The next morning... When the first spark of light appeared in the sky.
"Diana...Diana, wake up. That's enough for a night's rest" Alfred kept poking her out of her dormant rest.
"W..wha...u... uncle...". Her eyes twitched with blurred vision while the words came out mixed with the saliva pouring awkwardly from her mouth. And her golden hair was turned into a chaotic forest.
"Come on, we need to move"
"WAAAH (she yawned) just give me another hour...ZZzzz"
"NOW!". His voice was louder than any alarm clock and sharper than any order he gave.
She tilted her head to give him a sad cat look. She has never been closer to begging for more sleep like now. But with the matter at hand, She forced herself to sit on the bed. Wiping both her eyes and mouth and trying to bring her lost and dizzy brain back to life.
When the memories of the day before soon hooked up, she was grateful for her uncle's presence to wake her up. The sooner they wake up before the sun rises, the quicker they leave the town before raising another unwanted attention.
Louis, on the other hand, happened to have the same bad morning scenario.
Liam, pushed by his fatherhood love, woke up his son out of the delicious comfort of sleep and briefly got him ready for the journey.
He didn't taste the sweetness of sleeping like how his son did. Thoughts haunted him all night that he may not see his son again once he leaves through his house's door.
But again, those perfect clear words of himself remained. Those of how the town could face dark times because of his son and his newly introduced girlfriend's presence were something to consider within the equation or even worse, the monetary value of the bounty could make any person among the town's citizens hunt him down. Especially the settlers of the poor's districts.
He couldn't bear that long night.
He made a small breakfast for his son who was this close to passing out of exhaustion.
His sister helped arrange a bag full of clothes with 2 of her brother's heavy clothes in case the weather turned amok. She packed his things with a depressed sigh. She didn't have much time to spend with her brother. She can't help wishing him to stay more with her.
In addition to the clothes, she gave him the cloak of his mother so that her soul could guide him where he wished. And also, to cover most of his face.
He was given a big ration of food. A refuelling of pocket money....and some last wisdom words...
"Son" his tone implied disciplined briefing but behind his voice, there was empathy and grief.
"Frankly, I don't know what to say more than we discussed last night. Just...be a man. You will be mostly on your own when you meet that protector. Be proud but at the same gentle. Stand tall and speak without concerns or low head when you meet him."
"Relax, old man. I am a charming type. I have my way around people, remember?"
Liam sunk his embarrassed face in his hand. "The only thing I will remember is when the man gets chocked by your clown figure attitude"
Louis chuckled. "Then pray that I don't get killed before I get to meet him"
That sarcastic conversation was the last contact between the father and son. Louis never saw his father again after that day...for a while.
The boy went through the door to the quiet streets like a floating ghost. He took one last back look at his family. Seeing him depart must have been hard on them. Waving him goodbye as if he was a foreign visitor or a beggar.
He hit the road using the help of the slim light of dawn to enlighten the way, looking left and right for any person around. Afraid. Like the criminal Wain made him to be.
The pioneer and his daughter reached the agreed spot just as planned, they were waiting at the opening of the same underground tunnel, waiting for Prince Louis to show up.
Why the tunnel again? Because the gates were too risky with all those night shift guards watching all from above the walls and guarding the door out.
The prince approached Diana and greeted his girl with a warm and lasting hug, her presence was all that he needed at this moment.
"Missed you too, sweety". She said as her mouth involuntarily draws into a beautiful smile on her face. Cuddling at the boy without minding her uncle's sighting to her.
"You do realize that you have a lot of explaining to do when you meet her father, right?". Alfred came near the hugging couple.
"He knows, uncle. You cleared that out for the thousandth time! Now can you please stop ruining every small moment I could spare with him!?"
"I'm sorry, was I?" His dismissive tone hurt the girl.
His bearded chin faced Louis. "I am not blaming you, boy, If I were you, I would have done the same. Enjoying it while it lasted. Knowing Richard. You won't get anything from him, especially his daughter". Alfred said while passing beside the couple and descending to the tunnel without waiting for a response to his straightforward rude attitude.
Louis swallowed hard. Thinking it over. If he, by any chance, was accepted by Richard to be his son-in-law. He will be forced to find a creative way to deal with Alfred. Permanently.
"Hey, don't listen to that old crook. You will do fine. You intimated a king to your side once. What is the difficulty of talking to my father?"
"Maybe. Maybe you are right. Maybe your uncle is just jealous"
"Uncle? Nah, he is not that type"
Stolen novel; please report.
The sound of the man came up from the tunnel. "What is taking you two so long?"
Louis rolled his eyes but still kept his sarcastic smile. "Aaaand...he began shouting again. Let's go before his voice awakens whole of Zenda"
Diana laughed a bit before she followed Louis down the path with her uncle to the other side of the tunnel. The group eventually broke free from the town territory using the same way they entered through. And within half an hour they were hitting the road far from Zenda.
That's when Louis noticed something disturbing about Diana.
Her clothes got the colour of sand and the stench of hay.
He knows that she hasn't changed her dirty clothes since she was imprisoned. Her dressing contained a mix of all components of dirt and small particles of hay which by all means was sure to make her feel far from comfortable.
She was either shy to ask for some new clothes from Liam or was too tired to notice it in the first place.
So on the way, He stopped her sideways as he lent her one of his spare cosy winter shirts. It was slightly oversized but the feeling of warm, clean clothes on her chilled and small body gave her some refreshment.
Along the path, Alfred explained that according to the road they were willing to follow. It was two long days and a half walking to Endora as Alfred estimated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the first couple of days slipped by, the third day seemed to speedily draw quickly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There is a storm coming, we need to reach my home quickly," said Diana, watching Dark clouds in the sky gathering like one herd of black sheep
The two men followed her look at the dark space above them, to find that nature was about to roar in the form of a storm, and travelling won't be easy afterwards.
And to add to this. Another quite unexpected event happened. The amulets, one coming from Diana and the other seemed to be that of Alfred, shone with an immersive blinding rays of the unkown light.
The group halted in horror. It was an engulfing yellow light. A light so warm to the eyes like a peaceful candle but at the same time furious as if it was coming from the middle of a volcano.
Both jewels emitted the same catching light around their wary owner's neck.
"Those amulets again!" said Louis, taking a couple of steps back, he had quite the knowledge of what these necklaces were capable of.
"Uncle..." her heart skipped a beat. Since a moment ago, she forgot she had that thing around her neck. Now it shines. Why?!
"Easy now, marvellous little thing" Alfred treated the amulet as if it was a child crying for milk and Alfred was its father.
"Don't worry. it is just nervous about the weather... You see, the colour of the sun is fading in the sky. And It takes it as a sign"
"A sign of what exactly?". Louis's past experience had already surfaced in his facial expression.
"Bad omen". His happy face wasn't matching with the seriousness of what he was saying. "...But It's not always right, See. There is-"
"How can you be so happy about it, Are you aware of what happened last time these stones shone!?". Diana interrupted with full frightened eyes. "Let me remind you then. Last time this amulet produced light, we were attacked by a vicious wolf soon after. And Louis was about to lose his arm for it!"
"That's because it didn't sense the wolf until he got within its range. You see. Our jewel has that strange power to interact with the wind and souls around". He said while starting to move again, encouraging the couple to follow his lead and ignoring the distraction of the jewels.
"So Is it a living being then?". Louis was curious to learn more.
"No, they are but a raw energy trapped in a jewel, This energy senses the surroundings and tells us when we should move on, be cautious or simply just turn around if it's not worth the risk. In lesser words, it senses the change in the wind when it gets within its range"
"And the colours?". Louis asked more.
"It is variable. We do not always know what it refers to".
"Hmm," Louis nodded. He was intrigued by such uncommon artifacts that possessed such unlimited oracle powers. He was so deeply interested in the new knowledge that he didn't notice Diana walking closer than usual by his side.
He looked at her and evidently saw how the talk about necklaces brought nervousness to her peaceful figure.
"Afraid?". He asked her.
"Yes". She answers bluntly.
"So Am I". He circled his healthy arm around her body. "Maybe it's the storm that the amulets are warning us about. Once we reach Endora, we will be safe"
"And you are really buying that story?"
"Well, till something worse shows up. It won't hurt to be optimistic, right? And besides. There is- sniff sniff - Oh! By the love of the queen, what is that smell!". He said while covering his nose with his arm
"I smell it too". Alfred was alerted to the ugly scent, but not having the same strong reaction as the couple. Maybe because he was used to it."That's the smell of rotting. Maybe of an animal, it could be a dead deer neab-"
"No...No it's not an animal". Her eyes widened while stopping at her track. Now she realizes it. They were half a mile or less from the town. And she noticed that the more they got closer. The smell gets more control of the air...
...And that was the last straw for Diana.
"Diana, Wait !!". The prince shouted at his girl who -out of nowhere- ran forward, bypassing him and Alfred.
"WHERE THE HELL YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!!". Alfred shouted at her as well. But neither he nor Louis was able to stop her. And the two soon raced after her.
She was way faster than the two of 'em combined. Her gazelle speed was imperative in a concerning way.
She wasn't running from the upcoming crisis, she was running towards it and at full speed. Nothing was concerning her like the safety of her father. Her friends. Her town and her home.
The blood streamed through all over her body like crazy, causing her blood pressure to punch up high in those proceeding nerving minutes. She kept running ahead of the group, trying to keep her wild mind from producing those horrible thoughts.
The decaying smell was getting stronger by the distance until it was clear where its source was...
"It is coming from behind that hill". she called to herself. The hill that directly overlooked the town of Endora.
The hill wasn't steep, but she needed to hurry with pursuers behind her.
"DIANA RICHARD ONAKRAN, YOU GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANCE!". Alfred shouted even more with his ordering theme. Looking at her from the base of the hill.
But for her, No mortal will stop her from reaching the peak. She invested every drop of sweat. Every bit of energy she had, until Her hand caught the last edge to pull herself up. As she looked up...
...only to witness a sight that can only be described in horror bedtime stories
Speechless, her breath began to be much much faster [https://img.wattpad.com/746b35e06de1453fce8cea5b65707c4ba15bfd9a/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f356962655039384b4b786b584a413d3d2d313038333131373837372e313732663865323238646131633561353731303139393232313238382e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Speechless, her breath began to be much much faster.
Her mind is trying to comprehend what she is seeing, While an uncontrollable invasion of questions infects her sanity.
Is this a hallucination? Or just a bad dream?
The nefarious fact is that it was neither of them.
The necklace... that's why it was shining...the yellow colour...
No, this is not true...it shouldn't be true!
This is just a bad dream, she will wake at any second to find herself still in the same bed in Zenda shivering from a nightmare that only exists in her mind but has no access to the living world.
But who is she bluffing? She is right to think of it as a nightmare. The only difference is that this particular dream had reached the realistic realm...
She can still feel the heat pinching her eyeballs and still seeing the glowing flames that were feeding on what was left of the strong wooden houses.
The smell of the rotten flesh was from the tremendous number of living beings who were helplessly slaughtered and were left for the vultures to clean their motionless bodies from the area.
All of those inputs crushed what was left of her morality while her brain was getting closer to the end of a cliff that watched over a large pit of madness. Either that or it must find a supernatural way to absorb what she was viewing.
That Endora was burned to the ground. Vanquished like its citizens, whose corpses were served hot in the open as a large open meal to every carnivorous bird and animal of the wild.
Her home no longer exists.
The poor girl didn't endure the black truth, her body collapsed on the ground, and she passed out...