• CHAPTER 1

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    7
    Trials


    A gloomy darkness settled over the City of Plume. Rumors had filled the air that something bad had happened, something absolutely horrible. It was nearing nightfall when the priest had called for an audience with everyone in town. He had some kind of news but there was a feeling of dread.

    Everyone was told to gather in the center of the city, around the pool that rested under the tree the city was built around. Miraculously, it had escaped being destroyed during the monster’s rampage the night before, but only barely.

    Torrance made his way to the center of town along with everyone else, curious to hear what it was that had happened. Even he seemed to get a bad feeling in his gut. As if this day could be any worse! He had seen so many distraught people. The casualties from the attack the night before had been laid to rest during the day; in all it had already been a day of mourning.

    He nimbly clambered over the rubble left near the back end of the pool. As usual, he was late for any kind of function, everyone already crowded closer to the pool and there didn’t seem to be much room left for him. Even approaching from the back didn’t seem to work.

    Running a hand through his short blonde hair, he decided that the only other chance he had to get close enough was to fly. That could be tiring depending on how long the priest spoke for. Knowing the priest… that could be a while.

    He summoned his wings and took to the air, quickly finding a crevice in the roots of the large tree to perch in. So perhaps it wasn’t all a loss, the view was good. He folded his wings behind him and settled in for what he was sure to be a long speech.

    “Torrance!” he heard a voice call out to him.

    A female voice.

    His brown eyes lit up when he saw a young woman flying up to meet him on pure white wings. “Well, hello there Faye… looking beautiful… but what else is new?” he said, giving her a wink. He smiled in amusement as her face immediately flushed red.

    “Not today! It’s no time to joke!” she scolded him, trying to look angry though her cute little face couldn‘t possibly look intimidating. He could tell she wasn’t angry, but she wasn’t happy either… that much was for sure. Something was wrong. She looked upset, her pretty brow creased with worry.

    “Are you okay?”

    “No, I’m not! We can’t find my brother, Aiden…” she replied. “Have you seen him?”

    He frowned. That had been bothering him also. “I haven’t seen him since we were on guard duty last night.” He almost immediately regretted answering as he had.

    Faye’s deep blue eyes began to tear up.

    “No, no, no! Wait! Don’t cry!”

    It didn’t seem that she would be listening as the sniffling began. “Wh- what if he died and they haven’t found him yet!?”

    He hated to see girls cry! “I’m sure he’s fine!”

    “How do you know that?”

    He struggled to think fast. What could he say? He wasn’t even quite sure himself what would happen. The last he had seen of Aiden he was carrying Lady Catriona to safety. After that, Torrance had been too busy trying to keep himself alive to know where his friend had went.

    With every passing second, Faye looked more and more as though she would burst out crying. In a panic, Torrance said the first thing that came to mind. “The kid’s like a roach, he’s not gonna die that easy!”

    That hadn’t come out right.

    Faye scowled at him. “A roach?”

    “Okay… so maybe it wasn’t the best analogy.”

    “No, it wasn’t.”

    “But the point is, I’m sure that he’s fine wherever he went…”

    The large crowd of people that had gathered began to hush, something that Torrance noticed rather quickly. It seemed that the priest was finally ready to speak. He tried to make as much room as possible in his little crevice so that Faye could sit with him. “Come on, he’s ready to talk.”

    Faye dried up her eyes the best she could as she settled in next to him. “Where’s the elder?”

    “I’m not sure, but I think he’s talking now, shush.”

    She shot him a look but stayed silent.

    “City of Plume… My family.” The priest began. His voice carried well through the center of town, reverberating off the large wooden walls of the inner city. “I am very proud of our archers and our clerics, those that have worked very hard in this time of trial that Pan Gu has set before us. I thank you for your hard work and dedication.”

    There was a small bit of applause and cheers of agreement from the crowd, which soon fell quiet. After the short pause he again began to speak. “But it seems that our trial is not over yet.”

    Torrance once again found himself plagued by an uneasy feeling in his gut. The look on the priest’s face said it all. Something was horribly wrong.

    “I am… very sorry to inform all of you…” the priest began ever so hesitantly. He looked to the ground a moment taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. It seemed that he was trying to compose himself. “…But our beloved elder has died … and her granddaughter is missing.”

    Shock overtook the crowd in a massive wave and questions erupted from every corner of the large mass of people. Torrance nearly fell backwards off of his section of tree root. “What!?” he exclaimed, speaking the same thought that everyone seemed to have at the moment.

    “I assure you that every measure is being taken to find Lady Catriona and the elder’s killer!” the priest shouted, loud enough to be heard over the shocked population. “I must ask for your help in this as well! Our sources tell me that the one responsible for this is one of our own. One by the name of Aiden Locke.”

    Torrance’s eyes went wide. Not many things had ever come as a shock to him. He’d been through a lot, seen a lot of things, but this…

    This had to have been the biggest surprise of his life.

    “What!? No! He’s wrong!” Faye shouted, though not quite loud enough to be heard over a noisy crowd. “Aiden would never do such a thing!”

    Torrance caught her by the arm before she could take flight. Aiden was his good friend, he’d known him for a while; long enough to know his friend’s little sister. She was about to make a scene, he knew it.

    “Let go!” She shouted, pulling hard against his grip. “I won’t allow this! Aiden is not a murd--” Her sentence ended rather abruptly as Torrance pulled her to him. He put a hand over her mouth to silence her. She looked shocked to say the least.

    “Please, be quiet and calm down.” he said quickly, releasing her only when she nodded in compliance. “I don’t have a good feeling about this… But whatever‘s going on, making a scene isn‘t going to help.”

    “Why would they blame my brother? He’s never hurt anyone!” Faye exclaimed, though more quietly this time.

    Torrance didn’t reply. He and Aiden both had saved Lady Catriona’s life the other night. None of it made any sense; why would the priest make such an accusation? He knew that not many would question the priest though… whatever order he had given would be carried out.

    He searched the crowd a moment, finding Aiden’s father pretty quickly. The man was trying to shove his way through the crowd despite relying on crutches to move.

    “Faye, get back to your family.” Torrance said after a moment of thought. “Tell them I’m going to find Aiden. I know something isn’t right, we all do.”

    “I want to come with you.”

    “Faye--”

    “He’s my brother! And I’ve trained! I have a good aim with a crossbow.”

    “That’s not the point. Just stay with your parents and let them know I’m leaving as soon as possible to find Aiden. I’m going to go get supplies now okay?”

    Faye hesitantly nodded before taking off and gliding down towards her parents.

    This was going to be a long ordeal…

    CHAPTER 8