Defying Gravity

<> Chapter 6 . Memories <>

The picture above is the masked man. Actually, it's more about the mask, not his costume. The mask that the image has is what I imagine the mask man's mask is like. But, you can imagine whatever you like! 

Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter! :D

It had been cold on the night she had decided to follow the masked man.

Calissa remembered hiding between the trees, making sure she had a reasonable distance between them. In order to make this successful, he couldn't know for a second that she was behind him. It was dark tonight, not even the moon shone through the thick clouds. She could smell the hints of rain in the air and she knew that it wouldn't be long before the whole world was covered in droplets squeezed from the grey clouds.

Tonight had been just like the other nights she had met up with her fellow bandits. The riddle this time was just as hard as the last and the masked man was still in the background like he always was, never speaking, never moving.

Even though she had joined the masked man's bandit group a few months back, she still didn't know who his identity was. She would have left a long time ago due to this fact, but Ave had convinced her to stay because of her hatred against the king.

Tonight was just one of her many attempts to try and follow the masked man and to find out who exactly he was. But, in the past few nights, she had always lost track of him. This time, it was different. She had Rudi sniff his scent out and even if the masked man was lost in her eyes, he was still present in his nose.

The masked man turned into the forest and she followed quietly with Rudi behind her. The leaves rustled in the night wind and she had to constantly squint through the dark to find his shadow. Rudi led and she followed the slight movements of his tail.

The shadow in front of them stopped moving after a while and she tensed, shivering as the wind picked up. The sky cleared at that moment and the moon's light flood the clearing. They were surrounded by tall trees, ten, maybe twenty, times taller than them.

Calissa hid behind a tall bush just as the light came to pass her area. She watched as he kept walking forwards, deeper and deeper into the woods. They ran after him without a moment's waste, but he soon stopped in the middle of the path. Calissa watched as he stared at a tall tree with a trunk wider than two elephants.

Her hair fell over her face as he lifted some leaves off the ground and threw them off the side. Calissa had to move closer to see what he had found. When she did, her fists clenched into tight balls. A girl laid inside a small hole at the base of the trunk, tangled up in weeds and roots.

Another sleeping beauty has been found.

Calissa's face grew red and she thought she would have charged at him if not for the action he did next. The masked man took from his pocket, a pouch about the size of a hand. He opened the string and reached inside, taking out a handful of soft golden powder that shimmered in the light. He sprinkled it on the girl and Calissa's eyes widened as the roots of the tree began to move. Sounds of crackling and snapping filled her ears as they retreated back into the groundd.

The girl inside took a deep breath and released it in relief. Her eyes were still closed, but Calissa could tell the magic spell around her had disappeared.

Her eyes snapped back to the masked man in wonder and in suspicion. He had broken the spell without even kissing her.

How was that even possible?

All girls in the kingdom had been cursed by a sleeping spell. And it was simply unbreakable without a kiss. Every girl in the kingdom was cursed with this. They would fall into a deep sleep on their sixteenth birthday and disappear into an unknown location for the rest for their lives until a man found them. The only way to break the curse was a kiss. But sometimes, they wouldn't be found for centuries. There were many times where people found girls that had lived thousands of years ago. It was sickening.

But seeing this, it had truly opened her eyes. Had he developed a cure of the spell? If that was the case, they really meant he was against the king.

She narrowed her eyes as he moved away and started walking again. She grabbed the daggers out of her boots and unsheathed them. She accepted that he might be a good guy, but...

Calissa flicked her wrist and watched as the daggers soared towards the masked man. The blades glinted in the night and sliced through the air. It was about to hit the man when he stuck his arm out and grabbed the knives by their handles before they could even touch his cloak. Calissa let out a sound. She was impressed.

He turned around and dropped them on the ground, staring at her dead in the eye. And that was the only time she had seen his eyes. They were a dark blue, the same as the night sky, and had golden flecks in them. Both of them were hard, unemotional, and it shocked her that they were both empty. It was like she could see everything about him just by looking at them.

He threw the knives back and Calissa caught them, smirking. Then, she pointed a long, finger at him, feeling the rain starting to come down on them.

"One day or another," she said, her voice loud and clear, "I will find out who you are. Until then, don't let anyone else figure it out before I do."

The masked man turned to face her, his mask was on full show. It covered his whole face with silver metal. Only his eyes were on display. "I wouldn't expect anything else."

Calissa stepped back, shocked that he had spoken. It was the first time and possibly last that she would ever hear him speak. She let out a puff of air and sheathed her knives, sticking them in her boot. She clicked her tongue and turned away, "Good."

And that was how Calissa came to respect him... 

Don't forget to hit that star button! And tell me what you think down below. This chapter was really short, but there are going to be more chapters coming soon! So, keep an eye out! Thanks you guys!