The Innocent

A Beginning

As she ran she focused on one point ahead of her, a light at the top of a tall tower, the seat of the Watcher. If anyone knew what to do it would be the watcher. Melanie stumbled through the gate into the city. As she grew closer to her goal she hesitated. Would he listen? Would anyone believe her?

Melanie arrived at the bottom of the tower out of breath. Her gaze took in the height of it and she stumbled. An unhelpful plaque on the wall came into her sight, it read "Each of these, 2987 steps was built for a purpose. Discover it." The plaque was a joke of sorts, to all those who found themselves in the position of having to climb the stairs. Never before had she needed to enter the tower, never before had she dared. But as she found herself gazing up she knew that it was time to climb the stairs. One foot after another she slowly climbed higher and higher dragging her foot more on each step until she reached the door. She hesitated a moment before her hand found the knocker and was banging it against the door. There was a slight pause, slowly the door swung open. Melanie shaded her eyes from the bright light that shone from the room. As her eyes adjusted she saw the dust that covered most of the room and a single chair in the corner the only object in the room that was free of dust. The chair was well worn from the weight of many centuries of Watchers resting there gazing out at the shadowy mountains beyond. It was said that no one came or went over those mountains, the brave or reckless few who had tried never came back. It was the place where danger came from. It was the Watchers job to watch the mountains. But no one was in there. Melanie clutched at the door handle as she gazed into the silent room. She realised now that she was the first to know, the only one in Leasin to know what was coming. She had to find the Watcher. To warn him.

She had been out in the forest hunting when she had heard the soft strangled cry. It had sounded like a creature in pain and she had wondered if she'd missed a trap. Moving in the direction she had thought she heard the noise she came to a stand of trees, between the trunks a black bird stirred. But the black bird was larger than any she had seen before. It was focused on something on the ground. Melanie moved around slightly to get  a better look. The bird had caught a baby rabbit and was playing with it like a cat would a mouse.  As it played a slapping came from above. She looked up to the canopy searching for the noise. There another of the huge birds sat watching and through between two trees she saw the third flapping its wings as it took off. She stepped back silently, moving further out of sight. She'd been out too long and the woods were getting to her. But what were they? She wondered this now as she made her way back down the stairs. In the woods she had felt a chill run through her as she'd approached them, the hairs on her arms standing on end and when one of them had looked towards her she could have sworn she'd seen orange burning in it's eyes.

The Watcher must know, she reasoned, and if he didn't then maybe it wasn't that big a deal. But it wasn't just those birds she'd seen. There were the shadows that had plagued her the entire trip. She'd thought she'd was just being sill but as the left the stand of trees she'd seen them again and again. Shadows that could have been birds. That wasn't what had panicked her though. It was at the edge of the forest as she'd left that had made her run. She'd stopped to collect herself and look back behind her glinting in the shadows were orange flecks. More appeared as she'd stood there convincing herself she was just imagining it. Her hand moved to the dagger at her belt then it snarled. Something black leapt from the shadows. She stumbled back banging into a tree as before her eyes one of the birds dove out of the sky its wings slapping the air. It's beak snapped down around the things neck. Melanie had turned then and ran leaving the two creatures behind her.

Back out under the sky she made her way home. She'd wait till the next day it wasn't worth getting excited about she'd just panicked. She'd been out in the woods too long. Beside if he needed to know the Watcher would know. She swung open the door to her families empty living room and wandered down the hall to her room. Everything was where she had left it. She dropped her gear on top of the other stuff on the floor and collapsed face down onto her bed. She rubbed her head against the blankets then crawled forward to grab hold of a pillow. She wrapped her arms around it as her limbs shut down taking her brain with them, within moments she was asleep.

A rumbling awoke Melanie later that day. She sat up and abruptly toppled off the bed, landing heavily on the floor. Rubbing her bruised knee she stood up cautiously. The rumbling came again and she rubbed her stomach, breakfast called. The kitchen was strangely cold, no one had lit the fire, there was no porridge on the stove. Nothing was missing though. Perhaps she had slept through breakfast and everyone was out for the day. Grabbing a slice of bread to nibble on and tucking an apple under one arm she wondered back to her room. As she entered she spotted a piece of paper on the floor. That she hadn't noticed it before wasn't a surprise, it seemed like it had been slipped under the door. She picked it up and unfolded it carefully. On it her brother had scrawled a few short sentences.
'Mel,' it read, 'We had to go. Father insisted we all had to leave right then. Follow the birds Mel, they're on our side. You'll find us.' 
The apple dropped from under her arm. Her fingers were cold.

Melanie wandered the city over the next few days. When her brother had said they all had to leave, he really had meant everyone. The streets echoed. Her companions were the stray cats. How she hadn't noticed the empty streets when she first got back she didn't know. At first she'd knocked on doors. But no one ever answered. Then one door swung open as she knocked. Inside it looked like the house was waiting. Nothing really seemed to be missing. There was still food in the cupboards and belongings scattered around the place. Oddly everywhere was clean. It almost seemed like everyone knew what was coming and had tidied up, put things away and left with out any notice. She waited a week. The note, now creased and worn, always in her pocket. After a few days she had started collecting items. She already had most things she needed to travel short distances and overnight but she started gathering any dry foods she could find. In one house she picked up a reasonable sized canteen, in another a woolen cloak. She didn't see it as stealing, there was no one left to steal from. Her final morning she dressed in warm leggings and boots. The cloak flung over her shoulders. She stood at the top of the Watchers tower and looked out at the mountains and trees. The sky was clear and she'd run out of excuses. She'd seen the birds in the forest, she even thought she had seen some over head flying towards the mountains. She didn't know how she knew but it was those birds her brother was talking about and she couldn't wait any longer to find out if the people were going to come out of hiding or come back.

Melanie glanced behind her, wondering if this was to be her last sight of her home. She had finally decided that the best thing she could do was to follow them, wherever they had gone, nothing else made sense. There was very little point in staying in the abandoned city any longer. As her steps carried her further away from home her heart beat faster. Like a drum roll before something important happened. When her heart could not beat any faster or louder she ran. As far and as fast as she could. Running away from any chance of turning back. Just as she was tiring she reached the outskirts of the forest. A silenced emanated out of it. A deepness not dark but imposing wove between the speckles of light until all light disappeared. For how long she stood there Melanie didn't know but when she drew her self from the grasp of the trees, the sun was upon the horizon and the shadows stretched off into the distance. With a final flash the rays of the sun illuminated the city, then the night swallowed it up leaving darkness so intense that you could almost feel it. She stopped there that day scrunched into a hollow in the roots of a tree with a blanket rapped around her shoulders, and waited for sleep to take her. But however patiently she waited her mind was more patient. The silence of the forest closed in around her and her breathing echoed in the night. Slowly other noises joined her breathing as the night creatures rose. Somewhere something squawked. Then there was a growl and a shuffling. A scuffling came from above her then she felt a slight breeze as something sprung past her. A howl echoed out of the night and wore on echoing off into the distance. She sat impossibly still and waited she didn't want to see the creatures of the last time she had been here again. As the howl trailed off all that was left were the insects.