Fatum et Fortuna *Chapter 4 Added*

Fatum et Fortuna

A Story of Fate, Destiny and Many Changing Paths

Many thanks to Shadow, who helped me with my grammar and gave me support!
And Also thanks to Kat24, the first commenter!!

'Twas long ago, in a land that we now consider only in myth, that four large kingdoms existed, one for each cardinal point of the compass rose. None were enemies, nor were any really friends. They remained in a neutral state, without rivalry, for many centuries. Once in every passing year, their leaders would meet to discuss matters of peace and realm. The kingdom of the North, the first kingdom to exist in the lands of fate and destiny, was normally called Estidelle(es-ti-dell), by its people. It had been a cold kingdom, with a true purpose. The kingdom of the South, the rival cardinal direction, was called Centies(sen-tice). The home of the unseeing, but brave. The kingdom of the East, had been called Tetheres(ta-ther-ays), realm of the kind and wise. And the final kingdom, which dwelled in the West, was called Serordem(sare-or-dem), where the adventurous and strong lived.

Our story actually begins with one regal meeting in particular, at least fifteen years before the story itself takes place. It was here that a new fate called to the kingdoms. One that called for a royal rise, death and war. But it also called for a hero, hope and destiny. For it would be the first time that the four kingdoms truly turned against one another, though there were already quiet quarrels that had begun among the royal.

In the heart of the lands between the four kingdoms lay a small, abandoned and worn down castle. The wood that had once been the door could easily be seen as something that had been beaten and rammed down in a battle many ages ago. The entrance was a great, yet narrow hallway, made of dark stone that had been arranged in a rough pattern throughout the walls. The hallway led to a meeting place of three dark passageways. The first one was blocked by fallen stone and ash, and the third one was too dark for even the bravest of warriors to venture. The second one had little light at the entrance, seeming like one would be in complete blindness. But once one walked for a few moments, it became a large room of dining where natural light spilled from all directions, dappling every corner, and the surviving pieces of furniture. Eight great stained-glass windows aligned the walls, and a long and large table had been placed in the center.

At this time, six of the eight leaders had been seated at the table, none of them on the heads. They mostly sat in silence, awaiting the arrival of the Northerners. Only for brief moments, exchanged whispers could be heard between couples of their own kingdom.

It was in the random midst of this that two silhouettes appeared. One was a king, whose hair was a golden brown and shoulder length, and was clad in midnight blue with a blue-gray cloak cast over his shoulders. His eyes mirrored the color of his clothes. The queen, who was sorrowfully facing down with closed eyes was wearing a silk gray dress with a white amulet that hung down. Her hair was deep brown and it hung down past her shoulders with part of the back put up. With folded hands, she walked slowly forward.

A king with black hair and stubble of a beard, a ruler of Centies named Deroseth rose from his seat. "Alas, the Northerners have finally arrived. Why so late?" he asked, ending somewhat coldly. The queen of Estidelle, named Elera, let her head rise and with a narrowed, sharp and hating glance gazed upon Deroseth. Her bestia(animal), the albino lion named Raazak(ray-zok) growled in a deep throaty snarl, but her king, Lethoren, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That business is our own, Deroseth." Lethoren answered for her.
"A likely excuse." Deroseth muttered. "Now it doesn't have anything to do with death now does it?" he said in a teasing way. "'Twould be a tragedy if a large death came upon Estidelle." That made Elera lose her temper. She broke from her husband's grasp and ended up facing the king of Centies face to face. "As if you didn't know." she growled. "Everyone at this council knows by now." she said quietly through gritted teeth.

"Elera.." Lethoren reached out his hand. Deroseth's wife held her hand out in front to halt him and sneered. "They should resolve this on their own."
"I was only trying to be courteous, Elera, no need to get worked up." Deroseth insisted. Anger and hatred surged throughout the room now. Elera began to reach for the knife at her belt at the moment the king of the Serordem, and a good friend of Elera spoke up. "That will be enough, Deroseth. Leave poor Elera here to mourn her daughter in peace. 'Tis not something that needs to be greatly expressed at this council. We have other matters to discuss rather." Lethoren pushed Uraliae out of his way and embraced Elera as she began to tremble and tears began to pool up at the corners of her eyes. "I agree with Nicomus." Serhada(ser-ada), queen of Tetheres, spoke up. "There are far more many things to speak of at this meeting." she gave a warning glance to Deroseth. The ruler of Centeis knew he was outnumbered in this argument. Even with his faithful wife at his side, who had won far more disputes than he could count. With a last sharp exhale, he sat back down. Nicomus led Elera and Lethoren to their seats and remained standing. "I call this meeting of the four kingdoms to order." his voice echoed off the walls of the large chamber. "Now I do believe, that there is one speech needed to be given from Deroseth. He has told me that 'twill be the most legendary matter that shall ever be spoken at a council.

"Though he warns me it does not come without grief and sorrowful fate. Will you begin, Deroseth?" He gestured towards the southern king and then seated himself, with Elera on his left and his own queen on his right.

Deroseth rose again and cleared his throat as his black kestrel landed upon his shoulder. "By an unnamed source, I was informed... ah... of a prophecy, so to speak." All eyes had been set upon him. Even Elera began to listen intently. "And it does have to do with the final fate of our four kingdoms. Whether we wish for it or not, 'twill come." He let his gaze wander upon all the faces that looked up at him. Even the bestiae now looked at him, save his own. "The fate of the once great four will fall into the hands of a unknown soul and war will become true upon enemies and friends. And it will be this one soul that will either unite the four kingdoms forever," he shot a glance at Uraliae, "or destroy them." Deroseth now gazed briefly upon Elera. "The identity of this 'hero' is unknown to me. As is the rank of the person. But I am determined to find them."

Serhada's king, Beresaht rose a hand in question. "You say this as if you believe you were meant to find this person. Or in more detail, you believe this person will do something in your favor..." Everyone at the council had to admit, Beresaht was clever and brave, for standing up to Deroseth.

Deroseth's eyes narrowed. "You cannot state that yet, my fellow Beresaht. For as inferred from what I have just said, I haven't a clue who this person is. Nor do I know if they are even agreeable or know they are of any importance." his arms were folded across his chest. With no further comment or clear expression of anger, Beresaht took a seat. "Now may I ask with a raise of hands, if anyone is at all worried about this outcome?"

Reluctantly and gradually, all the seated began to raise their hands, Uraliae among some of the first, being so loyal to Deroseth. "Furthermore, I ask you all, whether we should begin to change now, if we should unite against this and be ready for the impact!?"
"Technically, you said the prophecy was coming rather we liked it or not. If we united, it would only make a direct course that we would be destroyed. And what do you mean exactly by 'united'?" Elera caught the flash of anger in his eyes. Nicomus tried to guess what Elera was getting at. He had always known of her extreme gift of guessing and suspense, but she usually dared not to get onto the last nerve of Deroseth. Maybe 'tis only the impact of her daughter's death... He changed his glance towards Deroseth and his reaction.

"You know me too well, Elera of Estidelle." he hissed quietly.

She waited a few seconds and silently wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her knife under the table. "Aye, so it would seem." The look in her eyes could easily be read by Deroseth. She knows where I'm going with this. "Then why don't you, Elera, ruler of Estidelle, tell them of where I'm going with this? It would be the more to your pleasure and honor, would it not?" The angry king gritted his teeth at the end of his sentence.

"'Twould." She rose to her feet. "My fellow companions, our own king of Centies, Deroseth, plots to join the four kingdoms together with one supreme ruler. That ruler being himself." All the faces staring at her below were awe-struck.

The next step happened in all one quick movement. Deroseth had grabbed a hold of his own sword, rose to the top of the table and aimed a blow at Elera. In a swift response, Elera rose her knife and the two blades met with a long clang. "You must think farther ahead than that, my old rival." Elera said, strangely calm. Deroseth looked like a bear or wolf, ready for attack, with his teeth bared and with his piercing hazel eyes. "What did you plan to do after you became ruler anyway? That is something I know less of..."

Deroseth pressed the blade harder and closer to Elera. "Well, the first thing I would do was what I had just attempted to do a few moments ago," he growled quietly once more. He released his pressure upon the blade, swooped the sword in a circle and instead pointed the tip swiftly towards her neck. But not before another blade, the blade of Lethoren, was rested only inches away from his neck. Nicomus had joined his friend by placing the tip of his sword against Deroseth's spine. Serhada and Beresaht had remained seated, but watched with interest.

"You hurt her, you will find your ambitions and yourself as dead as the dry river." Lethoren warned. The pupils of those cold, hazel eyes had grown to as small as they could go. But not out of fear. His blade swerved up and clashed with Lethoren. "If it's not united you want to stand, then it's divided. You want war? You're going to get it!" he hissed. Deroseth lowered the sword, stepped next to Lethoren and whispered something, inaudible to the others, into his ears. The king of Centies' shadow had been cast, long and dark among all that laid in front of him. "I would say quite the contrary," his sword aimed for between the shoulders, but was quickly stopped by a random source of power. "But today is not the day we shall finish this, Lethoren."

The darkened king turned his back to the other and faced all the rest. "And you shall all meet your fate. For this is a declaration of war." His eyes rested one last time upon Uraliae. "Come, Uraliae, Noerdem." Both his wife and the black kestrel respected his simple order and followed him out. Even when he was surely out of the castle by a point, Elera heard a dark voice in her head. Beware, my sweet. Now you have revealed my bad side, and you shall watch your companions fall in front of your very eyes. Your life around you will perish. I am not as alone as you believe. Elera was never one to be naïve, but this was something she definately did not wish to believe. But the darkest and most shadowy part of her heart, had told her it was true. War was coming. And there was nothing she had in her power to stop it.

(continued on post 10 )

That was AWESOME! =D

Oh, and I love your sig.

Thanx!! I really appreciate it, kat!!

Srry it was long though...

Naw, I love long stuff!

Awesome job, WCL. As always.

OMG, this was really good!

Thanks very much shadow and DC!!!!

You're welcome!!!

That was really great! I love how you made the characters speak. It made it seem really medieval.

All my life, I believed I was special. It was a feeling that came from deep in my mind, and was chorused by my heart. It was like pure instinct. Well, yes, I am a Prince. The prince of Estidelle, son of Elera and Lethoren Evdon, to be precise. But 'tis a different importance that calls me, one that could change the fate of every soul forever. I was young then, and shortsighted to the future. I've gradually matured though. And eventually, everything came together like it was supposed to.

I guess this started when I was extremely young, when my mother would tell my sister, Availea, and I stories of past kings, heroes and how destinies so easily intertwine. They were stories that touched my heart, and meant so much to me that I would memorize each word. During the long, warm days, of summer, I would be the king of Old Estidelle, Stroeven, rescuing my kingdom from the many terrible beasts of the Unknown regions. On the cold, cold, damp nights of winter, I would play the brave traveller thief that survived each encounter that he came upon. For several years, I thought those were the only stories that existed, the stories that had a hero who saved everyone and had a good ending. That was before I heard the story that would change everything. The story of life. 'Tis quite cruel really,thinking that everyone, especially the ones you love, die at the end. But I wasn't told this story. I was shown it.

Tragedy struck me heard the day my father passed from this world. It was a time of many tears, sobs and much mourning. Up until that day, I had not been in the presence of death, ever. And I was naive, for I did not wish to see it. He was carefully brought in and placed onto his back. He had many wounds of war showing through. Many could easily be seen as being made by an arrow, others could clearly be idetified as the marks of blades, and some could not be made clear of what had created it. Blood had stained his cloak of war where the wounds were. 'Twas not a pretty sight. Sweat and blood covered his face, especially blood from a deep gash on his forehead. His eyes were half closed and bloodshot. Throughout the silence he could be heard making small groans of pain. His hair had streaks of blood on it has well, and it fell back tangled.

Shock and grief hit me like a rockslide. With one hand covering my mouth and the other tightly gripping onto Dlarsen's fur, I watched him being slowly carried down the elongated hallway. Availea had locked her arm around me in a soothing gesture. But I could tell, she could barely control the grief and shock herself. After letting a moment of silence pass, we ran towards him, crying out and trying to enter the room which he disappeared into.The guard watching the door told us we were not permitted to enter just yet. It was quiet now, deathly quiet. It was a silence I did not like the sound of.

As tears fell slowly down my face, I looked to see the expressions of the others. I looked down to see Dlarsen, my own bestia, watcing the door intently. There was no clear sorrow in his gaze, yet his expression told numerous clashes of words. A look of sadness had been cast upon Dalajinae, Availea's bestia. She rested her head upon my sister's leg with her eyes closed tightly. My sister looked the worst of all. Her eyes had become bloodshot too, and could be found with much pain struck by tears. The corners of her eyes were deeply stained. I wanted to comfort all of them, as they probably wanted to comfort me, but I could barely keep a hold of myself. I wiped the back of my hand across my cheek to brush off the tears. But no matter how much I did that, tears poured down endlessly.

After a long time of wait, we were sent in. Apparently, he had to share a few words with my mother before he spoke to us. Though directly I did not learn of what this conversation consisted of, I found the words through another source later. When my father spoke to us, it was mostly about his pride for us and leading ourselves into our own destinies, no matter how impossible, or frightening it seemed. So much happened after his mouth had closed, concluding his speech to us. Oddly enough, I figured out the moral of this life and how stores, merely passed down through mouth, were nothing at all like life, before Availea. Unfortunately, I knew, and reluctantly accepted that my father was destined to fall into the palms of death.

Carefully we embraced him one last time while he still lived. With that last mark, we waited in a darkened corner. The shadow cast upon Availea and I was long and hopeless. A memorable quality of my father was his strength through the toughest and worst times. My father ended up living to see three more sunrises dawn upon Estidelle. My poor Availea, she still had the faintest hope that our father could recover. She was the only one though. The rest of us had already seen truth. On that fateful dusk of the third day, Lethoren Evdon, beloved king of Estidelle, gave up life and passed on.

I wanted to believe he hadn't died in vain, or rather, hadn't died at all. But I knew, as I did with everything else, that I would eventually find the truth, the cold, hard truth. Availea and Dalajinae sobbed without end together. Dlarsen occasionally howled for a long second, then hung his head low. The bells of the distant chapel chimed low. My mother didn't express any sorrow in our presence, but her eyes were clear windows into her heart. She hurt, more than any of us did put together. Later that night, as I looked up to the tall ceiling above me, since sleep could not come to me easily, I heard my mother weeping quietly in her chambers.

Back to the matters of truth, our father only told us the truth on that day. So did our mother. Though I can say there is a difference between lying and not telling the entire truth. Shortly after Lethoren's death, mother told me the story of her life and ours, for the first time. She had told us the truth, in this situation, just not the whole of it. 'Twas unlike others, so it took me longer to remember. Some parts were easier to memorize than others, the day she and father met, the days of our birth. But some things were missing, and I did not realize it for a small while. Since the story ran so smoothly as my mother spoke, I suspected nothing.

Being in my youth though, I was foolish, and I listened to nothing. Nothing but my own naive thoughts. I was trapped in sorrow for a bit. For days and weeks on end, I focused only on death, death and the end. I probably bored Dlarsen with my lengthy speeches about my thoughts, but being loyal to me as he is, he listened without any hint of boredom or loss of interest.

I was also extremely curious. Under any influence I was naturally curious. There was one influence, one simple matter of fact, that changed my life. And of all days that came and passed, it was this one that changed my fate forever. That day is the day that this particular story begins.

(Edited because it fits the story better! and a few more themes will be present now. )

*Next Chapter on page 2, post 4*

I agree with Dream.

Availea

Even standing upon the smallest grassy hill, you could see every acre of Estidelle. It's quite the beauty really. I regret to say that in my youth I didn't appreciate it as much as I do now. It was an oddly warm dawn at the beginning of autumn. I myself stood upon a small hill, though not the smallest.

I eagerly awaited my brother to come join me. I inhaled the fresh air, looked out towards the horizon and savored the moment. It was mornings like this, when the sun seemed to be stained a golden-orange and its rays had not yet reached every corner of the sky. Only a slight breeze existed in the air.

"Where are they?" Dalajinae asked me, interrupting the moment. Her voice was quiet enough though, so not to wake the other creatures that may have been roaming nearby. Her pelt seemed to reflect the sun's light and her stripes looked like cast shadows. Despite the fact that she got up early, her eyes shone brightly. I rose my hand to my brow, like in a salute, and leaned forwards with more pressure on my left foot, to see if I could catch a glimpse of them. What's taking them so long? After I was sure I couldn't see any hint of my brother and his bestia, I shrugged. "I do not know, this is not usually like Kenta and Dlarsen." I normally called Kentares, Kenta. And Kenta usually called me Avai. We were really close, seemingly even closer than siblings. We fought occasionally, but we were always there for each other. At the time...

"I see them!" Dalajinae jumped. 'Twas not too much longer until I saw them myself. Kenta looked full of sorrow, almost grim really. His poor young heart had been shattered by our father's death. He was never like this before then. I attempted many times to lift his spirits. At least it never has interfered with his enjoyment of life.

"Come on, Kenta! Come with us!" I begged down to him. "You too, Dlarsen!" I shouted. It certainly got their attention. With those sorrowful, yet piercing, gray eyes, Kenta looked up at me. They were mother's eyes, his face and hair were too. He favored mother much more than he did my father. I was exactly the opposite.

"And where would we be going, sister dear?" he called back, not showing any sign of depression through his voice. I smiled. It warmed my heart to see him fighting through this. "To the forest that never ends and beyond, my brother!" A silence passed, and I watched Dlarsen mutter something to Kenta. Getting back into character, he nodded sadly and glanced back up at me. He said something back and then began to head up the hill. Dlarsen, being the overly loyal bestia he is, followed him.

They broke into what was a little slower than a sprint. Morning sunlight began to shine down more, causing their shadows to extend long and tall. More shadows had fallen upon those, outlining many oaks and beeches, which were joined by those of shrubs and small woodland creatures that seemed to be playing hide and seek with the daylight.

A pair of hazel eyes beamed up at me, with gleams and hints or mischief glowing behind them. My bestia's tail flicked abruptly to one side and then the other. When Kenta was about three quarters of the way up the hill, Dalajinae and I spun around and almost cascaded down it.

Getting to the edge of the forest, we stood strongly, not revealing any signs of weariness. I glanced back towards my brother and the scenery that surrounded him. Small fluffy bits of clouds seemed to quickly follow him. I laughed thinking of how much he resembled a shepherd. He looked at me with mixed emotion, but didn't question my laughter.

"So what are we today? Average night thieves who show their dirty, cheating faces in the presence of day?" It never failed to amaze me, how well he could remember mother's stories, as if he personally lived in the moment. "Nope." I replied. "Today we are to rescue our wrongly accused uncle, who is being held in Monorsett (mon-or-zet). For we are his favorite niece and nephew, and we know the truth!" At my poetic tone and exaggerated graceful flow of words, Kenta grinned widely, for the first time in a long while.

"Very well." he stated merrily. "But I insist we keep my bestia very much alive and yours out of the clutches of the Monorsetts." I wouldn't blame him for that. I guess you can tell what had happened in that story.

To add the final part to this game, I swiftly unsheathed my knife, which was usually placed at my hip. Seeing my move, he immediately followed my gesture and unsheathed his knife and raised it to meet mine. "Into the deep realm of Monorsett!"

*****

It had taken us seconds to get lost in the trees. I was being drowned in the thoughts of my brother finally being happy. I became so lost within my mind; I hadn't noticed that I had traveled far ahead of the group. With all the lurking shadows, and towering, disturbing shapes of the trees, I was beginning to get scared. My heart pounded in my chest and I quickened my pace.

Hearing strange noises made me feel no better. Though it may have only been the distant hoot of an owl or the small scrambling of a mouse, they only made me jump and run faster. Thousands of shadows whirled by me, the winds whipped at my face.

Everything abruptly stopped when I tripped over a long root sticking out of the ground. "Ow.." I moaned quietly, rubbing a mix of dirt and blood off my knees. I glanced all around me, at all those scary faces that stared down back at me. The last thing I looked at, was that root that tripped me. At the first look, it only seemed like a giant root that just was there for no apparent reason. After a few more glances, I realized that under it was a big enough space to hide something. And that space seemed occupied. Gradually, I crawled from where I was and reached out for it. My fingers trembled with wonder and I kept watching the space intently.

"AVAI!"

I jumped and scrambled up next to a nearby tree. I sighed in relief when I saw Kenta. "Kenta..." I said breathlessly. Kenta ran up to me, a blend of relief and anger in his eyes. I guess he was mad that I left him.
"Are you okay, Availea?" he brushed some dirt off of me and grabbed a hold of my wrist to look at my scraped up hands.

I nodded, but didn't look at him. My eyes were still for that object under the root. "Yeah.. I'm okay.." I pulled my hand out of his grasp and walked back towards the root, almost drawn to it. "Where are you going?" Kenta asked in suspicion. He followed behind me.

I kneeled down again and slowly put my hand into the dark space. "Availea..." Kenta said warily. I almost expected something to crawl over my hand, or sever my fingers. But nothing happened. I felt a smooth, dusty flat top of something. My fingers searched for an edge and found one. I pulled on it and dragged it out.

I stared down at the chest I held in my hands. It wasn't too big, originally coated in brown leather. A thin sheet of dust and cobwebs covered it. There was a place where a lock had once been, but it was now broken and there was no lock. It hadn’t looked like it was crafted any time recently.

"What is it?" Kenta kneeled down beside me. Even though I hadn’t been gazing towards him, I knew his eyes were wide with curiosity now. My exhaling breath scraped the top of the box and blew off most of the grime. "I.. I think 'tis a chest. But we are not the first ones to discover it." I indicated to the broken bindings.

Kenta suddenly took out his knife and began picking at the dust encrusted edges. "Kenta, what are you doing?!" I shouted a little too loudly. After a few quiet moments, the chest clicked open and a puff of dust shot out. "Opening it."


(Sorry! that was long!! XP. And sorry that I haven't updated in a VERY LONG TIME! XP)

Awesome job! ^^

Thanks, shadow!! .

I'm one for adventure, risk and the thrill of the moment. I've always been the daredevil of the village. Though, to most people, that 'tis not a positive quality. Most of the village folk assume I have a precarious, hasty nature. And I do not blame them. I want that image in their heads.

I don't really have any friends, save Vredren here. The blacksmith's daughter insults my looks and goes on how I am so weird, being the daughter of a sooth-sayer. When I pass by, the street boys that hang in the alleyways abruptly go silent and just give me dark glares. I've don't nothing to them, any of them. But they act as if I were some sort of murderer or a disgraceful thief.

Fortunately for me, this is only how the lower village acts. I live in the part of Centies where only the poor people live. No exchange of goods, not much manufacturing. News around here goes around quicker than you could say 'flibbertigibbet', even though I'm the only one around here who knows what that even means.

Like always I was sneaking out the window in the kitchen at the dead of night. Not a light shone for several miles and I smirked. Vredren jumped out after me and stalked behind me. Those odd yellow eyes of his didn't gleam in the darkness. He was the kind of cat who scared even black cats away. We had so much in common, I don't think there would be any other bestia out there for me.

The red piece of cloth that I always had with me, (yes, ALWAYS) was now tied around my neck. Normally, I went out at night barefoot, but knowing I wasn't going to the bigger towns, I wore some light shoes. They were the oldest things I've ever seen and they were torn everywhere, but they were still very useful.

I made away like a shadow, crouching low as I made my way towards Farmer Briggman's. He didn't own anything worth gold or silver, but his crops seemed good and plentiful year-round. And his chickens weren't too bad either.

"You want me to slaughter only one this time, correct?" Vredren's bandit-like voice hissed at me.
I nodded. "And last time you killed the rooster, be careful about that."
He merely blinked in reply and scurried ahead of me.

It's not a long walk from that tiny medieval house of mine to the giant league of field that belonged to Briggman. I peered out from a bush in the shadowy fortress that was the forest. The moon's light spilled onto the long grass that flowed with the wind.

"Curses." Vredren spat.

"What is it?" I whispered. The tabby crouched so low that the forest floor almost touched his belly. He stalked forwards, keeping low, to get a better view. "There's a fence now. And there's some barbed edges on it that look like caltrops¹."

I cursed the new addition and narrowed my eyes to get a better view of the fence. "I think you can crawl under that low wire safely." As he began to make his way towards the fence, he whispered back to me. "What about you? You can't jump that without some sort of support."

"I'll work it out somehow, you know me well." I got to my knees and started crawling. "It's times like this that make me wish I was a bigger creature." Vredren dug a little dirt away, slid under the fence and appeared on the other side without a scratch.
"Yes, but if you were bigger neither of us would be getting through, now would we?" I slowly stood to my feet and examined the fence. Vredren was right. There was no way I could simply jump this without some sort of support. We both stood in silence for a long while, pondering the solution of my way over.

Finally Vredren spoke up. "You could use the fence itself."
"What?"
"Run, jump and use the fence for support." he stated simply.
"But I'm going to need my hands, remember?" I showed him my palms.
"Use your non-dominant one. It may hurt, but at least you can still use one of them."

I wished there was another way I could do this quickly. I wished there wasn't even a fence there. But of course, I had no other option and there was a fence there. Silently, I stepped back a few giant steps and broke into a run.

I braced myself for the pain. The sharp edges pierced into my left hand like thorns. I whipped my legs over and landed with a small thud on the other side. I tore my hand off the fence and grasped my wrist to examine the wound. There was a long uneven line going across my palm now. You could easily see the deeper spots where the edges cut. Vredred curtly nodded at me approvingly, and then as silently as a sparrow in flight, tore off towards the barn. I glanced all around me to see if anyone had followed or watched. I pulled the red cloth from my neck and swiftly wrapped it around my bad hand.

I stared in front of me, at the goldmine of crops, whose stems rose higher then my ankle at times. I reached down and began digging out all I could manage to carry back home. The potatoes, radishes, beets, onions I put into an apron that I wore. Vredren returned swiftly with a plump hen dangling from his jaws. I smirked. "Let's go-" I began.

I was cut off by the sudden light that shone into my eyes and the sound of an opening door. Many curses and shouts came from the silhouette of Farmer Briggman, who in his hands held his old worn bow and arrow and a musket. Even though it hadn't been fired, I felt like I had already been shot deep down in the heart.

My heart dropped lower when I realized the worst. Vredren and I were nowhere near the fence, or safety.


¹Caltrop-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caltrop

Let me guess Em, the title is Latin? lol

oh my god Em, seriously! How can you inspire me to try to become an author when you write such masterpeices like this! This soooo isn't fair! XP.......... XD jk. Amazing job Em, you'll get this published one day and you'll remember little old me hopefully

That's cool. xD I don't even think I know what the plot is anymore, but it's still really awesome.

(srry bout that!! it'll all tie in eventually!! u'll see what all these peops have to do with each other!!)

Don't be sorry, I figured it was supposed to be like that.

That's AWESOME. Mooooooooooore!

I keep forgetting to comment. XD

Awesome!