The Darktress

The Darktress

Evangeline was from the dark side of Illyvanis and she was the only person who could survive it. She was raised in the shadow world where every day is a constant struggle to survive. Only the strong could survive, they say only the people with darkness would survive. It was a world filled with mountainous terrain with steep drop offs that would end more lives than could be replaced. The forest was incredibly dense and dark, even if there was a break in the density the atmosphere would swallow any light that tried to peak through. The clouds over the dark side whirl like a hurricane that never ends. And like all hurricanes there was an eye within the storm, that was where Evangeline lived, hidden within the mountain. No other person has been able to survive the conditions of the highest, darkest, and deadliest part of Illyvanis. From this the legends of Evangeline have thrived. 

Evangeline lived in a cave on Mount Vnna. The entrance was on such a narrow ledge that anyone endeavoring to traverse it was only wishing for death. No one could understand how she was able to come and go, which was why the legends of her being born by a darkness of Illyvanis are thought to be true. She often walked to the ledge and looked down at the world that only she could connect with. She stood there as she searched the turbulent sky for her falcon.  “Mirrione,” she called as she saw him floating in the wind. He leaned to the right and soared over to her lifted arm. “Who is it today, Mirrione?” Evangeline asked as she unraveled the message from his leg. She gasped as she read the name. Ry Devione. It couldn’t be. The Prince of Illyvanis was wanted?

Evangeline quickly walked back into her cave, not believing what she was reading. If the prince was wanted then the reward would be more than anyone near the dark side could resist. Everyone would be searching for him, but she would be the one to find him, that she was certain of. For she had Mirrione with his keen perspective of everything that could be seen in the forest. No one could go through without Mirrione seeing it. She flung her cloak over her shoulders and picked up her bow and arrows. As she walked to the boulders that made the secret entrance to her cave she slipped the hood of her cloak on and looked outside. The weather was in her favor today. The winds were light and there was no rain making her trek down the mountain quick and easy.  She thought of where the prince might be as she made her way down.

“I bet the fool is at the edge of the forest by Stof. We should make it there long before night fall,” Merrione screeched his reply.  Stof was on the northern side of the forest and closest to the castle. It was the worst place to begin a trek through the forest for someone who was a novice to the dark side. There are the destah creatures, a ferocious panther like animal that was extremely territorial and ferocious, but there was the Poconath tribe as well, who happened to hunt anything and are more fierce than the destah. For a novice of the forest to make it passed either one was a near impossible feat. The outer limits of the indigenous camp were littered with the bones of those who were ignorant of the tribe, as most people were. Evangeline had to make it there before the prince or he would surely be killed. And she wanted to claim that heavy reward.

I wonder what the Prince did to become a wanted man, Evangeline thought as she walked onto the rickety bridge that divided the mountains from the forest. She suspected that Burke Devione killed his brother to become the King, no one knew him better than she did, and from the looks of it Ry Devione was just as culpable for the murder as his uncle. If he helped to execute his father though, wouldn’t that make him an ally to Burke? Evangeline lifted the arm that held her falcon and sent him flying, “Search Stof, Mirrione.” She knew it would not take long for Mirrione to find the prince. The falcon was used to seeing the indigenous tribe and would be able to pick out the prince. Evangeline continued walking towards Stof, following the path that lead to the north of Illyvanis. Two hours passed before she heard the familiar sounds of her falcon, the sounds indicating that he had found the prince and he was indeed in the direction of Stof. 

Another hour passed when she heard the ear splitting sounds of the Poconath war party calls, a man was being hunted. She looked toward the sounds and saw the prince being chased down by a black and red painted Poconath on his horse. “There’s the fool now,” she said as she sighted her arrow and shot the war leader. She caught a glimpse of the prince as he took an arrow in the back and fell unconscious to the ground. She could only hope that the arrow hadn’t killed him. She took sight again and killed another man chasing him. Once the Poconath noticed their war leader was dead the chase quickly came to an end. They pulled tight on their reins, all of them stopping before their leader.

Running over to the prince she found that the arrow had landed in his shoulder and had made it through to the other side. “You are fortunate prince. I can safely pull the arrow out this way,” she said as she broke the end of the arrow three inches from his back. She looked down to see that the prince was regaining consciousness and asked, “Can you get up?” She watched as the he looked around, noticing that he was dark and handsome.  With black hair and tan skin. He radiated strength and charisma.

Groaning the prince rolled over and said, “I think so. Are they still coming?” He pushed himself from the ground, looked around and walked to the bow he had dropped and picked it up, ready to defend. Taking in his surroundings he noticed that the Poconaths were gone and Evangeline was the only person present. Interesting, he thought, she saved him, by herself against ten men on horses. Very interesting.

Mirrione circled above and let out a screech informing her that the Poconaths were gone. “No, they won't be coming after us. I killed their war leader. They won't fight us for now, but they will be looking for revenge once they have a new leader. They have seen who we are and will hunt us. The destah will be attracted as well, once they smell the blood. We can't stay here and we must cover our tracks,” Evangeline said as she made her way back to the path that led to Mount Vnna.

“You are the Darktress,” the prince said as he ran to catch up with her. “You have to be. I've heard about you, legends that you are marked with darkness and evil. I imagined you to be something more fearsome than a beautiful woman.” And she was beautiful, with long mahogany hair in a braid and a willow body that was just asking to be touched, and big indigo eyes and luscious lips. No, there was nothing fearsome, except maybe the eyes.  They held something... a secret.

Evangeline looked at him over her shoulder, “Save your breath prince. We have hours of walking and then a steep trek to my cave. You are going to need rest before I take you in for my reward.”

“My uncle wasted no time putting out the papers. Is it dead or alive, for five hundred Doubs? A thousand? I will pay you three times that to let me go,” he said with a smirk.

Evangeline spun around and put a hand to his chest to stop him, “It’s alive. And I don’t care how much the reward is, traitors who kill their father deserve to be tortured by the Punisher!” She started back up the path again, hands fisted and breathing heavily with anger. "I should just kill you now," she whispered.

“I'm not a traitor! My father was murdered by Burke. He set me up and tried to kill me as well.” The prince rushed after her and spun her around. Evangeline punched his injured shoulder and shoved him away. "Bloody hell," he gasped under his breath.

“You expect me to believe that?” she said as she looked into his eyes. She took a step back when she saw the raw pain on his face. “No. No!  A murderer will say anything.”

The prince took a hold of both her arms to stop her from walking away again, “Darktress, look at me. You have to believe me. My uncle sought council with my father about declaring war with the Dakenish realm. Burke thought that my father was being weak and that taking Dakenish will make the Illyvanis realm the most powerful of them all. My father is a peacemaker, just as I am. He believed in the realms being equal to keep the balance and peace. Burke killed him for it and framed me! Please, Darktress! I need you to help me stop him. Have you ever heard of me making war before?"

Evangeline removed his hands from her arms and took a couple steps back. She looked at the prince and once again felt the emotions coming from him. She could feel the pain and worry but mostly felt the genuine anger coming from him like a raging fire. If what he said was true about Burke taking over the realms then he would need someone’s help. Waging war with Dakenish will inevitably destroy the precarious relationship between the realms and ultimately bring the other realms to Illyvanis, possibly destroying the kingdom. Granted Illyvanis’ defense was unlike any other; meticulously trained in land warfare stratagems, be it domestic or foreign. Yes, the Illyvanis army is something fearsome to behold. The army defeating Dakenish was not the problem. However, bringing the six other realms to war was what would bring disaster to the realms. What would stop them from destroying her beloved dark side as well? King Jerome knew this and was adamant at preventing this type of chaos. Was Ry Devione like his father or like his murderous uncle? Either way it looked like she was going to have to prevent a war within the realms.

“If you betray me, I will kill you. And it will not be a quick death,” Evangeline said as she started for the path again. “You'll need a couple of days for your shoulder to heal before we can stop your uncle.” She looked over her shoulder to be sure that he was following.

Ry took a deep breath and let out in a whoosh, “Darktress... Thank you.”

“Evangeline,” she said with a small smile.

“Call me Ry since you are going to help me save Illyvanis and the realms.”

“Help you?  No, I am going to lead you,” Evangeline said as she mentally took a vow to save the only place that understood and accepted her.

Ry caught up to her and stopped her in her tracks again, “I don’t believe you are anything like what legends say you are. You can't be filled with darkness and evil, a darktress. Being so quick to save Illyvanis… to believe in me. There is something in you but it's not evil. Just... something.”

She looked into his eyes and said, “Nothing is as it seems. I don’t believe you committed patricide. I see goodness in you. I hope I am right. For I never believe that there is goodness in anyone.” Evangeline walked up to the prince’s side and with a sigh she pulled his arm over her shoulder. “Lean into me Ry, we have a long journey ahead of us.”  Both of them knew she didn’t just mean the hike to her cave.