Creatures of The Dark

Chapter XV

 The world was alight with stars, the crescent moon shining down upon the meadow where we camped for tonight. We had been away from the castle and the border of Neulight for two weeks. Alexandra, Serena, Saron, Noro, Illara, Tannon, and I were tasked with following a group of weapons traders. Our goal was to intercept the caravan before they reached Zarash. In the two years since my rescue, the situation between Dark and Light fae had worsened severely.

Adromere's might had struck like a plague, leaching the world and filling the voids with despair...and rage. More and more light fae were flocking to Neulight, leaving the secret of its location vulnerable and the land overflowing with refugees. After nearly two hundred years of oppression, Ambros was pushing back. I was pushing back.

"Lucius?"

I turned to Alexandra, a grin spreading across my face, "Alexandra". The soft, dewy grass blew gently in the night's wind, tickling her face as if it had grown long fingers to caress her jaw. I reached my hand out to do just that, letting my hand rest on her cheek. Her face was chilled where it met my palm but flushed at the contact. She asked if I was afraid, and I shook my head. In the years after my escape, I had grown and mastered skills that I did not think I would live to see.

In a year, Roan trusted me enough to send me out past the ravine and into the darkness. It was a shock at first, like the first dream in a month without sleep, unreal. It was a small mission at first: a cycle of spying and reporting. I was no soldier, but I had wanted to fight, I wanted to be useful. I felt the need to prove myself, to earn the crown that sat so gingerly on my head. The day after my twentieth birthday, Sirus led a regiment that freed twenty child slaves. Six months later, we destroyed a weapons manufacturing facility. The fae live long and their wars longer. The fight was slow, but we were fighting. We would no longer lay down and take it.

Alexandra had been with me every step of the way. She had become my knife to my sheath. Our love had only sharpened in Neulight, where the only hands that touched me were her loving caresses and the embrace of friends. She mended my wounds and made me whole. She curled closer to me now, tucking her head into my arm to shield from the blinding night sky. I closed my eyes, letting the starlight burn through my eyelids with memories of home. Soon, so soon I would be back. We would be welcomed with open arms and cheers of our future. I fell asleep in her arms, her breath lulling me to sleep.

We rose at dawn. The silence before combat was loud. The only sounds that filled the air were the ramming of hearts and the sheathing of weapons. We were off before the sun rose, knowing the caravan wouldn't rise for another hour. We had been watching them for weeks. Their route was direct, and they didn't dare take stops; but they weren't equipped to stop us. Unlike soldiers, they weren't smart enough to have their men take watches. They slept and their cargo lay ready for the taking.

We rode to the edge of the clearing where the small encampment was set up, tying the horses. On Alexandra's signal, we prowled across the clearing until we had surrounded the sleeping weapons traders. I drew my sword from my sheath, an expensive piece gifted to me by my Roan. It caught the sun's light as I pressed it to a man's neck. He jolted awake, not having a moment to scream before he realized his predicament. I smiled, lifting the blade just enough to gesture that he stand up. He did so, raising shaking hands. I dared a glance at the others. The rest of the men had woken up, most finding themselves with blades against their throats. My smile grew.

The male in front of Noro made a quick movement, grabbing for his hilt. Noro just as quickly stepped to the side and went to knock the man against the side of the head. But the male's actions had spurred rebellion in the hostages. Another male lunged forward. We were outnumbered. but these traders were unskilled in combat. The male against my own blade attacked but was drawn short by a dagger in his shoulder. He dropped against me, a cry on his lips. I met Alexandra's gaze across the clearing before she was struggling with her own attacker.