The Forgotten Prophecy

Chapter 17

Ines and Matthew were riding back to the city. The sun would be setting behind the mountains, and night would fall to chase the people to their homes. Ines glanced at Matthew beside her. He was silent, and obviously not in a great mood. He was staring faraway ahead, his brows frowning, his hands holding the reins absent-mindedly.

'Matthew, are you okay?' she asked him worriedly. 'Matthew, there is nothing we could have done to prevent his death. He made his choice.'

Matthew sighed and looked back at her.

'I know. I just...I am angry at myself, for not saving him.'

'That man was beyond saving. He was an empty shell; he let his guilt and sorrow crush him.'

They traveled in silence. Ines respected his need for some peace and quiet to think through the day's incident. From what they had gathered so far, someone was purposely importing the weapons for a specific cause. That blacksmith forged them and worked with thieves to transfer them in secret. The question is why. Why keep all this in secrecy. Surely, there are others selling weapons, unless the weapons were a cover-up for other illegal transactions.

She pondered over the reasons why the man had preferred to kill himself, rather than be captured. What could lead him to taking his own life? Fear or something even more ominous? Ines got the feeling that the more they dug up information, the darker and more sinister the case got.

After a while, they exited the forest, the city emerging in the distance before them.

'We can rest for a bit if you want,' Ines suggested.

'Alright.'

They dismounted their horses and sat down under the shade of tall oak tree. Matthew soon dozed off, while Ines sat next to him, enjoying the calm of the place. She looked up at the sun, shielding her eyes from the blinding light with her hand, and felt her eyes dropping from exhaustion.

. . . . .

Thunders struck the empty meadow. The wind and the rain raked the earth mercilessly. It was the same place Ines had been dreaming over and over again. Like always, the girl appeared through the trees, chased by the relentless thieves. This time, though, a woman and a man appeared beside her, all running for their lives.

The thieves got closer with every step they took. The woman knew they would eventually catch up with them and seize them. The man next to her had a deep wound on his side that slowed him down, but she couldn't leave him behind; they had to make it, even if their legs burned and their lungs had gone on fire.

In the distance a young elf observed the scene with cold eyes. He was obscured by the dark, but the medallion he wore on his chest shone every time a lighting stuck in the night sky. He knew they couldn't escape; he was just waiting patiently for them to accept it.

As they ran away from the thieves, the man stumbled clumsily and fell on the wet grass. The woman screamed in panic and rushed to lift him up and carry him, but the man was too tired and he had lost too much blood. The woman saw the thieves ready to attack them and shrieked to the girl.

'Run!'

The girl didn't want to leave them, but the woman yelled at her again to go. With tears in her eyes the girl turned around and ran as fast as she could. She didn't look back when she heard the woman's scream of pain in the meadow.

. . . . .

'Peter, wake up!'

Ines immediately jerked up, looking around in confusion. She saw the tree, the bare plains, the city walls in the distance. Matthew's face was only a few centimetres away from hers, his worried eyes piercing her. Ines' cheeks warmed up from their close proximity, and focused her gaze on her toes, her heart racing in her chest. He was too handsome for her to handle at the time, his wild hair falling over his eyes, a light stubble growing on his chiseled cheekbones.

'I woke up and heard you screaming. Were you having a nightmare?' he asked her.

'It's nothing.' She stood up, stretching her limbs. Apparently, she had slept for quite a while because the sun had already vanished in the horizon.

Matthew came to stand beside her. 'Want to talk about it?'

Peter sighed and faced him. 'I...I've been having these strange visions for the last couple of days.'

'What are they about?'

'A family running for their lives. The parents are killed and the child screams in fear. A form stands in the shadows, I cannot make out his face. He wears a medallion. That is all I remember.'

Matthew rubbed his chin in thought. 'Sounds tragic. Look, we are both beaten, I'm sure a lack of a good night's rest is the cause of this. Don't dwell on it too much.'

'I know, but it felt so real. Like a memory.'

They remained silent, Ines gazing past the hills, and Matthew still thinking about the vision.

'Wait a second. Did you mention a medallion?' he asked.

'Yes.'

'Did it have like a letter on it? Like this?' He found a small stick nearby and started drawing something on the ground.

'Yes,' she blinked at him in astonishment.

'Then, we have to return back, and fast,' he said and gruffly pulled her by the arm towards the horses.

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A/N:  Thank you so much for reading my story! Any feedback is welcome.

Phrase of chapter: ὁ δε πόλεμος βίαιος διδάσκαλος / war, a violent teacher - Thucydides