The Eyes Of 'Rah

The Peace Festival II

"Make it snappy, man. We will miss the all show if we keep on with this snail ride" Francis urgently knocked the roof of the carriage.

He could've run in the stead of taking a carriage but that would make it impossible for him to have his way with one of the willing ladies in town. His carriage was one of the places he uses for his reckless activities.

One of the things he and Daniel enjoy during this type of event is the willingness and unabashed behaviour of the ladies, once they start throwing themselves at them, they too don't hesitate to show them a good time.

While fantasising on how he would have his moments with the bevy of ladies he would be surrounded with at the festival, he was suddenly thrown to the other side. The violent crash disabled his thoughts for some seconds.

"What happened" Francis asked the rider the minute he was able to crawl out of the damaged coach.

The rider was still disoriented, "I don't understand, one minute, the road was going smoothly and the next it was somehow" holding his bloody forehead.

Francis looked at the man who might be suffering from concussion due to the impart, he freed the frightened horses. Looking around the dark and empty road, the only thing keeping them company was the rustling leaves.

He surveyed the broken carriage, a close look at the wheel, the spikes he found around it meant it was anything but an accident, he looked further on the path and saw more broken objects which can easily pierce a wheel.

He placed his hands on his shoulder, all thought of meeting with the opposite sex was gone when he heard a twig broke. He attuned his ears to the light footsteps of his impending attackers to know the number of people he was up against, before he could devise a plan to keep the rider safe, the swift sound of a knife being  launched landed on the rider's chest.

He became more alerted, hurriedly, he ran for cover behind the carriage, as he counted the number of men coming out from the nearby bush. There was no way he could fight all of them at once, he would need a backup. Before he could transform to his wolf, a sharp object pierced his thigh.

***********

Xavier checked his watch, knowing Mr. Hollow would appear soon. He strolled beside his friends, while thinking about his prior activity which was burying himself in books about Phemerah.

He studied Seraphine's form, in awe of what he had so far discovered about her. Some of the thing he came across in the book were exactly what he had witnessed himself. He wouldn't know for sure the authenticity of other things explained but he had an idea on some of them.

If only she knew what people had done in the past in trying to get their hands on the eyes. Seraphine felt his eyes on her, looking at him suddenly behind her dark shade. She used the time to drink in his appearance. The black shirt and trouser he wore made his golden hair and crimson lips stood out, just like his pale skin. Seraphine thought he would be more handsome if only he allowed his face to relax.

Xavier kept starring at her, although he couldn't see his eyes, that did not stop him from wanting to know what was on her mind.

Seraphine wanted to move away from Xavier's scrutiny and the right opportunity came when she saw one of the witches handing out a portion for bad back.

"Excuse me, I need to get that for the old man" as she advanced closer to the woman. While she was asking the witch how the portion should be used, she suddenly felt the urge to go back to the location she had dreamt of Francis being attacked. Worming her way out of the large crowd, she started to run.

The farther she got away from the brightly lit area, the dark the path got, she took off her spectacle for clearer vision as she continued running, with no time to gasp for breath, "Francis is in danger" she kept whispering while sprinting off.

Back at the stall where the others were waiting for Seraphine, Felicity looked around, "Seraphine should be back by now, where is she?"

"Francis ought to have been here as well" concerned Diane craned her head to see if she could get a glimpse of him.

Xavier looked at the direction Seraphine had gone towards, with his guts telling him something was wrong. He passed beside Daniel who seemed to be enjoying himself, the ton of women which surrounded him was a good tell.

"Where is the lady who was here just now?" Not sparing even a short pleasantries. "She was putting on a dark spectacle" he hurriedly added.

"Oh, she suddenly left, I didn't hear her clearly but it looked like she mentioned the word Francis"

Immediately, Xavier knew what was going on, clearing the way with the force of his body after the woman pointed to the direction she took.
***********

Mutilated body was scattered on the floor as Seraphine got closer to the place, her heart pounded even harder, seeing the overturned carriage. Shrieking as a limp flew passed her, she looked where a growl came from and saw Francis staggered forward, sending several of his attackers flying. She rushed forward even though she had no idea of what to do.

"Leave him alone" she shouted, trying to ward them off.

"Stay away" Francis shouted as he used the little strength he had left to attack two more men. Before he could descend on the other men, five more attacked him.

Seraphine felt a huge pain on her shoulder as one of the men pushed her away while trying to block them from reaching Francis. She groaned in pain, hearing a loud crash as a bottle was broken on Francis' head, who went down immediately.

"Finally, the beast is down. We better kill him before he wake" one of the men heaved.

"NO!!!" Seraphine shouted with all her might, seeing one of them brought out a knife.

"What is happening?" One of the men stuttered as he tried to will himself to move. He looked at his fellow and saw them stood still, their eyes had gone wild with terror.

He forced himself to look around, trying to see who could be using magic to strangle them. His eyes went even wilder when he saw the lady whose eyes had changed colour, purple hue emitted from her eyes.

"Who are you?" Another man forced the words out as his chest constricted in pain. All effort to break free was impossible, rather their lungs contracted even more.

"What are you doing to us" the one who had wielded the knife to stab Francis yelled in agony, "I'm burning up, my body is on fire" rooted in a place but still had control of his hands. He twisted and wiggled in pain, trying to put out the fire he thought surrounded him as he felt a burning sensation all over his body.

"Please stop whatever you're doing?" Another man spoke with a clenched teeth, his hands kept clamping at his neck, trying to free what could be stifling him.

Never had they seen someone with a purple eyes before, their pain abruptly ended the moment they saw the body of the lady with the purple eyes fell.

Abandoning the special assignment they had been tasked with, they tried to take off on their heels when gust of wind brushed past, "not so fast, gentlemen"  Xavier's voice stopped them.

Diane quickly rushed to where bleeding Francis lay, trying to put pressure on his wounds.

"Hurry up, take him to the healer and inform his pack" he glanced at where unconscious Seraphine lay, "I'll bring her with me"

His eyes hardened as he looked at the less than ten men who had been scared by whatever had happened, he could taste their fear at the tip of his tongue, "your racing heart is deafening" he spoke.