Dryads and Nymphs

Chapter 36-The Rebellion

She watched as the arrow sailed and found its mark. The sword flew straight out of her father’s hand and disappeared into the fighting crowd. She almost smiled.

Her arrow had found its mark; it had hit the base of the sword just as she had planned and she had prayed it would not bury itself in her father’s hand instead. Her father looked immensely shocked and turned in the direction of the arrow, and his gaze came to rest upon her.

A look of plain confusion passed over his face and he looked more horrified than ever. He must have been shocked to see that she had gotten out of the shed in time. Aron followed his gaze and saw Ariana as well, and a mixture of expressions flashed across his features: surprise, shock, anger, worry, hope, and joy—although the last was barely there. She urged Silver towards them for one final time.

“Ariana,” her father growled, regaining his composure though he still looked a bit shaken.  Maybe he could not believe she had had the nerve to shoot at his hand, although it had missed him.

She jumped off the horse and said, “Father, for the final time, this needs to stop. I come with a warning. A grave one. Listen to me.”

“You are too late to warn. The battle is already underway; do you not see that? How can you warn anyone now?” her father said.

For a moment, she believed her father’s words and lost all hoe. No one could listen to her. How could she speak over the noises of the battle? She hadn’t thought of that, and of course, her father wouldn’t be of any help either.

In her agitation, she turned and saw Salem and Dylan battling side by side, moving in such synchronization that it seemed more of a dance than a fight, and yet enemies fell left and right at their feet, dead. A lethal dance.

One soldier at Salem’s feet had something white attached to his belt and she recognized it was a battle horn and snatched it up. Salem saw her, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned and hit an enemy on the head with the base of his sword and he crumpled to the ground.

Ariana ran back. Aron wasn’t where she had last seen him, almost as if he had vanished. Her father stood, oblivious of the fact, scowling at her instead. He seemed so sure the battle had been won that he hadn’t even retrieved his sword. Then, Ariana saw another sword at his side and saw why.

She climbed onto the horse quickly and rode into the heart of the battle, which had moved in through the gates, by now, into the courtyard. She saw Aron out of the corner of her eye, disappear into the crowd, but she would deal with that later. Right now, she had a rebellion to stop.

* * *

They had gotten into the weapon wagon and drove in them to the city. Ziluis had enough horses to pull all the wagons and upon reaching the outer walls, the caravan slowed down and Salem suspected they would have to fight their way in. no one except Ziluis knew what the plan was for getting in. he had told them to trust him and they had. What if he had actually set them up and would turn them over as the rebel villagers he had captured? Them being heavily armed wouldn’t help things either. The guards would just capture them, put them in the dungeon, and hang them later on.

The caravan had only stopped for half a minute before going on. Salem gave Dylan a surprised look.

“He must have some of his men as guards, too,” Dylan voiced his suspicions. They rode through the town peacefully and inconspicuously but the villagers started tensing as the wagons began to slow down. Salem gripped his sword tightly, beside him Maryse looked pale, her lips pressed together in a thin line. She held on to his hand tightly, like it was a lifeline and Salem returned the pressure.

“It’ll be alright,” he whispered low enough that only she could hear him.

She didn’t say anything; instead, she pumped his hand once.