Princess of Shadows

Prologue

The small figure whooshed by, disturbing the serenity of the dark night. Her long black cloak billowed behind her; the hood had fallen from her brow in her flight. Long black streams of hair whipped around her head. And her breathing was hard; coming in short ragged gasps. Yet still she ran.

Fortunately her feet no longer had to struggle against the stubborn sands she was used to; instead they now found purchase on more solid ground. Ground of the Plains of Aur.

Suddenly a small rock found itself underneath the ball of her foot and she lost her balance, wobbling for a second before crashing to the ground. She braced herself, absorbing the impact with her right forearm and side.

Instead of getting up right away, she paused and listened in to the once again calm night. Alarm seized her as she heard the faint sound of horses approaching, but she quickly reined it in. The iron self discipline she had worked for, for the last ten years, kicked in and she felt a deep calm settle over her. Abruptly she viewed everything with a new sense of clarity, and as the ever increasing sound of many hooves grew nearer and nearer she drew herself up, pulling out two knives from behind her back. One knife was as long as two of her hand spans and had a jeweled hilt, encrusted with rubies, amethysts as well as a black jewel called onyx. The second blade was longer and slightly thinner; it had a simple leather-wrapped handle and no crossbar. The jeweled knife might seem to cast the second in shadow, but the second was worth far more than the first, despite the finery of its garb. The second blade was stronger and sharper than any blade the girl had encountered, and probably most any blade she would ever find.

She drew up the hood of her cloak, casting her face in darkness. Shadows encompassed her; the moon had hidden its gleaming face behind a veil of grey clouds.

The riders were soon upon her, encircling her with their mounts. There were five of them, all fully grown men probably no younger than five-and-twenty years, but no older than five-and-thirty either. They were all in their prime, and no doubt vicious warriors. They’d have to be, to get sent after her.

One man, the group’s leader she guessed, sat atop his mount facing her, while the other four turned their horses to the side, creating a makeshift barrier. The man in front of her was heavily built; his broad shoulders and muscular form betrayed by the way his thick, woollen cloak hung on him. The darkness obscured some of his features as it did hers, and so she could only just make out his straight nose, hard jaw and pair of dark eyes that rested beneath bushy eyebrows. He was clean-shaven and a mass of dark curly hair sat on top of his head.

The man’s round shield was already strapped to his right arm, and a short sword now rested in his strong grip. A slight tremor coursed through him, wobbling his sword for a moment, a sign of his anxiety, and he quickly fought to steady himself. But it was too late; she had already seen it.

“Turn back and save yourselves… while you still can…” she threatened, her high, clear voice ringing out in the night like a bell.

The man in front of her opened his mouth as if to say something, but the words just wouldn’t come. To her left, she heard a small gasp as a man’s breathing quickened.

“Well?” she snapped, locking her eyes with the man in front of her who still couldn’t speak. She stared him down angrily. “What say you?”

Still, the man was silent. His eyes wide, like a frightened rabbit.

Behind her, to the right, she heard a heavy sigh and a man dismounted. He strode toward her, lifted his broadsword and using the tip of the gleaming weapon, pulled off her hood, keeping his distance. As he did so, she swiftly spun to her left, flinging the jewelled dagger at the man’s head. It buried itself deeply in the man’s right eye and he fell to the ground with a dull thud.

As she slowly turned to face the sorry leader of the group, the moon revealed itself, bathing her face in a silvery light. She heard several gasps as the men encircling her beheld her face; the face of a ten-year-old child.

Suddenly her patience wore thin and she cast a look behind her, searching for something, anything, that could help her end the meeting and be on her way. As she did, she caught sight of a man with a bow and quiver to her left. If she were quick, she would be able to –

“We are here to take you into custody. As knights of the realm of the Phoenix, it is our duty to protect the people of this great land.” the man in front of her declared, obviously he had gotten over his crippling fear once he had seen that she was merely a child. A mistake that he would soon regret. His comrades continued to stare at her, looking disturbed.

“Lay down your weapons and no harm shall come to you.” a man to the right of the leader commanded.

Abruptly an idea thrust itself into her mind, and she smiled. “But of course,” she announced, taking three slow steps toward the leader of the group. He eyed her nervously, as she began to kneel, her last knife lying bare, between her small hands. “I would be honoured to submit to such noble men,” she drawled. The man to the right of the leader, the one who had told her to surrender her weapons, looked to his leader for guidance. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man to the left of the leader, the archer who held the bow and quiver, shift his attention from her so he could do the same.

Suddenly she spun and bounded towards the archer, covering the distance between them before the shock had even registered itself on his face. When she reached his steed, she thrust her body upwards, landing neatly on the back of the horse. The man made no sound as she slit his throat from behind.

With a rough shove from the child who had ended his life, the man fell from his mount, and in his killer’s hands lay his bow and quiver.

After that the girl made short work of the remaining men, striking each of them in the neck with one of the arrows. And then she raided their supplies; packing everything she could onto one horse.

By the time she was ready to go, scavengers had already begun to flock to the site, waiting patiently for her departure, and the first rays of morning light shone brightly in the east. In the new light she surveyed her surroundings; there was not a tree in sight, instead an endless abundance of grass. On a full-grown man, the grass would have reached the knee, but on her it came up to the thigh. A few small farmhouses and various barnlike structures were scattered throughout the land and to the west lay a distant structure that resembled a castle or a fort, but it was so far away that it was merely a shadow against the grey sky.

She noticed a grey wisp of smoke rising from the chimney of one of the nearer farmhouses. This spurred her on, giving her a renewed sense of haste as she realized that if a farmer looked in her direction he would see the vultures above her circling. With that thought she quickly mounted her stolen steed, and set off at a gallop.

Her hood flew from her head, whipping in the wind along with her long black hair. And the light of the new morning illuminated the mark of a branded ring upon her brow.

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Alrighteo ;)

So this is my first story and I've been working on it for a while, so please comment with, ah comments I guess and suggestions if you have any but mainly feed back :) I don't really mind if you dont vote but Id be really honoured if you did :DD

This story is gonna be quite long and it will be a while before the core part of it is revealed, so stick around and enjoy, I'll try to keep it as interesting as possible.

And PLEASE do comment cus I'd really appreciate what you have to say :)