Way of Tyrants and Snakes

IV | Acquaintances

   As night fell, Lyrael found herself engulfed in semi-darkness, relying solely on the moon's faint glow to navigate the pitch black forest.     It was odd being apart from her father. Lyrael had never gone more than a few hours without seeing him or hearing his voice, or spending time with him. During the many times they'd been stuck inside their small cottage together, she spent most of her time drawing, reading, sharpening the few blades she owned, refining the tips of her arrows, fixing the few pieces of clothes she had that desperately needed mending, or spending time with Anwel.     She learned a great deal from Anwel, and an even greater deal from the books he gave her. He taught her how to control and conceal her magic, and how to wield it safely. He also taught her how to fight, how to use a sword and a bow, and how to hunt. In addition, he had even paid the local horse seller to teach her how to ride a horse, just in case she ever needed to.     From the books he bought her, she learned math, science, history, and cooking. However, there was always one thing that confused her, and it was a question Anwel always seemed to dodge. Why was she being taught these things? Certain things she learned she felt were necessary for survival, like cooking, sewing, and even hunting to a degree, but other things didn't quite make sense.     Girls her age were being courted and proposed to by willing suitors, or put into arranged marriages to strengthen family ties. However, Anwel had never made any move to arrange a marriage for her, no matter how much Conrad, the Duke of their village, had requested or pushed him to marry Lyrael and his first-born son, Bastian.     No matter how many times she asked him why he went through the effort, especially teaching her how to fight and use a sword; he never gave her a straightforward response.     He would only ever answer with 'For the future.'      In what future will I need to know how to shoot an arrow through a man's eye from two hundred yards away?     However, she never argued. Didn't balk. Just accepted it and did her best at learning what he taught her.     The sound of thumping hooves made her snap from her thoughts. It was a familiar sound, recognizing it from her many lessons with the village's horse seller. Three horses were racing straight for her, down the hill she just came from, only two of which had riders.     The first rider was an unconscious guy with short brown hair with a gash on his forehead and a wound on his side, a long green cloak billowing behind him. The second one was a girl with chestnut skin, curly orange hair, and orange eyes that seemed to blaze like a fire. She wore a long orange cloak with a silver-plated pauldron on her shoulders, as well as silver-plated armor over a green blouse. It seemed like the girl was using levitation to keep the guy on his horse.     "Move!" the girl hollered as she grunted with strain. Lyrael stumbled back just in time as the horses slid to a stop right where she'd been standing. The girl motioned to the third empty horse with her free hand. "Either climb on, or run. They are coming."  Lyrael just stared at her, mouth open. "Pardon me? Who is coming?" "You will regret it if they catch you, girl. They already captured Soni and injured Wynn." Her eyes flicked briefly to the unconscious guy flopped over on the other horse. "Join me or run. Make your choice. You have about... fifteen seconds."     Lyrael's mind spun for about five of those seconds. She blocked out the cacophony surrounding her, honing in on the subtle sounds that mattered—the whisper of the wind, the soft thud of hooves shuffling around her. Two hundred yards away, beyond the hill, was the unmistakable sound of five sets of hooves and the voices of men being carried on the wind.     An idea came to her and her eyes snapped open.     She focused on her magic, bringing it forward and enveloping them in it. In an instant, they blinked from sight, hidden behind an illusion and silenced by her sound manipulation. The orange-haired girl looked around, clearly seeing the magic rippling in the air.     "What did you do?"     Lyrael ignored her as she continued her work. She crafted a fake trodden down path that curved and disappeared into the forest on their left, as well as hiding the patch of grass they were standing in.     "Holy shit," the girl murmured, seeing the grass change before her eyes.     "They won't be able to see us." Lyrael explained and grimaced, as she hated withholding the truth. Which was the fact that she also covered them in her sound manipulation, so the soldiers would not hear them either. She was hesitant to reveal all of her gifts to a stranger, as this was the first time she'd ever used any in front of someone that wasn't Anwel.     A few moments passed, and from over the hill, came five soldiers on horses, and on the last horse was a man who looked like the group's leader. On the horse behind him was a girl with short, chin length black hair and glowing blue eyes.     "Where did they go?" The leader demanded as Soni yelled through the gag tied around her head, writhing on the back of the horse.     "I don't know, sir." A soldier stuttered, looking slightly petrified. "We weren't that far from them."     "Well, then keep following their trail! They obviously went that way!" The leader snarled, motioning to the fake path Lyrael created in the tall grass. Quickly, without thinking twice, Lyrael called upon her magic again. In a quick, barely noticeable exchange, she swapped Soni with an illusion and lifted her from the horse, surrounding her in her magic, watching as she blinked out of sight.     Lyrael paused, and they watched the soldiers leave, following the faux path into the trees. She pulled Soni into their bubble and dropped the magic concealing her, setting her on the ground. Soni yelled around the gag, and Lyrael was glad she was sensible enough to cover them in her sound manipulation, or else the soldiers probably would've heard her.     The fiery orange-eyed girl slid from her horse and pulled a dagger from her boot, slicing through the rope tying Soni's hands together. Soni yanked the gag from her mouth and stood up, glancing toward Lyrael.     "What is going on?" Soni immediately demanded. "Tsarra, who is this chick?"     "We need to move. We don't have much time until they are outside my range and the illusion fades. Eventually, they will realize they've been tricked and turn around." Lyrael responded, ignoring Soni's question as she climbed onto the horse behind Wynn, using her levitation to sit him up straight.     "That chick just saved our asses, and that chick is right. We need to leave." Tsarra concurred and climbed onto her horse, motioning for Soni to climb onto the empty horse on the other side of her.      Soni pressed her lips into a thin line, sending an odd glance in Lyrael's direction. However, she said nothing as she climbed onto her horse. Using her levitation, Lyrael brought the reins to her hands and gripped them, turning the horse in the direction of Anwel's trail.     "Hope you don't mind," Lyrael paused and glanced toward Tsarra. "But I was following a scent trail and I can't afford to lose it. My name is Elys, by the way."     "Tsarra. Nice to meet you." Tsarra smirked as they sent their horses into a walk, glancing in the direction the horses disappeared into. "As long as it's not toward those soldiers, I don't care."     "What are you doing this far east? I've never seen your kind around here." Soni said abruptly,and Lyrael wondered what she meant by that. She sent a wave of magic out, realizing the soldiers left her range and re-entered it, which means they turned around.     "They must have realized we tricked them; they turned around." Lyrael stated, squeezing her calves into her horse's side, egging him from a trot to a canter. "We need to move faster."