"Drew!" I throw myself towards her, ignoring the pain in my foot, ignoring the fact that some dude that I didn't know was watching me. "Oh god." Tears leak out and dream down my face uncontrollably, my heart swells with joy and I press my hand to her cheek. Warm, so so warm. "You're okay, thank god your okay." I press my forehead to hers and her chest rises, barley touching mine before it falls into even breaths. My body collapses into hers and I hold myself up staring into her face. A few scratches here and there, looks like she took a very bad fall. Cotton wraps her arms and legs and I gently touch a small cut on her cheek.
"Thank you." I whisper and look over to the hooded figure. "Thank you so much... I mean, you saved her."
He dips his head low, almost like a bow and turns away poking at the fire, sparks float onto the air and dissipate. His good stays up, his body straight as he squats and picks away at the logs.
"When we get back, I'll make sure to tell everyone and we will give you a proper thank you." I say as I sit down and place my hand over Drew's. "Though nothing I could do would show how much this really means to me." Her pulse thumps against my hand through hers, like an orchestra playing a slow ballad. "I need to tell the others!" I quickly grab my phone and try to click it on. Nothing powers up and I groan slightly as I set it down and shrug. "Dead, of course.... There might not be any service here anyway."
I rest my gaze back to the strange man who is going out of his way to help us. His shoulders and back stand completely straight as he kneels down messing with an old iron pot. He scrapes the insides and pulls out a large spoon, pouring the contents into a tin cup. Standing, he walks over and hands it to me.
"Thank you." I mumble and take a sniff. It smells like beef soup, only nothing in it, just juice, just the broth. I take a drink and the burning sensation of the broth rolls down my throat and throughout my entire body. Everything aches with something so warm encountering a bitter cold I hadn't realized was there. "This is delicious, thank you very much."
Still not saying a word, he takes his own cup and begins to drink. I look towards his hands as the steadily hold the cup. Long, delicate looking fingers grasp around the cup. Long nails with dirt shoved underneath them and within the few creases, but young, almost like he's only in his mid-twenties or so.
"So... Why do you live out in the woods? Don't you have family that misses you?" He shakes his head and I grimace at myself fit making that comment. "Oh... uh, that really sucks." I mumble and he shrugs as he takes a quiet drink from his cup. "You know... you don't seem very old, I mean you have fear posture and you hands don't seem wrinkled. Not to mention you were carrying me here before..." I watch as he take a drink of his soup his hood never moving. "Is it fair to say you are, younger?" To that he gives a short stiff nod. "Really? How old?" I lean forward ready for his answer, but he simply taps his foot. Slow and steady taps, about 5 seconds between each one. I listen to them, counting in my head to each tap until he stops at the number 17. "You're 17 years old?" He nods curtly and I look down at my feet. He must have ran away from home.
He stands up, walking towards me and kneeling down peering over Drew's body. His hands trace over the wrapping of her body, his body sinks in like he is in great pain. Then, ever so gently, he runs his hand through her hair, pushing it away from her forehead and placing his hand upon it. He waits for a few seconds and abruptly stands up. He points to me and I too stand up, he pushes on my shoulder and I step back. Leaning down, he scoops Drew up into his arms and begins walking towards the hill they had came from.
"What are you doing now?" I ask and limp after him. The hooded boy nods towards the hill and I look over to it and raise an eyebrow. "Is it time to go home?" He nods and I smile to myself. I'm pretty good at guessing things... maybe I can be good at charades....
He stops at the bottom of the hill and turns to me. Instantly I stop and he nods as he begins up the hill. I begin to follow again and he halts turning and shaking his head. "Oh, so I stay?" Nodding, he turns back around and marches up the hill. I watch as his dark back blends into the dark of the night. My foot aches and I slowly sit down, pulling my leg under me and stick the hurt one out. "How long has it been..." I mutter and slap my hand a giant the ground, a slick round rock sticks halfway up from inside the ground. I try to pull it up from the ground, but it must but concreted in. I groan and feel around the ground and a little further down another round stone is sticking out of the ground. I pull at it, still not moving, I groan and look down and see that the entire ground is covered in these round stones almost like a path. The boy comes back and he helps me stand as I dance around looking at the ground in wonder.
"Cobblestone path? That's something out of the medieval times!" I call as he helps me up the hill. I grab hold of a tree and pull myself up, climbing up the steep hill. He wraps his arm under mine and pulls me forward and up the hill. Slowly, I make it up and he stands up looking down the hill. "Hey, thank you so much." I say and look over at Drew who is laying against a tree. I look back over the place I was just at and all the air catches in my throat. Below, lies a cobblestone path that leads way to a dried up fountain and burnt looking houses. In the distance, where the sun rises, a large stone wall crumbles, exposing what appears to be a castle.
"The Kingdom." I turn my head to look at the boy. His voice is deep, his hood still up, now making me thin he may be a lot older than 17. "My home."
"I'm sorry, a kingdom?" I ask and he nods as he points off into the distance towards the castle.
"You have seen the forgotten kingdom. You know the story of my brother." He says and looks at me his hand reaches out towards the sky. "And I too followed in his footsteps to clear my families name."
"Who are you?" I mumble and he looks over as a forceful wind blows through the air.
"My name is Alexander, a Knight of the Fallen Kingdom. I swore to protect its grounds until the day I died, and even in the afterlife I carry on my duties." He looks over at Drew and then back to me. "I was the protector of the Princess, as you are too."
"What do you mean?" I ask and the wind sweeps his hood off exposing a serious face. The young face of a teen boy, who looks just like me.
"You know what I mean." He says and wind kicks dust into my eyes. When I clear them out, he is gone and my phone buzzes as it turns on. I grab my phone as it rings and place it against my ear. "Yeah... we are at the falls, I-I will see you soon...."
•*•*•
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Camp Charming
Teen FictionThree years has passed since their first camp experience together. Drew has finally come back and the group is now old enough to be counselors. However, they still act like campers. Join the journey where everything finally falls into place, and ev...
