FC (Original)

Chapter 17: Remembering

I'll help you , Kaiden had remembered the look on Ulyssa's face. Pain, sadness and anguish pasted onto her face. It had been a few days since he last saw Ulyssa and here she is again at the threshold of his oak door, smiling as if she'd not remember anything that had happened a few days ago.

"Hey Kaiden!" Ulyssa said in a cheerily tone as she entered past the door which was hanging on it's hinges.

"Hey..." Kaiden answered back warily, did she really not remember?

"Why did you come here again?" He asked Ulyssa a bit confused at her cheerily attitude.

"I um...I came her-I came because I needed to tell you something." Something had changed Ulyssa's mood like a switch, he could tell that it was important.

"Look... I really want to save you but I can't. Kaiden, Quarter will kill you, he will soon... but I can't let you die. Listen to me, you need to talk to the warlock, please..." Quarter was going to kill him? He knew it, that bastard.

"Wait...talk to the what?" Kaiden was clueless.

"The warlock, please talk to her." Ulyssa sighed in mock distress.

"Okay.so...when are we gonna do this?" Kaiden tried to continue the subject only receive a pathetic look from the rider.

"Okay! So what now?" Kaiden rambled on.

"We're going to sneak out and speak to the warlock tonight, meet me near the paddock" Ulyssa said in a serious tone.

"Okay."

Kaiden walked out of his cabin confused and lost in deep thought, he had seen that warlock before, but where? That was when he saw Quarter in the corner of his eye shouting at a... cage? Wait no, that was when he realized that Quarter was pacing toward him with a maniacal grin, he heard someone scream his name just as he realized what fate had prepared for him death.

Before he knew it he was already pinned onto the rocky ground by Quarter who had a dagger in his right hand which was pressed at the nape of Kaiden's neck. Wincing as he felt the blade cut into his flesh.

"Any last words outsider?" Quarter said his voice quavering with madness just as blue flames engulfed his blade, he threw it away with a painful scowl.

Blue flames, it reminded him of something but what? It was when he looked to his right to see that the creature who had been in the cage was now standing up the same fire that had burned Quarter coming out of her hands. As he approached the cage he realized that he was infact seeing the "warlock" he was supposed to see.

"Remember me?" The warlock had said to him behind the rusted bars of her cage, her voice was like honey poured on shards of ice, it was so hoarse yet he could still remember it. The words came unintentionally, running out of his mouth like water. He said the name as if he's said it so many times.

"Katie?"

"Who else could it possibly be?" She smiled crookedly. Examined her burnt hands and bloodied nails that she had used to break the lock.

"Katie?" Kaiden couldn't believe his eyes, this was not the Katie he had known, the Katie who had always been so annoying, so pathetic. The person standing in front of him was no longer what he had thought to be regal and aristocratic in a way. She looked exhausted and pale, there was purple under her eyes- her delicate hands worn, the nails stained with blood.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to speak to you." She spat with a disapproving tone.

"You okay?" He knew that Katie had been beaten again and again. Quarter had used her magic but she refused to tell them where the others were yet he didn't know that it affected her this much...