The Dance of The Marked (On Hold)

• Zeph •

The tears of laughter had finally stopped and now Audelia and Sephina chuckled away, staring into the fire as the memories continued in silence. A stick cracked behind them and the two girls whirled around, Audelia automatically drawing her dagger. She gasped slightly at who she saw standing in front of her. Although it was dark and the only light was from the now dying fire, she recognised him. The face structure. Body hand sculpted by god. Dark fluffy hair that fell slightly over his face. But his eyes were unforgettable. They almost looked familiar but where from? Sephina nudged her back into reality. Audelia glared at the man who stood a few meters away, keeping a tight grip on her dagger.

The guy chuckled. "Ahh Audelia, no need to keep such a tight grip on the knife, I'm not here to hurt you." His voice clear but with a slight rasp at the end. Audelia drew her eyes off him to look at Sephina. Her jaw was hanging slightly open and her head turned to look at Audelia, the look she gave was a mix between 'Holy shit do you see this fine human being standing in front of us' and 'This god-like looking man knows you??'. Audelia rolled her eyes and sighed slightly at the reaction. Sephina was always the more boy-crazy friend out of the both of them. Turning back to the man whose name she still did not know, she opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by him continuing what he was saying.

"Look I'm sorry that I interrupted the moment, I truly am," A forlorn look passed over his face for a split second but long enough for Audelia to see it. "But I have news on your sister." Audelia stepped closer, they were now just a few centimeters apart, listening intensely making sure not to miss a single detail. She could feel his hot breath as he looked down at her before continuing.  "Now I'm not supposed to be here so I have to be quick but all I can tell you is that she is at the castle," He pauses for a minute letting the news sink into Audelia. "You better hurry, I'm not sure how long she will be safe for." He turns to leave but before he disappears into the darkness of the night Audelia shouts out. "Wait, What is your name?" They stood there looking at each other before he responded. "Zeph," And with that he turned and left without another word.

Audelia stood there looking at where he disappeared, mouth slightly agape. Sephina coughed awkwardly which made Audelia turn around to face her friend. Audelia's face burned a slight shade of red as she realised how close they were as Sephina watched. "Well.." Sephina trailed off. "Um, I think we should rest, for tomorrow." Audelia said hurriedly, trying to forget about the moment. Sephina raised an eyebrow at this but didn't say anything. Audelia laid in silence listening to Sephina's quiet breathing. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to calm the racing thoughts. Sighing she turned over and tried to sleep, hoping the nightmare would not return.

The sword sliced through the air. Audelia spun stabbing those who attacked. She looked around in horror at the still bodies that surrounded her. Breathing heavily she searched for one. Calista. Where is Calista? Then she saw something. In the only small patch of flowers left lay a body. A familiar body. "No no no no!" Audelia ran towards it praying it wasn't her sister. She dropped to her knees next to the fallen soldier. "Calista no" she cried out. She grabbed her sister's hand and held it tightly. "Hey, hey, you're ok, you're ok" Audelia said, trying to believe what she was saying. Then she saw it, the knife in the abdomen. The blood that surrounded it. A sobbed escaped from her lungs. Calista turned to look at her. "It's Okay," she said in a raspy voice. With that she closed her eyes and went limp. Audelia stared at her dead sister with tears streaming down her face. She was alone. Alone in this cruel world. The pain was too much, she couldn't handle it. Kneeling over her sister's body she screamed. A hysterical scream filled with pain, anger and loss. Her vision blinded by tears, she screamed.

"Audelia! Audelia wake up, it was just a dream!" Sephina shook Audelia awake. Her face wet from the tears and breathing heavily, she sat up. "What happened?" Audelia asked, trying to get her breath back. "I woke up to screaming and you were sobbing and screaming in your sleep," She paused  for a second. "Do you want to talk about it?" Sephina asked. Audelia shook her head silently not wanting to relive it. The dream made her even more worried for Calista. "Alright well I'm going back to sleep and you should too, goodnight," Sephina wandered back to her sleeping bag. Audelia laid back down but didn't go back to sleep. Instead she looked at the stars twinkling above her and pointed out the constellations to herself, murmuring the names under her breath. Her father had taught her all of them and she missed the sound of her father's voice telling her the stories of the stars.