Story of a warrior

We sat around the campfire as Felix cleaned the blood from his hand and bandaged it.

“Sorry,” I apologized sheepishly. Felix looked at me and smiled gently.

“That’s alright, Annaliese. You protected yourself which is good self-defence skills.” I smiled back.

“I suppose. How is everyone?”

“Everyone is good. We had a feeling you both ran away to find your place which is respected. How are you? And Adin?” I looked down.

“What’s wrong?” Felix must have noticed that I was upset. I looked back up at him.

“I was okay until tonight. Adin… broke my heart.” Felix looked at me confused.

“Have you fallen in love with him?” he questioned. I shook my head vigorously.

“No. You see, I found out a plot the king wants to do, and I’ve been searching for information for 2 years now. Seems like Adin befriended the king and one of the soldiers and forgot all about me,” I explained. Felix nodded in silence.

“I’ve heard about the kings’ plan as well. That’s why I went to find you. I’ve found some information.” I leaned forward and nodded.

“Tell.”

“On the other side of the kingdom is an inn where the bartender has a quest to dethrone and put a stop to the kings’ plan. It’s a one-year journey by horse to reach the inn. The legend about the king trying to take over the kingdom has come to pass. This is the king. The quest isn’t mentioned in the legend but it’s the quest for the Cursed Gems. Whoever isn’t pure of heart and goes looks for the gems will be put under a never-ending cure. But those pure of heart who go will be put through a series of challenges. Those who went have never made it out alive, but I believe that you and Adin and a few friends will be able to do this. You are the ones who will save this kingdom.” I nodded and stood up.

I knew what I had to do.

*****

Shawn had tried everything possible to make me happy again but whatever he did just didn’t work. Just then, Annaliese was weaving in and between people, nearly getting squashed alive and came to me.

“Adin… I need… to talk… to… you…” she panted. Shawn looked at me and motioned that he was going to go. I nodded and grabbed Annaliese by the hand and led her into the hallway. No one was there so we had enough privacy to talk. I then turned to her and looked her in the eye.

“What’s wrong?”

“Felix. He has some information about what the king wants to do.” My eyes widen.

“What did he say?”

“He said that on the other side of the kingdom is an inn where the bartender there knows how to put a stop to the king’s plan to take over the kingdom. Felix said that we can go with other people and destroy the plans,” she said. This was perfect. Now we had a chance of stopping the destruction. Just then the sound of footsteps resounded down the hallway. I turned to Annaliese.

“Annaliese, do something.”

“What though?” she asked confused. Before second thinking, I grabbed her face and kissed her. Right at that moment, William walked past and didn’t notice a thing. Once he went inside the room, Annaliese pulled away and slapped me across the face.

“Hey!! What was that for?” I said rubbing my face. Annaliese smiled and shrugged.

“Sorry, instinct. Let’s go,” she replied as she ran off. I sighed and ran after her. By the time I caught up with her, she had already got out of her dress and back in her ‘casual’ clothes. She got onto Czar and rode off. Again, I’m left behind? This is going to be harder than I thought.

*****

I had already ridden off and remembered I left Adin behind. Again. I turned and rode back to where Adin had just gotten on Eclipse. I smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry, instinct. I’m used to being alone.” Adin looked at me and smirked.

“Of course, it’s instinct. Now come on. Race you,” Adin challenged.

“Oh, you are on,” I said, and we both rode off. Once we got halfway away from the castle, we got stopped by some minions. We knew they were only clones now since Adin had been told by the king, but the satisfaction was perfect. One of the minions stepped forward.

“Annaliese and Adin, you two aren’t going anywhere.”

“Says who?” I challenged.

“The king. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Adin looked at me and smirked. We both got off our horses and were swinging our swords around.

“We choose the hard away,” we both said.

The minions charged at us, but we were prepared. I took half and Adin took half. The first one charged at me and sliced the scar across my eye. I hated when that happened. I cut its arm and it turned into goo, the others weren’t deterred and so I fought against them. The goo was everywhere and since the minions had no shoes, they had no grip either. Adin fought off the other minions with ease and obtained a few scratches. Just at the end, one of the remaining minions cut the scar across my eye again.

“My eye. I can’t see. It hurts…!” I screamed. Adin killed the reaming minions and ran to me.

“You, okay?” he asked cautiously. I nodded. He didn’t seem convinced.

“I’m going to go find some help. Stay here,” he said as he got on Eclipse and rode off. Finally. I cleaned the blood and stitched the cut myself and got on Czar.

“Let’s go, boy,” I whispered to him, and we rode off leaving Adin. Again.

*****

I didn’t know Annaliese left, and I didn’t think Annaliese would leave. Even though we hadn’t seen each other for two years, we still had that connection. Now that she was older and her birthday was in a few months, I had a hunch that she might accept my proposal to be more than friends. Once I reached the village, I went to the nearest person I saw.

“Excuse me, but do you know where a doctor is?” I asked an elderly man. The man looked up at me and nodded.

“Why yes, my son. I am a doctor. How may I help?” I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness.

“My friend has had a scar across her eye ever since she was young and you see, I and she are both warriors, and well, when we were fighting off some minions, one of them cut the scar across her eye and blood went everywhere and she can’t see. I told her to wait until I came here to find someone who could help,” I explained to the old man. He nodded slowly.

“I have just the thing she needs. Fortunately, I always carry the stuff for scars and cuts with me. Let us go at once.”

I helped him onto Eclipse, and we rode at a generous pace so that the old man won’t fall off. By the time we got to where the right was, the minion slime had hardened, and Annaliese was… gone. The old man squinted his eyes.

“Is your friend real or imaginary?” he questioned. I got off Eclipse and looked around.

“She was here. Annaliese was here. I don’t know where she went.” At the mention of Annaliese’s name, the old man’s eyes widen.

“Annaliese? You mean the assassin Annaliese who everyone talks about?” I nodded.

“Yes. That’s her.”

“And you are Adin. Who is another well-known assassin?”

“Yep. That’s me.” The old man gasped in excitement.

“I have never thought that I would meet you both. But here I am talking to the Adin. It is such a pleasure to meet you,” he said excitedly. I nodded and smiled at him gently.

“I must go back to the village and help my people.”

“Do you want me to take you back?” The old man shook his head as he waddled off.

“I will be fine, son. You go find your Annaliese,” he said. I smiled gently. At least he understood. I got back on Eclipse.

“Come on, girl. Let’s go catch up to a warrior.” And so started the chasing game again until on her birthday I found her injured and nearly dead. I do not know how she injured herself but the way I found her sent a chill down my spine.