Sixteen Years Before....
The night's black sky was crystal clear, with not a cloud in sight. The sky's stars twinkled and shined as the crisp night air whooshed across a meadow covered in wild flowers, the colorful petals swaying with the wind. All was quiet for a time, until the silence was broken by the shrill neigh of a horse, followed by another as the two horses' cloaked riders galloped along, their brisk pace revealed by how fast they past the trees at the edge of the dark forests. For a time they rode in silence, the only sounds being the occasional hoot of the night owl searching for its next meal and the continuous drum of hooves pounding on the old dirt path.
It seemed as if the riders had no destination in mind, only out for a midnight ride, but this was indeed not the case. They had a destination in mind, an old inn beside the river, in an old miner's town. The inn itself wasn't of particular importance, just a place for the weary soul to sit by the fire and eat a decent meal, but it was the alleged drug organization that it housed that concerned the riders. Continuing on their journey some more, they eventually stopped on a small hill overlooking the town. It was small as it was far away, little houses dotting the landscape, most of their windows, black from neglect of a good clean, revealed only darkness on the inside; it appeared no one was home. The only source of light in fact, was coming from the inn, which appeared to be open but it was too far to see if it was busy.
After a while, one of the cloaked riders dared to break the spell of silence that seemed to consume the surrounding nature. "It looks to be silent and deserted." Etain commented, his sharp hazel eyes sweeping across the picturesque town, looking for signs of people. His companion did not reply, his thoughtful eyes gazing at the inn, as if it would bestow all its secrets upon him if he stared at it hard enough. Finally, he replied, "Maybe so. But I still think its best I go in alone." Kheelan ignored the exasperated sigh, followed by the lecture that always reared its ugly head when he said this. "No, you know it's too dangerous, what if you get into trouble and you can't sweet-talk your way out of it, or if your disarmed! You NEED me!" Etain burst out angrily. He continued on for some time, not realizing his words were falling on deaf ears. Kheelan let him rant on, making notes of escape routes, the country side, etc. After what seemed hours, Etain finally stopped to take a breath, his smooth young face covered in red blotches from his anger. "I don't even see why you want to go in there alone." Etain said finally, his shoulders down.
Kheelan didn't appear to register his words, but he did think about them. Etain was his childhood friend; they did everything together, even now. This would be the first time that Etain wouldn't be with him, and he wouldn't even know why. “I just….I just have to.” Kheelan said finally, his piercing blue eyes seeking Etain’s. Etain appeared to be upset about this, but he took a deep breath and nodded, though it was clear he was still angry about this. Without further ado Kheelan spurred his horse into a brisk gallop, thundering down to the inn, not looking behind him at Etain, who was watching him go with a foreboding expression, as if he knew something would go wrong. Etain sighed, letting him go, reluctantly turning back to find shelter in the lush forests.
Kheelan had no trouble finding the inn, leaving his hardy horse to graze untied around the inn, knowing the animal wouldn’t venture far. His frosty breath tickled his face, quickly turning foggy as he entered the inn. It was rather busy tonight, perhaps because the travelling prospectors had just come into town and the miners were conducting sales or trade. In any case, it was rather busy and loud. Kheelan sat at the bar, ordering a mead while casually scanning the inn for his mark, a messenger for the drug organization Kheelan was looking to destroy with an important message for one of the bosses. He sighed when he did not see him, deciding to wait a while longer, drinking his mead when the pretty waitress brought it to him, settling in for a long wait.
YOU ARE READING
Facing Darkness
Teen Fiction*rework in process, summary may be adjusted later* Oh Sweet Lies... People lie. It's true, they do. It's a proven fact. They do it all the time, every day, all day. They don't stop. They lie to their neighbors, their friends, to that sweet lunch lad...
