A Kindling Flame

Chapter 12

The ride to Keldra was long and tedious, and by the time the city walls came into view for the first time, Espen almost wept with joy. He and Scarlet had been traveling for nearly three days, and after just the first day, he had been sore from riding Silas, and then sleeping on the cold, hard ground at night. He would never take the comfort of sleeping on a real bed for granted again.

"Be careful when we get into town." Scarlet said, breaking the silence that had been hanging in the air all morning. "I've been to Keldra before. It's...different." 

"Good different, or bad different?" Espen countered, a teasing smile coming to his lips. Scarlet shook the sorry attempt of a joke off, but it was clear she was trying very hard not to smile.

"Keldra's...odd. Just be careful. Don't talk to anyone, don't look people in the eye." She urged Gyda to a canter, plunging into the shadows of the trees overhead. Astral, tucked snuggly into Scarlet's knapsack, purred loudly, lifting her furry black head a little bit higher to feel the cool forest breeze.

Espen and Silas galloped after them, the world growing slightly darker as they crossed the line of sunlight and shadow. Adrenalin pumped through Espen as the stream of air rushed around him and the steed, and a wide, satisfied grin had popped up onto his face. He loved the feeling of the fast paced ride, the feeling of his blood pumping as he and Silas raced through the trees. It was a good way to shoo the dark thoughts out of his mind, to forget, even if just for a minute, the worry for Lilith that pounded upon his back. It was...freeing.

Scarlet and Gyda were just yards ahead, slowing down to an easy and lazy trot. Espen urged Silas to do the same. That's when Scarlet screamed.

Silas whined loudly, skidding to a halt and bucking up on his rear legs. Espen yelped, gripping the reins tight in his fists, tight enough for the leather to cut into his skin. His hands now slick with blood, and his horse braying and bucking, Espen fell from the back of the chestnut. Silas, now free of a human rider, broke out into a run, disappearing into the woods in a matter of seconds.

Espen, confused and frightened, scrambled to hide in the underbrush on the side of the trail, his palms leaving bloody streaks on the dirt in his mad attempt to move. Branches and brambles poked at him as he crouched down in a bush, trembling. Now hidden in the leafy foliage, he could see what exactly was going on.

Gyda was wounded, a knife stabbed into his right flank. Crimson colored blood dribbled down his calf, staining the stallion's midnight black coat. Scarlet, still atop the horse, looked disheveled. Her long, silky black hair, which was usually kept back into a low bun, had come loose, and now laid out on her back. A few shorter strands floated around her face, and her deep brown eyes were wild with either fright, or anger. Espen couldn't depict which. She held a knife in her hand, from where it had originated, Espen was also unsure of.

"Scarlet...?" He called to her softly. His stomach was in knots, and he wished that he had the senses to pack the pistol that Scarlet had lent to him back at the mansion. He hadn't thought it would be needed. Who would attack in the middle of the forest anyways? Apparently, he had been stupidly wrong.

Scarlet didn't reply to him, her breaths hard and rapid. She calmed, if only for a moment, before she leapt off of Gyda, and darted down the path. Gyda, very unsure on what to do now that he had no human rider, started to wander into the trees on the opposite side of the path. 

"Gyda!" Espen hissed, cautiously darting out of the bushes to retrieve the steed. As he grabbed the reins, he risked a glance down the path, to where Scarlet darted off to. He did not like what he saw.

Scarlet had fallen to the ground, propped up on both elbows and looking up at her cloaked attacker, her eyes wide and looking truly afraid. Her knife had been kicked away, and now laid abandoned just feet out of her grasp.

"No!" Espen screeched, horrified as he watched the attacker lift a dagger far over their head. The silver metal glistened in the faint flickers of sunlight that filtered to the ground. At Espen's cry, the attacker took one look at him, before fleeing into the forest.

"Scarlet! Oh my gods-" Espen dropped Gyda's reins, and scrambled to her side, tripping over his feet in his mad scramble. Hands trembling, he dropped to his knees beside her. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you-did he?" He stumbled over his words, amber eyes round.

"I'm alright, Espen. Seriously." Scarlet shooed him off, slowly sitting up. She set her forehead in her palm, squeezing her eyes shut. "Just shocked. And...a bit frightened." 

Espen bit down hard on his lower lip, hard enough to nearly draw blood. "Who was that?" He stuttered, helping Scarlet to her feet. 

"An assassin, I think. Probably sent by the person who took Lilith. That, or it was someone who really doesn't want us to go to Keldra."

Scarlet pushed herself away, and took a few wobbly steps towards Gyda, trying to regain her balance. She wobbled for a few moments, which made Espen all the more nervous, before she regained her footing, and strode forward, stopping next to Gyda. Thankfully, the stallion hadn't run off like Silas, although the only thing that was most likely preventing him from running was the dagger stuck in his flank.

"There, there, boy." Scarlet soothed, running her hand over his rumpled black mane. "You're alright." Taking a step forward, Espen grimaced at the wound, which although the blood had stopped flowing, looked rather nasty. 

"I won't be able to ride him." Scarlet murmured, a frown crossing her pale face. "We can use Silas." She turned towards Espen, narrowing her eyes. "Where is Silas, anyhow?"

Espen rubbed the back of his neck, hanging his head the moment he heard the question. "He ran off. Into the woods. I don't know where he went." He said sheepishly. He could hear her disappointed sigh from where he was standing two yards away. 

"He's gone, along with all of our food." She grumbled quietly, shaking her head.

"Wait...where's Astral?" Scarlet stammered suddenly, looked up from the ground, her eyes wide with freight. "She...she was in my bag..." She looked around frantically for the fallen knapsack, and scrambled over to where it had been left abandoned on the ground. Alas, it was vacant of Scarlet's beloved feline. 

"Astral!" Espen cried, searching the trees and foliage in a frenzy. 

Scarlet joined him, shouting Astral's name into the thicket. Espen couldn't recall the last time he had seen her so panicked, so afraid for her cat.

"Scarlet...I don't think she's here anymore..." Espen told her hesitantly as night started to fall upon Iona Woods. 

"No...She wouldn't leave." Scarlet countered with an angry shake of her head. 

"Scarlet. We need to keep going if we want to get to Keldra." He came to her side, and placed a hand gingerly onto her shoulder. "We'll find her, but we need to keep going."

Scarlet heisted to reply, but when she did, her voice was laced with sorrow. "Astral's the only family I have, since my mentor died." She looked up at him, looking like a vulnerable child. "I just can't bear the thought of losing her...." She looked away, unable to meet his eyes any longer. 

"We'll find Astral. We'll find Lilith and Astral, and then we'll all head home, back to the mansion, and we won't have to worry about losing our family again."

Espen went stiff with shock when Scarlet turned to face him, and went stiffer still when she threw her arms around him in a crushing hug. He had the overwhelming urge to comfort her as one might comfort a grieving child, so he hugged her back, resting his cheek atop her frazzled hair. "We'll find them."