Stranger

Enia had always imagined Fort Milm bigger. She had heard stories of it from the last war, how supposedly was a big fort build within the Duvenir mountains, holding back foreign invaders from crossing through the border. It was built in the mountains, that much was true, but big was the wrong word to describe the building made out of dark stones.

She found it hard to imagine that this old looking structure could hold anyone off. In a way it looked pathetic to her, barely larger than the burned down castle at Inacht. What looked way bigger than she ever imagined were the mountains. At the first landscape had become more barren, lush green grass made way for rocks and hills. Towering in front of her was the natural border of Sinia, the Duvenir mountain chain, which secluded her kingdom from the rest of the world out there.

All her life she had been looking at them in the distance, dreaming of the wonders that laid behind. Now she was standing in front of them.

A cold breeze crept under her robes to which she hid her hands under her armpits, desperate for a bit of warmth. Even in the summer the peaks were covered in snow, the mere sight making her shiver even harder. The closer they got, the colder the air grew.

Enia hated the cold. She was used to sweating, even in fall and winter. Her daily work didn't let her body cool down. But now she had spend three days doing nothing but cooking and washing clothes. She didn't need to plow fields or clean stables. Still her body ached, mainly her legs and back. What work couldn't do to her body riding did.

She was caring for the horses while the soldiers took the translator inside the fort to see the intruder. They had arrived at dawn and would leave the next morning again. From what she gathered the soldiers had no intention to stay for long. Something about being so close to Rovah made them anxious, which in return made Enia anxious herself. She didn't know what the soldiers feared, so she feared the unknown. Maybe it was the fact that the Rovah allowed the practice of magic?

Her eyes wandered across the inner courtyard, taking in the sight of the old stonewalls and building surrounding her. If there ever was a battle fought here before? Was this one of the spots stories took place in? She could hardly imagine it.

Enias eyes came to a rest on a huge mass of fur near the exit into the mountains. It was white, with black and gray dots sprinkled across it. When they first arrived the guards had shown the dead creature to them. It reminded her of a cat, but it had no long tail nor the elegance of one. Whatever the dead thing was, it was huge. A big pile of muscles and giant claws made to rip its prey apart. Yet it wore a saddle like a horse would do. Its white fur was sprinkled with red blood in between. The soldiers killed it at sight, before whoever rode it could defend the poor thing.

It invoked wonder in Enia. Whoever crossed the mountains did so on a giant catlike monster, only to have it get killed once they reached their goal. If a great hero from the stories was currently in this place?

Her thoughts got interrupted when Lazark left the main building. He slammed the wooden door shut behind him, anger evident in his face. For a moment she pondered if she should go and ask what happened, but the thoughts left her mind when Lazark laid eyes on her.

His steps were fast and his whole body seemed tense which made her heart beat faster in an instant. He reminded her of her father whenever she did something wrong. Ready to scream at her and belittle her, hurting her with his words instead of his body.

But Lazark did nothing like that.

He just came to a stop besides her and the horse she was tending, leaning against the animal and stroking its coat. There was silence for a moment, the translator didn't even look at her. The last two days he would chat her up every chance he got, asking about her life in the Plains. Now there was just silence. An unpleasant silence. She didn't dare to disturb it.

"We are in trouble.", he finally said, his voice sounding strained. Enia shifted her weight from one leg to another. Trouble could mean a lot.

"Who is inside the fort?", she asked carefully, keeping her own voice down. She suddenly felt watched, even though there was no one else outside besides the guards up on the walls. But there was no way they could hear them from that distance.

"I don't know. She refuses to tell me who she is. But that-", Lazark pointed towards the dead creature, "That is bad. Very bad. If it was still alive it would be not so bad. But dead is terrible." His words confused Enia. It was obvious that the dead creature unsettled Lazark immensely. When he first saw it his eyes went wide with shock and his whole demeanor changed, making him unusually quiet and reserved.

"Why is a dead beast bad?"

"That 'beast' is Feluran. Seeing one in the wild is already rare since they were driven to the brink of extinction. Seeing one as a mount? Chances you're struck by lighting are probably higher. Only people with immense amounts of money can afford one. They are stolen from their mothers as newborn cubs and raised by their riders to obey them. So basically these idiots that call themselves border guards killed the puppy of someone either very important or very influential. Which is very bad since it happened on Sinian land. It's like plucking Bloodshadow out of the kings royal garden."

"Oh." It was the only sound Enia could make. She tried to wrap her head around Lazarks words, trying to understand the importance of their meaning. Why a dead animal was such a bad sign she couldn't comprehend. Sure, it was a shame, especially if this beast apparently was so rare. But surely no reason to panic.

"I don't think any of you understand our situation.", Lazark growled obviously frustrated. He pinched the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes.

"It's like killing a Rovah on Sinian land even though we have a peace treaty. And by killing I mean murdering someone without a good reason. But that's not all that worries me." Lazark let out a deep breath, resting his head against the horse as if the animal could give him some comfort. Enia tilted her head and let his words sink in. Then it hit her.

"Is she a mage?" Her voice and breath was shaky. Why hadn't she thought of that possibility sooner? But Lazark weakly shook his head.

"No, no. That's not it. I told you, they wouldn't have been able to capture a mage. But whoever she is, people will come looking for her. And they will find a dead Feluran and a imprisoned Rovah. What worries me is who will be looking for her. All I know is that she is someone important. But she just won't talk, its infuriating."

"Maybe you need to be a little more patient with her?"

Lazark looked at her as if she was a talking cow. It made her blood rush to her head, her fingers desperately trying to get some hair into her face to cover it up. Who was she to question a royal translator?

"Someone is becoming more bold already.", he chuckled, his features finally relaxing a bit.

"You are right. She just lost her beloved, very expensive pet and is held prisoner at an unfamiliar place. Maybe she just needs some time."

Lazark exhaled again, pushing himself off the horse. He stretched and the tension seemed to leave his body a bit. Enia exhaled too, not even realizing she was holding her breath in the first place. The royal translator strolled towards the main building again, waving her goodbye without another word.

With that she was left alone again which she was grateful for. At least she couldn't say the wrong things like that. She turned her attention to the horse in front of her again. It's fur was brushed and it's hooves were cleaned, it was ready to stable. So she took the animal into it's makeshift shelter for the night. The other horses inside seemed unruly, they have been ever since they arrived here. Enia blamed the dead beast inside the fort for their behavior, considering the Feluran scared her too. It was not just the dead creature that made her uneasy though, the mountains did too. There was seemingly nothing but cliffs, stones and darkness in between them. She wondered why that woman chose to travel all the way through this unpleasant landscape.

Enia glanced one more time into the stable to make sure the horses were okay before she closed the gate shut behind her. With every breath she took small clouds would rise from her nose only to be blown away by the wind. The Plains were quiet, but the word didn't quite fit the Duvenir mountains. She found them eerie.

Slowly she made her way towards the main building too. Everyone was in there, so it was the last place she wanted to be. But the sun had nearly disappeared behind the horizon, she had to go in unless she wanted to sleep in the stables. The idea didn't sound too bad to her, however it would only make her stand on from the others. They already thought she was a weird woman from the Plains, so risking to make them think even worse of her was not something she intended to do.

Her eyes trailed off to the dead creature again and an idea shot to her mind. Enia scanned her surroundings, looking for a large bowl. Since she couldn't find one outside, she headed into the fort, trying to ignore all the men. Not that any of them payed attention to her anyway.

In the kitchen she found what she was looking for, but she also needed candles, lots of them. She went through every shelf and crate, but there were no candles nor any wax. Her shoulders sank in disappointment but then a voice made her nearly jump.

"Can I help you?", one of the guardsmen spoke. His eyebrows were raised questionably. Enia hesitated for a moment, unsure if he would help her. No one here thought highly of the Rovah.

"I need candles, or wax. Lots of it.", she replied weakly.

"What for?"

"I want to make something." That obviously wasn't the answer the man was looking for, but he nodded after a moment nonetheless. He gestured her to follow and together they went into a small storage room. Enia waited at the door, not wanting to be in close proximity of the stranger while he went through the crates. When he found one full off candles he handed her a good handful. Enia bowed to him before running off without uttering a word. All the strangers at this place made her nervous. She didn't want to be here.

Now that she had candles she needed fire to melt them. Back in the kitchen she looked for a pot, threw all the candles inside and hung it over the fireplace. Patience surely wasn't one of her strengths. She was thankful she was alone in here, only Alia would occasionally come to get more food or drinks. The other woman seemed to dislike her for the fact that Enia was talking to Lazark. In Alias eyes he was Rovah trash. Although she wouldn't really say she had much sympathy for the man, she wouldn't go as far as saying he was trash. A nonbeliever and outlander, yes. But not trash.

When the wax was finally fully molten she carefully poured it into the bowl she had found earlier. Then she had to work quickly.

With the bowl full of molten wax she hurried back outside, where the sun had set by now. Torches sparely lit up the inner courtyard, but the dead creature at the entrance still stood out. The closer she got to it, the more she had to admit that it looked quite beautiful. It truly was a shame that the guards killed it.

The next part of her plan was much harder than she had imagined. She crouched down in front the beast, cautiously taking one of its big paws. They were way heavier than she had thought and navigating it into the bowl of wax was difficult. Enia ended up spilling some, but she forced herself to concentrate on holding the paw up in that position for a few minutes. For once the hard farm work and the muscles in her arms payed off.

After some time had passed she carefully removed the paw from the bowl, satisfied to see a clear print of it in the wax. She sat the paw back on the ground and proudly picked up her piece of work. It wasn't perfect, but good enough.

Her gaze went up to the mountains again, a chilling sight in the darkness. For a moment she squinted, believing to see movement in the darkness. But the guards didn't seem alarmed, so it must have been her imagination.

Sighing she stood up and headed back inside the fort. She really did not want to spend the night here but she had no other choice. It was just one night, she would survive it.

Inside nobody paid much attention to her but Lazark. As soon as the translator saw her enter with the bowl carefully in hand he went up to her. A curious pair of blue eyes took a peak at the wax pawprint, raising an eyebrow.

"What's that?"

"It's for that woman. You said I should imagine that the Ferulan was like a puppy to her. My mother made a pawprint like that of our dog for me when he died back then. As a keepsake. It helped me mourn.", she confessed, her heart starting to beat faster again. She was sure Lazark was going to make fun of her, about how childish she was. Her father would always do. But to her surprise he again did nothing like that.

"A good idea, you should go and show it to her."

"Me?"

"Who else? You made it, so you show it."

"Am I allowed to simply see her? I mean, she is a prisoner."

"You are scared of her.", he stated bluntly. The rising heat in her cheeks betrayed Enia once again. There was no denying that his words were true. She indeed was afraid of the unknown woman who apparently seemed important.

"Come, we will go together." With that Lazark took off, not waiting for a reply. Not that he would have accepted a no from her. Enia had no other choice but to stumble after him, aware that the men in the mainhall were watching the two of them. How much she wished for the ground the swallow her whole.

They passed several guards on their way down into the basement, none saying a single word to them. After all they couldn't question the decision of a royal translator sent to interrogate their prisoner.

The basement was dimly lit by a few candles, only their footsteps echoing through. Their footsteps and stifled sobbing of someone crying.

When Enia first saw the beast, she imagined its rider to be a fierce warrior with scars covering his body, each telling a tale of a different battle. When Lazark revealed the rider to be a woman, she imagined the same, just a female version.

But in the cell before her sat nothing more than a girl, so frail looking that Enia feared she might break apart in a gust of wind. Her hair was long and thin, her arms, no, her whole body was thin. Her skin was sickly pale, small lips tinted slightly blue. She looked nothing like Enia had imagined her.

The girls long dark hair was a tangled mess, her dark eyes all swollen and puffy. Her cheeks had a red tint from all the crying she must have done the last few days. The blue fine robes that hung loosely over her shoulder were torn and dirty. She looked so pitiful. Enia felt bad for her.

Beside her Lazark cleared his throat before he began speaking in a strange language. It sounded harsh but at the same time smooth. She had never heard anything like it. Not that she heard anyone speak a different language before.

The girl didn't answer him, her eyes seemed glued to the ground. She looked ashamed and scared. What must she have gone through? Why was she here?

"Open the cell.", Lazark ordered the guard that was standing behind them, who hesitated for a moment. When the translator shot him a harsh glare he hurried and fumbled with his keys before he unlocked the heavy iron door. Enia took a step back, unsure what Lazark was up to.

"Go in, show her what you made. Don't be afraid, she has no weapons and is no mage, she can't harm you.", he reassured, but Enia found his words hard to believe. If the girl was so harmless, why was she locked up down here with two guards? As Enia made no effort to even move, Lazark pushed her back and gently shoved her into the cell. Immediately a cold sweat broke out and covered her whole body, making Enia shiver.

Meanwhile the girl finally looked up. Tired eyes locked with Enias, none of the two saying a single word. Her hands had grabbed the bowl in her hand painfully hard and she feared she might break the wax by accident.

So Enia took a deep breath and carefully made a few steps towards the girl to not scare her away. As she stepped closer the girl said something in her foreign language. Her voice was sore from all the crying. She just looked and sounded so broken that it made Enias heart ache.

Lazark answered the girl, his own voice sounding reassuring. How much Enia wished she understood what the two of them said.

"Go ahead, show her."

Enia nodded, her breath as shaky as her hands. She left a little distance between herself and the girl, who couldn't be more than 16 winters old. Carefully she held out the bowl, displaying the pawprint to the prisoner. The girls eyes widened in shock, looking at Enia and the bowl again and again. Again she spoke, this time it sounded like a question. Lazark seemingly struggled to find the right words, his response was longer than before. The girl said something again, the words sounding familiar to her last question. She crawled closer towards Enia who couldn't help but stare at the stranger in front of her. As frail and sickly as she looked, there was no denying she was beautiful.

Behind her Lazark seemed agitated, stumbling over his words again, but the girl payed him no attention. Instead her small hands gently laid down on the bowl Enia held, their fingers brushing against each other. She was so cold.

The girls eye stared right into her own and Enia believed to see a glimpse of gratitude in them. Was she so happy about the print Enia made for her?

Even without words she knew what the girl wanted, so Enia let go of the bowl. As soon as she let go of the bowl Lazark let out a loud sound of protest.

A bloodcurdling scream interrupted him before he could even start speaking.

It made both woman jump to their feet and Enia could feel a weak grip on her arm. The girl was holding onto her, dragging her back into a corner of the cell.

Lazark just stared at the stairs that led down to the basement, listening to the loud screams coming from upstairs, mixed together with what sounded like furniture being broken and tossed around. The two guardsmen looked at each other before rushing upstairs.

Now they were alone, trapped in the basement. Enia frantically searched for an exit, only to realize the only way out were the stairs. There was no way on earth she would take them. Without her realizing her heart started racing and her whole body trembled in fear. She got closer to the girl, hiding her behind herself, squeezing both of them in the corner.

They waited for what felt like an eternity until it was quiet again. Too quiet.

The sound of footsteps broke the silence. Someone was coming down the stairs.

Tears started to run down Enias cheeks and the girl behind her started whispering in her ear.

"It's okay, I will protect you.", Enia said quietly, trying to sound strong. She wished she spoke the truth.

Outside the cell Lazarks eyes widened in shock and he shot down on his knees, bowing before whoever came down the stairs.

Out of the corridor stepped several men, by the look of their armor soldiers, but different ones than those they have traveled with. Their armors were of pure black metal, something Enia had never seen before. They wore long black cloaks over their shoulders with a white beast painted on it. It looked similar to the Ferulan.

Between the men one stood out. He wore no armor, just plain black clothes with a similar cloak like the others. Half of his face was hidden behind a black mask. It wasn't just his clothes that made him stand out. Something about him was off. He gave off a weird aura of calmness, cold blue eyes scanning the room, not even acknowledging Lazark. Instead his gaze stopped at Enia and the girl behind her, which tried to hide as best as she could. Whoever those men were, the girl clearly didn't trust them.

Under those blue eyes Enia didn't even dare to move a muscle. She felt like a lamb in front of a wolf. This must have been true fear.

"Enia, get on your knees and bow to him." It was Lazark who whispered this words, even he didn't dare to look into her direction. But Enia didn't move. Too afraid to even look away from the stranger.

A loud voice broke the tension that had built up in the basement.

Another man came down the stairs. Enia could only look at him in bewilderment. His hair was bright red, not a natural red like she had seen before. It was the color of a raging fire and his eyes were the same. His clothes made him stand out even more, crème colored shorts and a simple vest offering him no protection against the cold at all. But oddly enough he didn't seem to freeze even a bit.

He wore a satisfied smile on his face, strolling past the other soldiers while talking loudly. The other strange man shot him an annoyed glance, eyebrows slightly furrowed. They exchanged a few words before the blue eyed man gestured in Enias direction and the redheads smile only widened.

He ignored all the other men as he entered the cell, striding right towards the two women. It was too much for Enia too handle. All the strength left her body and she dropped to her knees, head hanging low. This was it. This was her end. All she could do was wait for her death. The way the gods had chosen for her to go was truly terrible.

So she waited. And waited. Nothing happened. Just silent tears streaming down her face into her trembling hands. Behind her the girl gently embraced her, her oddly soothing voice whispering strange words into her ear. Maybe she tried to make Enias end a little less terrible.

The redhead spoke again, amusement evident in his voice. This time the girl answered. She suddenly sounded much more confident than before. Enia didn't understand what was going on. Wasn't she going to die?

Confused she cautiously lifted her head, looking up to the man in front of her. His hands were stemmed in his hips and he looked like he was scolding a child. This whole situation seemed so odd. What was going on? Who were they? Who was this girl?

Behind her the girl got to her feet, showing the bowl of wax to the men. The two odd ones took a look at it, the red haired one laughed loudly, the other one just closed his eyes. He looked like he didn't sleep in days, dark circles were evident on his face.

Suddenly a small hand grabbed Enias arm, trying to get her to stand up. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her body wouldn't listen.

Again the strangers spoke and the man in front of her came even closer before grabbing Enias arm, dragging her up to her feet. The young woman just froze in shock, unable to even scream. She couldn't make any sense of the situation.

The girl she tried to protect apparently scolded the man who only laughed again. He acted so strange that it gave Enia a headache. She was sure he was out of his mind.

A small hand grabbed her own as the girl stood beside her, giving her a kind smile. She gave Enia a small tuck, signaling her to follow her. Enia looked at the man before her again, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. She didn't dare to move past him, but the young girl still pulled her with her.

Hand in hand they left the cell and as they went past Lazark Enia stopped. The girl gave her a confused look and Enia gestured at the translator.

"We have to take him with us, please. He is not a bad man.", she pleaded, only to realize that probably no one understood her.

"Enia, go with her. Don't try to play the hero here.", Lazark whispered, his voice shaking. But Enia just shook her head, refusing to take another step without knowing what was going on.

"I won't go without you. Who are these people?" Tears started falling down her face again. All of this was too much for her to handle.

"They are the Black Guard, and with them are two Keir. You are not to speak without being told to. You are risking both our lifes by acting up."

"I don't understand." She truly didn't. Lazarks words did mean nothing to her because she didn't know what they meant. What was the Black Guard? What was a Keir? She didn't know.

"Mages, Enia.", he whispered.

It seemed like her heart stopped beating.

Mages.

He could only mean the two strange men that were unarmored. After all Lazark had said the guards wouldn't have managed to take a mage prisoner. What does a mage need armor for?

Enias body reacted the only way it found fit to the stress it was experiencing.

By violently throwing up.