VIII

Wren and Sam marched along behind the rest of the kids, exhaustion weighing heavily on them. The events of last night felt like a bad dream.

They passed a line of kids heading back to the orphanage. It was the older group. Wren's eyes, glazed over from lack of sleep, suddenly caught the glare of Zane. As they passed, the boy raised his hand to his throat, slowly moving his thumb across. The threat would have likely meant more if Wren wasn't so beat. For now, it just came off as annoying, another facet of this life he had to deal with.

Breakfast passed in a haze, with the boys silently eating like everyone else. Stepping out of the mess hall, a light rain had started. The mucky ground became a quagmire of deep puddles and clinging mud. Returning to the orphanage, Wren padded over to his bed, climbed up the ladder, and collapsed. Thankfully, they had some free time before Edric would storm back in. Wren slept dreamlessly for the first time in days. He awoke to the bell at the front ringing, bringing him from a hard slumber. Drool coated the side of his face as he stumbled down the ladder and trotted to the front. Edric tasked out the kids to various places, and Wren was delighted to hear he was assigned to work in the stables just out front of the orphanage.

Wren, Sam, and a lanky girl called Milly met at the stables. The hours passed as they brushed the horses, cleaned out the soiled hay, and fed them. Sam and Milly passed the time by talking about possibly going to the markets on Sunday, the only day they don't get tasks. Thinking of the markets just pushed Wren further into his dark thoughts, reminding him of his shattered past.

After getting cleaned up, Edric marched the kids to lunch, where once again Wren ate without a word and hardly a thought. A second nap helped prepare him for what was to come after supper. Finally feeling energized, Wren and Sam quietly went over their plan to break out Lira. Getting out of the infirmary should be easy, especially if they got another guard who likes his drink. The hard part, the part that worried him the most, was not getting caught afterwards. Who knows how the Silverbloods would react to a girl, who apparently is important to them, disappearing. Sam assured him he would do what he could to make sure they would have a clean get away. His overall plan was to get away from here. Flee Veilstone completely, maybe even the region. It was a bold idea, and one he didn't have a ton of confidence in, but he refused to just accept that their future lay within these walls.

They finished supper, and waited outside for their escort to the infirmary. The cold rain had soaked them through, and the icy breeze hurt. Snow should be arriving soon, possibly in the next few days. The two boys shivered under the lamplight, anxious to escape the weather. Finally, they saw a soldier emerge from the maze of alleyways. Not waiting, the boys made their way to him. It was the same guard as last night, something that bolstered Wren's motivation. The small group set off through the rain, meandering through the labyrinth of deep puddles and slippy mud. Wren was actually happy to see the ominous infirmary hunched in the darkness. Shaking the rain off, they hung their cloaks to dry, although the chill inside was unlikely to do much. The guard said his bit about being here if they needed him, then slipped into the same room as before, likely eager to find the bottom of whatever bottle he brought.

The boys wasted no time. Creeping through the hall, they kept an eye out for any late night nurses. Silence filled the cold building, so the sounds of their wet boots squelching on the stones was painfully loud. Wren quickly found the ward his sister was in, lit only by a single candle at the very end, by her bed. They approached, Wren's heart hammering in his chest. Pulling the curtain aside, Sam met Lira for the first time.

"She looks just like you." He chuckled. "Well minus the long hair."

"Not for much longer." Replied Wren, holding up the sheers he had pocketed from the stables earlier.

He placed his hand on his sisters shoulder, gently squeezing. Calling her name, her eyes fluttered open. She met his gaze with the same expressionless stare as before. It broke his heart. Would he ever see her smile again? He had no idea.

"We're here to get you out. But there's something I have to do first. Please don't be afraid, ok?" He held up the sheers in one hand, and a strand of her hair in the other. If she understood, she gave no sign.

Sam brought a bedpan over to collect the hair, and Wren started snipping. He wasn't skilled at this, but he had help cut his fathers hair in the past. The sheers snipped through her long brown hair, and Wren struggled to not tear up. Her hair was like one more piece of their past, now being forcibly removed from their lives. Before long, they had filled the bedpan with hair, and the girl sitting in the bed looked more like Wren than ever before.

Wren helped her from the bed, where she teetered unsteadily. Sam sat the bedpan down, and passed over a wad of spare clothes. He then turned away as Wren helped her remove the hospital dress, and into the clothes. When he turned back around, he gasped.

"Its like looking at twins! I mean, besides her blue eyes. Even with shaggy hair though, its crazy!" Sam said.

"Well, hopefully its enough to keep her from attracting attention." Wren glanced at her, and agreed, it was odd, like looking in a mirror.

"Come on, time to go. We probably don't have a lot of time."

They slowly made their way out of the ward. Lira couldn't move quickly. She seemed weak, her steps shaky like a baby deer. The time it took them to get back downstairs took twice, maybe three times as long. If the mage found her gone before they got out, it would make this whole thing a lot harder.

When they reached the first floor, Lira stopped. Her eyes wandered the hall like she was looking at something. Wren felt a chill in the air and shivered.

"Come on sis, we need to-" A sharp whisper cut him off. They froze. A hiss came from behind them, and Wren whirled around. Only darkness filled the space.

"Wren, we need to leave, now." Sam struggled to keep his voice low.

The two boys, one on either side of Lira, slowly made their way towards the front door. They were a stones through away when Lira froze again, and a second later, a woman stepped from the darkness ahead of them. For a split second, Wren thought it was Head Caretaker Ivara and his throat tightened. But this was worse. As the woman approached, he saw she was covered in blood. She limped forward, and her left leg dragged behind her uselessly. She flickered for a moment, and Sam let out a whine like he was about to start crying. The ghost reached her hand out, and the group took a step back. From behind them came more whispers, and Lira squatted to the floor, her eyes shut tightly and her hands covering her ears. Wren felt a cold wave of air press on him from behind, but didn't bother to turn around. Instead he grabbed on of the brooms they left sitting against the wall and swung it at the ghost. It passed through her torso harmlessly, but she stopped coming closer. She slowly rotated her head around to fix her eyeless skull on Wren. Dread creeped through him, as she opened her mouth. A piercing shriek rang through the hall, disorienting the boys. Wren went to one knee and clamped down over his ears, while Sam stumbled off to the side. The ethereal voice stabbed into their minds like a hot needle. The whispers, once behind them, were now inside his head. He couldn't think. He had to do something but he was totally paralyzed.

Suddenly, Lira stood up, one hand outstretched. Her now shaggy hair moved as if in a breeze, and her blue eyes lit up. The ghost stopped shrieking, looked at the girl for just a moment, then burst into flames. Despite being just feet away, they felt no heat. The phantom screamed, sounding more in anger than pain, then vanished, with no trace of the fire. The Whispering had ceased, and Wren stood up, mouth agape in shock, looking at his sister. Sam was the first to react, grabbing Lira by the hand and pulling her to the door. "Let's go!" He said, trying hard not the shout despite what just happened. Wren snapped out of his stupor and followed, lending his arm for his sister's support. They creeped past the guards door, where they heard a loud snore, and stopped at the door. The boys draped bother their still damp cloaks over Lira's shoulders, hoping to offer some protection from the cold and wet outside.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

They carefully pushed a door open, holding their breath as it let out a creak. They couldn't have asked for a better escort than the one they were assigned. They stepped out into the frigid night. The rain had picket up, coming down much heavier than it had been all day. The sound of water was so loud, Sam was almost shouting as he pointed towards an alleyway. "This way!"

If the slow progress from the second floor to the first was slow, their progress through the mud was painful. Lira was struggling to force her way through the muck, often needing the boys to help her pull a foot out of the sticky goop, and occasionally slipping, leaning hard on them. The rain came down in sheets, making it seem like they were moving through a swamp, rather than behind castle walls. Wren would have been totally lost if it wasn't for Sam.

They rounded a corner and the alley opened up into a small courtyard.

"We're nearly there. Just through this alley here, and through the big courtyard." Sam pointed down a shadowy path between two buildings, looking much the same as the others, snaking away deeper into the city.

The rain was starting to let up, just a little. As they moved forward, a voice called out from the shadows.

"Well look who we found!"

They turned, and saw Zane stalking out of the darkness, with three other boys following him.

Wren couldn't believe it. This was the LAST thing they needed right now. "What are you even doing out here?"

Zane laughed. "Me? Whaddabout you?"

The boys who followed Zane fanned out, half surrounding the group. They each carried weapons. One boy had a bat that looked like an old table leg, another had an actual club, and other had a wooden board. Zane didn't appear to have anything.

"Actually," The red headed boy said. "We were coming to find you. I knew you rats were stuck cleaning, but instead you came to us!"

Wren and Sam moved to stand in front of Lira.

"Just let us go Zane, we can deal with this tomorrow." Wren countered.

"Oh no," The bully replied. "We're doin this now." He signaled to his friends and they stepped toward the boys.

This was bad. They were outnumbered two to one, and had nothing to fight with.

"Lira, you need to run." Wren whispered. "Get out of here as fast as you can."

He glanced back, but she remained in place, here eyes locked on his. He didn't know if she didn't understand, or didn't want to, but she was in danger.

The boy on the left, with the makeshift table leg bat took a step towards Wren and swung low. Wren sucked in his gut and threw his butt out, the bat just missing his ribs. He responded with a quick right hook, striking the older boy in his face. He stumbled back, but the swing didn't have much force.

"OK were not here to play you stupid brats! Get them!" Shouted Zane.

Zane and the boy with the board moved in towards Sam. Wren knew he was in trouble, but he couldn't do anything about him. The table leg bully and the club bully both leapt at Wren. He dropped to the ground, the bat whooshing above his head harmlessly. The boy with the club swung down, forcing Wren to roll through the mud to avoid it. He heard shouting from where Sam was, and cast a quick glance in his direction. His friend had somehow managed to get on the back of the boy holding a board. Seems like he was doing alright.

Wren got to his feet quickly, right as a club was coming for his face. Instead of dodging this time, Wren reached out and grabbed the club with both hands. The two struggled, slipping around in the mud.

"Hold 'em still!" called the boy with the bat. Wren waited half a breath, then ducked. He heard the table leg swing through the air, but instead of hitting Wren, there was a sickening crunch as it broke the other boys nose. Wren pulled the club from the wounded boys hands and turned to face the bat wielding bully. He was distracted by his friend, who was clutching his bloody face and cursing. Wren stepped forward and swung, making contact with the boys shoulder. He cried out, but didn't drop the table leg. Instead he turned quickly and lashed out, the bat knocking the weapon from Wren's hands and throwing him aside. He swung again, and Wren felt pain explode in his left arm. He cried out, and scrambled to get away. He heard a cry and looked over at Sam.

Sam was no longer on the kid's back, but that didn't seem to be a problem, as that boy has clutching the side of his head. "That rat bit my ear off!" He screamed. Zane meanwhile, was approaching Sam, and in his hand glinted a knife. Sam was laying on the ground, holding his stomach and didn't see Zane coming closer. "I'm gunna gut you like a fish."

"Sam! Get up! Get up and run!" yelled Wren, his voice cracking in fear.

Sam looked over his shoulder, saw Zane, and scrambled to get away. Zane swung the knife and Sam wailed in pain. Wren's vision went red, and he screamed, trying to stumble towards his friend, only for a swinging table leg to intercept him, knocking him down again. The boy strode away from Wren, and headed towards Lira. Her wide eyes were locked on Sam, seemingly oblivious to the new threat.

Lira...Sam... He thought frantically. I've failed you.

He tipped his head back, looking upside down at what he thought would be his sisters death.

The bully strode toward her, dragging his bat through the mud and rain.

"Lira!" Wren's voice was raspy, and he couldn't catch his breath.

Lira finally turned to face the boy with the bat. He raised his weapon. Lira's eyes suddenly lit up, shining like two blue beacons in the night. She thrust her hands out in front of her and snapped her eyes shut. An unfelt wind stirred her hair, and the air tingled, charged with electricity. A burst of energy erupted from her hands. The bully was picked up and tossed through the air, flying clear down another alleyway. The other boys who were a little farther away were thrown back, colliding with the buildings behind them. They slumped into the muck, not moving. Lira dropped to her knees, and sunk into the muck.

Wren tore his attention away from his incredible sister, struggled to his feet and ran to Sam. His friend was holding his arm, a wicked gash ran the length of his forearm.

"I'm ok...I'm alright" he gasped, out of breath. "Just, lets not make a habit of this. I'm not cut out for gang fights."

Wren grinned, glad to see his friend was okay.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked, pointing to Wren as he cradled his arm.

Wren looked down. A massive knot was already starting to form, and a ugly bruise was sure to follow.

"I don't THINK it's broken." He replied, grimacing as he opened and closed his fist repeatedly.

He felt a touch on his shoulder, and looked up to see Lira. She looked absolutely exhausted, but she seemed ok. Wren rose to his feet and embraced her. She hesitated, then put her arms around him.

"I'm so glad you're ok sis!"

"What did she even do?" Asked Sam, looking at the boys slumped against the walls.

"I have no idea, but I'm damn glad she can."

Lira pointed to the alleyway, the way that Sam said was the way back.

"Yea, we need to get back, before that mage comes looking for us." Said Sam.

The trio wearily gathered themselves up, and headed into the shadows. From the darkness behind them, a feeble voice called out.

"This isn't over Rats!" A cough, "yer gunna pay!"

Sam and Wren traded concerned looks, and tried to pick up their pace through the storm.