Prolouge

The long, winding road seemed to go on forever as Raven took another step, her legs barely supporting her weight. But she kept on walking. Her clothes, soaken by the thrashing rain, weighted down her exhausted body. The surrounding forest muted by the crashing thunder. Under her drenched cloak the two blades hidden deep within flashed their silver beauty as they reflected off the lighting, illuminating the night sky.
She felt as if she had been walking for weeks, knowing it had only been days. But she couldn’t stop. She had to keep going. They were coming and they would not rest until they found her…and they were catching up.
A horse came into earshot, over the thunder and the rain she could hear the faint canter. They were closer than she thought. She started to run, she didn’t know where her legs found the strength, but they did. The sound continued to grow until it came to a trot as it walked beside Raven. She looked up to the man in black plate armor, his blond, almost white hair slick and greasy, his quick and devious brown eyes missing the friendliness and charm of his smile. A small scar rested above his left eye like a stray hair ingrained in his skin. He sat upon a jet black horse, a pure bred pedigree with intelligent eyes and strong legs and the same cruel eyes as its master.
“We’ve been looking for you” The man’s voice polite in his threat. Raven ignored him. “Can we speak for a moment?” He gracefully climbed off his horse and walked beside her, pulling his horse along by its rails, easily falling in step with Raven.
“No” Raven replied quickly, her voice hoarse from lack of use as she desperately tried to hide the slag of her feet. Trying to walk tall and strong even though she felt her legs would give way at any moment.
“It’s only one question. Then we will leave you be” he lied. She already knew what he wanted. She had known ever since they had first started chasing her. What else would they want then the only thing she had? “Where is he?” the threat now clear in his voice as he stepped in front of her, his smile long gone. He knew she wasn’t going to tell him and she knew he would do everything in his power to make her tell him. His hand hovered over the sword at his side and Raven, her hands still hidden under the cloak gripped on to the twin blades tied to her hips. Raven could feel the adrenaline course through her veins, finding new strength in her haggard body.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about” Raven lied, she knew her body would torture her later for this, but for the moment she lied patiently in wait for the coming fight. He gave her a new smile, a smile that said she would die tonight. She knew what he thought. He thought what many others thought when they first face her. A girl didn’t know how to fight. He even seemed amused by the swords her hands hovered by like so many others before him. She gave him a knowing smile, her teeth hidden under her lips. A smile that knew he was going to be on the ground screaming in pain before this was over.
He was quick when he unsheathed his sword but she was quicker. Her blades slid out of their scarabs with lightning speed, her blades cutting the wind as he scarcely lifted his sword in time to parry her side cut. It was a fight he would never forget. He had been chasing this girl for 3 days straight and yet she still fought with more skill and power than he had ever seen. She danced around him, with her swords barraging him with attacks. But she could only fight for so long and as her adrenalin drained and her body became weaker, his strength remained.
Every moment the fight dragged on, Raven slowed. She was going to lose, and if she lost, she would lose more than this fight. She would lose her freedom and her life. Her arms eventually could no longer hold the blades in her arms and her legs shook feverishly. She bent over in exhaustion and he could not hold back a smile.
“You must understand that no matter how hard you fight, no matter how far you run. You can never escape us” He placed a hand on her shoulder “Just tell us where he is and we will leave you be” he lied again. Raven, head still bowed, smiled a smile that unnerved her opponents as they realize to late that she was not has exhausted as she looked. She quickly stood up and grabbed his arm and pulled it before her, his palm facing up to the sky. Then she pushed it down on to her lifted knee. A great break echoed around them as he screamed in pain. She let go of his broken arm and let him fall to the ground and as he cradled his arm, tears streaming down his eyes, Raven told him what he wanted to know. She remained calm as she said those five words, those five words that changed everything. She stood as tall and proud as her strength would allow as she watched his face grow in fear. A lightning bolt scared the sky for a moment and she watched as he realized exactly who she was as he stared in horror at her eyes. The eyes she shared with only one other.
“You should be running” Raven said with such confidence, with such a smile, with such a presence that she looked like she was playing with him, like a cat played with a mouse and he responded like any mouse would. Thunder drummed its mark into the sky and the minute its roar hit the man’s ears, he ran. She remained completely motionless as she watched him desperately secure his hold on the saddle as the horse bolted away.
She fell to the ground and crawled into the shelter of a nearby tree and allowed herself to collapse into an exhausted sleep. She woke some hours later and remained still as she watched the storm begin to move to its next unsuspecting host the thunder, then the lightning left, the wind blowing them away.
She slowly got to her feet, knowing she had to find real shelter, she needed help but knew of no one who would. So she did what she had done for the past five years of her life. She just kept on going. Her legs dragged and pulsed with more pain with each step. But she kept on going.
She watched the blazing sun slowly rise above the hills she walked to, the sky slowly blinding her to the comfort of the steady light of the stars, the moon fading in its brightness but still remaining above her. Raven trudged forward to a place she did not know, to find someone she didn’t know existed, to save someone she felt deserved death.