HER MOTHER WAS BEING HELD IN THE FORT and it was guarded by almost a dozen men. She had not realized that so many of these soldiers were present in their town. She had only seen a few of them and most of their faces changed with the seasons.
Avery squatted behind big tree, pulled the quill which had been resting on her back to the front. She had no idea why the soldiers had taken her mother and locked her up like a criminal, but she knew it was not for something good.
She had a hunch it was related to why that stranger was at their house, the trick he had pulled – who knew how to conjure lightning from nothing? – and what her mother had done to stop him.
Although she was extremely curious and wanted to know what was going on, she tried not let her mind wander. Her mother would tell her everything – including who that strange man was and what he meant when he said her mother had not told her about him – and she knew she was going to understand.
She picked an arrow and set it in her bow then tried to calm her racing heart.
She allowed her eyes to wander around the close knitted structures, looking for something which she could distract them by. When her eyes fell on the dim lantern which danced with the wind sitting atop the night post, she smiled.
She had always had a good aim. A perfect aim, in fact. Her master never failed to remind her how good she was, better than all of his students combined – better than him she sometimes thought – his most prized student.
And she was about to do something which did not follow their code of conduct. Attacking first.
In her defense, she could say it was them who had provoked her first and she was only here to save her innocent mother.
She hooked her arrow and took aim, watching in satisfaction as the arrow found its mark in the middle of the lantern, spilling what oil helped it burn and falling over. Bullseye.
The fire caught the oil and began to spread, then she laid back and waited for the guards to notice and rush towards it. It did not take too long for them to see what she had done and soon, all of them were rushing towards the small fire.
Fools. She thought. It could take only one man with a good footwear to put that fire out.
Still, this was good for her.
She scampered out of her hiding place, keeping her eyes trained on the door which one of the men had left open. My luck.
She scanned the darkness which stretched behind the door, looking to see if it held anything which she had to fight. When she found nothing, she slipped through the door, pushing through the darkness till she came to a path lighted by a single lantern.
Its light glowed mildly in the dark, chasing away shadows which threatened to swallow it. She thought of her own hope, hope of leaving this town someday and exploring the large world outside and how it was slowly dying.
She shook the thoughts out of her head. Now was not the time to think of things like that. Bending down, she picked up the lantern. She was sure they had brought her mother in here, but so far, the cells which she saw were empty.
Why did they have cells down here? Why were they empty?
All those were questions which she should not even be thinking about. She walked further into the darkness, allowing the light from the Lantern to go before her. Soon, the men would be back from putting out the fire, she had to make sure she was gone before then.
The putrid stench of wet earth and decaying animals reached her nose and she gagged. This place was not fit to house human beings, especially one like her mother. It had no windows and so far, the only doors she had seen was the one which she had come through.
The loud cough sound alerted her of another presence and she rushed forward, flashing the quickly dimming light from the lantern into the cells.
"Mama?" she whispered.
She was sure she heard a wheeze and a faint, incoherent sound and rushed to where the sound was coming from.
Juat as she had thought, her mother was behind the cell – the only prisoner which they seemed to have caught – and she had a roommate. A giant rat which scurried away at the glare of the light.
"Mama." Avery gasped. "I will get you out of here."
She placed the lantern on the stone floor and got to work. She could not tell how many more minutes they had before the guard discovered the lantern was missing from its position and came searching for it.
Judithe scuttled closer to the cell door and placed her hand gently over her daughter's. "No." she said softly. "We will be fugitives as soon as we run out of this place."
"I don't care." Avery said dismissively. She cast the arrow which she had been using to pick the lock to one side and picked another. "I am getting you out of here whether you like it or not."
Judithe shook her head. Avery was just like her father, if not more stubborn. She hoped it was the only trait which she had picked from him, she had hoped this for the last twenty-four years.
"But I care, Avery." She answered softly. "I don't want that kind of life for you. A life where we would always have to run and hide." She held out her hand and touched her daughter's face, cleaning the tear which was beginning to run down it with her thumb.
"What would the men do to you?" Avery asked. "Did they say what your crime was?"
Judithe sniffed. She had hoped to keep this information from the girl for as long as possible, but things do not always go as planned, does it?
"Being a Soran is my crime. Weaving the threads. The dark lord is far reaching."