What Lies In The Shadows

Chapter 3 - Warrior

(Ryder's Pov)

I was on my way to the battlefield with my troop, I was in command, I was determined to fight till my dying breathe, I would not let my kingdom down. Rogue, my horse was running as fast as he could. We spotted the enemy over the hill, they were headed straight for us, but we were ready with our lives. It would be no less than 10 seconds before our two armies clashed, I raised my sword in signal to the rest of my troop to be ready, the battle had begun, bodies were dropping left and right, some from our troop others from the enemy's. the clanging of steel hitting steel was overwhelming, screams and cries filled the empty space, I lost count of how many I had killed, to many. Battle is battle, either kill or be killed that was the rule. Before I realised what was happening a cool metal blade slid across my face from my forehead to my cheek over my right eye. A stinging pain shot across my face, it was the only thing I could focus on, the pain. Until it stopped hurting, I blocked everything out, all I knew was that I needed to win this battle, not for me but for my kingdom. I charged at the warrior in front of me running my sword through him, he went limp and fell off his horse which ran off over the hills. I circled the enemy troop taking them out one by one, watching them fall, watching the blood pool around them. Soon enough there was only one left, the leader, the person who declared war on us. The one who made a deadly mistake when he decided that he should be king. I jumped off my horse as he did, I walked closer to him and in a low growl I said "only idiots start a battle against me" I sliced his head clean off in one quick motion, it dropped to the floor and rolled across the sand.

Tired and bloody, what was left of my troop headed back to the castle, I stayed at the battlefield. I always stay at the battlefield, it started when I needed time to cool off, but it just became my tradition, to pay my respects as many of the enemy troops I fight don't have a choice in the matter. I walked Rogue into the forest nearby and wandered through the trees clearing my head.

As I wandered through the forest with Rogue I heard a faint voice, I continued closer to the voice, it got louder and clearer, a song. The lady was singing. I tied Rogue's reigns to a tree, he started to eat the bush as I walked closer to the lady. She was so beautiful, her red curly hair hung messily. It was bout waist length I guessed, it was hard to tell as she was spinning and dancing, she looked so happy and free. She wore a dark green dress that matched the green of the trees, I caught a glimpse of her eyes, they were a bright emerald green, full of joy. I didn't want to scare her so I stayed far enough away so she wouldn't see me, then I heard it, it sounded like the guards from the palace. The joy ran away from her face as she heard them to, she started running so I followed her. The guards were shouting things like "she shouldn't be out here" "the prince won't be happy" The lady must be the princess; I wonder why she isn't allowed outside. That didn't matter, I knew I had to stop the guards from finding her. I stopped following the Princess and lead the guards in the opposite direction, they thought I was the princess. So much for being the cleverest guards in the kingdom. After I lead the guards away, they got lost. I headed back to where I was following the princess. There was a flash of red hair before the Princess, and I ran straight into each other and tumbled down a hill. When we reached the bottom, I helped the princess up and looked around at our surroundings. Everything was different, instead of the birch trees that filled the forest we were just in, the trees were pine, dark green and beautiful. Instead of the shouting from the guards, there was a the humming of the wind and the chirping of birds, it felt magical, almost like we were in a fairy tail.