Seal of the King (13 page)

Aurora sheathed her bow, checked
to see if her dagger was in reach of her free hand, and took David’s hand in the other. They shared a silent look, and then stepped out together, moving steadily forward. They began to feel a static electric charge running through them. David felt drawn to a spot towards the middle of the clearing, and as they headed to it there was a crackle in the air, and they could feel the hairs on their arms standing on end. “Hold on” David reminded her, and when they reached the spot there was an eruption of sound, and light. David could feel Aurora being pulled from him, he swung his other arm around to get a better hold of her, and she did the same. It felt as if they were inside a tornado of sound and light, then with a bang they hit the ground. The impact was so hard it almost knocked them over. Then there was silence.

They were standing on the bar
ren hillside where he had seen her just days before. The shattered stumps of trees battered and burned, the parched earth and the rocky landscape, were clearly the result of a fierce battle.

Aurora spoke
, “it’s even worse here than when I left.” She said, looking at the still smoldering remains of a once giant tree. “I imagine when I disappeared in front of them they destroyed everything trying to find me.”

“They were
remarkably thorough too. Which way should we go? We probably shouldn’t stay here too long.”

Aurora gestured with her hand, “Lets head this way. We need to get to the council so we can tell them about the prophecy. It may take us a couple of days
, but we should be able to manage it safely.”

“That sounds
like a good plan to me. It looks like we have about six hours of daylight left before we need to find some shelter.”

They started down the rocky slope climbing over the debris from the attack. He admired how graceful she was under such difficult conditions
, and her stamina was impressive. He was used to long days on the farm, but she didn’t even seem to be breaking a sweat. They stopped to take a drink of water a few times, but she was determined that they get to cover before they do more than that.

They reached a tree line as dusk was setting in
, and found an area of heavy brush they could use to rest for a few hours before continuing. They both agreed that travelling at night would give them some advantage. The long traveling coat David brought for Aurora covered the blue dress in dark leather so the two of them would be hard to spot. Still feeling vulnerable, they decided not to make a fire. David was rummaging through the food, picking out some things that would be good cold.

Aurora said
, “I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

A little embarrassed she said looking away from his eyes “I have to relieve myself.”

“Oh … don’t go too far. I promise I won’t listen.”

She waved her hand as if to brush him off. A few minutes later, waiting for her to return, David had that sense that something was wrong again. He headed off in the direction that Aurora went until he heard some voices, and a wave of terror filled him. As quietly as possible he made his way towards the sound and caught a glimpse of the flickering light of a fire. As he approached, he heard the men talking in a gruff angry tone, “who are you? What are you doing out here? Tell us or we’ll have to make you tell us.” Moving closer, his heart fell. There stood Aurora held by two men with 3 others standing in front of her. Their apparent leader was threatening her with a knife. He was amazed to see her face filled with anger, not fear, and it filled him with courage.

Without thought, he stepped into the small clearing
, and said fearlessly “let her go.”

The men
were slightly shocked, but these were not the sorts to be easily intimidated. Realizing too late what a fool-hearty move he had made, he started thinking quickly. He saw a pleading look of panic on Aurora’s face telling him to run, but he couldn’t; he wouldn’t do that.

“My wife
and I are traveling to her sick parents,” and in a feigned tone of pleading added “please, we are no threat to you. We mean you no harm. Please let us be on our way.”

Like a shark smelling blood in the water
, this only encouraged the men.

The leader said
, “Grab him.”

The other two came to David
, but he decided this was not the moment for action. The knife was now at Aurora’s throat held tight by one of the two men holding her. He could not risk provoking them. The other two men were large and strong but loped like dumb beasts towards him. Once they flanked him, each one grabbed an arm and pressed it to his side. They held his hands in front of him, so they could see them.

“A
compelling story” growled the leader “but what of her bow, what woman on the way to tend to her sick parents carries such a weapon? We’re looking out for a woman with a bow. We lost her not far from here a few days back.” He strode over to Aurora then reached out, and pulled open her coat. The blue dress was bright in the firelight. Seeing something so womanly surprised the man. “Hmm perhaps you are just travelers. Even if you are, you still have to pay for passage. I don’t suppose you have any gold, but such a lovely shape might be worth the price.”

The men all snickered
, and David felt his fear turn to rage building like a wild beast within him. David spoke requiring all of his effort to control his voice. “Please, you don’t have to do this.”

The leader looked at him
, and laughed “no, but I want to.” He said annunciating every syllable mocking David’s foolish statement.

As the man reached out to touch her, David felt something rise in him, an explosion of fury like nothing he had ever experienced before. The air began to sizzle with the same electric charge they felt earlier
, and he let out a roar of sound with such force it momentarily stunned the men. That moment was all they needed, David saw the man holding the knife to Aurora with wide eyes lowering the blade enough for her to act. As she reached up, and grabbed his hand twisting the knife away from her throat David made his move. The two men holding him had slackened their grip just enough for David to push his arms down, and swing them up behind the men. Then with a surge of strength that poured in from outside of him, he pulled the two together in front of him, their faces smashing together so hard he heard the breaking of bones, and saw a gush of blood as they hit. As they staggered back, they released him entirely to grab their broken faces, trying to get the blood out of their eyes.

David reached into his coat
, and pulled out 2 knives throwing them directly into the hearts of the men holding Aurora. They fell to the ground writhing in pain with horrible screeches as the dark shadows burst forth from them, and splintered in the light.

The leader of the group was recovering from the shock, seeing what David had done, an evil grin passing over his face he raised his knife
, and began to turn to Aurora. The smile still on his face, thinking he had outmaneuvered David, turned to wide-eyed shock as Aurora plunged a knife deep into his chest. The unearthly scream that exploded from the man was deafening as he fell. They all watched as the dark spirit rose from him, and burst into fragments.

David standing
tall, the air still alive around him turned to the two men bleeding profusely. In a powerful commanding voice, he said to them “Decide now, you can choose life or death, light or dark, but make no mistake. Lie to me, and you will suffer the consequences.”

The first man turned to him
, and said, “I will give you my answer.” Then he tried to lunge at David staggering a little, David easily evaded him, and as he came around David took hold of him, and snapped his neck.

The second man, fear showing
on his blood spattered face, looked up at him and asked, “How can I go back after all that I have done…“

David looked at the man
and spoke without the harsh tone in his voice. “There is only one way. You must ask for forgiveness.”

“
You would forgive me?”

“
Yes I would, but it is not my forgiveness you must seek. But heed my warning. If you leave this place with treachery in your heart, you will not make it ten paces.”

The man nodded
, and slowly got to his feet. He turned, and walked off, David, and Aurora standing silently watching him. Nine paces out the man turned to look at them then with his next step he fell dead to the ground.

David turned to Aurora
and asked, “Are you alright?”

She walked up
, and started hitting him on his chest, yelling, “You could’ve gotten yourself killed! What were you thinking? I made a foolish mistake and risked everything.” 

David pulled her into his arms
, and she went slack against him. “It’s alright,” he said, “it’s alright.”

Aurora resting her head against him
said, “I’m so sorry I was being stupid, going off so far just because I was embarrassed. You could’ve gotten killed.”

David said tenderly “just be prepared to forgive me
the next time I make a mistake, and we can call it even.”

Aurora just couldn’t understand
, how after what just happened, he could so easily lift her mood. He had not diminished her, he had kept them as equals, a lesser man would have chastised her to assert his superiority, but not him. Affection for him welling up inside her she looked up, and kissed him on the cheek.

He smiled
, and said, “We’d better get back to our supplies before any animals get into the food. Not to mention we don’t want to find out if these thugs have any friends around.” She nodded her head in agreement; they picked up their weapons, and headed back.

***

David was still tormented by Artemis’s death; he understood it wasn’t his fault, but he still felt responsible. Even though he had intended to harm them they weren’t in any real danger then, and David would have let him go given the choice. This time was different. These men were certainly evil, not the same kind of demons as the ones holding his father, but they surely would have killed him and Aurora, or far worse for that matter. He didn’t like the fact that he had to kill them, but he also felt he had no choice.

He considered the way he had become filled with power
. His rage at them for what they intended for Aurora had somehow allowed him to draw the power in. He didn’t understand it yet, but he knew something had changed in him the other night while he was drawn into the seal. Somehow he had been plugged into the world around him, connected to the ‘light’ in a tangible way. What happened today made it clear to him what they were facing. These men had willingly given their souls to the Dark One, and there was nothing he could do for them. They had chosen their path, and whether he liked it or not he would have to do whatever was necessary to protect himself and Aurora, or they would fail.

***

Back inside their hiding place they were happy to find their things untouched. They had a meal of some dried meat and biscuits. As hungry as they were now it was like a feast. They agreed they would be safe to rest there for a little while. They packed up their gear just in case they had to move in a hurry, and gathered some brush to pull over them for cover. Once securely hidden, Aurora pulled David’s arm tight around her as she lay on her side, enjoying his warm body against hers. She rested her head on his hand, comforted by the feel of his skin on her face.

In little more than a whisper Aurora asked “David?”

“Yes Aurora?”

“Do you have a woman in your world?” She waited for him to answer
, and for a moment she was afraid her question had bothered him.

“No
, I don’t”

A
fter a few moments, she asked, “Why?”

“I dated a few girls when I was younger
, but I always had someone else in my heart.”

Aurora’s heart sank there was someone else who had his heart
, and she asked “oh is she very special?”

“Yes she’s
extraordinary. I’ve never met anyone like her, and no one else has been able to take her place.”

Aurora was starting to feel a burning in her stomach, she knew it was foolish since they had just met
, but she somehow had thought maybe they had something. Unable to hold back she asked, “Will you marry her some day?” Afraid to hear the answer she closed her eyes.

“I don’t know, I only met her, a couple of days ago
, and I haven’t asked her.”

Aurora a bit bewildered “What do you mean?”

“Aurora, you have been in my heart and mind my whole life. There has never been any room for anyone else, and I’ve never met anyone who could compare to you.”

A flood of relief washed over her
, and feeling a little giddy she said, “I hope I don’t disappoint you,” as she pressed closer to him wrapping herself in the comfort of his presence.

“From what I’ve seen so far
, there’s more to you than I ever dreamed.” He gave her a small squeeze “now rest your head, we’ll need our strength to survive this ordeal so that I may bring you home again someday.”