A Diamond Among Men

Chapter 2: Miss Snow

The fog blinded Robin as he sprinted through the forest. The blood pounded in his ears, his heart ached and his vision was blurry. Yet he kept running. The wind howled in his ear, whipping leafless branches at his face A faint scream echoed over the wind. The blood pounded in his ears, his heart ached and his vision was blurry. Yet he kept running. His heart clenched with worry. Panicking, Robin tried to follow the voice, but the more he ran the more the voice faded. Robin tripped over a jagged stone and fell into a lake but the water was thicker than any lake he ever been in and tasted bitter on his tongue. He glanced down to see scarlet swirling around him. He was in a lake of blood. His breath quickened. He swam towards shore as fast as he could, but halfway he heard the voice calling him. This time she was very close. "Robin," she said in his ear. Robin turned around, in the blood he saw her face. It was pale as a ghost. Her brown hair was stained red and her blue eyes were dull and lifeless. A trail of scarlet dripped from her lips. She spoke again."You didn't save me." She murmured. Robin's eyes stung and his throat burned. "Marian..."

"You left me."

"No..." He said softly. A tear rolled down his cheek.

"You abandoned me."

"No." His voice cracked.

"You never loved me."

"No!" he shouted, covering his ears. She screamed his name over and over. The world shook around him. Everything was falling apart. Chunks of the sky fell, the trees crashed and his limbs trembled. He squeezed his eyes shut. A pair of rough arms started shaking him and a deep voice was ordering him to wake up.

He snapped his eyes open and jumped from the bed. Grabbing his arms was William Scarlet and James. James was currently ordering him to calm down. Robin blinked and took deep breaths. He was no longer in the blood lake but safe at home. He looked around the room, behind James were five other faces. One of them was Jon, the other faces were the concerned faces of the rest of his men. The first was a black man named Smith. The second Asian and had a long ponytail, his name was Kai. The last two were twins. Daniel and Nathaniel. Daniel was the shortest of all the men while Nathaniel was the tallest. All of the men were outlaws whom Robin brought together years ago. Now they were all gathered in his bedroom with worried faces.

Kai spoke first. "Did she come to your dreams again?" Robin sighed and sat down on his bed again. James and William let go of him.

"I'm sorry to wake you," Robin said. "I hate waking you all up like this." Daniel shook his head. "Nonsense Robin, we all have nightmares."

"Some more than most," Nathaniel muttered. Daniel jabbed him in the shin.

"What my brother means that we will be here you Robin, through thick and thin, right men?" The others nodded in agreement. Robin smiled.

"Thank you." He rose to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Smith asked. He turned to the black man.

"I'm going hunting."

"We'll go with you." William said. Robin shook his head.

"You all have your own duties to perform." He reminded them.

"And Sheriff is still alive. He may be wounded, and his men dead, but he has more men. Plus King John soldiers are out there too." Robin glanced at the eagerness glowing in their eyes.

"Fine, I'll take Jon, Kai and Smith, the rest of you guard the camp."

The camp was a small cluster of tents surrounding a makeshift fire pit. It was simple, just as Robin liked, allowing them to tear it down in times where they had to run away. This time the camp was hidden in a sandy hollow with jagged rocks and a poisonous bramble screen that acted as a protective barrier from possible intruders. Robin gathered his bow and restocked his quill with fresh arrows. Mounting on his mare he leads Jon, Kai and Smith through the stony entrance out into the forest.