The Betrayed

Prologue:

Jerrog

            I trudged through the rain with my cloak pulled tightly around myself. My feet were soaked by the dirty, mud-tainted puddles and the freezing night air of the forest did not help. Where is it? It’s too dark. I swore to myself, squinting into the darkness. There it is. Finally, I’m almost there. I could barely make out the old, rustic cabin. It was covered in vines and it looked like no one had set foot there in many years. Picking up my pace, I turned left and headed straight for it. Just then, an enormous gust of wind jerked at my cloak, nearly yanking it away from me. I cursed under my breath, as my hand flew up grabbing my hood to keep it from slipping. A branch snapped to my left. Taking a defensive position, I pulled my rapier from its sheath. A dark, shadowy figure lurched out from behind the trees with his hands raised, as if he was surrendering.

            “Who are you and what do you want?” I demanded in a stiff, spiteful voice.

            “Oh, that hurts me,” replied a deep, rasping voice, mocking me. “Jerrog, how could you forget me, your own brother? That’s so cruel.”

             “Zather, what do you think you’re doing? You fool: Sneaking around like that.”

            “Sorry I didn’t think you wanted your plan discovered, but if you don’t care I’ll just…”

            “Idiot, you know what I meant. Besides, if you were trying to be cautious you wouldn’t have used my name.” Zather joined me and we continued toward the cabin in silence.

          The cabin’s door was shut tightly. I yanked on the door handle a few times. “Blast!” I whispered as the handle splintered under the pressure. “What else could go wrong? Zather go find another way …” Zather moved quickly. He walked up to the door and kicked it where the handle had just been. The door shrieked in protest just before shattering in to pieces. “Zather! Why’d you do that?!”

            “You wanted me to find a way in, so there you go.” He stated shrugging.

            “What if someone heard that? Huh?”

            “We’re in the middle of a forest in the middle of a storm. I doubt anyone could hear it and if they did they probably thought it was thunder or a tree falling.”

             “Come on.” I growled, trudging into the cabin. After taking off my hood, I dug through my bag to find my candles. Taking one and lighting it, I inspected the area for any signs of other people. It looked worse inside than it did outside; There was debris everywhere and the only furniture still standing was an old, dust-covered table. I walked to the table and leaned on it to test its durability. It trembled slightly under my weight, but still held. We’re lucky it didn’t turn into dust, I thought. I set the candle down and lit the other five candles. Zather still had his hood on and was standing near the splintered door, watching me cautiously. Even with the candles, it was still too dark to see anything from more than a foot away. “Zather, get over here and help me.”

            “What do you need?” He asked, moving towards me.

          “Clean this thing off, while I gather my supplies.”

          “Alright, but what do you want me to use?”

      “I don’t know. You can use your cloak for all I care,” I retorted, turning back to my bag and carefully getting my supplies. Why am I related to such an idiot? He can’t do anything without being told, unless it has to do with fighting, I thought, irritated at his stupidity.

         “Done.”

      “Good,” I said, setting my supplies down. I reached back into the bag to get a collection of papers. Suddenly, Zather drew his sword. “Wha...” Zather put a finger to his lips and pointed to the entrance. I reached for my rapier as two shapes emerged in the doorway.

         “Sorry we’re late, my Lord,” One of the shapes said, bowing his head.

         “We couldn’t find the cabin,” declared the other.

         “Liam? Kalin?” I asked, taking my hand off my rapier, “Where are the others?”

          “We split up to find the cabin,” stated Liam, unconcerned.

          “They should be close. I just sent Avory to bring them here,” replied Kalin

          “Avory?” I inquired, “You’re not supposed to tell others about the plans. You fool.”

         “Don’t worry. Avory is my fox,” Kalin grinned with pride.

         “Fox?”

        “Yeah. She’s pure white and…”

       “I don’t care about the thing’s life story. As long as no one finds out about my plans I don’t need an explanation,” I sighed and turned back to the table. I began preparing my papers for the meeting. The papers were exceptionally thin and each page seemed to have random, insignificant shapes jumbled together. After checking each sheet, I carefully laid them on top of one another. I took four small weights and placed them on the corners of the papers. Once the papers were flattened out, they formed one image, a map of the king’s castle.

      “Why’d you do that?” Kalin asked abruptly, glancing over my shoulder, “Wouldn’t it be easier to just have the map on one sheet?”

      “Yes, but it would make it easier for other people to discover our plans,” I retorted. “Then, we would be destroyed and our ambitions never realized.”

        “That’s brilliant. How’d you come up with it?” Kalin’s face lit up.

      “Who cares? It’s not like it matters,” interjected Laim, rubbing his forehead. “Can’t you just be quiet? You’re giving me a headache.”

        “Sorry, Laim,” Kalin pouted. “I was just curious,”

        “It’s alright. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” Laim patted Kalin’s head with a slight smile.

        “Where are the others?” I asked, annoyed. “I thought you said they were close.”

        “They should be here at any… ” a silvery, white streak ran through the door and leapt to Kalin’s chest. At first, it appeared as if it was trying to tear out his throat, but as I got a better look, the small, white ball of fur was licking Kalin’s face. “Avory…” Kalin chuckled, “You’re such a good girl. Yes, you are.”

        “Idiot,” said Liam as his hand reached out and lightly hit Kalin in the back of the head.

      “Hey, what was that for?” Kalin cried out rubbing the back of his head. “Calling names ain’t nice.”

     “And hitting you is?” said a new cloaked figure in the doorway, “That’s a little messed up. Don’t you think?”

      “Brother, you don’t need to tease the foolish child. It’s not his fault he was born with a half-dead brain,” called a chilling, famine voice as the two emerged from the shadows.

     “Vasir, Ezra, control yourselves. Please ignore my nephew and niece’s impudent nature, my Lord. They were in an accident when they were young and never really recovered,” said a third figure, just behind the other two.

      “It’s fine, Abdiel, as long as they learn to control themselves,” I stated slightly irritated. “Everyone, come gather around the table, we have a strategy to discuss.”

       “Strategy?” questioned Vasir.

       “Don’t you mean an assassination,” stated Ezra with a twisted evil laugh.