Ataraxia

∞|Chapter 9: Panic|∞

My eyelashes cracked open, breaking the ice that held them together. The sky was a musky grey, and Eowin was standing above me, shaking my shoulders.

"Ash! Wake up already!"

I sat up in panic, grabbing her shoulders back as well,

"Eowin! What happened? That creepy thing was in my room and said that you would explain everything! What's wrong?"

"I'll explain later."

No. Now.

I grunted in frustration, and stood up, gazing into the horizon, looking for the threat.

"Auburn sent word that some of Dust's assassins were sent to Alfhiem to kill Echidna."

"Echidna?" I asked, puzzled.

"She's the queen of Alfhiem." replied Eowin, quickly cleaning up the remnants of the tent, and stuffing them into the bag.

"Go put this back into the tree for me, please?" said Eowin, zipping up the bag in one quick motion.

I nodded quickly, grabbed the bag, and sprinted to the tree. I was surprised how fast my legs could carry my body. When I reached the tree, I stuffed the bag into the trunk of the tree, and ran back to meet up with Eowin. She had already gathered up her things in a large, leather-brown bag, and slung it over her shoulder. She beckoned me over, and we walked back to Alfhiem.

The warriors were trampling the ground with freight; rushing into houses, sheds, and gathering appliances scattered on the ground. Young creatures were rushing around, confused, unaware of what was going on. Their faces showed concern, like a deer in the headlights as they ran around, trying to find their parents. Eowin swiftly weaved through the chaotic crowd, staring ahead of her. I bumped into rushing creatures, who cared less about the injuries and violence they caused. In a matter of time, we had reached the far end of the village, stopped in front of a large, birch-barked house.

"This is my house," gestured Eowin, extending her arm toward the house, "Come inside?" She offered, and with that, she fled into the house.

I hastily followed her. When I rested my hand on the door frame and peeked inside, the room lit up in a bright pale yellow, blinding my eyes for a split second. The room was decorated in birch-bark furniture, a shade darker than the house itself. The table legs were entwined with other branches, as well as the chairs, giving it a forestry look. Eowin went to the back of the room, dropping the bag with its contents on the floor beside her. The room was painted in a faded grey, with a hint of brown. The floor was covered by wooden floorboards, roughly cut and bled out the moist soil that lay underneath it. Eowin made a beeline for the back room, which was filled with wooden boxes and chests, containing clothing, pieces of furniture, broken glass, and old toys. The paint was peeling off the walls, and the floorboards were bared with splitters. Eowin crouched over one of the large chests, and pulled out a large duffel bag, and turned to face me,

"Here we are. We should pack extra clothes and food if we're going to Uden. We have to ask for their assistance to guard Alfhiem anyway."

Eowin walked past me into the large front room again. She walked past the doorway into the opposite room, outlined with vines growing up the walls. She pulled out leaves, bread, and meat wrapped in leather. She pulled out jugs of water, and threw a couple cloths in the bag.

"With the assassins coming after us, will we be able to walk another 2 days back to Uden, and make it back in time to save Alfhiem?" I asked in panic, watching Eowin rush around the room; gathering up clothes, utensils and appliances.

"Hopefully," said Eowin, "As long as if we can make it to Uden without having to stop for the night-"

"You mean we're going to walk two days straight?!" I nearly shouted in disbelief, extending my arms to my sides and putting a concerned expression on my face.

Eowin sighed, and let her arm hang relaxingly at her side, still clutching the bag.

"We better pack some weapons, just in case we run into any of them," said Eowin.

"What?! Are you kidding me? I'd never be able to kill anyone in my life. I don't even know how to swing a sword." I said, emphasizing the word swing and adding a disbelief expression to my face.

"Think fast."

A sword headed horizontally for my chest at top-speed, almost knocking me off balance when I caught it. I gazed down at the sheath of the sword. The sheath was a glistening dark blue, with webbed sky blue designs across the surface. The handle was the same dark blue, and curved into a diamond at the bottom. I took one long gaze at Eowin; she nodded, encouraging me to take out the sword. I gazed back down at the sword. My fingers curled around the handle of the weapon, feeling its cold, marbled surface on my skin. I tugged on the handle, revealing a bright silver metal blade with entwining vine designs on the left side. I stroked the surface of the blade, testing it's sharpness with my fingertip, sending a drop of blood onto the wooden floor. I angled the sword downward, directing the blood run down the sharp edge of the blade. The top of the sword was curved into a very fine point, revealing its sharpness without a touch of an object. I took one last glance at the sword, and sheathed it away. I clumsily tied the sheath around my waist; with the help of Eowin. The sword carefully hung below my left hip, and climbed down to my ankles. It took me a moment to get used to the balance difference between the left and right side of my body.

"Not bad. It suits you." Eowin said, and walked back over to the box, rummaging through it some more.

"Will I be able to learn how to use the sword?" I asked, stroking its glassed surface.

"Someone with the talent with a sword in Uden will teach you, I don't know who though," said Eowin, pulling out a white, wooden bow, with the same vine designs along the limbs of the bow, "For someone like you, it shouldn't take very long to learn."

"I see," and I looked back down to the sword, "Was this sword yours as well?" I asked, curious.

"Yes," replied Eowin, "That sword saved my life. I was about to fall off a cliff when the strap got caught on a rock as I was falling." Eowin smiled to herself, then heaved the bag on her shoulder, "We best be going if we want to make it to Uden in time." And with that we left her house.