The Inheritor of Light

Escaping the City (Part Two)

"No!" she roared with all her might. With her outcry, light flooded out from every pore of her body. It moved outwards in all directions like a wave. The woman looked up just in time to see the light before it hit her and Johnathan. The darkness holding Johnathan captive dissipated, releasing him to the ground. The woman was flung like a rag-doll down the street and into the wall of a nearby house.

The light faded as quickly as it had appeared. Sãra stood wide-eyed and unmoving. Johnathan, who had quickly regained his wits, got to his feet and ran over to Sãra. He grabbed her hand and pulled her after him as they continued their flight.

On the inside of the wall, were stairs that led up to the battlements. By the time they reached them, Sãra had recovered from her daze and was under her own locomotion. The light she released, undoubtedly, had summoned the attention of all the guards in the area. However, for the moment, they would be busy investigating the spontaneous burst of illumination, which allowed Johnathan and Sãra to make it onto the battlements.

"How are we going to get down?" Sãra asked, finally realizing that she had never been informed about this part of the plan.

"We jump."

"Wait, 'jump' as in—" Johnathan didn't give her time to finish. As soon as she was on the parapet, he pushed her over and jumped after her.

If Sãra would have had enough time to know she was falling, she would have cried out. However, ever since failing to rescue Talia, she had been a little sluggish with her wits. Perhaps it was that she had too many things on her mind or was a mild state of shock, but whatever it was, she didn't notice the fall until it was already over.

Instead of crashing to her death from the twenty-five-foot drop, she landed in a thick pool of darkness, courtesy of Johnathan. She blinked and looked back up at the wall, which she had stood atop a moment before, then she turned her attention back to Johnathan.

"How are we going to get out of here? They'll be on us in minutes."

"I know that, but hopefully we'll be gone before that happens," Johnathan replied as he stepped forwards, putting his fingers in his lips and letting out a high pitch whistle.

Sãra would have remarked about him calling a dog, but she finally was able to see what the woman at the crossroads had done to him. On his left cheek were five deep cuts that were still bleeding slightly. In a strange way, she almost wanted to reach out and touch them. She managed, however, to wrestle her impulse and kept her hands to herself.

A whinny from behind her almost gave Sãra a fright. She was certain that the guards had made it to them. She turned to see a great black stallion galloping towards them. He was at least eighteen and a half hands tall with burning red eyes. It was only Johnathan's calm reception of the beast that gave Sãra any peace of mind.

The steed was already harnessed and saddled as though it had been waiting for Johnathan's call. He stepped forwards and stroked the horse's neck. "Good boy. I had a feeling you were somewhere nearby. It's nice to know that you wouldn't abandon me."

Sãra stepped shyly up to the horse, who responded by shifting his head towards her. She quickly stepped back, unnerved by the sudden movement.

"No need to be frightened. Darkwind is an old friend of mine, and I promise he won't bite you." Johnathan chuckled.

"Very well. But I can hardly reach the stirrups to get on him."

Johnathan stepped onto the stirrup and hoisted himself aloft the beast. He then prodded Darkwind over to Sãra and offered her a hand. Sãra took it, and before she knew what was happening Johnathan had pulled her up in front of him so that she was sitting crosswise.

She turned to look at his face. The terrible cuts still glistened with seeping blood.

"Johnathan . . ." she began but didn't finish.

"It's alright. I'll be fine. We need to go, so hold on tightly."

Sãra wrapped one arm around his waist as best she could. As soon as he felt her sufficiently secured, Johnathan spurred Darkwind forwards, along the wall. As they rode around the city, they heard cries from the battlements. Undoubtedly, a guard had seen them and was now relaying news of their escape.

Johnathan pushed Darkwind to go faster. The steed, seemingly enjoying the excitement, moved his hoofs even quicker than before. Sãra was jostled up and down as the ride grew bumpier.

Moments later, they broke away from the wall and now were riding through the surrounding village. As they crossed from grass to dirt road, a horse cried from behind them. Sãra turned to see several horseman riding after them. The garrison had been prepared to chase them down. Sãra looked to her side and saw several more riding parallel to them a street over. The riders were planning to box them in and then force them to stop.

"Johnathan, they're boxing us in!" Sãra cried above the sound of the wind.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Johnathan said without even turning to look at their pursuers.

Sãra looked ahead to see if Johnathan knew something she didn't. Ahead of them, not more than a sixth of league away, was a thick, black fog bank, and they were heading right for it. "Johnathan, by the Exalted, what is that ahead of us?"

"Like I said, we'll be fine. Calm down."

The fog bank was growing ever closer. They had now left the village and were on the open plain. The horsemen had joined up as they left the town and were now following behind them. Sãra turned, expecting to see the riders almost upon them. However, she found that Darkwind's lead had increased considerably.

Darkwind didn't seem to be tiring at the pace they were maintaining. In fact, he seemed to have increased his speed since they left the cover of the houses. The horses of the men behind them, however, would soon begin to tire.

Sãra returned her attention to what lay ahead of them. They were almost upon the fog bank, which Sãra now realized was not fog at all; rather it was a wall of darkness. It only seemed to look like fog, but up close one could see that it wasn't clear, instead it was a writhing mass of empty blackness.

"Johnathan!" Sãra cried out in fear a moment before they dove into it.

Even after passing into the black abyss, Darkwind did not let up his pace. If anything, his speed had greatly increased. Their pursuers had disappeared. Whether swallowed by the darkness or turned back in fright, Sãra didn't know. All she truly knew was that she did not like the place they were in.

"Johnathan? Please, can we leave this place. I don't like it."

"Don't act like a child. This darkness is of Darkwind's making. Our enemy is lost for now, and by the time they get their wits about them, we'll be leagues away."

"You mean to tell me that a horse created a field of darkness?"

Johnathan chuckled heartily. "There is more in heaven and earth than you might have ever dreamed of, princess."

Sãra pouted but didn't say another word. The darkness seemed to be slowly sapping her strength. Before she knew it, she was yawning and laying her head against Johnathan's chest. Her eyes slowly closed, and the world faded away.