The Chosen Soul (5 page)

change their minds.

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The Chosen Soul

Once again, the notion of calling upon the devil for help came unbidden to her mind.

Just as she was squeezing her eyes shut, fighting to push the thought away, an arrow

came whizzing through the bars in the window.

Raven stared at it for a moment and then came to her senses, scrambled to her feet,

and rushed toward it after it hit the opposite wall and clattered to the ground. Tied around it was a note. Raven pulled the scroll off of the arrow’s shaft and unrolled it.

I’Ive gath

t ered

d sup

u pl

p i

l e

i s in

i

n th

t e for

o est.

t .You

u kn

k o

n w

o th

t e pla

l ce.

I’Ill

l lta

t ke

k care of

o th

t e

e gua

u rds

d ou

o ts

t id

i e

d .

You’

u ll lhave

e to

t

o get

t th

t e ke

k y fr

f om

o

m th

t e att

t e

t nda

d nt

n .

t

- Lok

o i

k

Raven re-folded the note and placed it into the inside pocket of the traveling tunic

that her mother had brought to her. She stilled her breathing and listened carefully for any unusual sounds outside. She knew her brother was out there now. And now she knew he

hadn’t abandoned her. In fact, he had been planning her escape.

Her mind reeled from the implications. If they were successful, they would have to

run into the forest. She and her brother had entered it before, but only to a certain depth.

Beyond that, the woods were said to extend for days and days, twisted and uncertain,

devoid of trail or path to guide the way.

They would have to leave their home. They would never again see their parents.

“Hey!”

“Over here! Max, he’s over here!”

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Heather Killough-Walden

Raven’s head jerked up and she ran to the window. On tip toes, she peeked through

the bars, straining her neck to get a better view. She could see nothing, no movement, no

lights, no sign of Loki or the guards she had just heard.

Another arrow whizzed through the air. This one made an unforgettable thumping

sound as it found its mark in human flesh.

“
Haledon
, I’m
hit
!” someone called through clenched teeth. Raven turned her head in the direction of the guard’s voice. In the periphery of her vision, she could make out

dancing lights, torches running through the night.

“Where?”

“My leg. Go after him. I think it’s Loki Grey. Take the dogs with you!” The guard

issued orders and Raven’s heart beat sped up. How in the world would they outrun the

dogs? She closed her eyes and tried to think. This was most likely an unforeseen event in

Loki’s escape plan. What the hell had he been planning, anyway? What was he doing

with that bow?

Raven gritted her teeth and grasped the bars between her hands. Again, she tried to

make heads or tails of what was transpiring beneath the limit of her sight. She had to get

out there and help him. Where was the attendant guard? He should have come in by now

to check on her, knowing that her brother was trying to break her out.

So, where was he? And then she realized what had happened. The attendant had gone

to unlock the dogs from their cages. He had the only set of keys. Raven cursed under her

breath. She was a nimble runner. She was fast, and she seemed to know exactly where to

put her feet, even on unsure ground. But Loki was much slower. If he wasn’t extremely

clever, the dogs would rip him apart.

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The Chosen Soul

She cursed again, rested her head against the window sill, and squeezed the bars tight

as she tried, in vain, to think of another way out.

It was the faint crackling sound, the popping and hissing right in front of her nose,

that made her open her eyes.

She gasped. The bars beneath her hands had been coated in rime. The crystals spread

and deepened as she stared at them. The ice extended from beneath her squeezing palms

and raced up and down the bars until both had been completely covered in white frost.

She exhaled shakily and her breath steamed in the warm air of the summer’s night. Her

skin, too, was steaming, coils of misted air rising from her flesh as the frigid temperature of her body contrasted with the heat and humidity around her.

In that instant, as she stared at the frozen evidence of her dawning powers, she

realized which of the Abaddonian Lords was her father.

A barking sound filled the night and jarred her from her thoughts. Without further

pretense, Raven gave the bars beneath her hands a good yank. They groaned and cracked,

crumbling to a dozen frozen metal pieces around her. She didn’t hesitate in placing her

hands on the next two bars. In a few moments, those, too, were frozen clean through.

Another yank and pull and the window was free of obstruction. She looked around,

spotted the bed, and ran over to it. In a few short moments, she had scooted it across the

room. With its height beneath her, she scrambled up onto the window’s narrow sill.

More barking and shouting filled the darkness. The sound of arrows whizzing

through the air gave evidence to the fact that Loki had paused long enough to attempt to

deal with the dogs in another manner.

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Heather Killough-Walden

Raven smiled when she heard the telltale yelp of one of the hounds and knew that the

beast had been hit. Though she was not fond of the thought of harming innocent animals,

she had never cared for those particular dogs. They were far from innocent.

She crouched beneath the building’s shadow and listened once again.

Someone called for her brother to stop. Several dogs howled in unison. They were

growing distant.

Above her, she heard the jingling and scraping sound of keys in a lock. The attendant

guard had finally made his way back to her cell. She smiled again, imagining the look of

shock on his face when he found the window’s bars shattered to pieces and the prisoner

nowhere in sight.

And then she was up and running, racing across the guard house’s short lawn to the

forest line as if death were on her tail. She plunged head-long into the darkness of the

twisted woods, heedless of brambles and vines, as she had never in her life been caught

unawares by such things.

Not a thorn touched her, not a root tripped her as she sped through the underbrush,

heading at a full sprint toward the sound of a dog yipping and the guards yelling to one

another in the darkness.

Within a few minutes, her long legs had carried her to an area that was at once

familiar. She and her brother had built a fort not far from there when they were children.

It was the place he had referred to in his note. He would be nearby. She stopped running

and crouched low, listening. The light of two torches drew nearer.

Several yards away, she could make out a dog’s quick panting.

“I think he doubled back to the river.”

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The Chosen Soul

“No, Zeir’s picking up another scent. Just let him search here.”

Raven quieted her breathing as the guards and their hound came closer. Her heart

sank in her chest when she realized that if he could scent out her brother, the dog would

be able to smell her as well.

Unless…

A few feet away, a dog whined low in its throat.

“What is it, Zeir?”

“Something isn’t right. It feels cold here. I think it’s spooking him.”

The dog’s whining grew louder and Raven heard the distinctive clank of a leash’s

chain being yanked to its full extent.

“He really doesn’t want to be here.” The guard paused and listened. The dog’s

incessant whining most likely blocked any other, less conspicuous noise, from the

guard’s perception. He sighed. “Head back to the river. I’m pretty sure that’s where we

lost him.”

The sound of their footfalls grew fainter as the trio made their way in the opposite

direction. Torch light dimmed and Raven stood from where she’d been kneeling. She

took a moment to allow her eyes to adjust to the new darkness and then searched the

territory around her.

She recognized the layout of the trees, the fallen logs, even the way the leaves spread

themselves across the forest floor. The fort was about a quarter of a mile East. But if the guards were right and Loki had remained by the river, she would need to find him first.

Something might have happened to him. If he was well, he’d have gone from the river

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Heather Killough-Walden

straight to the fort. If he’d been hurt, though, then she needed to get to him before the dog did.

She glanced up. Unable to use the moons to guide her through the thick canopy of

tree branches overhead, she relied upon her memory instead. There was a shortcut from

the river to the fort. The river was the best place to start.

At once, she was off and running again. Her long legs carried her swiftly over the

ground until she could once again see torch light. The water babbled and splashed as it

cascaded down falls of rocks in this familiar bend. The path to the fort was on the other

side.

Raven had no idea whether her brother were still here or not. If he was unconscious,

she would have no way of finding him until the guards were gone, or until they had found

him first.

They would hear her if she called out in any way. She sat there in the shadows and

racked her brain for some way to distract the guards long enough to search the river’s

perimeter.

And then she heard the crackling sound again. She looked down, almost positive she

would see ice spreading across the forest floor beneath her feet. But this time the sound

wasn’t coming from her.

She smelled smoke. She looked back up and noticed the new light across the river. A

fire had been started. It sparked to life and grew with frightening speed. In a few seconds, it had become a bonfire, blazing bright and roaring with immense heat as it gobbled up

the logs that had been placed atop it.

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The Chosen Soul

The inferno shed enough light to see quite clearly now and she watched the guards as

they tried to stumble their way across the river while holding on to the dog as he yipped

and yapped and struggled against the leash with all of his might. The animal had no

desire to investigate the fire, however the guards seemed determined to do so.

She waited. She knew Loki was smart enough not to draw attention to himself in

such a manner. In fact, she was fairly certain that the fire had been meant as a diversion.

So, she sat back on her haunches and listened.

A snapping of a twig behind her drew her into a standing position, her hands at her

sides, balled into fists.

“It’s me.” Loki came out of the shadows, a bow in one hand, a rag-tipped arrow in

the other. Raven could smell kerosene.

“How did you get it lit?” she asked automatically, referring to the other arrow that he

had obviously set ablaze and sent hurling into the bonfire across the river.

“The acolytes at Haledon’s temple gave me a fire stone. Said I would need it.”

Raven smiled. “I guess they were right.”

“Come on, we need to get our supplies and get as far away as possible while we

can.”

Raven nodded and they quickly headed around the river at a safe distance from the

bonfire. In the cast off light from the fire, it was easy to find the remnants of the trail they’d once carved into the forest as children. They followed it, running now, until the

fire behind them was no longer visible.

Within a few moments, they arrived at the run down remains of what had once been

their childhood hideaway, a tree house, falling and forgotten. Rotted timbers hung from

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Heather Killough-Walden

bent nails on thick, lower branches. A roof of faded linens, eaten through with multiple

holes, dangled in rags, flapping in a gentle midnight breeze.

Loki led them to the base of the tree and began to shove leaves away from a small

crevice in the trunk. Inside were two bags. He took one, threw the strap over his shoulder, and handed her the other.

“We’ve enough food for four or five days, if we’re careful. We’ll have to find water

as we go.”

She nodded and pulled her own strap over her head and shoulder, securing it beneath

the opposite arm. Then they were running again, putting distance between themselves and

the guards that would now be realizing they’d been led astray. As they moved, Raven

thought of the village they were leaving. The village they had been born and grew up in,

the village they would never see again.

As she ran, she was thankful that Loki had to concentrate so hard on the ground

before him so that he was unable to see the tears that stained his sister’s cheeks.

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The Chosen Soul

The Chosen Soul – Chapter Five

Raven was unsure how long they had been running. They hadn’t met up with anyone

since they’d left the guards at the river’s side. And yet, Loki had insisted that they keep moving.