She ran.

The forest was dense and thick with darkness, and although she could see no light ahead or could not tell why she was running, still she could not stop, so she kept on running. Her feet were bare and her cloak was heavier, it restricted her and she felt like someone was constantly pulling on it, causing it to choke her whenever it was pulled. She should unclasp it, yes, but she didn’t. all she wanted to do was run.

“It comes for you, Lyra of Dragonsbane.”

Someone pulled at it again and she choked. She gasped and panted.

“Your destruction calls for you, Lyra.”

Another pull, and then she felt something pierce into her foot. She screamed in absolute pain and tumbled to the ground. Her foot was stuck and she could not move, but the urge to keep going was too great to ignore and so she started crawling, but her foot would not move.

“Osyron calls for you.”

And she screamed.

She bolted upright in bed, soaked in beads of sweat, despite having the window open and the cool night breeze rushing it. She panted and looked around her, she was in her room, the room she had been staying in since she had gotten to Astaroth, this environment was familiar and slowly, she began to calm down. She breathed calmly now and threw the sheets off of her body, placed her feet down on the cold floor, and felt a receding pain in her foot, she frowned and stomped it twice on the floor till she felt no more pain. And then she looked up and screamed, jumping back into the bed, grabbing the nearest pillow to herself.

The shadow she had seen in her room moved swiftly towards her and entered the light. “Lyra, it’s me. Only me.”

Her eyes widened and she set the pillow down. “Uncle Eris?”

He smiled. “Yes Lyra, me.”

She leaped off the bed and ran into his arms, oh how she had missed seeing someone from her family. She hugged him tightly and cried silently. “I have missed you.”

“And so have I.” He disentangled from the hug but held her shoulders still, looking into her eyes with a smile on his lips. “We all miss you, and that is why I have been sent here to get you out.”

She was surprised. “Sent to get me out?”

“Your father wants you back in the castle, back in Dragonsbane Lyra.”

Lyra slapped her palm to her mouth as she cried some more, they had come for her. They had really come for her.

*****

Everywhere was quiet, very quiet, so they had to be even extra quiet but the sound of opening and closing a door was equivalent to lighting a cannon and hearing it go boom. She took no footwear with her and she also had nothing on other than the light nightdress she had on. It was nearing the winter season, she had not thought about that and neither had she anticipated the cold that licked at her skin the moment they opened the extremely large front door.

She shivered greatly and her toes curled instantly and she regretted being in a hurry, wondering if she could sprint upstairs and grab something thick, like her quilt maybe and a good pair of boots. She watched Eris walk on ahead of her, his body low and his eyes open to pick up even the faintest of sounds, or at least the faintest of sounds a human being could hear.

Lyra did not see any carriages in sight and she began to wonder how far she would have to walk bare feet before they would get to where a carriage would be waiting for her. Or a horse maybe, she, more than leaving the cast;e and leaving Astaroth, first wanted to get out of the cold and into somewhere or something warm and protective of the cold.

“I have a couple of men stationed just outside the castle’s walls,” Eris explained to her as they walked further on. “We only need to get to them and they will be out of here sooner than we came.”

Lyra looked over her shoulder, they had barely gone far away from the front doors and Eris wasn’t even paying attention to her present predicament. Of course, he was warm enough in the thick leather armor he had on. She blew into her palms and rubbed them against each other to feel any kind of warmth. She feared she might die of frostbite before they got to the castle gates.

“Lyra.”

The voice was clear and it rang out clean, stopping them in their tracks. She swallowed hard because she knew who the voice belonged to and she trembled, their escape plan was already foiled because he would never let her leave the castle. She turned around, and so did Eris, who had his sword out and Lyra protectively behind him.

“The audacity you have,” Ryder spoke as he stepped out of the shadows and walked towards them. “To think that you can sneak into my castle and take away my Khione, and you think I would not come to know about it.”

“She is the princess of Dragonsbane and as such, she is no one’s prisoner.” Eris talked back at him, weighing his sword in his hand.

“I never did say she was a prisoner, but she is mine now.”

“If she is not a prisoner, then why can she not leave?”

“You fail to listen, I said she is mine now.” His voice spoke of his anger and Eris knew that a duel was inevitable.

“Lyra,” He whispered to her. “Move away, go behind that pillar and stay there, I promise that I will get you out of here.”

“Eris…”

“Now, Lyra. Go.”

She hesitated a while, her eyes moving from Eris to Ryder who had a dead expression on his face, and then back to Eris before she turned away and ran behind the fountain in the middle of the front yard. She watched as Ryder and Eris circled each other, Eris, his body positioned low and his sword dancing in his hands. Ryder walked upright, his eyes never leaving his opponent, he walked confidently like he was sure that he could defeat the man with just one skillful move.

She watched Ryder and gasped when, out of nowhere, a sword, dark as the night began to form in his hands, emitting a dark smoky mist that seemed like it was burning on the blade. She noticed Eris shocked and confused look, but he chose not to show any fear. Ryder smirked at him and the sword grew a little in length.

“This would teach you about stealing.” Ryder said and lifted his sword to point it at Eris.

Eris was the first to attack, he ran and leaped at Ryder who held his sword up to block the blow, the sound of their swords clashing rand out into the dark night, and Lyra could not help but feel partly guilty, but really, she just wanted to return home, back to the place she knew, to the castle she had grown up in, even if it meant that they would never allow her to attend any event anymore. She was sure she could live with that until she married, yes she was sure. She missed Soria and mother and father, and Revvyn too. 

She smiled sadly when she thought of him and her shoulders dropped, but the continuous clashing of swords shook her back into reality.

She had seen Eris train on several occasions, and he was the best fighter she had seen, but now, fighting against Ryder, she wondered if this was the Eris she had known as an undefeated warrior all her life. Ryder was withholding back, that much was obvious because of the relaxed posture he had even though he was dueling, but Eris was giving it all he had; blow after blow after blow, he grunted and his attacks were powerful but Ryder wasn’t even fighting back, he was merely only blocking Eris’ attacks.

She was worried, she knew or could at least tell that she was important to him, and according to what Tezani had told her about what Ryder had done to those soldiers that had abused her when he was away, it seemed that he would not take it lightly with anyone who threatened her otherwise, and now, someone had tried to sneak her out of the castle and he was looking so calm about it. It worried her.

And then it happened, Ryder swung a powerful blow which Eris blocked but the force knocked his sword right out of his hands, it brought him down on one knee, breaking the blade and sending it flying halfway across the yard. Lyra gasped and stepped forward. Her heart was beating rapidly and fear wrapped her.

Ryder pointed his sword at Eris, placing it underneath his chin. Eris froze, but the look of anger was not washed from his face.

“You cannot keep her locked up forever.” Eris spat out.

Ryder smirked. “Let’s see about that.” He drew his sword back, ready to thrust it forward and into the man’s neck.

“Ryder, Stop!” Lyra yelled, her eyes wide and sad. She ran towards them. “Don’t kill him!”

She was fast enough, and just before Ryder could plunge the sword forward, she ran in between them, spreading her hands wide open to shield Eris with her body. But Ryder, not anticipating that Lyra would come to stand in front of the intruder, had already thrust the sword forward. 

She gasped.