The Last Illusion

CHAPTER FOUR

All at once she heard louder voices, more threatening, and a scream from Drake, Melly cringed in horror. She looked- then jumped out of her hiding place inside the tree. Through sheets of rain she could see three men, not including Drake, who was crumpled on the forest floor. Fear and anxiety had no time to consume her however.

One of the men held a dagger, shining with each flash of lightning. Melly stumbled back, falling hard to the forest floor as he came towards her. His hand came down fast. Melly rolled out of the way, unsheathing her own dagger. Having no idea whether or not Drake was still alive, Melly readied for his next move and counteracted with such force that it knocked him down. A loud crack coming from the man hitting his head resounded eerily in her ears; surely he would not survive that.

The second and third jumped to attack her at the same time, each with daggers. Melly aimed carefully with her own dagger and threw it while backing up against the tree. The dagger grazed one of the men's cheeks slicing a deep cut to the corner of his eye, he screamed and dropped his weapon. The last man, scared, turned and fled, leaving his dagger behind. However, the second man attacked again, stupidly, with his bare hands.

He reached out his hands as if to grab her and she twisted away, punching him in the jaw with full force, sending him sprawling backwards; he scuttled to get away and Melly allowed him that. Somewhere in the middle of it all, she had obtained a cut from the inside of her elbow to her wrist on her left arm. She wrapped it quickly since it wasn't deep, and glanced around for Drake.

He was still sprawled on the ground, his tunic shirt stained with scarlet blood. Aghast, Melly dragged him carefully back into the tree. She called his name and his eyes opened; she breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me there for a second." she said wiping her face.

She tore open his tunic shirt, "You're going to need to get this cleaned at least." It wasn't a very deep cut and it did not look fatal but it needed to be treated as soon as possible.

"You tore my shirt!" he said jokingly.

"It's not like you could wear it anymore anyways, hold still." Melly washed her hands with a tonic she had made. A terrified look fell over Drake's face, "What're you thinking you're gonna do?" he asked, it was not a common practice for elves to know much of anything about healing and to him, the idea was utterly ridiculous.

Melly smiled, "Well, what do you think? Please be still, trust me, I know what I'm doing, it's this or bleed to death."

Drake winced but soon it was properly taken care of. She did a pretty good job of it too, for someone lacking in much medical skills. "It’s an old fashioned herb paste I learned somewhere, I’ve used it before, it should heal quickly now." she commented upon seeing Drake's pallid face. "You ok?" she asked brushing his forehead with the back of her hand. He nodded quietly.

"Who were those people?" Melly asked curiously.

Drake shrugged, "I wouldn't know, though they did look slightly familiar."

"Really?!" Melly asked thinking it over, none of them seemed familiar to her. Of course, she couldn't really see them at the time but.... Melly leaned against the far wall, it was pretty cramped with both of them sitting but it was even more cramped with Drake lying down. The rain continued on through the night and the two fell in and out of fearful sleep. Neither was sure what exactly those men were doing in the forest, but they did not care enough to find out.

Drake was the first to wake, for once. After disentangling himself, he eased his way out of the tree and stretched, trying not to disturb his makeshift bandage. His wound did not even take an edge off his appetite. He would enjoy getting to that blasted village, taking a nice bath and definitely eating a decent meal, not that he wasn't partial to whatever he found along the way though...

Melly awoke with a start when she noticed Drake's absence. Something about him was reassuring, though she would never admit it. Secretly, she was glad he never let her attitude upset him enough to send him home. "You're going to hurt yourself,” she said watching Drake set about making breakfast without so much a care for what had occurred earlier that night.

He shot her a look, "Nice that you care." he said simply. Melly frowned but let it slide, meandering out of the tree and also stretching. It was humid, as if all the rain from last night was kept under the leafy canopy and being baked by the sun overhead. She rubbed her forehead, disgusted at the dank, musty smell rising from the ground. Her clothes hung limply about her and Melly felt as though she could scream; she so wanted to be clean and dry again!

"What are you doing?" she asked Drake who was dividing the breakfast feast consisting mainly of green plants and a few dried berries. Melly looked at it as though it were the most detestable thing one could eat and nearly gagged watching him eat it hungrily. "How do you eat that stuff?" she asked plunking down next to him and picking out a berry and popping it into her mouth.

Drake just shrugged, "You put the food in, chew and then swallow. Oh well, more for me." he said testing her patience a little more than he meant to. Melly didn't respond at first, which surprised him.

"When you're hungry I guess you'll eat anything." she said simply... "except that," she added. "I may have some travel stuff left..." she dug around in her leather bag a second and pulled out another leather pouch containing the last bit of food she had. The honey was sweet in her mouth and she savored it all to the last crumb.

"You sure you don't want any?" Drake asked holding up the last few bites of his own breakfast.

"Trust me, I don't," she said wrinkling her nose. She could do without lunch but hopefully they would make it to that little village before too long after supper. Sure, she had been trained to be able to withstand missing a few meals here and there, but like every other sacrifice, it paid a toll on her. She did not realize then that by the time she got to the little village her stomach would seem ready to collapse.

They made it safely out of the forest, though a little apprehensive about seeing those men again. Night had fallen over the little village tucked into a pretty little valley. Rolling green hills surrounded it giving a slightly fantastical look. "Here's the deal," Melly started, "When we get to the inn, which we will stay in, we're going to share a room, with bunk beds to cut cost." Drake opened his mouth to argue but closed it again when he thought about Melly's offer to buy him a horse if he paid her back. "We're going to need fake names too, ok? I'll be Natale and you can be Tainan." she added thoughtfully.

"Tainan?" Drake said sarcastically, "Don't you think it's a little too uncommon?"

"No, I don't, besides, we're not from around here, and we’re brother and sister from Arcasia, got it?"

Drake nodded, thoroughly impressed, was there anything she didn't think of? "I'd be happy also, if you'd let me do the talking." Melly cut in. Drake relented and settled for silence, he knew she could lie about as fast as she told the truth, and she was so believable, it was uncanny. They were the same age but even when they were younger she had been the one with all the ideas. Her line of work was pretty impressive for someone only nineteen. Amused, Drake followed on foot along side her, down the hill and into the quiet little town.

Melly fearlessly marched into the inn and right up to the counter, even leaning a little on it casually. Like a regular person, a regular person who knew little or nothing of organized crime. She snapped her fingers and a tall lean woman with a sharp angular face came and frowned at Melly, "Yes?" she replied sounding half bored.

"We want room and board for tonight only, bunk beds please, and we need a place for my brother's horse," she said casually jerking her thumb in Drake's direction. She as well aware women did not own horses, so she told a small lie to cover it, not that it made any difference.

"Right then." The lady called over a boy to take Melly's horse to the stables while the lady took the two travelers to their room. Torches flickered in their metal clasps on the wall, casting long shadows over the long hall. The lady pushed open the door to a small room near the back and held her bony hand out for pay. Melly narrowed her eyes at the lady; it was custom to pay after your stay, not before. However, Melly forked over a few silver pieces and waited for the lady to head back to the front.

Cautiously, Melly peered inside. The scarred wood floors made hollow clomping sounds as she and Drake shuffled inside. Yes, this will do nicely, Melly thought, taking notice of the kitchenette and the other room containing a desk and bunk beds on the far wall. She lit up the candles in the room. It was slightly dirty and dingy but that was to be expected. Melly set about heating water for a bath. "You can take yours after mine." Melly said shoving Drake into the bedroom and locking it from the outside. He rolled his eyes and tossed his stuff on the bed, then attacked the fruit bowl on the desk hungrily.

Melly finished the bath, changed into her other clean set of clothes and tossed out the water and refilled it again to clean her other clothes. She scrubbed until her hands were red but the finished effect was nice. She wrung out her clothes and laid them over a chair near the fireplace. She emptied the water again and filled it a last time for Drake.

Drake looked up sharply from the apple he was chomping on to see Melly emerge after unlocking the door. Her skin was a clean pink and her hair, dark with wet, was still dripping, "Your turn," she said digging around in her travel bag for a comb. She settled herself on the top bunk and brushed her hair. She noticed the empty fruit bowl and sighed. Pulling her hair up, she grabbed her cloak and tied it on. Jumping out the open window, she walked around to the front of the inn where food was served. She chose a small table near the back and ordered cold ale and a nice steak.

She was eating at a normal rate, unlike Drake who tended to shovel it in as though it was going out of style. Soon enough, Drake found her and interrupted her quiet dinner she had planned on eating alone. "You gonna finish that?" he asked sliding into the chair opposite of her.

"Yeah, and you can order something or just watch me eat it." she said handing him a gold coin.

"I'll pay you back." he said with a pained look at the coin in his rough hand.
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Melly stared out of the tiny window in the small room where she and Drake were lodging for the night. Drake was snoring in the bottom bunk softly but Melly couldn't sleep. It was hard for her to believe that her brother, Aaron, was... gone. She had never really been close to him; they never shared secrets, they barely spoke to each other. However, they were on friendly terms and though it did not show, they had a mutual connection. Sometimes they acted as though they hated each other but they were brother and sister and always were watching out for the other, almost unconsciously. And now... he was gone! She so wished she could have taken that job he was sent to do.... it was suicide to begin with....

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"Of course it needs to be done, there is no other way." Drammle said in an irritated voice.

"Yes, but there are more skilled assassins who-"

"I do not recall asking you Melly. I assigned him the job and he was more than willing... you sound a bit jealous." Drammle cut in.

"I'm not jealous... he's going to be killed. I know I could do it though, you know I could too! Why are you sending him!" Melly growled.

"He got the job because it was his idea to reserve a place as a palace guard there. He will be closer to the king there. You did not think to do that, besides, he is fully grown, and he can handle it." Drammle said loudly, pounding his fist on the table, "Why must you torment me?! What's done is done! You are not to follow him. You have work to do that is no less important."

"You have sentenced my brother to death then." she hissed stalking out and slamming the door with full force. The eerie sound echoed a million times back in Drammle's ears.