CHAPTER ONE

1

SHADOWS COME BACK TO HAUNT US ALL

"Iléafek."

"Iléafek."

"Iléafek!"

"Coming!" The unfortunate heroine of our story, well one of them, rolled out of a literal pig sty, stinking like the pigs she was just feeding. Struggling to balance the food troughs while hurrying to answer Tiaa's call was no easy feat, but she managed, setting them down by the door before barging in.

"Yes, Tiaa?"

"Iléafek, you need to go down to…oh heavens, what on earth have you been doing?"

She looked down at herself. "Um…feeding the pigs? You asked me to."

"Exactly. I asked you to feed them, not roll around with them! You are sixteen summers old, for the Goddess' sake. Soon men will be vying for your hand!"

Iléafek highly doubted that. "What did you want me to do, Tiaa?"

Tiaa Brunna sighed. She was well over fifty, and by all rights too old to have to deal with her rubbish, but she did anyway. "Iléa, come sit by me. On the floor. You're filthy."

Iléafek did as asked, already dreading the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Tiaa. This will not happen again, I just got carried away."

Tiaa Brunna sighed again. It was probably an old person trait. "Ilea, I worry about you."

"But you have no reason to."

"Let me finish." Iléafek's mouth snapped shut. "Listen, I know you were not made for this life. I know you want something bigger, better. I know you strive for excitement and adventure. And I don't blame you; its only natural to aim for more. And I am so sorry I can't give it to you. But Iléa, what you don't understand is that the world is not as simple as you think it is. There is so much brutality and violence and pain and you cannot even begin to comprehend to what extent it reaches out. The world you would give anything to see is not a bed of roses."

"I'm sure there are good people out there too. Good things. There can't all be bad, right?"

"Oh, Iléa." Tiaa touched her cheek and shook her head minutely, in that way that meant Iléafek was being silly. "Come on now, go clean up. I need you to deliver this to Ana's. Her tavern opens in about half a candle mark and she needs it."

Iléafek sighed, standing and walking in to do as told. The conversation was clearly over. For now.

Lemech was a beautiful village (albeit small), Iléafek thought as she made her way towards Ana's tavern, all cleaned up, neat dress, fiery red hair up in a twist, greeting folks she knew. It was peaceful, everyone knew and helped each one way or the other. There was hardly ever any trouble.

Despite how Tiaa Brunna made it sound, Iléafek was not unhappy with the village. She loved it. It had been her home all her life. And she was lucky to have it. Really.

The problem was not the village. It was what overlooked it. She looked up at the artfully crafted slopes on the horizon. The Mountains of Myrd. One summer when she was barely seven or eight, she had woken just at the crack of dawn to pee, and when she had returned to her room to climb back into bed, she had looked out her window just as the sun was rising over the mountains. The enormous mountains, covered in morning dew, illuminated by the glow of the sun was one sight etched into her memory forever. Every summer morning after that, she would get up at the crack of dawn just to watch that beautiful scene.

Sometimes she would go back to sleep, sometimes she would sit awake long after the sun had gone up completely and the mountains were normal again, wondering, not for the first time, what lay beyond the mountains.

Stubbing her toe against a rock while lost in her daydream was painful, but enough to bring her back to the present. Ana's tavern/inn loomed right ahead. She jogged the last few steps, humming a melody in her head that she had known for a long time (but could not remember where she had heard it) and pushed open the door to the tavern.

"Good morning, Ana. Hope I'm not late." She greeted as she fumbled with the package, walking towards Ana who was standing at a table, scowling.

"Finally you show your face. Come on, set it over there, and come do me a favor, will you? Take this plate upstairs, second room on the right. Some nice gentlemen came in last night, and they must be hungry."

Iléafek laughed. "Nice gentlemen, huh?"

"Shut up. The older one is good looking, alright? Now off you go, before Tiaa complains about me keeping you too long."

Iléafek took the plates and ascended the rickety stairs, still shaking with laughter. She got to the door and knocked.

A gruff voice grunted from within, and for some explicable reason, it sent chills down her spine. She held the plate to her chest, shifting her weight from feet to feet, until the door opened, and she was staring at a heavily scarred man.

It was only all the years of dealing with Tiaa's wrath that kept her from making an embarrassing sound. Smiling uneasily, she reached out the plates.

"Good morning, sir. Ana downstairs sent me to bring you and your companion breakfast."

The man did not respond at first, looking at her from head to toe, lingering on her hair, her eyes. Self consciously, she took a subtle step back. He noticed, of course, and smiled toothily.

"Thank you, sweetheart. And give Ana our thanks too." He took the plates, and Iléafek did everything in her power not to sprint down the stairs, well aware that the man was still watching her.

When she got back downstairs, the first customers of the day were already entering the tavern. Ana barely spared her a glance, handing her a jar of honey and shooing her out the door. She dipped into the jar, licking it off her fingers and retracing her steps. By the time she got back home, she'd forgotten all about the strange encounter.

She was shaken awake by sometime around midnight and she opened her eyes tiredly, meeting Tiaa's terrified face.

She sat up instantly. "Tiaa, what's wrong?"

"We're under attack. Get up, pick up a few things. You need to move, now."

Iléafek sprang up from the bed, fear gripping her chest. Now she was wide awake, she could smell smoke, hear people screaming, hear the clash of swords and sounds of anguish as one person or another was cut down. She reached under her bed and shoved her book and a few other things into her little sack and flung it over her shoulder.

When she came out of her room, Tiaa was peeping out the window. From her point of view, she could see houses burning, smoke rising so far up the sky. "Tiaa, we have to go."

Tiaa turned to her. She couldn't quite make out the look on her face in the near dark hut, but the somber tone of her voice left nothing to the imagination.

"Take the back, through the farms to the mountains. Keep to the shadows, no one will see you."

"Tiaa, I don't understand. Why are you talking like you're not coming with me."

Tiaa Brunna chuckled sadly. "The time has come for you to find your adventure, my child. I'm sorry I cannot come with you."

"Tiaa, stop it." Iléafek was close to tears now. But Tiaa simply stepped forward and pressed a pouch into her hands.

"Go, child. You have to, before it's too late." She hugged her tightly and pushed her towards the door. "Go. Be safe."

With one last look at her, Iléafek sniffed, and took off through the back. Into the farms she ran, through the tears and mud, and while she was not being careful at all, she made it past the farms safely. Just as she was to cross into the mountains, her luck ran out as she came face to face with some men. There were about seven of them, all on horseback. She was quickly surrounded before she had time to think.

"Oh my, what do we have here?" One of them, presumably their leader, drawled, basically leering at her. He peered more closely at her, frowning at her hair. "Hey, what's your name?" When she did not respond, one of the men behind her flung a filled water skin at her head, ignoring her gasp as she collapsed to her knees. "He's talking to you, whore!"

"Bring her here," The leader started saying, but whatever it was he was going to say remained firmly lodged in his throat, along with an arrow.

Wait, an arrow?

One of the men shouted, and the others leapt off their houses, drawing their swords. Iléafek fell into a fetal position, cradling her head that was still hurting from the water skin, not being helped at all by the sudden clash of swords. The ringing in her ears grew louder, and her eyes grew heavier. How could she be falling asleep at a time like this?

She didn't realize when the fighting stopped, but then she heard light footsteps make their way towards her. She tried to talk, scream, any sound at all, but words just wouldn't form.

The owner of the footsteps crouched next to her, and a warm hand touched her forehead, and for some reason, it felt so safe, so familiar, and in spite of her fears, she found herself succumbing to the darkness.