Bound At Heart

Ruins

Ilyana kept running as fast as she could, getting away from the main castle grounds and around the guards that patrolled the area.

"Ilyana!" Elmora called her but she was distant. Ilyana barged into the stables and stole a magnificent black horse. She saddled him up, stealing a few carrots from his tray then climbed on. She lets out a yell, slapping the reins and then departs past the stables and into the forest, leaving Elmora to fly.

"Ilyana!" Elmora tried to call her. "What happened?!"

"Something terrible," Ilyana said to herself and pressed on. She leaned close to the horse's ear, pressed a glowing hand on his neck and said in a low voice, "My friend, I'm not permanently taking you away from your home but I do have a desperate favor to ask. I fear some close relatives are in desperate need of my help, so, I would need to run as fast as you can. Once I finished my deed, you may return home in peace."

The horse gave a nod as well as letting out a rumbling sound from his throat and picked up the pace, going to his top speed. Minutes after they got out of the main city premises, they were stopped by Elmora, who abruptly landed a few yards ahead of them.

"Ilyana, what is going on?" Elmora was annoyed.

"Things have gotten worse, Elmora, can't you tell?!" Ilyana suddenly bursts, "I was just informed that Archimedes, Ronan's 'friend', has gone behind on his word and instead is diminishing the life of our land! The borders have been taken down and that's where his family lives. I have to know if they're alive."

Ilyana trots beside Elmora and Elmora replied, "You 'have' to? Why?"

"For Ronan's sake..." Ilyana's face dropped significantly. "So, are you coming or not?"

Elmora sighed and nodded.

No more words were exchanged as the two took to the roads of the forest to quickly shortcut through the night. The kingdom was huge and they had a lot of ground to cover in such a short amount of time. They had two days before Ilyana's time limit was up for her promise and they had no time to waste. The journey was quiet but anxiety and fear steadily crept throughout Ilyana's very soul as her necklace glowed bright golden orange. She occasionally kept glancing towards her map to check the course and see if they were on track. The night moved on as they passed quiet streets of Tudor homes, mansions, to then pass townhouses and smaller homes. All of them were still and dimmed, sleeping peacefully whilst sheltering their owners. They leave the cities, passing empty market stands, cabins, huts, plantations, farmhouses, and cottages.

Sometimes Ilyana had to make a sharp turn, throwing Elmora off a bit but she kept up nonetheless. Ilyana also made shortcuts through the woods. When the villages were no longer within the premises, the color within the trees began to face and the grass began to fade as well. More rotten leaves and wilted flowers came in view. Ilyana already felt the color leave her face. The trees soon became withered and their colors blended with the night sky. They soon approached a large clearing of what used to be poor plains and fields with most minimal population of trees. Burnt and destroyed down huts came into view and Ilyana slowed down a bit. Her eyes were wide as to how many there were. When in the middle of town was when Ilyana's necklace dropped, signaling they arrive.

"Whoa!" Ilyana pulled back on the reigns. She got off of the stallion and fed him a couple of carrots. She pets him after he eats and her hand rests on his neck.

"You may go home now, thank you," Ilyana whispers to him and the stallion bows his head and runs off. The midnight colored horse ran off into the woods, leaving Elmora and Ilyana stranded in the middle of a desolate and destroyed old village. They looked around and Ilyana couldn't help but carry a grim expression.