Between the Willow Trees [NaNoWriMo 2013] (Editing)

Chapter 6: Found by a Familiar Face

Chapter 6: Found by a Familiar Face

As soon as Thorne vanishes I get ready to leave. I might not have a home anymore but I have no intention of staying in this house. I know it will only drive me crazy if I stay here. I’ll hop on a train and travel far away from here. I’ll keep goin until I find a place I don’t recognise and then I’ll make a new life for myself. I’ll try my best to forget about Thorne and the awful thing I did today.

I run upstairs and grab a black cloak, pulling it on. Then I wander around upstairs for a minute until I find what I’m looking for: weapons. The room at the end of the corridor is full of them. The walls are lined with bows, maces, swords, great swords, axes, daggers and other weapons I can’t even put a name to but they all look deadly. There’s various display cases containing even more weapons and there are several mannequins wearing armour. 

So many of the weapons look cool and useful, so I grab lots, as many of them as I can possibly carry, finding belts, scabbards and straps to hold them. The first thing I grab is a sword with beautiful Celtic patterns along the hilt. It’s pretty light so I grab another similar sword too. I pick up a couple of interesting daggers and find sheaths for them too. I even find a necklace that’s actually a sharp blade. If Thorne comes back for me I’m going to be as ready as I can be. None of these weapons will be able to kill him but hopefully they’ll come in handy when defending myself. Perhaps I can slow him down enough to give me time to run from him.

Once I’m ready I leave the house and run straight into a person, which is certainly unexpected. Thorne’s house is all the way out in the middle of nowhere so I can’t imagine that he has any neighbours.

It’s dark so I didn’t see them standing there. I begin to apologise for walking into them but then I realise who it is. I can just make out the dark hair and blue eyes as my vision adjusts to the darkness.

“What are you doing here, Levi?” I ask, taking a step back.

“I’m here to help you,” he offers.

“Why?” I ask.

“I can’t tell you until you take that pocket watch off your neck and put it in here,” he whispers, holding out a black wooden box with a lid.

“Why do I need to take it off?” I ask curiously but I still lift the chain over my head and hand it to him. He places it in the box and slams the lid shut, then holds it out to me. I take the box.

 “Look, Astrid. We don’t have time for all these questions right now, and I’m afraid that I don’t have the answers to them all, but I promise that everything will be explained to you once we arrive. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

“Where are we going?”

He leads me to a taxi that’s parked just down the road from Thorne’s house. At first I question why I’m so willing to go along with him but then I remember that I have nowhere else to go so I might as well go with him. I don’t have a home anymore and I definitely don’t plan on staying at Thorne’s house.

“We’re going to my house, where there are some other Elethorians awaiting our arrival. You’re an important piece in our plan to take back Elethoria,” he explains as the taxi driver pulls away.

“Why do you need me? I’m the one who destroyed the last portal to Elethoria, this is all my fault. If anything you should be arresting me. I don’t see how I can be of any use to you,” I mumble, crossing my arms and slouching in my seat. If I’d known that we were going somewhere where other Elethorians were going to be then I wouldn’t have come. They’re bound to hate me for destroying the portal and siding with Thorne.