When The World Breaks

Chapter One

This is not a good story. It is not a happy one, it is not a sad one. It is not a tale worthy of your tears, nor your heart. This story will not rival the colors of the sunset, or reflect the dull gray of smoke. It will not be as bright as the sun, or as clear as the moon. This tale is not a lot of things. I find that when you list the things something isn't your path to finding what it is becomes less misleading.

This story is about one large decision, and a small mistake. A single spill, and the building bricks of a world crumbled. A foolish woman, she was. Wise enough to have known her choices were poor, but she didn't think, those with power rarely do, and no one ever does in books, do they? So who am I to change the status quo?

So, our story starts, in a small kingdom at the heart of France, where a young woman sits in a dungeon... waiting. The woman I speak of has her head covered by a black cloak, she sits cross legged on a bench inside her dirty cell, the only comfort provided, but then again, convicted felons hardly spent more than a night there.

The woman twiddled her thumbs, shifting uncomfortably on the rotting wood. The sound of tapping reached her ears and she looked up, directing her attention to the corridor outside of the bars that held her. She stood, smiling as a bird hopped into view.

He was a black falcon with white around his eyes and under his wings. The bird flapped clumsily and pushed himself up onto an unused torch holder that was set into the wall near the woman's cell. The bird used his beak to remove a set of keys hanging from a nail and tossed them over to the woman.

"Nice job Kyle!" The woman caught the keys and began searching for the one that unlocked her cell door.

"No problem!" The bird –Kyle– responded, cocking his head to one side as the woman continued to struggle. "Try the black one-"

"I know!" The woman snapped, finally unlocking the door. She opened her cell and rushed out in a flurry of movement, grabbing her bag as she did so. "What took so long?"

Kyle flapped his wings irritably, "Hey, you try sneaking into here."

"Maybe I will." The woman smiled, allowing Kyle to hop onto her shoulder.

Kyle scoffed, "I dont have thumbs, so you would have the advantage."

"But you can fly." She gave him an exasperated smile.

Kyle frowned, "Oh yeah."

The woman laughed and began towards the stairway that led to the castle above, she carefully crept upward, mindful of the fact that a guard could see her. She grabbed a torch off of its bracket and shone it all around, looking for the door that led outside.

The woman walked the halls of the castle as though she had a million times before, seeming to know where servants and nobles would be even before she set eyes upon them. Keeping her hood up, she held it over her eyes with one hand, letting Kyle fly ahead. She stepped over the sleeping form of a guard, who was slumped against a pillar –most likely meant to be on lookout– a bottle of rum forgotten in one hand. The woman sped up her pace, looking for a window she could climb out of. The sound of running footsteps met her ears and she panicked, struggling to open the nearest window.

"Hurry up!" Kyle urged.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" she grunted, finally just kicking at the window with her boot, causing the glass to shatter.

"Over here!" A guard yelled.

The woman turned and saw several armed soldiers running at her, swords drawn. She stepped onto the window frame, giving the men a grin, her green eyes shining. And then she jumped.

Kyle squawked in alarm, flying out of the window, he looked around but didn't see the woman, "Oh my god." He panicked, "Oh my god, ohmygod, ohmygod-"

"Kyle!"

Kyle stopped and turned to where the woman was looking at him from behind a tree, "What are you doing over there?" He asked, forgetting the panic attack he had had only seconds ago.

The woman rolled her eyes, "Come on! We need to go." She didn't wait for the falcon and started running towards the moat that surrounded the castle.

The two were almost to the drawbridge when a guard spotted them, "Over here!" He yelled.

The woman cursed under her breath and started running faster, but not fast enough. The drawbridge began to rise and she looked back at the castle to see a group of guards -cranking the pulley system.

"Come on!" Kyle called from above her, easily flying over the moat.

The woman glared at the bird before running at the bridge, which was getting farther and farther away from the bank on the other side. She sucked in a breath before sprinting at the bridge and using the top as a springboard to propel herself through the air. She barely managed to land on the other side of the moat.

"Suckers!" She turned and flipped off the castle guards who were staring at her from the other side of the water.

Many of them grunted in annoyance before running to get reinforcements. The woman grinned and began sprinting towards the forest, disappearing into the thick trunks.