crowd when she was in the room yet she sang the softest lullaby to her child. She was fierce yet gentle; in command but understanding. It was a perfect day. My mother’s song dropped and her hand stopped from combing through my hair. I looked at her and I saw how frantic she looked with her eyes that darted throughout the meadow. A strong wind gusted and I could see how the branches of the trees waved to it as if they were giving off a dance before a turmoil. There was silence after it— the calm before the storm. The horses on the carriage neighed loudly and started to stomp against the soil. Their cries were like calls to remind us to leave— there is danger. “Let’s go, Victoria,” my mother hurri
I woke up to a pail of water thrown on me which soaked my gown. I jolted up and scampered backward in shock, only to be backed against a wooden wall. My hands were shackled and I felt the cold tight embrace of the iron as it bit my skin. My eyes squinted as they recovered from the sleep, it slowly made out eyes and faces that were glued on me. “Where am I?” I asked them and they all blankly stared at me. A cold wind brushed my face and my eyes widened to see tall trees that twisted and curled in wicked ways; moss has covered the land and climbed up the blackened bark of the barren trees; the sun failed to permeate their thick foliage which caused a permanent night under its shades— we are in a large prison wagon in the midst of the Dark Woods. I scanned my eyes on the pile of people pressed against each other on the other side of the wagon. There are a couple of men but most of them are girls, all huddled together. They all dared not to get close to me. “Your
My body was nothing but a mere pulp that was pushed against a tree. I felt the searing pain on my legs from the scratches of the hard soil. My head throbbed from the pain of being beaten repeatedly. My left eye was almost shut closed from the inflammation that it had gotten from the direct punch the dark brown-haired man gave to me. His hand wrapped around my throat which restricted my breaths. I clawed on his arm and tried to kick at him, I resisted his restraints but my actions felt like nothing but a weak effort to set myself free. I stared at the foliage of the trees up above us and tried to reach out to the dim glimmer of sunlight with my losing eyes. I thought of the trees around the castle and the way I would lay beneath them with my mother when I was still a child. I thought of the green leaves that are similar to the shade of my mother’s eyes and how it reminded me of spring. If I was asked years before if I have envisioned myself to be in this position, I would say
Ezekiel started to wrap my wounds by the use of his remaining bandages. He cut up several of them to make sure that he has enough left for emergencies. I gritted my teeth as soon as the mixture of herbs he had formulated touched my lacerations. My body pressed against the cold bars of the prison wagon as I flinched from the pain by the time he dressed my injuries. I breathed deeply as I tried to regain strength from the beating I had endured from Matthias. “You are lucky you haven’t broken any bones, Princess,” he said as he tucked the medicines inside his bag. My rib was not broken but it sure does felt like it. “How do you know my mother?” I asked him as I stared at the trees that moved swiftly with the movement of the wagon, “aside from her being the Queen.” I have never encountered anyone who had a connection with my mother aside from the royal courts and the royal constituents of the kingdom. The people of my kingdom only knew her as the Queen of Fardoja
The fire crackled as it sent tiny sparks to linger in the air like fireflies in a summer evening. Its bright light was big enough to show the man splayed on the ground, not even moving. Blood dripped from his head and into the dark soil of the earth beneath him, the rest of the people who had joined him a while ago surrounded him and tried to give him aid. I stood in front of them completely frozen. Ezekiel threw the rock towards the man and I don’t even know if he is still alive. I hope he is not dead. I brought my hands to cover my mouth as I started to cry for everyone, for everything, for the mess that we are in, and for every pain that there is. I wanted to disappear. The servant held my hand tightly. “Go,” Matthias unshackled the hands of Ezekiel, “Go kill him…that’s what you want right?” he yelled as he grabbed the collar of Ezekiel’s shirt and pushed him towards the man on the ground, “Finish him.” Ezekiel walked towards the man with his head down and
The moon cast its light upon us which was dispersed into small rays of moonlight because of the thick foliage of the Dark Woods. The howls of wolves echoed like distant cries of our own who longed for someone out there, someone to come and rescue us. The old lady sat down the soil in front of the children as we all helped ourselves with the meat that was given to us. It made me wonder if the intentions of these foul creatures. The way they would treat us harshly and almost break and bend us to our ends but still have the decency to feed us. Everyone was silent and were focused on their meals except for Ezekiel. He seemed to be still distraught from the harm he had inflicted on the man a while ago. “You need to eat,” the man beside me barely said, as if it was a whisper that lulled in the air between us, “you need strength,” he added towards Ezekiel. “You can talk?” the young girl asked and was immediately shushed by the old woman. “Evangeline,” the woman blur
It was a sudden turn of events. Something that we may have thought but never really expected to happen. It was something that we have doubted could happen but we never expected that she would do it. She betrayed us. Sophie made us believe that she was with us and we could trust her again but she decided in the end that she will be the one to hinder us from our escape. I couldn’t even feel my legs when we decided to stop for a bit. My thighs shook from running so fast and far too long. Petra was heaving so hard as well as Ezekiel, they ran to keep up with us whilst carrying the children. I pressed my back against the trunk of the tree as I tried to catch my breath. I am mad and hurt by the betrayal and the way Sophie jeopardized our silent escape. The least that she could do if she treated us as friends were to let us leave but she didn’t. She sabotaged it and now the small time that we have was getting smaller and smaller as the blood drinkers were coming after us as fast as
I wasn’t able to fall asleep after Petra read my palms. Her words echoed inside my head for hours, they were relentless and pervasive. They were drilled inside my head and no matter how much I tried to silence them they just become louder and louder. The light of the sun started to fade and the sky puked its bright oranges and yellows all over the horizon. Nighttime is coming, our escape is at hand’s reach. Petra and her children were fast asleep, huddled together beside Sebastien. I felt bad for Celeste, she was apologetic and got scared at how I got mad at what happened. She kept glancing at me during the first few minutes after the palm reading and I could see the shame in her eyes. She would immediately look away every time our eyes meet until she fell asleep beside her grandmother. Ezekiel was still silent as well as Sebastien. There seemed to be an awkward atmosphere and an air of tension that sat in the middle of our group. Everyone seemed too fragile th
Ezekiel had stopped crying. He was just silent beside me as the water covered us from the chest down. The children were busy playing near us as they splashed water against each other. Their innocence made them see the fun in such cruel conditions. Petra would gently scold them whenever they would make too much noise, wary of how the blood drinkers might react. I couldn’t see any trace of Sebastien, he might have waded far from us. Sophie was in a group of women far from us but I could still see the way they talked to each other. She might have told them about our plans to escape tonight, I wish she wouldn’t. I hope she would understand us before it’s too late and change her mind. I still don’t want to leave her behind. I have thought about talking to Sebastien in trying to wait for one or two days before leaving. Make some time to try to persuade and convince Sophie to join our escape. But with what happened a while ago, with the plans of Rufus towards Ezekiel that loomed li
I woke up drenched in my sweat. It was as if I took a bath on a river, my clothes were soaked. My heart thumped against my chest, it felt like it wanted to break free from the cages of my ribs. I felt the dryness of my throat as I heaved for air, tried to calm myself down from the dream I just had. I slumped my back against the tree stump near me and caressed my chest as it painfully ached for my mother and the thought of drowning. The sun still wasn’t up and I could see the sliver of the dawning sky through the branches of the trees that crisscrossed above us. The wood fire became nothing but blocks of charcoal and cinder, it was a bit cold without its warmth. A lot of the captives were still fast asleep on the ground. Some of them were huddled together to stay warm and some preferred to sleep alone just like Sophie who laid alone near one of the trees. My eyes scanned the surroundings as my breathing finally went back to its normal state. My throat yearned
The sky was grey and cloudless and I could see how the branches of the dead trees reached out to the heavens as if they were trying to touch it, begged for a drop of life. I could hear the gentle sound of water as it gushed down and the distant calls of the birds in the far distance. With every step that I took, the woods grew thicker and thicker and the trail that I have been following seemed to get lost on the large roots of trees that entangled themselves together. “Victoria,” a voice whispered right behind me. I looked back, startled. There was no one. I looked around hoping to catch a sight of anyone, anything. But there’s nothing, only the barren trees that thirsted for life. I walked faster, forward towards an unknown direction. It was as if I was here before but I couldn’t remember. Only my feet to lead the way towards somewhere I hope I know. I dragged on my long dress that constantly gets stuck on the roots of the trees and the prickly bushes that had adorn
The night stretched longer as things became heavier around us. It was filled with tension from the consecutive conflicts that rose around us. The air felt constricted as if everything was started to fall apart. The bonds we had started to severe and were barely holding together. Sophie left us and joined the rest of the captives that were huddled together. She had made her decision, the same way that we had made ours. “I hope she tells no one about our plan,” Sebastien said as she stared at Sophie from our place. “I think she won’t…I trust her.” I looked at her tiny body slumped against the tall tree. She had her back turned away from us. I wonder if she was crying, maybe she is. But maybe not because of us leaving but because of our selfish decision. “Do you think that is still important right now?” He turned to me with a concerned look, “whether you trust her or not?” I stayed quiet because I know it doesn’t change a thing. “You trust her bu
Sebastien further discussed the escape plan with us. He had expounded on how futile it is that we keep track of time and not waste any of it. Just like what he said, every second counts. We rely on it. We cling to the hope that we are midway to Fardojar when Matthias comes back with a dozen or more blood-drinkers tagged behind him. Sophie seemed to still be hesitant as she continued to go over and over each question. Meanwhile, Petra already placed the children on their makeshift bed, making sure that there weren’t any bugs to wake them from their slumber. “What about the others?” Sophie asked as she turned her gaze towards the other captives that were already asleep. I bit the insides of my cheek knowing that there’s only one way to escape, it is to leave them behind. Bringing them along would lessen our chance for survival, the blood drinkers could easily track us down. With these many captives to tag along, we surely cant hide. It hurts me to leave them, to abando
It was as if the puzzle pieces finally linked up and I could see their pieces slowly organizing together, making silhouettes out of a hazy picture. Ezekiel’s eyes just stared at me, the same way I stared at him— shocked but has a sense of clarity. His mother was the witch and whatever the thing that she had made under those 12 full moons, it is linked to my mother. I opened my mouth to talk to Ezekiel but before I could, Sebastien already started talking over us. “We have to escape,” he said his voice barely a whisper. I could see his eyes scan the surrounding, careful for watchful eyes and heedful ears. “We need to go.” Ezekiel shook his head from left to right and mouthed later as we both went back to face the rest of us in the circle. “We’ll be dead if they find out,” Sophie interjected. “We’ll be dead once we arrived at The Yonder,” Sebastien bit back, “It’s either we die trying to escape or just wait for our deaths.” “Besides...” Sebastie
The moon beamed against the starless sky, it had illuminated everyone in the clearing. The rest of the captives were fast asleep but there was us on the farther part of the clearing, huddled in a circle, eager to hear what Petra was going to tell us. The children were giddy to hear their grandma’s story, something that would tuck them in a makeshift bed out of things they had foraged. “Grandma,” Celeste impatiently said, beckoning her grandmother to start telling the story. Petra smiled at the little girl and looked around to see if we were already in our places. “Sit down first, Celeste, so we can start.” She took the child’s hand as she guided her to sit down beside her. Celeste carefully placed her head on the lap of his grandmother while Desmond huddled closely on Petra’s side. “I have lived a life long enough to know things that you children didn’t know,” Petra said calmly with a voice of a storyteller. “This wasn’t their first,” she added.