I Will Always Find You {Archived}

Chapter 3

It's short I know, for this I'm sorry. Dedicated to my amazing editor ^_^

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{Chapter 3}

Something cold and wet touches the side of my face. Goosebumps form on my arms and the back of my neck as liquid drips down the side of my cheek from the wet thing. The smell of blood is thick in the air. It burns my nostrils, filling my lungs with its metallic stench.

I can hear the sound of a stream running nearby and I attempt to open my eyes. At first I am blinded by the sun and I quickly squeeze my eyes shut again. On my second attempt I allow my eyes to slowly open, finally adjusting to the glare.

Above me is the fiery, evening sunset, the sun’s edge just peeking over the mountain tops. Where am I? I think to myself, tilting my head to look to my right. Green, murky water bubbles in the creek beside me and beyond that lies a busy town. I’m in town.

I frantically search my thoughts. How did I get here? What happened? Why am I here? But no reasons come to mind. Movement in the corner of my eye startles me and a gasp escapes my throat as a figure comes into view.

"Well it is about time you woke up. I was begging to worry you were out for good," says the figure. His back is to the sun so I can see none of his features but his husky voice is oddly familiar.

I try to push myself up on my elbows but fail as my arm gives out underneath me. Every bone in my body seems to ache and my skin feels hot and sticky with blood.

Lifting my head up I assess my wounds on my body. My shirt is drenched in crimson but my pants seem to only have patches of the blood. I flex my fingers and then the upper joints of each arm before I begin to attempt to sit myself up for the second time.

"Careful, you don’t want to strain anything," says the figure, crouching down beside me.

"Who are you?" I grunt and I shift my body into a sitting position trying, to make out his features. Shaggy, long hair seems to be the only thing I can make out.

"A name is but a word to put a face to, it simply isn’t needed."

"It would help if I could see your face," I scowl, running my hands up and down my legs, checking for any pain. I’m covered in dark, purple bruises but nothing seems to be too serious.

"You’re head, won’t stop bleeding, I need to wrap it in linen. Do you know anyone in town who can help? The markets closed hours ago," says the stranger. My fingers instinctively trail up to my head. I probe the wound just above my temple, feeling the warm, sticky blood cling to my fingers.

"No, but my home isn’t too far away. I’ll be fine."

The stranger leans close to me and presses something cool and wet to the wound, "hold this on it, it will stop the bleeding for now, you can use my horse to get back."

"I’ll be fine thanks. But do you have any idea how I got here? I can’t even remember leaving home," I say.

"I heard a fight and when I came down here I saw you lying under the bridge with blood pooled around your shoulders. You were out for hours," the figure replies.’’

"Hmm, odd."

Holding the scrunched up piece of fabric to my head, I make my way up the bank and back onto the road. As I finally step onto the cobblestoned pavement of the road I see Acheron standing by, eating some fresh sprigs of grass popping through the disgusting grey slosh that used to be snow. I guess I must have ridden him here.

"Is that your horse?" says the stranger behind me. I turn around an annoyed expression crossing my face. But as I see finally see the man’s features it feels as though all my breath has been knocked out of me.

It’s the man from the bar. His features are so familiar that I can’t help but feel I know him from somewhere else. Now that alcohol isn’t clouding my senses I can see he is badly scarred, from what looks like fire. His arms are covered in permanent; red smudges the colour of blood. But the most noticeable scar is the one above his brow, its white and lumpy, like so many that cover my body. It’s from a knife.

"What happened to you?" I breathe. Alarm crosses his features and he immediately shakes his head so that his shaggy hair falls across most of his face.

"Nothing. So as long as you have a ride home, I’ll leave you be," he mutters, turning away and stalking towards another horse standing by the bridge.

"I hope you feel better soon," he adds as he mounts his horse and canters away.

"Thanks," I mumble staring stupidly after his disappearing figure. Where on earth have I seen him before? Why does he act so strangely? Why is he scarred? All these questions form in my mind, begging to be answered but I can’t seem to bring forth anything from my memory that can tell me the answers. Sighing, I awkwardly mount Acheron, still holding the cloth to my head then ride off towards home.

~ ~ ~

Night has just descended upon me as I pull Acheron up out from of home. Before my feet have even hit the ground I hear the sound of Lilah screaming at me.

"Where on earth have you been?" she screeches, "you promised you would take Anna and Freya out on a contract today!" her excessively loud voice sends a dull throb through my already sore head.

As I spin around to face her she gasps, "what were you doing? Why are you covered in blood! Answer me girl or I swear-"

"You’ll do what, beat me to a pulp? Break my bones? Hang me? I’m really not in the mood for a fight Lilah. I can’t remember what happened and before you ask, no I am not drunk and no I wasn’t fighting for money. I was found under the town bridge by a young fellow who was only being nice," I scream back at her.

I watch as Lilah’s face turns from a deep purple to a vaguely normal pink. She sighs and says, "well come inside and clean yourself. But I expect you to still take Freya and Anna out tonight. We let Anna think that just because you get a few scrapes means you get out of work."

"Okay," I mutter and stalk into the keep.

Freya eyes my suspiciously as I pass her in the hall but she doesn’t seem to be as mad as Lilah and I give her a small smile. As quickly as I can I find an old shirt ad rip it in half. I then soak one half in one of Lilah’s herbal concoctions and wrap it around my head.

The herbal mix should stop it from bleeding and when I get home later I’ll wrap it properly, but if I have to take Anna and Freya out tonight I’d rather get it over and done with as soon as possible.

I race back out into the hall and jog towards the front door, getting some odd looks from the recruits I pass. Obviously they’ve never seen a makeshift bandage like mine. Once I’m back outside I see Lilah standing with Freya and Ann by her side, still glaring at me.

"Take care now that it’s dark. Have you still got the contract in your pocket?" asks Lilah. I reach my hand into my pocket and pull out a scrunched up piece of paper, nodding.

"I’ll be as careful as always," I say with a grin.

"Oh, because that’s reassuring," laughs Freya.

I smile back at her and reply simply "Oh please, this is where the fun begins."

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I'll try to update soon. Thanks for the support ♥