The Arcane Evil (httyd-fic)

Chapter 1

The night was pitch black, and only the light of the waning moon illuminated the dirt road through the dense forest. The sounds of men shouting in the distance could be heard but that did not deter the woman fleeing on horseback.

The thunderous sounds of hooves could be heard gaining on the woman who let out a curse and urged her steed to go faster. The chase continued on and the woman ducked as arrows began whizzing past her. One of the arrows struck her horse and it went down taking her with it. The woman grunted, grabbed her satchel, and fled into the dense forest. Her long black gown snagged on twigs as she ran in desperation.

"She went that way!!" One of the knights could be heard shouting as he held up a torch. As she ran she could hear the clinking of armor and the footfalls of the soldiers.

"Get her!!" Was shouted by another as they now had her in their sights.

"Death to the evil Queen!!" Another shouted while firing an arrow that just narrowly missed her head and imbedded itself in a tree.

The woman ran faster and harder hoping to lose her pursuers. She ran until she came to a clearing near a lake where there were no more hiding places. One of the knights grabbed a bola from his waist and threw it at the fleeing woman. It caught around her ankles and she fell down.

The woman gathered a ball of green energy in her hand and managed to turn slightly around to shoot it at the advancing knights but the knights managed to dodge it and advanced on the woman knocking her down again and binding her hands.

"There will be none of that wench." The man sneered in her face and took the satchel. He opened it to reveal a book with an ornate silver cover. "We got the Grimoire!" He yelled and his men cheered loudly. "Now all we need to do is get rid of the evil Queen herself." He said handing the satchel off to one of his men and drawing his sword.

The woman sneered at the man as she was laying on the ground and then used her bound legs to give him a hard kick in the shins where his armor was thin.

"You brutes shall not see me go down without a fight!" She shouted as the man fell down in pain. "You take my grimoire and you shall rue this day!!"

The knight grunted and got up returning to the bound queen and giving her a slap which send her reeling on the ground. "Shut it wench. Your reign shall end here. Our master wishes that we bring back your head to mount on a pike for all the kingdoms to see."

"Your King is a fool." The woman grunted as the knight grabbed her by the hair and took out his sword. "This is a glorious moment." The knight yelled to his men as he readied this sword. "The reign of the Dark Queen ends, ushering in a brighter future for all the kingdoms."

The woman closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable, but the sudden pained cry from the man above her caught her by surprise. The hand holding her hair slackened and she was able to turn enough to see the knight falling backwards with an arrow stuck in his throat. The other knights had drawn their swords and were looking in the direction from which the arrow came.

"You know it is not nice to gang up on someone." A figure said coming out of the shadows. The man had auburn hair and a green loose fitted tunic and brown leather pants on with a sword strapped to his hip. The bow he had used to shoot the knight was placed on the ground along with the quiver as the man drew his sword and came to stand next to the bound woman.

"Do you have any idea who that demon is?!!" One of the knight yelled as they took some steps forward menacingly.

"The Dark Queen who reigns over the realm of Forline." The stranger stated without a care in the world. "It is not hard to miss when you lot yelled it as you were chasing her through the forest, and I only know of one Dark Queen......... Unless another appeared recently."