Elysian House: Edge of the World (3)

Chapter 14: Olivia's Meeting

Olivia

"You!" The sound of the commanding voice had my head turning quickly and I saw the pointing finger of a soldier.

I sighed as I picked up the knife off the ground, while I was busy reading my map and attempting to find my bearings. I turn my knife onto the soldier. "Leave now, and I will spare you."

The soldier scoffs, as he pulls free his blade from his sheath. "Child, you truly have lost your wits if you think I'll surrender to you. A common thief. You should be begging for your life right now."

"Funny," I say, and I look up toward the loft, where I knew there was an escape to, just in case the soldiers found me here too. "I don't really feel like I should." With that, I turned and slashed the rope holding the anvil above my head. I wrapped my fist around the rope as the anvil fell, carrying my weight upwards and I swung forward, dropping myself down into the loft.

The soldier cries out in surprise and anger as he rushes for the wooden steps.

I sprinted for the window of the loft and looked through.

The little house next to me was my escape.

I dived onto the house rooftop, hauling my weight up onto the roof and running down the spine of the rooftop, to the alleyway on the other side. I looked down, into the dark alleyway, seeing the hay-filled carriage.

With a grin, I turn back to the soldier who was busy trying to get up onto the roof. When he looked up at me, I saluted with my hand and called out, "I wish I could say I didn't have the heart to take the piss outta ya, sham. But after this, I know I can't." I jumped off the edge and landed into the haystack.

As soon as I dropped, the horses neighed in distress and kicked off, mightily.

I laughed as the carriage took off through the village, and I could see the soldier standing on the rooftop, jaw dropped.

"Stupid gowl," I cackled, as I rode out the wild carriage.

People on the streets cried out in surprise as they dove to get away from the wild carriage. I kept my head low, as I stayed behind the hay, as best as I could. But like all things, eventually, it caught the attention of the soldiers.

They began riding their horses to catch up, swords drawn.

"Oh, damn!" I say, as I tuck away the map into my belt. I crawled forward, up toward the end of the carriage until I was sitting down, with the reigns in both of my hands.

I steered the horses through the streets, dodging the soldiers advances and calling for people to move out of the way.

As I approached the exit of the village, I noticed the cliff reclining into the sea too late and as I took a sharp turn, trying to keep on land, I felt the carriage tipping and my body went with it.

Despite my attempts to grab at the rocks on the cliff side, I was knocked down, toward the sea.

But just when I thought I'd hit the ocean and descend into the dark depths, I felt my back hit something hard and the wind was knocked out of me momentarily.

I coughed as I sat up, in confusion.

And the first thing I saw when I sat up was the boots. Black boots standing before me and as I led my eyes upwards, I took in the black trench coat, glistening in the sunlight as if thousands of tiny diamonds lived on the surface of it. And when I looked further upwards, I saw his face.