Chapter 17

Haven

Present day

Path of the Unseen

The orc pulled her forward by the ropes on her back, pushing her forward. He covered her head with a black sack. She tried to peer out from it, and could make out the shaped of tents and men walking. She looked down where she could see the feet of the men around her. Leather booted men slipped by her along with the bare feet of servants and captives.

The orc stopped her at the entrance to a large tent and pushed her through the entrance. "Lord Blackthorn." The orc pulled the sack from her and she blinked looking in at the scarred faced lords tents.

"I see." He smiled at the orc and nodded. "You may leave her. Come back in an hour." The orc nodded at the man and sat Haven down on the floor.

"Cross your legs." The orc commanded. She glared at him and crossed them. He tied her ankles together and lifted her up placing her down on the chairs that say near the lords soft pelted bed.

"Thank you Baze. You're free to leave." He said.

The orc stalled, watching the Lord and the girl. "I thought I might stay Lord..." The orc trailed off a hint of a smile on his lips.

"No Baze, that will be enough." He didn't look up from the map he studied below him on the table.

Baze nodded and slipped through the tents opening leaving Haven to sit on the chair beside the pelts. The scarred man looked up and spoke, "You said something earlier, their eyes of forest and fire." He raised a brow. Haven watched him, she did not speak or make a move. He leaned on the ten pole in the center of the tent and watched her. "The daughters of both light and night shall rise,

Their powers bloom in rested womb,

Their eyes of forest and of fire,

A captive's path he shall delay,

The hound shall hide, the key to life,

A king will come for saviors yet unknown.

A healer's touch shall soothe the storm,

Trust him whose battle-hardened soul can lead.

Death befalls the man once sworn to protect,

The woman's fate is already sealed,

But trust the sacrifice she yields."

Haven's eyes widened.

She watched him push off the pole and come to sit beside her. He leaned onto his hand and placed his elbow on his knee. He pushed her hair behind her ear. She flinched.

"I'm not going to hurt you but we have to work together. We'll find a way out of this."

Haven watched him, she thought of Aelor. Was this the man?

"Do you have my pack?" She asked him. He looked behind himself and gestured to a crate on the floor beside his desk.

"It took quite the scheme to get that from Victor." He nodded. "We have a few minutes to talk before we need to move. After what you did in the Veil they'll be hesitant to meet you there or travel by it. We have a slight advantage with them on foot but it wont last for very long. Baze might try to break off on his own, but they'll catch up to him too."

"Halex?" Haven asked him.

The scarred man pursed his lips. "I tried Haven, I went and found his tent and visited him. He's near death. He doesn't move. He is not alert. He's dead weight. We need to run out of here, we can't take horses... We have to leave him."

She glared. "I'm not leaving Halex."

"I can't give you that choice my dear, even if I drag you out of here tied in the ropes you came in." He frowned and whispered, "And I really hope you don't make me do that." He grimaced. "We've waited three hundred years to set this in motion. I've spent two hundred years myself gaining Chaos's trust so I could be here... If it comes to it—" He looked down and laced his fingers together setting his shoulders straight. "My duty to all the innocents living today usurps my duty to defend your desire Haven."

Haven watched him, she felt nothing. She thought she should feel fear, or panic. Perhaps even duty. But as he spoke all she could think of was Halex. Had she killed him, bringing him through the Veil? Why didn't she bargain for him to stay?
She thought of her sister, her mother, her brother. "What do you mean the world ends?" She asked him.

"It's what the Tapestry says..." He trailed off. "If you don't come with me, we fail. Chaos wins. A captive's path he shall delay. Come with me, walk out of here with me." He pleaded. "But make a decisions soon before Blaze returns for you."

"I can't abandon him." She told the man. She thought of Halex, his dark hair and curls sweeping over his face when he fell to the floor beside the orc. She couldn't leave him here like that. She knew he would want her to go, she knew she should leave and protect her mother and her siblings. She couldn't bring herself to answer the call. She felt torn by the thought of it. She understood she should listen to the prophecy, and that she should run. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I don't want to do this, Haven," He stood and picked up a scarf from where it dangled over his chair. "I had hoped you'd come willingly... You've left me with no other choice." She cried out as he forced the scarf into her mouth and tied it off. She panicked, an inability to speak and breath washing over her once more. "Don't make it hard." He whispered into her ear as he gently placed a cloth over her nose. She fought him, thrashing her head forward and trying to shake free from his hand. He was too strong, she breathed into the cloth. The world grew fuzzy. "That's it. Deep breath. I won't harm you." He said.