Fear

Prologue

It was humid inside the dark little closet. The only way I could still breathe was from the gap where two of the wood planks almost met near the spikes above my head, the ones that were timed to drop on me soon. It was a sickening type of torture, waiting for death. My head felt like it was already being pierced by the spikes, the feeling wouldn't go away. I couldn't think of a way out. I just couldn't. I was trapped in a closet after I had escaped from an evil king. Trapped. No way out. The last few weeks were the scariest of my life, the worst, the most mind opening for someone like me. I used to be normal, happy, but that was the past. Now this was the end.

I lived in Cedar City my whole life. Being 14 years old, I was the middle child in my family. There was my older sister Janine, my younger sister Violet, and my younger brother James. I remembered how every Friday night my siblings and I would draw together in the grass. We would stay outside until our parents would make us sleep. The warm night air, I missed it. We would look at the lights in the sky, the stars. I would have given anything to have one more day with my family, I just wanted to be home again. It was all I wanted...

"HELP ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, desperately hoping that somehow, I would get out of this predicament. I knew no one was there, I just hoped. I should've known better than to hope, but it was all I could do right now. Even if it was dreadfully hopeless to do so.

Suddenly, the doors of the closet opened, interrupting my thoughts. I saw a soldier. He had light skin and was wearing a uniform from Medaeno's Army, silver-colored armor, a blue badge with the Medaeno's  face embroidered on, and a scabbard holding a steel sword. He was tall, with short brown hair reaching down to his neck. He was obviously out of breath.

"Hurry...just go, now. Run to the mountains...God I'm breaking so many rules doing this," the soldier said, waiting for me to run out of the closet.

"Uh---who are you?!" I was scared. Was the soldier tricking me...or helping me? The decision that could decide the fate of my life overwhelmed me, but in that split-second moment, I ran out and headed towards the mountains of Inayla. I heard scuffling behind me, followed by the thumping of footsteps. Startled, I whipped my head around and was met with the sight of fifteen soldiers, weapons in hand. They had found out the soldier and I escaped, for there were dire and abrupt yells as they prepared to chase us.

We ran through the drylands surrounding The Medaeno's castle and past the clearing of the Mitica Forest, looking back every so often to keep track of the army. They were still throwing their spears at us, but the soldiers were falling behind. My heart was racing, my head pounding more incessantly than ever.

This soldier might have been leading me to my death for all I knew. But anything was better than that dark small closet. I wanted to close my eyes and wake up in Utah, without a worry in my mind, but things could never be the same. I knew that.

After outrunning the soldiers uninjured, the soldier ran into a cave near the Morte Marsh. I followed him, wanting answers. It was lit only by the moonlight peeking through the top of the cave. I was breathless. I was a fast runner, but not fast enough to run away from those soldiers without feeling like all the air in the world was trapped in front of me...but I just couldn't reach it.

"That was close," he said, resting his head on the gray cave wall. He had to adjust himself often because of the stalagmites poking his head. After a while of cold silence, the atmosphere became tense.

"Why did you help me?" I asked sternly. I rested my shoulders but remained on guard with a blank expression. The soldier pondered the question for a couple of moments, and then spoke.

"I've been a soldier in Medaeno's army for...well, a while. In time, I realized that the Medaeno is just...evil," He explained, looking at me with a slight smile.

"No one is just evil," I remarked, crossing my arms. The soldier thought about what I had said for a moment.

"I suppose you're right," he replied, smirking.

"I am," I stated, putting my tangled wavy dark brown hair up with a piece of string.

"Mitch," the soldier said, holding out his hand.

"What?"

"My name, I'm Mitch."

"Vienna," I said shaking his hand stiffly. He held back a smile at my confusion, facing down.

I set my gaze to the outside of the cave, making sure no one was there. No one was. It was quiet, peaceful almost. The soldier and I seemed to have escaped...for now.

...

I heard a branch snap outside the cave. My head turned towards the sound fast, checking the area, but all I saw was the freezing rain slamming down and the dark green trees swaying in the wind.

"Here, have some crushed vegetables I got from the soldiers' storage units," Mitch suggested handing me a wrapped bag. I took it and nodded in thanks.

"I'm scared," I blurted out, looking down slightly with disappointment. It was the truth. I felt like prey trapped in a corner, about to get killed at any moment. I poured the bag of dark green powder in my mouth, forcing it down my throat.

"We all get scared sometime, but at least you're not helpless," he said, looking at me with gentle eyes.

"That's true," I admitted, looking away.

"Well, I am one year older than you, I know a couple of things," Mitch said, laughing a little. He unhooked his scabbard from his uniform and slid the sword out. I flinched slightly, but he set it on the ground. It was in good condition, its sharps edges, the smooth silver color, it looked almost new.

"That's a nice sword," I remarked.

"Yeah, it is," Mitch agreed, wiping off some of the dust on the sword.

...

The small cave was our home for the next couple of days. For warmth we used fur skins, and we collected rainwater in cans after letting it sit in the sun. We ran out of food after a day, so I had to go out and collect berries near the cave. It didn't bother me though, I always liked being outside, and I still did.

The story behind the name of The Morte Marsh, Morte directly translating to death from Portuguese, was an old famous one. When Inayla, the hidden kingdom of Brazil, was first discovered, many people wanted to rule it. War raged across the kingdom; thousands of people killed. The bodies of the dead were said to be disposed of in the marsh, haunting the place, but it didn't seem haunted at all to me. After years of bloodshed, the violence finally ended. Agosto Roca was the first king to rule Inayla and was known as the greatest ruler the kingdom ever had.

It did not cover a lot of land, but still appeared as a never-ending pool of water. I would sit at the edge of the grass patches, feeling a sense of peace throughout the marsh. When I woke up early in the mornings, I could hear the antbirds sing. Their beautiful songs were lullabies in a way, coaxing me into the daydreams of my past; a happier, safer time. A time when I could live, and not just survive. A time when I didn't have to live in fear.