Part 2
### Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Pulled through time by a dragon shaped bracelet, Ashlyn must rely on the help of a man who claims to be Robin Hood and his not quite human band of outlaws to find her missing little brother.
Complete Chapters 13
Rating 4.7 ( 32 reviews ) Age Rating 16+
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Prologue
A hulking
bear of a man stood at the center of a barrel thick log crossing the
river. It was the only crossing point
that Robin had seen for over a mile. He
stepped onto the log, beckoning for Will to stay where he was. The huge, dark haired man lifted a
quarterstaff threateningly, calling, “This be my bridge. To pass will cost you.”
Robin cocked
his head and sighed wearily, “My friend and I are tired and hungry. We must cross this river before we can rest.”
The big man
stood straighter, puffing his thick chest out and repeated, “To pass my bridge
will cost you.”
Robin
shrugged tugging the insides of his pockets out to show nothing but lint, “As
you can see, I haven’t any money. I’m
just a common outlaw without a penny to my name.”
The man
scratched at his thick black beard and declared, “I am John. John Little, and if you cannot pay then you
cannot pass.”
Robin
beckoned to Will who tossed him a long wooden staff. It was not as thick as the staff held by
John. Robin lifted the staff. He pointed it at the burly man on the log,
“My friend and I are intent on passing.
Step aside or we will go through you.”
His back had straightened, and his voice had taken on an edge of steel.
John’s thick
dark eyebrow lifted, “You think you can defeat me, little man? I’ll have you taking a cold bath in no
time.” He chuckled, glancing
suggestively at the river, and then settled back into his ready stance. The sounds of the forest seemed to quiet down
as if even the animals were anticipating Robin’s reaction.
Robin
smirked, “I think that on this slippery log, my slight size and nimble feet
will be to an advantage.” He raised his
staff, twirling it in the air like an extra-large baton, and advanced. John was quick for such a giant of a man. Robin soon found that he had more difficulty
dodging his powerful blows than he had expected. Robin darted forward jabbing John in the gut
with the rounded end of the staff. He
was rewarded by harsh blow to the back.
He fell forward and rolled along the log, bounding to his feet at the
end of his impromptu somersault. He spun
around just in time to ward off another blow.
They
continued to exchange blows, dodging and ducking and blocking blows with their
own staves to avoid serious injury.
After what seemed like an hour with relatively no progress, the
intensive clashing of weapons began to slow as both men finally began to
tire. They started aiming for the legs
to try knocking each other off of the log.
Robin’s staff slipped behind John’s leg and tripped him just as a solid
blow to the shoulder knocked Robin backwards at just the right angle to throw
him off balance. With two mighty
splashes both men hit the water simultaneously.
John’s face
instantly flared red with anger as he wiped the water from his face and beard. He sputtered to spit out what had gotten into
his mouth, but Robin only laughed. “It
looks like we’ve both gotten our baths for the day.” He wiped the icy water from his eyes and then
with a grin he shook his head like a wet dog.
Will, who had
stood leaning against a tree on the bank watching the duel, started laughing at
his friend’s antics. The two men’s humor
was contagious. John finally swallowed
his pride, and with a harrumph he began laughing along with them. Soon he climbed up onto the grassy bank,
holding out his hand to help Robin from the water on the far side of the river.
Will made his
way tentatively along the slippery, wet log to join the others on the far
side. He stared at John incredulously
then turned to Robin, “He bested you!”
He cried.
Robin
laughed, “It happens, but look at him.
He is a bear of a man. He is a
worthy opponent to be sure.” He rubbed
one of the many bruises that he knew he would be feeling tomorrow. He held out his hand to his burly
opponent. “I am called Robin and this is
Will. Would you join us for a meal and a
chance to dry off by the fire?”
John
hesitated only a moment before the string of fish that Will held along with the
growling of his own stomach swayed him to agree. Once they sat around a fire, with the fish
sizzling merrily over the flames, they began talking and soon John found that
he was comfortable with these men. After
they had dished up the food, John began to tell Robin and Will his story
between bites of fish.
“I was out
hunting, sneaking up on a huge buck, when I heard a growl behind me. I whirled and came face to face with a mighty
silver wolf. He stood as tall as my shoulder
and his eyes were yellow, intense. He
must have been hunting the same buck, but he apparently did not like me being
near his prey. He lunged before I could
react and bit me on the shoulder.”
Pulling back the collar of his shirt he showed them the massive bite
scars. To have a jaw large enough to
leave those marks, Will imagined the wolf must have been every bit as huge as John
described it.
“The buck bolted right then, and for some
reason, the beast released me to give chase.
If he hadn’t, wouldn’t be alive today.
I was injured and bleeding, but eventually I stumbled through the woods
to my home and my lovely wife. Alice
patched me up good.”
A terribly
sad and lonely look overcame him at the mention of his wife, “Over the next few
weeks I grew to be awfully bad tempered, getting angry about anything and
everything. One day, I lost my temper
over a fruitless fishing trip. Alice
said something about me having better luck the next day and…” he seemed to wilt
at his memories. His next words came as
a bare whisper, “I snapped. I gave in to
my anger and started to see red. When I
woke I was…different. I was standing
over my wife’s torn and bloody dress.
Somehow, I had changed into a wolf.
I ran into the forest. Eventually
I shifted back. I had to steal clothing
because I had none, and I…I couldn’t go back home. I am not certain what happened that day, but
I know that I hurt my lovely Alice, maybe even killed her, and I can never
forgive myself for that.”
He hung his
head as massive tears dripped into the dirt at his feet. Robin set his hand on John’s arm, “You’ve had
a hard turn, friend. I’m sorry for the
loss of your home and wife.” He studied
the large man for a moment. After a nod
from Will he asked, “Why don’t you continue with us, John? You’ve nowhere better to be and we could
always use someone so talented with a quarterstaff.”
Tired of his
loneliness, John agreed to join them and they began to fill him in on their
plot to put the greedy Sheriff of Nottingham out of business.
The friar’s wagon
seemed to make it a point to bounce over every single rut in the road just to
aggravate his massive headache. With
each jostling bump, a bolt of lightning threatened to split his skull. He wanted so badly to get out of these woods,
but now that his church knew his deep dark secret, he had to take refuge where
he could find it. He planned to make
camp in the woods for a few days, just until the witch hunters from his village
stopped looking for him; then he would continue on to London.
He was just
about to berate the horse for not trotting more smoothly when he spotted what
looked like a fallen log in the middle of the path. He pulled the reins to stop the horse and
climbed down with a grunt. Waddling over
to the log, he bent over it to see if perhaps it was rotted enough for his
wagon to be able to roll over it without damaging his few remaining possessions
(his wagon and the ale it carried). As
the friar bent to inspect the log, one of the branches reached up and grabbed
his arm. Right before his eyes a blond
haired blue eyed man appeared in front of the log from out of nowhere.
“Hello, Friar.” The sneaky man greeted him, “How kind of you
to deliver your goods to us simple outlaws.”
The friar
heard a shout from behind. He turned to see two men raiding his wagon. “That’s my ale!” He shouted.
One of the
men by the wagon, a huge bear of a man with a massive black beard and matching
hair, yelled back, “Aye, and a fine batch of ale it is!”
The friar
turned back to the man on the ground, “It’s all I have left in the world.”
The man let
go of his arm and hopped to his feet, “Well then, it’s only fair that you join
us in our indulgence and share in our meal.
Perhaps you will honor us with the story of what brought you to our
humble woods. We have little but
wouldn’t want to deprive a good man of the only possessions he has left. Perhaps we can come to an amicable agreement
as to the value of your ale and your company.”
In spite of
his reservations, the friar hadn’t had a drink all day, and he felt that he
certainly deserved it after such a long day of riding. Though they were rough,
these men seemed to be jovial and good.
They sat around a campfire and drank his fine ale. After several rounds the friar began to feel
much more relaxed and he decided to share his tale of why he had been chased
from his church and home.
“I was
presiding over the funeral of one of my parishioners and was saying some very
well thought out words about him passing on to a better place, when that
inconsiderate corpse sat up and started walking around attacking people.
His own
family had to hack him to pieces before he finally stopped moving. It was a terrible, horrific tragedy. I tried to comfort the family, telling them
that this has happened before and the families have always moved on with their
lives with only a few emotional scars.”
He shook his
head sadly, “Well, they told their friends what I had said and done and soon it
was decided that I was a dark witch, practicing black magic, of all the silly
things. It’s not as if I tell the
corpses to rise, they just do it.”
Robin shook
his head in awe, “Well that is a fine tale, Friar. I am sorry for the troubles you have had to
endure. Will you consider joining my
band of outlaws? We don’t run into many
corpses here in the woods, and if we do, well we’re not the type to judge. Besides, anyone who can brew such fine ale is
always welcome.” The friar laughed with
relief and the fervent hope that his life would now turn around as he agreed to
join them.
Alan ran for
his life, shedding fresh tears for the loss of his love, Kaylen. He could still see the fire burning the
pieces of her exquisite body as the villagers destroyed the monster in their
midst. He had used their mob wide
distraction to run, though every part of him longed to get revenge on the
intolerant villagers for what they had done to his darling.
Three days
later, he was still running. He could
hear the sound of the dogs they had loosed, tracking him, baying every time
they found his scent anew. When the
baying finally faded into the distance, he held out a small hope that the men
had called off their search and he would now have time to mourn in peace.
Alan ran for
another day without stopping; when a full day had passed since he had last
heard the dogs, he finally slowed to a walk.
He took in his surroundings, wondering if this dark wood was to be his
new home. Hearing shouting he almost
started running again, but he realized that there were no dogs baying amidst
the shouts, so these couldn’t be the men that were after him. He crept to the edge of a clearing where it
looked like a small group of bandits had laid a trap for a passing tax
wagon.
Alan grinned,
expecting to see a good show. It seemed
that with swords the bandits and the guards were equally matched, but a fourth
bandit stood on the branch of a tree, shooting guards with a bow and
arrows. Alan watched in amazement as one
guard fell without fail for every arrow the blond man shot. The man seemed to blend in with the tree on
which he stood. Aside from his minute
movements as he replaced the arrow and drew the string taut, the man was nearly
invisible. However, when he stepped out of the shadow of the trunk for better
aim and pulled the last arrow from his quiver, one of the guards took aim with
a crossbow bolt and shot him in the chest.
The blond man
paused and then set his arrow, drew the bowstring back, though it must have
caused him a terrible agony, and loosed the arrow. It went through the throat of one man and
into the chest of a second. Then, quiver
empty and crossbow bolt protruding from his chest, the blond man fell from his
branch to land hard on the packed earth below.
Alan found
himself running to the fallen archer.
The other bandits were busy disposing of the remaining guards, so when
Alan knelt beside the man he was alone.
Although he was so very thirsty, and the smell of the archer’s blood was
nearly too much for him to bear, he denied his instinct to finish the man
off. Pulling the bolt from the bandit’s
chest he then used his sharp teeth to slice his own wrist. Pressing his wrist to the man’s wound he
watched as the gaping hole began to knit together. When the hole was closed, he pulled his wrist
away. The archer reached up and grabbed
his arm. He held it and watched as
Alan’s own wound closed up. Then he
looked up at Alan and smiled, “You saved my life, vampire.”
Alan nodded
and moved to stand. He helped the man to
his feet. “I’m Robin,” the archer
introduced himself, “and those are my band of outlaws.” He said, gesturing to the bandits who had finished
off the last of the guards and, after a quick glance to verify that Robin was
okay, they began digging through the loot.
Once again
that night, the growing band of thieves sat around a campfire and listened in
awe as yet another unbelievable tale was spun.
“I am a born
vampire.” Alan paused as Will cringed
away. “I feed on humans only as often as
I must, and I never kill,” he assured the boy.
“Born vampires age at the same rate of humans until we reach maturity,
and then we stop aging, usually around the age of twenty-five or so. I for one am a very spry ninety-three year
old. We live our entire lives with the
need for blood, so we learn very early how to control ourselves.”
“It is not a
born vampire that you must fear, but a changed vampire. These are frozen as they were when they were
changed and, since they spent their lives as humans, they have no self
control. When the blood lust hits them
they go feral. They destroy everyone in their path.” Will shuddered at the image and shifted a bit
farther away from the vampire.
“I loved a
mortal named Kaylen. She was sick with
the wasting disease that is killing so many people lately. I couldn’t bear to watch her die and so I
changed her, certain that I could help her to control herself. But then, only a week after she changed, she
wandered out of our cave while I slept and went home to visit her family. I imagine that she thought she could control
herself, but as soon as she smelled the blood pumping through their veins, she
went mad with the blood lust and killed them all.”
“A neighbor
must have seen her fleeing all covered in blood, because a mob chased her from
the village back to our cave. She had
just stepped inside when she was pulled back out. The mob tore her to pieces and burned her
body.” He had spoken with the
dispassionate voice of a story teller, but his voice cracked at this and he had
to wipe a red tinged tear from his eye.
“I have been running ever since.”
He finished with a weary sigh. To
his surprise, Will lay his hand on his arm and offered him a sympathetic look.
Robin reached
out his hand and patted Alan’s other arm, “We could always use the assistance
of a man who is stronger and faster than all others, not to mention one that
carries an elixir for healing within his very blood. Will you join us?”
Alan looked
thoughtful, “You would welcome a vampire?”
Will grinned,
“Well as you said, it’s the changed ones we have to worry about, right? Besides,” he swept his hand to indicate the
group, “Robin is a shape shifter, which we all know are notorious
thieves.” Robin winked at that and Will
continued with a grin, “John over there is a werewolf with a temper and
apparently Friar Tuck can raise the dead, though we’re not keen on testing that
theory.” He shrugged offering his hand
in friendship, “and you’re a vampire. I’m the only boringly normal man in this merry
band.”
Alan stared
at the group, incredulous. “I think that
such a band as we are is bound to make history.” He shook Will’s hand and then proceeded to
shake hands with Robin, John and finally the friar who had seemed to fight an
inner battle over accepting a vampire.
He must have
convinced himself though, because he reached out his hand and shook
vigorously. The friar shrugged at the
curious look Alan gave him, “On one hand, you might drink my blood and kill me
in my sleep. On the other hand, I’m
happy to welcome any man who will be drinking something other than my fine
ale.” Alan laughed a hearty laugh and
soon they were all laughing at the friar’s simple logic.
Alan then
pulled a well worn lute from his pack, remembering with a pang of loss how
Kaylen had loved to hear him play, but he pushed the memory aside and played
one jaunty tune after another. They all
sang along until their eyes began to droop.
As with every night, Robin stood to take first watch. Putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him,
Alan said, “You were injured today. You
nearly died. You should rest.” Robin opened his mouth to protest but Alan
held up a hand, “I am a vampire, I can see in the dark and I don’t need much
sleep, so I am the ideal sentry for our small camp.”
Finally,
Robin gave in to his exhaustion and accepted Alan’s offer, “I am grateful, my
new friend.” Alan was surprised at the
trust this group showed, allowing a vampire that they didn’t even know to watch
over them while they slept. He swore
then to do everything in his power to keep his new friends safe.
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### Chapter 2: Chapter 2
The tour
guide’s voice droned on and on, “Richard, the first, was known as Cœur de Lion,
or Richard the Lionheart, even before his ascension to the throne because of
his reputation as a great military leader and warrior.”
“Ashlyn, I’m
bored!” Athyn whined. “I want to go see
the Robin Hood exhibit. Now he was a
real hero.”
Ashlyn rolled
her eyes and shook her head, “Robin Hood was a fictional character,” she chided
her ten year old little brother.
“Was not,”
Athyn argued folding his skinny arms across his chest. A look of stubborn defiance stuck on his
face.
“I brought
you here to learn about the real history of England.” She explained patiently.
“I don’t want
to learn about boring old kings. I want
you to tell me a story about Robin Hood.”
She sighed
and let him drag her to the Robin Hood exhibit.
He stared exultantly at the bow and arrow that sat posed beneath the
glass. There were tapestries of Robin
and his band of thieves. Ashlyn took on
the stern face of a tour guide.
“Here’s where
Robin and Little John battled with quarter staves.” She explained, pointing to a lifelike
rendering that was hanging on the wall.
“Did Robin
Hood die?” Athyn asked a worried expression on his face.
“No, of
course not, but they were equally matched and the battle went on for a long
time. Finally they both got so tired
they fell off the bridge and into the water.
“Did they
know how to swim?” Athyn asked
innocently, even though he had heard this story a hundred times, it seemed that
his questions had become part of the telling.
“I don’t
know, but the water wasn’t very deep so they didn’t drown.” She smiled up at the small figures, wishing
her life could be so simple.
Athyn sighed,
relief evident on his face. “I want to
be Robin Hood when I grow up.” He
declared, pantomiming drawing back a bow string and loosing an invisible arrow.
“Okay
kiddo.” She agreed with a grin. He hadn’t had much to be excited about since
their mother had died the year before, so she wouldn’t take this dream away. Ashlyn had done her best to care for her
little brother, but she was only seventeen and they’d had to run away to keep Child
Services from taking Athyn away from her.
Luckily the family had been on vacation in London when her mother had
died, so they had slipped through the cracks of the system pretty easily.
They came to
the museum twice a week, when admission was free. It was the only education that Athyn was
getting for now, so she was determined to show him some culture and teach him
as much as she could. They lived in an
apartment over a bar where Ashlyn had gotten a job as a waitress by lying about
her age. She scraped out a meager living
for the two of them, but once she turned eighteen, she would be able to draw on
the college funds her mother had left for her.
They just had to survive until then.
“I think that
guy likes you,” Athyn said in a loud stage whisper. Ashlyn followed his stare to two men in
expensive suits who were talking to the museum curator.
They looked
so much alike that they must be brothers.
The taller of the two glanced her way and smiled when he saw her looking
at him. Flushing, she looked away
quickly. The shorter man glanced over at
her and then grinned brightly. He tugged
on the taller man’s sleeve and gestured towards her, the curator forgotten.
The taller
man shook his head, a sad expression in his eyes even as he faked a smile. Athyn tugged on her hand, “Come on Ash. Let’s go talk to them. They look rich, maybe you could marry one of
them.”
Ashlyn
laughed, and shook her head. “I need to
use the rest room.” She led him to the
little alcove outside of the bathrooms and pointed to a small bench. “Sit, and don’t move.”
He rolled his
eyes and plopped down on the wooden bench, pulling out his PSP
immediately. Confident that nothing
short of a hurricane could get him to put down his game, she stepped into the
ladies room.
After using
the facilities, she stared into the mirror.
Her long brown hair was a bit tangled, she’d been in a hurry this
morning and didn’t bother to work all of the knots out. Not that it would have mattered. Even if
she’d wanted to flirt with the good looking men in tailored suits, she didn’t
dare. Wealth brought scrutiny, and that
was something she couldn’t afford. At
least not until she was old enough to be legally named Athyn’s guardian.
Giving up on
her tangled mess, she stepped out of the bathroom and had an instant of
panic. Athyn was gone. She scanned the lobby, calling out for
him. Just as she was about to scream for
him, she caught a glimpse of his denim jacket.
To her chagrin, he was standing next to the two wealthy men, talking
animatedly to them.
Embarrassed
she hissed at him, “Athyn, get over here.”
He said something to the shorter guy and the man laughed, then he
hurried over to her. “What are you
doing? I told you to sit right here, and
you know better than to talk to strangers.”
“They’re
nice. They believe in Robin Hood too, so
you’re outnumbered.”
She glared
down at him and he scuffed the toe of his shoe against the floor. “I’m sorry.
But they told me about this great room with a bunch of cool dragon
stuff. Come on, I’ll show you!”
Athyn ran off
once more and she hurried after him with a tired sigh. He came to a small room they hadn’t explored
before. The sign on the door said Closed for Renovation , but that didn’t
stop Athyn from barging right in. Ashlyn
followed, whispering to Athyn to stop. Once
inside, they both stopped short in awe of what they saw.
There were
beautiful tapestries woven with scenes of dragons flying over lush green
forests and colorful villages. In some
of the scenes the dragons were guarding piles of golden treasure. In others blood red, ice blue, and forest
green dragons appeared to be turning into men, then Ashlyn had to cover Athyn’s
eyes because some of the scenes showed the men laying with women and the women
giving birth and she wasn’t ready to have the “where do babies come from?”
conversation with her curious little brother.
She wasn’t sure she would ever be ready for that conversation.
There were
glass displays of vases with more dragon related scenes painted on them. And there was dragon shaped jewelry. One case looked like the glass cover had been
removed as if for cleaning and there was a velvet pillow lying on the
pedestal. Athyn approached it almost
reverently. On the center of the velvet
purple pillow laid a golden bracelet with intricate carvings like the scales of
a dragon. One end of the bracelet
narrowed to an arrow-like point, while the other end looked like the head of a
small golden dragon. Athyn reached for
the bracelet and Ashlyn slapped his hand away.
“No
touching,” She started, but was cut short because as she slapped his hand away
her fingers brushed the cool golden bracelet.
The little golden dragon head perked up.
It studied her for a moment and then uncurled itself and slithered up
her hand which was frozen in shock along with the rest of her. It wrapped itself around her wrist and the
head continued to slither forward and wrap itself around her ring finger. It stopped moving once the head rested on her
knuckle.
Surprised,
she started to pull at the bracelet. She
needed to get it off before the curator found her touching their valuable treasure. Athyn reached out and petted the dragon
bracelet’s still head. “It’s warm,” he
said and she realized that he was right.
Instead of the cool metal she had felt when her fingertips had brushed
the golden bracelet, it was now warm, almost as if it were alive. The eyes on the head of the dragon flashed a
brilliant blue and Ashlyn started to feel very dizzy as if the room was
spinning. Athyn reached out and tried to
catch her as darkness clouded her vision and she felt herself falling.
She fell for
much longer than she had expected before she hit the ground. When she hit, it wasn’t the cold marble of
the museum floor. The ground beneath her
was soft and grassy. Opening her eyes
for a moment, she saw huge leafy trees towering over her. Athyn was holding her hand and squeezing it
tightly and then the darkness consumed her completely and she slept.
Athyn lay beside his
sister for a long while, but as the sky began to darken, his stomach growled
and he realized that he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. As he stepped behind a tree to relieve
himself he thought about what had happened at the museum. He could have sworn that little bracelet had
moved around like it was alive. He
nearly fainted himself when it’s little eyes flashed. Trying to think of what exactly had happened,
he remembered that Ashlyn had looked as if she were going to faint and he had
tried to catch her, even though he was small for his age he didn’t want her to
get hurt. She had sunk down to the
floor, but it felt as if the floor disappeared and they fell through it. He had a moment to consider screaming as
darkness swirled around them. Then the
dark turned green and they landed in a heap on cool grass.
Ashlyn had opened her
eyes for a moment and he had thought she was going to wake up, but then her
eyes rolled up in her head and she was out cold again. Though he would never admit it to her, Athyn
was terrified that something bad would happen to his sister. She was the only person he had left in the
world. He didn’t think that he would do
well all alone. His thoughts had made
him worry about Ashlyn again and so he went back to the small clearing to check
on her. She was still asleep, but she
didn’t seem to be hurt in any way.
Breathing a sigh of
relief, Athyn caught a whiff of something that smelled really good. His stomach rumbled at the possibility of
food and he started toward the smell, telling himself that he would keep the
clearing in sight so that he could get back without trouble. He just needed to find out what that yummy
smell was.
After a few minutes of
pushing through thick branches, he admitted that his sense of smell did not
seem to be communicating with his sense of direction. He was utterly lost. The clearing that he had intended to keep in
sight was nowhere to be found and he grumbled at himself for being so
stupid. The cub scouts had always told
him to stay in one spot if you get lost in the woods, that way the people
looking for you could find you more easily.
Sitting with his back
against a tree, Athyn pulled out his PSP and he started playing to pass the
time. Since the only person that would
be looking for him was his sister and she was out cold, he figured it would be
a while before she came looking for him.
Will watched the rabbit
as it moved slowly closer to the treat he had left for it. He almost felt bad for baiting the creature
only to kill it and wondered if he should let it eat the treat first before he
sprung the trap. The rabbit cocked its
head as if considering Will’s silent argument and then it grabbed the small
carrot and bolted into the bushes.
“Argh!” Will growled, kicking
the now useless snare.
He heard a low chuckle
from behind him, “Let me guess,” Robin said stepping out of the shadows, “You
decided to let it eat first?”
Will flushed as Robin
chuckled again and gave him a friendly smile, “You have a wonderfully kind
heart Will. I would never ask you to
change that, but if you don’t learn to occasionally ignore its urgings we may
all starve.”
Will grinned up at his
friend, “Not with your hunting talent.
As long as we have you Robin, we’ll never go hungry.”
Robin laughed and clapped
him on the back, then displayed his own catch, three plump hares. “Luckily, tonight you are right.” They returned to camp with grins on their
faces, but the somber atmosphere and the serious looks their friends threw them
brought them up short. “What is
it?” Robin asked.
Alan’s shoulders slumped,
“According to the villagers, there have been more children reported
missing. John thinks it may be that the
slave traders are back.”
Robin sighed, his good
mood now gone, “We need to find them and put a stop to this once and for all.”
Will shuddered, his face
turning white as parchment as he remembered his own experience with slavers. He nodded in agreement. “Luckily, we have two excellent trackers with
us.” He said looking pointedly at Alan
and John.
John nodded, “I’ll change
to wolf form and search out a trail. I
will check back when I find any solid leads.”
Robin hesitated, “John,
is that a good idea? Can you…can you
control your temper?”
John’s already russet
colored skin turned red, “I have learned a lot in my time with you, Robin. I will not lose myself to the beast.” He had feared changing ever since Robin and
Will had met him, only transforming when the need became too strong to ignore.
Robin clapped him on the
shoulder, “Okay my friend. Be
safe.” John nodded and headed into the
trees to change.
Alan turned to Robin, “I
will stay closer to camp but I will remain on guard. If I notice anything out of the ordinary I
will tell you immediately. This is a
dangerous time for us all.”
Robin nodded to him,
“Thank you.” He took the hares to the
friar to be skinned and cooked for dinner.
Will planned to chop
firewood, though they already had enough for the night’s fire. He liked to chop wood when he was worried,
but Alan beckoned to him, “Walk with me for a bit, Will. I would like to speak with you.”
Will shrugged and joined
Alan as he walked toward the perimeter of the camp about thirty feet away from
the fire. He smiled at the realization
that just a few weeks ago he would have been scared to walk alone with Alan for
fear that the vampire had ulterior motives.
However Alan had proven
to be a true friend who mostly drained animals for the blood he needed and had
shown time and again that he would never hurt Robin or any of his men. Will noted John’s clothing folded neatly on
the ground and made a mental note to bring something to cover them with, to
keep them from getting damp. He turned
to see Alan studying him and he lifted an eyebrow, wondering what his friend
was thinking about.
“Tell me, Will, if it is
not too painful a memory,” Alan finally said.
“Why are you so afraid of slave traders?”
Will froze, swallowing
back the bile burning his throat. He
took long calming breaths, reminding himself that he was among friends and then
he lifted his shirt and turned to show Alan his back. The vampire gasped and Will knew that he was
surprised at the ugly raised welts that criss-crossed his back from his
shoulders down to the line of his waist.
ones on the backs of his thighs remained hidden.
Turning back to his
friend, and lowering the shirt gingerly at the memory of the pain, he
explained, “My father couldn’t afford the sheriff’s taxes so his guards took me
and sold me as a slave to pay what we owed.
I was taken to the city and sold in the town square. It was…humiliating.” He admitted, shuddering again as the awful
memories assaulted him. “I was sixteen
at the time and strong, so I was bought as a laborer.”
He stared off into the
distance, lost in his memories. “We were
harvesting the northern edge of Sherwood Forest for lumber to be made into fancy
furniture for the sheriff. I chopped
down trees and split logs from dawn until dusk for nearly nine months.”
Alan stared at him in
shock, “But you always volunteer to chop firewood and cut down trees. If I had known it held such painful memories,
I would have offered to do it for you.”
Will shook his head,
“No. Chopping wood comforts me, all that
time when I was laboring as a slave, I was chopping trees and splitting logs at
the command of someone else. Now I do it
because I choose to, no one is standing over me with a whip in case I decide to
take a break.”
Alan was the one who
shuddered this time. He laid a hand on
his friend’s shoulder, “I still don’t understand how you can find comfort in
doing what you were forced to do for so long.”
Will swallowed and looked
off into the forest once more, seeing the boy that he had been years ago. “Because when I was chopping with that big
axe, it was the one time that I didn’t have to fear the sting of the whip.” He whispered, “As long as I was doing my job
they left me alone. Besides,” he added
with a shrug. “I think maybe they were
afraid I would lose my cool and decide to chop them instead of the wood.”
Alan laughed at Will’s
attempt at lightheartedness. He draped
his arm over his shoulders, “I am glad that you have found some peace after
your troubled past. Tell me, how is it
that you are no longer a slave.”
Will grinned up at him,
“Robin came home.” At Alan’s confused
look, Will explained. “Robin was the
Lord of Loxley, the small township that my father and I lived in. When Robin joined King Richard on his holy
crusades, the sheriff put one of his own men in charge of the township. Almost immediately taxes were raised and
people started going hungry. Robin had
always been a kind lord, but with the sheriff’s henchman we feared his
temper. He had many men hanged just for
annoying him.”
Alan looked aghast and
Will nodded, “Loxley had been driven into the dust by the time I was sold. When Robin came home, he was appalled at the state of his township,
but even worse at how tormented his people were. He threw the sheriff’s man out of Loxley and
then my father went to him, pleading for Robin to find me.”
“After tracking me down,
Robin paid my ‘owner’ twice what the man had paid for me, then he took me home
and set me free.” Will lifted the sleeve
of his arm, revealing the brand that had marked him for three years. It looked like a sideways ‘S’ with a line
through it and a circle around the whole thing.
“I may be free now, but I will always wear the mark and the scars of a
slave.”
Alan shook his head,
amazed by the strength his new friend had demonstrated. Though he had lived as a piece of property
and been beaten repeatedly, he did not use it as an excuse for bitterness nor
had he allowed his spirit to be broken.
Looking at Will with a
newfound respect, Alan asked, “So what made you go with Robin instead of
staying home with your father?”
Will tried to hide the
pain that the question caused within him, but he could see from the softening
expression on Alan’s face that his friend had seen enough. Clearing his throat Will answered, “The
sheriff decided that Robin had defied him one too many times…He had refused to
turn over three boys, the youngest of which was only twelve, to be hanged for
thievery. The sheriff sent his men to
arrest Robin, but the whole township stood to defend him. My father was foremost in the ranks of men
willing to fight for Robin, the man who had brought his son back to him. The guards showed no mercy. They killed many men, women and children.”
“We had to lock Robin in
a room in his manor to keep him from giving himself up to the sheriff just to
prevent more bloodshed. My father was
among the first to fall in Robin’s defense.”
Though there was terrible pain in the memory, his eyes glittered with
pride for his father’s loyalty and bravery.
Wiping a tear from his
eye, he shrugged, “When there was a lull in the battle, my best friend, Andrus,
and I released Robin from the room and dragged him into the woods. The plan was that once we were gone, the
townsfolk could let the guards through to search the house, and their search
would be fruitless. We later discovered
that the sheriff’s men burned the manor and many of the homes in Loxley to the
ground.” Alan stared, disturbed by the
images as Will continued his tale.
“A small group of
patrolling guards saw us but rather than raising the alarm they chased us alone
into the woods. When they caught up to
us, we fought hard and defeated them. Andrus
was mortally wounded and without a doctor’s help…he died later, after three
days of fever. Then it was just Robin
and me. My father was dead; our township
was no longer safe, so Robin was kind enough to let me stay with him.”
Alan shook his head, once
again amazed at all his young friend had endured. “I am sorry for your loss,” He said
sincerely. Will nodded his thanks and
continued, “That was two years ago, Robin and I have been scraping out a
living, traveling from town to town, trying to find some way to stop the sheriff's
cruelty. Last year Robin came up with
the idea to stop the tax wagons from getting through. We knew this would get the sheriff in trouble
with the prince and he may be replaced, but it hasn’t happened yet. Not long after we decided on that course of
action, we met John.”
They had made a complete
circuit of the perimeter. Will noticed
John’s clothes again and once more reminded himself to get a tarp to cover
them.
“Thank you for sharing
your story with me, Will.” Alan said, “It
is good to have friends again to share thoughts and experiences with.”
“What about you?” Will
asked, “You said you’re ninety-three.
What have you seen in your long life?”
Alan gave him a sad
smile, “I don’t think we have time for me to tell that story. It is getting late. But one thing I can tell you is that in your
twenty years you have seen nearly as much pain and loss as I have in my long,
long life. Being your friend, this
saddens me. I pray that your life will
be long and happy from this point forward.”
Will smiled his thanks,
wondering about the story his friend was keeping to himself, but he felt closer
to Alan now that he had shared his own story.
He felt confident that in time Alan would be ready to share as
well. He headed into the camp and found
a tightly woven canvas tarp that the friar had used to cover his barrels of
ale. He went back to John’s clothes and
laid them on the tarp, draping it over the top of the clothes so that if it
rained they would not get wet.
With this task done, he
headed back to the camp and grabbed his axe.
After reliving his past with Alan, he needed to feel the calm that came
when he was swinging the axe in the comfortingly repetitive motion. He had explained it as best he could, but he
wondered how anyone that had not lived with the terror of a whip poised to
strike at the slightest hesitation, would ever be able to understand what it
felt like.
As he chopped wood, Will
watched Robin whittling new arrows for his quiver. He thought about all the pain his friend had
endured, first coming home to find his home taken over by the sheriff’s man,
and then watching his people starve. He
teased Will about his kind heart, but Robin’s own kindness had led to a lot of
pain, including losing his home and the lives of many friends, in his efforts
to do the right thing. Will looked up
to Robin who had become like a big brother, a role model for him. He wondered if he would ever be as good a man
as the one the sheriff referred to as ‘Robin Hood.’
Athyn was cold and
hungry. He had expected Ashlyn to find
him by now and though he wouldn’t admit it, he was scared. Standing, he brushed the dirt and dead leaves
from his pants and looked around. It was
still a little bit light out and he thought that maybe he could find his way
back to the clearing that he had left Ashlyn in. Beginning to worry that some wild animal
might have found her while she was unconscious, he felt a wave of guilt at
having left her all alone.
Making a guess as to the
right direction, he tried to walk in a straight line, a task that was much
easier said than done in the woods.
After a few moments without any sign of the clearing, he was just about
to come to the conclusion that he had gone in the wrong direction when he heard
voices. Excited, he decided that he must
have finally found civilization and now he could get help finding his
sister.
He stepped out of the
trees into another clearing with a small campfire in the center. There was something roasting over the fire. Suddenly he realized that this was the
delicious scent he had smelled earlier.
Three large men looked up at him as he stepped tentatively into their
camp.
Immediately he was struck
by the feeling that coming here had been a bad idea. Then one of the men grinned at him. “Hey boy, are you hungry?” Athyn’s stomach rumbled in response and the
men laughed. They beckoned to a log near
the fire. “Have a seat,” the man
said. “We were just about to eat.”
He felt the urge to run
away; the hairs on the back of his neck bristled. He knew that he was not safe here, but he was
so hungry. It had been a very long time
since breakfast. He had a feeling his
stomach was about to start digesting itself if he didn’t eat something
soon. He stepped tentatively over to the
log and sat, taking the strip of meat that the man held toward him. Eating in silence he marveled at how good
something roasted over a campfire could taste.
One of the men stood and stepped over to a nearby tree.
Athyn eyed him warily but
the man who had spoken to him asked if he wanted more meat, and he turned his
attention back to the food being offered.
As he reached for the strip of meat, he heard the sound of footsteps
behind him. He turned in time to see a
large branch swinging towards his head. He didn’t have time to cry out before he felt
a sharp pain. Darkness quickly clouded
his vision. He gave into the darkness,
eager to escape the pain in his head.
When Ashlyn woke, she
noticed two things rather quickly. First
she was definitely not in the museum anymore.
She was surrounded by towering green trees with thick pointed leaves, the
chirping of crickets, the buzz of insects and other sounds of a forest in the
evening filled her ears. The sun was
setting. She couldn’t hear a single
human sound. There were no car engines
or stereos or mothers yelling at their children, anywhere. Looking around she noticed the second thing,
she was entirely alone. Athyn was
nowhere to be seen. Jumping to her feet
she fought the surge of panic that shot through her making her stomach
clench. Forcing herself to think calmly,
she started searching for him and calling out, “Athyn! Athyn where are you?”
She fought an inner
battle between being angry that he had wandered off and being frightened for
his safety. She called for him,
struggling not to give into fear. After
a few moments with no response, her panic won out and she began running through
the darkening forest. “Athyn! This is no time for hide and seek, Kiddo! Come on out so we can figure out how to get
home.” She yelled until her voice was
hoarse still she ran. Her heart was
sinking lower and lower, and she felt like she might cry, be sick and scream
all at once. What kind of big sister was
she? She had lost her little brother in
the middle of the woods, at night. He
could be eaten by wild animals. He could
be all alone, scared and bleeding to death somewhere. Every horrifying possibility made her run
faster and farther, in spite of her inability to call out any longer and the
fact that she couldn’t see past her nose.
Tears streamed down her
face. Sobbing as she rounded a huge tree,
she came face to face with a giant animal with glowing amber eyes and dripping
fangs. The animal was black as the night
and stood as high as her shoulder. She
almost plowed into it but managed to turn aside at the last moment. Her heart nearly stopped as the animal
growled at her, and she heard twigs snapping as it started toward her. Turning around as quickly as she could, she
plunged back into the trees running even faster than before, praying for the
darkness to swallow her up and protect her from the beast behind her. Suddenly a branch seemed to appear out of
nowhere. She saw a flash of light and
felt a sharp pain on her head before her vision faded and the darkness consumed
her. Her last thought was of her
brother, all alone in the dark woods and how sad he would be when he found out
that she’d been eaten by wild animals.
John had been just about
to turn and head back to camp when the girl appeared. He automatically called to her before
realizing that he was in wolf form so his call sounded dangerous and
threatening. As she ran from him, he
instinctively started toward her and cringed when he heard the sharp crack as
she ran headfirst into a low hanging branch.
He was horrified by having caused her injury. He shifted back quickly, not worried about
his lack of clothing since the only other human around was unconscious. Kneeling beside the girl he saw that she was
utterly unconscious. She had a pretty
big knot on her forehead and he imagined she would be out cold for quite a
while.
Sighing, he lifted her
into his arms effortlessly and carried her for the eighteen kilometers back to
camp, running as quickly as he could with the awkward burden in his arms. Stopping at the spot where he had left his
clothing, he saw that someone had covered his clothes with a tarp to keep them
dry. He smiled, knowing that this was
obviously an act of Will’s kindness.
Will was always the first to think of others, and John knew that he at
least would understand why he had brought the girl back to camp. Laying her carefully on the damp grass, John
quickly pulled on his clothes and lifted her once more into his arms, using the
tarp to protect the girl from the light mist that permeated the air.
When he reached the camp
he was met with the reception he had expected.
Robin looked the girl over thoughtfully, Will was immediately concerned
for her well being, the friar retreated to the campfire to work on dinner while
throwing worried glances over his shoulder, and Alan went ballistic.
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