Discovering Freedom

Chapter 20

"Wake up sleepy head." a grinning Talib kisses me cheekily on the lips when my eyes flutter open.

"Morning to you too," I grumble before begrudgingly giving him a peck in return.

The covers shift and a warm patch is left where Talib used to be.

"You wake me up and leave me." I tease to at his retreating back.

"No, I'm just going for a shower." he flings back.

I decide to take the opportunity to make a quick exit to my room to shower and change.

Twenty minutes later I find myself in the stables. The smell of horse and hay comfort me as I walk towards my horse's stall. Undoing the latch I grab a brush and methodically groom it with long steady strokes.

"Hi," an annoyingly perky voice chirps over the stall door.

A quick glance tells me who it is.

"Cassidy!" I shoot her cheerful smile.

"I was about to go for a ride. Want to join me?"she picks up a bridle for the horse next to my stall.

"Sure." I grin.

Soon we're flying through the woods at a breakneck pace. It would never have had occurred to me that Cassidy is a brilliant rider. She beat me by half a horse length when we hit the short stretch of open land before the woods in a race she initiated.

Spontaneous laughter bubbles from my lips as the tie that was holding my hair back falls free. My hair streams behind me like a black halo.

Casting a look at Cassidy I see her face mirroring my own. We're in our element and no one can stop us.

I feel like I can outrun my past and it'll never catch me again. However a nagging little voice at the back of my mind reminds me that no matter how far I run I can never escape my past. I plan on ignoring it for the moment and enjoying myself.

All too soon we thunder into the stables. My face is pink from joy and excitement. Dismounting I lead my horse into its stall. I remove the bridle and saddle with a practiced hand.

"I'm glad we could hangout today." Cassidy chimes.

"Me too. I had fun." I chuckle.

"I had fun too," her face crinkles into a small frown "I was worried you didn't like me and well I really like Kayleb so I really hope we can be friends." her face brightens as she reapplies her beaming smile.

This explains all the weird behaviour between the two of them like in the hall when it was announced that we would be fighting. Cassidy looked scared for Kayleb and the way he comforted her by holding her hand. It all makes sense. She blushes at the mention of his name and when they are together she giggles while blushing profusely. Not to forget Kayleb's appreciative looks when she is around. Strangely I'm alright with it. Now that I know Cassidy a little better I find I'm okay with sharing my brother with her.

"I do too and it's okay for you and Kayleb to be together." I say seriously.

I didn't think her smile could possibly get any wider. She pulls me into bone cracking hug while almost shattering my eardrums from the high pitched squeals.

Slowly we chat as we walk back into the hallways towards the food hall. My stomach rumbles loudly at the anticipation of being filled with hot food.

"Hey Kyra can I talk to you for a minute?" a male voice calls behind me.

"Go on ahead I'll meet you there," I say to Cassidy.

"Hey Ethan what do you want to talk about." I say waiting for him to catch his breath as he has just run up to me.

Slowly Ethan straightens up and is silent for a minute while Cassidy disappears around the corner, out of earshot.

"I'm really sorry," he takes a deep breath before continuing, "Tamarack has escaped from the prison and he's taken your brother and Talib. Turns out he had two loyal guards in the prison and they just freed him. They helped Tamarack capture them by knocking them out before freeing Tamarack as they knew the alarm would be raised as soon as he was free. We have no idea where they are. I am really sorry."

I feel my insides go cold. Numbly I collapse against the wall and drop my head into my hands. Unsurprisingly no tears fall. This emotion is completely different from the white hot rage I am used to. It's like my heart has frozen over and shattered into a million tiny shards of glass.

Ethan stand awkwardly above me but I do not notice his discomfort as I am so lost the numbness that has spread through my body.

After eternity the numbness dissipated enough for me to stand and begin to think logically but the coldness within refuses to leave. Ethan has gone.

I walk to my room. I strap the armour that has lain unused for the last couple of days to my body. I attach my swords to my back along with a string of daggers and throwing knives to my waist. I grab my pack and fill it with a week's worth of food.

I know where he is and I'm coming to save them.

I fly from the stable full pelt. Not wanting to waste anytime I travel as fast and as hard as I can.

I wake at dawn and gallop until well after dusk. I frequently change horses in the villages and towns I pass through. They cannot keep up the punishing pace I require of them.

The night before I am due to arrive I go to sleep at dusk knowing I will need to be at my full strength to fight Tamarack. This time I won't let him live.

Next morning I hurriedly break camp and ride as fast as I can go. Blurry greenery zooms past. I slow and stop just before the end of the trees. I tie the horse to a tree and run out to the open land where my enemy lies.

It seems fitting that everything started here and now everything will end here. Everything has come full circle.

Nature has reclaimed my village. It has been abandoned for 12 years. Everyone left after that night. A few charred skeletons of burned homes still defiantly stuck up at odd angles in various stages of decay. The dirt path through the middle of the village a carpet of green with a few determined patches of brown breaking it up. A few feet away stands Tamarack and far to my left is Talib and far to my right Kayleb. Both restrained and gagged with daggers at their throats. They are held by the traitorous guards that had freed Tamarack. They were too far away for me to help them.

"Let them go." I snarl venomously.

"No," a grin spreads across his face.

"Fight me like a real man. Stop hiding behind tricks and strategies!" I taunt. If I get him angry enough he might take me up on that offer.

"No."

I take a step towards him and draw my swords.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." he chides, the way a father would to a small child.

"Quit it with your sick games and let them go!" I cry in frustration. I tighten my grip on the hilts.

"I have a proposition for you." he carries on as if I had never spoken, "I will allow two of the three of you leave and one of you will die. You, Kyra will be the one to choose who leaves and who dies."

Muffled cries emit from Talib and Kayleb. My gaze flicker between the two.

"Please don't make me choose between them." I beg brokenly. I feel my heart breaking in two.

"It is all up to you. You hold their lives in your hands." Tamarack crossed his arms smugly, enjoying my indecision and pain at having to choose between them.

My gaze locks with Talib I try to convey everything I feel about him. I turn to Kayleb but I can barely look him in the eye.

"I'm sorry." I say to them.

I have made my decision.

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