Wildwind

Chapter 1 (maybe 2 as well)

         Wildwind jumped from the ledge and almost slipped on the rock below it. She started at the sound of hoof beats behind her. Stifling a sob, she rolled into a small crevice in the rock wall.
         “Wildwind!” shouted a man from the top of the wall. She shook at the sound of his voice. “I will find you, girl. Come out!”

         She whimpered and forced her ten year-old body down another ledge. Just have to get away. . . She heard Wildfire shouting at his men to get her. Never. Never going back. She made it to the river. What now? Wildfire’s men weren’t far behind her. She could see them coming, Wildfire at their head.
         Wildwind turned and gasped. More were coming from the other side of the bank. “No,” she whispered fiercely.

         “Well played, dearest, but the game is over. You’re coming with me.” Wildfire had taken advantage of her uncertainty and was only a few feet away from her. He held out a hand.
         “No!” Wildwind glanced at the rushing river. The current was just too strong, and she wasn’t a good swimmer anyway.
         “There’s nowhere for you to go, Wildwind. Now come on!” Wildfire fought to keep the anger out of his voice and lost. He took another step towards her.

         “No. . . No! Stay back!” She glanced around wildly for an escape path and found none.
         “Come here!” Wildfire leapt for her and she screamed and took a step backward. Her left foot came down behind her into air. Before she could realize her mistake, she had shifted all her weight to her left foot. She went toppling into the rushing river before Wildfire could grab her.
         She struggled, ripping her heavy boots and cloak off. She kicked to the surface and gasped for breath until the current pulled her down again. She was pushed even farther down the river and then an arrow whipped past her. Wildfire must have given the command to kill her!
         Wildwind sucked in water as another arrow missed her by a hair. She shot to the surface again, gagging on the water. She didn’t see the log coming straight toward her until it was too late.

         Wildfire watched impassively as his daughter was swept down the river. If she wanted to drown, that was her choice. The girl had too much of her mother in her, anyway.
         His general had refused to give the order to shoot her. He obviously didn’t understand that if Wildwind wasn’t with them, she was against them. Wildfire glanced down as the body of the former general brushed across his boot. He gave the corpse a contemptuous kick, sending it into the river. It soon disappeared under the strong current.
         He pointed at a sergeant. “You. Name?”
         The sergeant flushed at the unexpected attention. “Brownbear, sir."
         “Excellent. You’re the new general. Congratulations. Your first order is to kill her.” He gestured toward where Wildwind was struggling desperately in the water. The general did not hesitate.

         The log slammed into Wildwind, knocking the breath from her. She grasped desperately at it and managed to sink her nails into it. The log bobbed downstream, with Wildwind clinging to it desperately. She felt her grip loosen and panicked, trying to hold on to the log, her lifeline.
         Suddenly she rammed into a rock sitting on the bottom of the river. The blood rushed to her head as she tried to stay conscious. The last thing she saw before slipping into darkness was a hand reaching out to her.


         When she woke up she was still wet, and lying in the grass in a small forest clearing. She groaned and raised a hand to her head as a rush of nausea hit her.
         “Are you all right?” a voice asked behind her.
         She sat up quickly and immediately regretted it as the pounding in her head intensified. “Just fine,” she replied through gritted teeth. A man came around in front of her. He was older, but not old, and he was solidly built. His wide blue eyes drilled into her green ones and she shivered.
         “The river almost claimed you today.” His tone suggested she had done something wrong.
         “I know.”
         “My name’s Keenak.”
         Wildwind started at the name. “The king of Outsiders?”

         He inclined his head. “And you are Wildwind.” He spat the name out like it left a bad taste in his mouth. “Wildfire’s daughter. The commander of Aiere’s armed forces. Odd that you should be wandering alone. However, you are quite safe in the forest. I must leave you now, but you would do well to remember the debt you owe me. The debt you owe my people.”
         “Debt?” Wildwind scrambled to her feet.
         “Your life.” He looked over her shoulder at something and she whirled around to see what it was. She gasped as a huge white tiger came padding out of the dense forest. He sat a few feet from her and gazed at her with intelligent black eyes.
         Then he bent his head low, his eyes still locked on her. She realized he was bowing to her, and she turned to say so to Keenak, but he had disappeared. She slowly turned back to face the tiger, who was still bowing his head.
         ~Greetings, Wildwind.

*Seven years later*

         The drizzle increased as the hooded figure entered the tavern. Most of the guests ignored him and he quickly made his way to the darkened corner of the tavern. A lone man sat there, his hat drawn down over his face and his feet crossed on the table.
         “Are you Cloudhawk?” The hooded man leaned towards him conspiratorially.
         The man flicked his hat up, revealing a surprisingly young face, and glanced at him calmly. “That depends. Who’s looking for him?”

         The man pulled back his hood. “I suppose you recognize me.” The young man nodded, Wildfire was indeed well known to him. “I’ve come to pay Cloudhawk a large amount of money to . . . Take care of a problem that has come up, if you catch my drift. If you are not him, could you please direct me to him?”
         The younger man grinned and pulled his legs off of the table, leaning over it. “Aye, I’m Cloudhawk. Who is it you want me to kill?”

         Wildfire examined him suspiciously. “You’re a bit young to be a fearsome bounty hunter, aren’t you? You can’t be older than twenty.”
         Cloudhawk scowled angrily. “Nineteen, if you must know, sir. But I’m more than capable to handle any mission given to me. My reputation is well earned.”
         “I will pay you one hundred thousand talers if you can kill Sunburst by the end of the week.”
         “The king? You want me to kill the king?” The bounty hunter actually looked surprised and his dark brown eyes widened. As Wildfire opened his mouth again, Cloudhawk cut him off quickly. “No, no, I can do it. By the end of the week. Have my money ready, Commander.” Cloudhawk stalked out of the tavern, pulling his hat back down over his eyes as he left.

         The old Outsider ran as if the demons from all seven Hells were after him. He jumped over a small branch lying in the path and broke off into the woods themselves. The sound of hoof beats and shouts echoed behind him, seeming ever closer. He didn’t dare to chance a look back, but ran faster, dodging trees and brush. Suddenly, he burst into a clearing. Exhausted, he slumped into the center of the clearing, not noticing as the presence that had been watching him came closer.

         A cloaked figure stepped toward him, and he recoiled in fear as unintelligible words were whispered to him.
         “W-What?” he stammered fearfully as the sounds grew louder and closer.
         This time he heard the message. “Who are you, and what are you doing in my forest?”
         “My name is Coriander, I’m being hunted by Sunburst’s men, please, I need your help,” he said hurriedly. “I have an important message for Keenak, my king. The fate of the Outsiders rests on this message, friend. Please, you must help me!” The stranger paused as if considering, then grabbed his arm tightly.

         “What. . . What are you doing?” Coriander protested as he was yanked to his feet and dragged out of the clearing. There was no explanation offered, and he was dragged for what seemed like an eternity before a huge beast came loping out of nowhere to appear beside them. Coriander took one look at it before fainting.


         Cloudhawk had passed the guards easily, and now strode purposefully down the corridor of the king’s palace. He flicked his short brown hair out of his eyes and turned down a corridor. The guards glanced up at him, but ignored him as he held his chin high and pretended to belong there. He slipped into a side door and followed the winding hallway before coming out just behind the king’s throne room. Feeling the wall carefully, he found the handle of the hidden door. Before opening it, he pressed his ear to the wall to make sure the king was alone. He wasn’t.

         “What do you mean, got away?” The king’s voice was angry and shook with a slight tremor of nervousness.
         “He . . .was assisted, sire.” A voice Cloudhawk recognized; Wildfire was in there with the king.
         "By whom?!"
         “We believe it was the rebel, the one the commoners call Echo.” Wildfire’s voice was calm and reassuring. “I have all of my available men tracking him right now, sir.”
         “Good. I want this . . . uprising . . . crusehd before it gets any bigger. Is that understood, Commander?"

         “Yes sire.” The assassin wondered if he was the only one who heard the sarcasm in Wildfire’s voice. He heard footsteps and the closing of a door. Then the king sighed and thumped into his throne. It was now or never. Cloudhawk took a deep breath, clearing his mind of all of the self-loathing he got just before a job. One hundred thousand. He could live off of that for years, maybe long enough to get a real job, then no more killing. Shoving the door open, he bounded into the throne room and pulled his knife quickly.
         “What the-” The king was halfway out of his seat when Cloudhawk stabbed him in the chest. He made a few gasping attempts to speak before clutching the hilt. King Sunburst sank to his knees on the floor, mouth still gaping in shock. Then he collapsed fully onto the floor and stopped breathing.

         Cloudhawk took his dagger, cleaned it off on the king’s expensive shirt, and turned to go. He almost retched at the thought of Sunburst’s subjects finding him the next morning. Chaos would erupt in the country, people would weep and thousands would attend the funeral. He had killed a king, without stopping to consider the possibility of the deaths that Sunburst’s would cause. He almost retched again, and staggered out of the room, through the hallway, and he half ran, half stumbled back to the inn he was staying at this week. No one looked up as he entered, and he climbed the stairs to his room before collapsing into his bed gratefully. Just forget it. Just forget it. You never killed anyone, said a hate-filled voice in his head. Forget it, it insisted again.

         But then another, smaller voice appeared. You killed a man. An innocent man. You killed him. As he always did, he squelched it.