Beautiful Darkness

➵Burned to the Ground

The noise of the alarm ringing in my ears awakes me from my nightmare-filled sleep. Instinct takes over as I ungracefully slide out of bed and put the dagger on my nightstand into the waistband of my pants. I soundlessly turn the knob of my door and slowly open it. The hallway is completely empty aside from the piercing alerts. I steadily make my way down the castle corridors to the safe house. The safe haven is located a good distance away from the sleeping corridors of the castle. Getting there will take a decent amount of time. I breathe down my annoyance and focus on the task at hand. Find Iden.

Thankfully my younger brother's room is only a couple yards away from mine. I effortlessly slip into his room. He is still laying under his covers with his hands covering his ears and tears of terror glimmering in his eyes. I rush over to him and take him into my arms. He is barely four, making him easy to carry as his limbs wrap around my body for safety.

"It's okay, baby. I've got you. Nobody is going to hurt us." I coo to help his silent sobs calm down. I am now rushing down the endless hallways of the maze that is my home. The crisp winter air hits my face with full force as I finally manage to make it outside. My senses heighten at the eerie silence. I make no movement as I adjust my hearing. Distant screams and cries are now audible. I swallow down the urge to help and continue making my way toward the safe house. My mother and father should be down there already with the help of the guards. I assume that the ones sent to escort Iden and I were killed along with the ones stationed outside our doors. Murmurs of close voices stop me dead in my tracks. I softly cover Iden's mouth with my hand so his breathing cannot be heard.

"The boy and the girl are gone," A female voice quietly acknowledges. An angry sigh responds.

"I told you to send our guards there before the attack ever took place. The princess is nineteen. Obviously she would take her brother and disappear!" A man whispers furiously. You can tell from his voice that he is very aged. The woman drops to her knees.

"Please spare me, master." Her plea is cut off by a loud snapping. It takes me a few moments to realize that the man had snapped her neck. My heart pounds harder in my chest at the thought of what he would do to us, to Iden. I slowly back away from the scene and into the shadows of the woods. To my mother's disapproval, I spent all my time outdoors when I was younger. I have every inch of the surrounding land memorized which is quite convenient in this particular situation. Normally the trip to the safe house would be quick through the underground tunnels in the castle, but I am not too naïve to believe that the intruders would not already have them surrounded.

My bare feet scrap against the rough and snow-filled terrain as I further our progress. Iden is still glued to my body which makes me hyper-aware of any possible threat around us. The road comes into view ahead just as a group of shadows cause me to slow my pace. The shadows appear to be headed in this direction. I look around wildly for a place to hide. If our scent is anywhere near them, we are screwed. After seconds of agonizing panic my sight lands on the trees.

"Latch onto me and don't make a sound." I calmly whisper into Iden's ear. He silently nods as his grip tightens on my back. I find a tree suitable for climbing. My hand shakily reaches for the first branch and I haul my weight up. With wood painfully scrapping against me, I continue to climb. I completely focus on getting higher, higher, higher. Away from the danger. Away from civilization. Iden is my core as I entirely go into survival mode. Once we are a good thirty feet above the ground, I stop and lay us down on a sturdy branch. It is long enough for my legs to completely straighten in front of me.

The dead branches do little to conceal us if someone were to look up. I distantly see the shadows of people approaching nearby. As they near, I make out about five different figures. They are all armed but their features remain hidden in the darkness of the night. One of them inhales deeply. Definitely a tracker. I hold my breath, hoping-praying they do not sense us. They continue moving forward, indicating they did not. They advance maybe two feet before the tracker freezes. A wave of pure instinct controls my following actions.