The Fated Three

Road to Freedom

   Staring at the villagers in front of her, Freya could feel the mental barrier she put up starting to crack and the darkness starting to creep in. She could feel the ground beneath her feet shift as the vines and roots threaten to rip open the ground. Trying to compose herself, she took deep breaths forcing the darkness back and barrier shut. "Don't let it control you, you can't let it control you" she whispers. Instantly the movement stopped as she regained control. She could feel the villager's eyes on her. When she looked up, she saw the horror in their eyes. "let's get you guys out of here" Freya says. Taking a step forward, the villagers shrink back practically hugging the wall. 'They're afraid of me?' she thinks, a sudden flash of shame hits her 'losing control is a death sentence' she reminded herself. Looking at their frightened faces she continued. "Everything is going to be okay, I have no intention of hurting you" she spoke softly to the villagers continuing to move forward. Freya ran her hand across the barrier. It was a simple spell written in ancient letters. Back at home, Freya and her sister spent hours secretly learning how to understand it. Freya chuckled to herself remembering when they almost got caught writing their own spells. Sylvie barely had enough time to wipe the sigils off the wall, before mother stormed in. The warm memory quickly became a somber one at the thought of her mother. A flash of her impaled by Freya's vines sent a sharp pain through her. Freya took a step back to recompose herself. 'Just focus on removing the barrier' she reminded herself. Rescripting the sigils was simple, it didn't surprise her, they were written by merchants who clearly didn't have any magic of their own. A spell with no real magical sustenance is almost as pointless as building a home out of straw on a windy day.

    After removing the sound barrier keeping them covered, Freya began unshackling them. "You're free now... no one will hurt you again" She assured them trying to be comforting, but no one had rushed to escape. Freya looks to Rose and Delgan confused and worried.

"We can't leave...we...just can't," one of the slaves say, barely above a whisper. Freya turns to see who was speaking. It was an elderly man, he sat next to a sobbing little girl Freya quickly realized was the girl she saw before. "They'll go back for our families if we leave," another slave says locking eyes with Freya. This one was a young woman, face beaten up like she tried to put up a fight, and lost. "We can't risk it.... sorry for wasting your time" the woman adds sadly, turning away from Freya. She could see all hope lost in all of their faces, even if they did manage to escape, how long until the next 'merchant' comes along and kidnaps them all over again. Freya couldn't stop the haunting image of Sylvie from surfacing. 'Oh Syl...is this why you never came back...I failed you' Freya thinks to herself.

Rose walks over to the caravan. Her voice was commanding and authoritative. "Listen up, I respect your choice to protect your families. Your loyalty is admirable and commendable." Rose looks at the crying child. " But if you are going to do this then you're going to have to stay strong. If you stay focused and do exactly as I say, I'll keep you safe." Rose gazes over their worried faces, "you have my word" She finished.

The villagers looked at each other before looking back at Rose. They each gave her a reassuring nod of understanding. Rose smirked in satisfaction and continued "excellent. Now here's the plan. Me and my companions will dress up as the merchants who kidnapped you. We will use their permits to gain entrance at Calbridge. We're gonna have to go through the merchant's entrance and..." Rose paused "and sell you to the slave quarters" she finished. The villagers' faces filled with worry again. Freya didn't like this plan at all "you've got to be fucking kidding me, NO that's not happening I won't let you....we can't just-" Rose cut her off, ''I gave my word I would help them, and you find your sister. We can do both, just trust me" she finished. Freya snapped "I just met you! TRUST you? I barely even know you!" she exclaimed. Fear fell upon the villager's faces again as the two went at it, but surprisingly, Rose chuckled. "Exactly, and yet we've been working together and kicking ass. We have the same goal here. We may not know if we can fully trust each other, but we do know that as of right now, we aren't enemies." Rose assured. A smirk formed on Freya's lips "Fine...but if you get in my way I won't have a problem tearing you to shreds" Freya promised. Rose gave an amused grin. "How fun... I've always wanted to see how fast I could burn down an entire forest" She challenged. Delgan cleared his throat, refocusing the group. Rose looked back on the stunned villagers and continued. "We have to leave you there to make us look credible. After that, Delgan and I will make our way to the catacombs and try to make a plan on how to best infiltrate them. Meanwhile, Freya will sneak into the archives, go back 5 years, and dig up what she can on her sister. We will regroup back in the village to come up with a plan." She instructed. Rose looked back at the villagers, her face serious. "We will come back for you. You must be strong for your families. If we have to fight our way out, so be it. I swear I'll get you back to your homes".

Delgan starts to pace a little. "Rose can I talk to you for a moment, in private," he asked. Rose nods and follows Delgan to the front of the caravan. As Delgan is wrapping up his burned hand he continues, "Rose, look, I get it, these people need our help, as does Freya, but, we're hunters, not some noble knights. We need to focus on the lich before anything else. If we help these people we could risk losing the lich" He stated plainly. Rose glares at Delgan. "Are you being serious right now? Everything leads to Calbridge. The military, the lich, Freya's sister, and all these people all point to there. I may be a hunter, but I will not turn my back on doing what's right. I won't turn my back on someone who needs me. If I can help, then I will'' She proclaimed. Rose's glare softens "just as my father did for you, right?" she added. Delgan gulped and looked away. Rose released a sigh before continuing. "Delgan, I have not lost sight of our main objective. But I see a route that can help us all. I need you to have my back like you always have before" she finished. Delgan's face drops as he looks down at his singed hand. "I will always have your back, I just don't want our decisions to bite us in the ass later" he admitted. Rose perks up a bit. "Relax, we've got this. Besides, if anything goes down, I'll protect you" she smirks. Delgan's sighs in annoyance "that happened one time" he groaned. Rose smirked, "oh sure, as if you could live without me" she challenged. Freya walks towards Rose and Delgan hearing the end of their conversation. She interrupts, "are you guys done flirting? Or can we go already?" Freya says impatiently, making eye contact with Rose.

Ignoring that comment, Rose meets her gaze. "Look I know it's crazy, dangerous, and stupid, but I know if we stand together we can help save everyone" Rose insisted. Freya now looks at Delgan "what about you lover boy? We doing this or not?" She questioned. Rose answers "Absolutely. Let's put on our disguises and move out" she ordered. They salvaged up what they could of the merchant's clothing and disguised themselves. Freya was about to recover the cart back with its cloth when Rose commented, "So, I love a nice dead guy as decoration, but I think, he might blow our cover before we even get a chance to get through the night guards" she said while gesturing to the merchant still clung to the side of the caravan like a carved mermaid on a pirate ship. Freya looked at her handy work and chuckled. Raising her hands, Freya used her earthly powers to release the vines that held him in place. His body plopped on the ground with a gross slushing sound. Freya chuckled again. Rose looked at Freya in both amusement and concern "really?" she questioned. With a shrug, Freya reactivated the sigil silencing the slaves, and climbed in the wagon with the merchandise. Rose shook her head and joined Delgan in the front of the Covered caravan with the villagers. The annoyance was clear on his face as he held the horse's reins. Rose slides in the seat next to him and gives him a little nudge "lighten up Del, let's just go" she insists. He rolls his eyes and whips at the horses to begin the journey to Calbridge.