HavenGuarde

Chapter 76 - Fight or Flight

Chapter 76

Fight or Flight

- The drums rang in the deeps and the enemy began to march forward -

The moon was out tonight. A pale circle carved into the black sky. The feast of Twilight had come to an end.

As the music from the artists faded into memory, pupils of the Angerius Order slowly and reluctantly began to exit the great hall of the Temple. The lights dimmed and so too did the ceiling of multicoloured glass begin to lose its luster, growing dark. The external vendors disappeared, along with their wondrous wares of food, ornaments, clothing and rare item.

Chaeron and Lyla were some of the last pupils to leave the darkening hall. Having seen Thonavar and Namarie together for most of the night, Chaeron and Lyla did not wonder to where their friends had gone. For they themselves were too busy enjoying the other's company. And so, laughing and walking together, they exited the Temple, in great spirits.

They did not notice the way the vendors were rushed out by unseen hands nor did they sense something amiss in the way the music of the artists twisted and warped warningly before ending abruptly in a discordant noise. They did not see three dark gaping holes rip open the fabric of reality.

As the last drunk reveler left the Temple, there was a moment of silence before the darkness hissed into life with shuffles of rapid movement. 

Three black patrols assembled quickly in the dark. Then for a moment, nothing moved. And as quickly as they had assembled without so much as a hiss and a whisper, each moved off in a different direction, in search of their target.

But Thonavar and Namarie had left quite some time ago. Whilst there was still light in the evening sky. And they had travelled far from the Temple. Taking the beautiful and scenic paths into the forest glades and crossing a magnificent sky bridge, enjoying each other's company. Sanctum was truly a place of dreams. 

Eventually, they had found themselves walking along the edge of the forest before the majestic sword gate and Sanctum's battlements. Memories flashed in their minds as they recalled the day they first met.

"Do you remember varu?" said Namarie with a smile, as she glanced at the battlements and back at Thonavar. Here in the dark, her eyes glowed a nocturnal orange. She was so beautiful, he thought. Namarie saw him looking, and looked away embarrassed.

"How could I not", said Thonavar, with an easy smile. "Fate decreed we would meet that day."

Namarie laughed shyly, looking away. "You are dramatic. And a romantic", she added.

"I am", he agreed, and she laughed again, like the gurgling of a spring in the desert. Thonavar felt a rising emotion well up within him, threatening to overpower him. He wanted to take this woman away, far from here. He wanted to escape with her. 

"Thank you for saving me", she said softly. "You carried me atop the battlements and that cost you the race. But for me, you would have had first place."

"Tis nothing", mumbled Thonavar, happiness bursting in his chest which felt considerably lighter. "I am here now. And I am with you."

For some reason, there was a lingering sadness he could not quite shake off. But Namarie spoke life into him and he clung desperately to every word she said.

"I never forgot your face", continued Namarie, her cheeks flushed. "And even when I saw you later with your cruel master in the training hall, I told master Alraka of your kindness to me."