The Inheritor of Light

"As to whom the Dark Mistress is, I cannot say with any certainty. There is an innumerable amount of rumors regarding her existence. The only thing that keeps her from being thought of as mere myth is the continuous influence she exerts on all darkness elementalists. She gathers them to her and uses them as her own personal vassals. One might even postulate that she is, in a way, their queen. Any dissenters of this rule must either be assimilated or annihilated."

- Rutenfor, "Alvirithian Mythos 3rd Ed." (515 SA)

Morning snuck up on the weary fugitives. Sãra had been drained from the emotional and physical toll of the previous day; Johnathan was exhausted from his escape and eventual babysitting of a princess—who would remain nameless. By the time Johnathan had awoken, the thirteenth hour was already upon them.

His eyes slowly opened as the light managed to find its way between the tall houses and past the pulled curtains. He looked up to see Sãra curled up in her blanket. In a way she was cute, like a small child, but perhaps she was more like a highland lion: innocent-looking while asleep, but a frightful beast when awake.

He got up with a groan. His choice to sleep in the chair had been a mistake. Nothing made one's back hurt more than sleeping in a straight-back wooden chair. He stood, and after a couple stretches, made his way over to Sãra. She had a peaceful look on her face, which made him feel guilty about waking her back up to the harsh reality that was now her life. He shook her shoulders several times until he got a response.

"Ugh . . . what? Is it morning already?" she asked groggily.

"Get up. It's almost midday." Johnathan moved to grab his cloak.

"What?" Sãra asked, surprised by the news. "We have to go."

"That's why I told you to get up. We can't wait until tomorrow, and it's too risky to go at night. We'll have to hope that the guards are too busy watching to see if we leave rather than if we're still here."

Sãra stood up and put on her boots, she grabbed her cloak and put it on, pulling the hood up as best she could to conceal herself. Johnathan was already at the door waiting for her by the time she was finished. After closing the door behind them, they both moved quickly down the alley and towards the palace wall.

They hurried down the streets and tried to avoid any populated areas as much as possible. The people were still wary, along with the city watch. All of them only knew that a man and a woman were fugitives and that they'd be traveling together. It would only be a matter of time before someone saw them and decided to inform the guards.

After a long trip, mainly consisting of back-alleyways, side-streets, and dark lanes, Johnathan and Sãra managed to find their way to the gardens that surrounded the palace walls.

"So where do we go from here?" Johnathan asked skeptically.

"If we head farther east, near where the wall begins to head into the mountainside, there should be some large shrubs with an old oak by them. It's behind those."

"And how do you know, before we get too far into this, that it hasn't been sealed?"

Sãra gave him an annoyed look. "No one ever caught me sneaking out through there, and besides, the old thing was never in any of the records. I found it by luck, so I doubt that it's been discovered."

"Fine. Let's hurry before someone sees us."

They both rushed through the open landscape of the gardens as quickly as they could while trying to remain inconspicuous. Thankfully, the guards didn't seem to have enough men to patrol the palace wall like they ought.