Child of the Rift

Chapter Three

With their hoods up, hiding their faces from all those that passed, they entered the small town, remaining hidden in the shadows as those within stirred and awoke. They walked the poverty-stricken streets, smoke stains from the coal fireplaces covered the walls of each rustic building until they appeared almost black. Beggars slept in the doorways, shivering from the cold as they wrapped up as much as they could in their torn coats, their faces hollow with starvation and their eyes sunken and dark with exhaustion.

"It's getting worse around here," whispered Arthur as they walked. Her gaze moved to three children, dressed in torn clothing and lips blue from frost and in that moment, as her eyes met theirs, she saw the hopelessness within them and paused. No longer caring for her own safety, she began to dig into her bag before pulling out the single roll of bread and approaching them.

"Take it," she muttered with a soft, kind smile as she handed the roll to the eldest child with long brown hair and soot covered face. His hazel eyes lit up as the candle of hope was rekindled within the three of them and with absolute disbelief, he gazed at the roll she held out to him and back to her face, "have it,"

Quickly, he took the roll from her hand, almost as if he feared that she would change her mind and began to break the bread into three; the desperation of survival briefly alleviated from them as they began to eat.

"Thank you m'Lady," said the youngest girl as she tugged Dawn's cloak and smiled gratefully. With a simple nod of her head in acknowledgement to the child's words, she turned and walked away, knowing that she had to return to her family.

As the civilians arose from their homes, the beauty of dawn entering the streets but emphasising on the poverty of the small town, the horns of war echoed in the distance and immediately, it seemed to send waves of fear throughout streets, the world growing darker and bleaker with each beat of their hearts. Nervously, Dawn glanced to her brother and aunt before she was hurried into the bakery as its doors opened for business. Abandoning the dangers of the outside, and replacing it with the chaos of the bakery with barely enough room to breathe for the small crowd that coward within the four walls.

Soldiers stormed the streets, the sounds of horse hooves seeming to strike terror into the residents as they attempted to hide either within their own homes or nearby businesses, huddling as close together as possible. She dropped her head, hiding herself with her cloak even more as she attempted to hide the piercing eyes of a silver ring blending into a dark but powerful red and her fiery auburn hair. Again, she glanced to her aunt to see her eyes burning with desperation as the world seemed to grow darker with fear and worry.

"They're still searching for her, aren't they?" murmured Arthur, his voice barely a whisper as he touched the hilt of the dagger, tucked discreetly in his belt, with the tips of his fingers.

"They have never stopped searching for her and they never will, she is the Child born of the Rift. The child who holds the light from beyond the veil. Now, be silent, let it pass" muttered Ana as the sound of doors being forced opened and screams echoed around them, engulfing them in a cloud of despair. The glorious smell of fresh bread did nothing to comfort those who huddled within the bakery, shivering with a thousand emotions.

Across the street, the door to someone's home were forced open, the wood splintering into a thousand pieces as they searched the man's home. Minutes passed and they waited anxiously. A woman was dragged from the house, screaming in absolute terror and beaten in the street until she grew silent, her body growing limp. Dawn gulped a calming breath, her heart stammering against her ribs as she witnessed the agony and terror, her petrified body frozen and icy tentacles crawling through her veins, turning her blood to ice.

"Hide yourself," whispered Lady Ana and swiftly, she nodded as she lifted her hand and allowed her magic to swirl within her, remaining unseen yet hiding the light within her so that it could no longer be seen by those around her. Watching the soldiers, they approached the bakery and began to force all those within, to step out into the street.

"Reveal your face!" commanded a soldier as he took a firm grip of her shoulder, almost threatening to break the fragile looking girl from the power within his hand and forced her to a sudden halt. Carefully, she released the breath she'd been holding and turned her gaze to the man who held her, peering into his eyes and deep into his soul where all light had been destroyed, with only a few tatters barely remaining.

"Must you be so harsh? We are not savages. Release her and ask for her to remove her hood," said a second soldier, his face covered by the same dark cloth that all guards wore so that, those they once knew, couldn't recognise them. Slowly, Dawn's gaze moved to the second soldier with hair as black as oil and eyes as bright as the morning sky and the light within his soul still burning brightly, "will you please remove your hood and reveal your face?"

"Please, my niece is not from here, she may not understand what you say," said Lady Ana

"Then if you must, translate the words I speak," said the soldier, his voice far softer and more soothing than his associates and she couldn't help but wonder as to who was speaking to her. There seemed to be so much behind the mask he wore and the light that remained in his soul made her curious.

Hesitantly, she revealed herself though each part of her appearance and the light from within her had been greatly dampened by the glamour magic she'd worked tirelessly to perfect so that it couldn't be seen.

"She is fine," said the first soldier as he pushed her forward towards the crowd, forcing her to fall into her brother as she tried to regain her balance. Swiftly, Arthur grabbed her hood and placed it over her head once again, allowing her to release the magic so that she no longer had too glamour herself to look different.

"He still has the light of his soul," she whispered breathlessly, barely able to comprehend what was happening around her.

"Why would the King allow such a thing? No soldier under the King's ruling has a light in their soul,"

"I know, but I saw it, it is still there," she continued as the women who had been chosen were tied and dragged through the streets, screaming with fear and panic, their skin turning black with bruises and the coppery stench of blood surrounding them. The crowd began to move and quickly, she gripped her brother's wrist, not wishing to be separated from him again. He glanced at her briefly as they followed the crowd to the town centre where the piers had already been built.

Soldiers forced the women to stand upon the piers before the soldier who had been so kind, took a stand upon a large wooden stool, taking a scroll from the pocket upon his trousers near his knee. Carefully, he opened the scroll and began to read aloud.

"It is said that the Child born of the Rift shall rise from the ashes like that of a phoenix. Under the King's ruling, let us bear witness to the myth and see if it be true"

With a firm grip, Arthur took hold of his sister's wrist as if to comfort her somewhat as another soldier took the lit torch and one by one, lit each pier. The women struggled, attempting to get loose from their binds as they tried to escape the flames that licked the wood below their feet before touching their skin.

Screams echoed around them as the women writhed in agony, the flames licking against the skin of their ankles and the smell of burning flesh engulfing the air. Smoke rose to the sky, clouding the already dark clouds even further. A single tear fell down one of the woman's cheeks, her fiery red hair the same colour as the flames that burned her body, leaping up her clothes as it quickly spread. As the fire spread and the tear fell before evaporating from the intense heat, the heavens seemed to open with sympathy for the women as a light rain began to fall upon the crowd.

The families of those who had met their demise through fire and ash, cried with sorrow and fear as they separated themselves from the crowd, returning to their homes. In that moment, as much as Dawn wished she could do something to interfere, she knew she that couldn't as she watched, tears trickling down her pale cheeks.

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