Chapter 2

She was about to open her mouth to question on further. But was interrupted by a deep - clearly male - voice shouting, "Silence." This certainly got everyone's attention. All of the original conversations and chatter settled into a dead silence. You would be able to hear a pin drop.

She could not see what was happening very well. Her father and herself were off to the side and back of the crowd. But she could still hear perfectly well.

The same male voice spoke up from the front, "As many of you may or may not know, there have been rumors and strange happenings going around Tayl, both The City and other surrounding villages." This news was certainly new to Avreale.

"People have been found murdered by unseen forces. All bloody, with torn up clothes and mixed up body parts of other bodies. Some people are seen stumbling around in the middle of the night muttering nonsense about magic happenings in the Aternitas forest. Something about Pixies with silver eyes. People are disappearing, coming back days, or even weeks later. Rambling on and on about strange things," there was a pause, "It seems to have been driving people to the brink of insanity," another pause,"It is clearly the work of a Pixie, with a silver eye?"

No one moved a muscle. Shock forming on everyone's faces, including Avreale's. 'Pixies?' she thought 'Absolutely ridiculous. There was no such thing.'

The man apparently had more to say. And what he said next, sent the crowd into an uproar, "There are rumors that there are Pixies running loose in the outer villages. Including Nixiton."

There was a silent pause, before a cry rang out. It was a young boy who Avreale did not know. But he seemed to know her. Then again, almost everyone knew her,"Silver eye! The Woodcutter! His daughter, Avreale! The freak with the eye patch always over the right eye! Silver eye! "

Agreements rose throughout the villagers. Avreale couldn't believe what she was hearing. The villagers, especially the ones near her age, always teased and hurt her. But she could never imagine them going this far. She was human. Even with a silver eye, she was human.

At least that's what she believed at the time.

"Of course!"

"She's a Pixie!?"

"It's so obvious."

"She seemed human enough."

Avreale felt overwhelmed as she felt her father pull her into a sideways hug. It seemed that he was trying to comfort her. But it wasn't working very well. He leaned down and whispered into her ear so no one else would hear, "Be ready to run. Find Rowan, grab the packs and run for your life. I love you!"

She grew more and more frightened. The original male voice spoke up against the roar of the crowd, "Well then. Where is she? This Avreale with the silver eye?"

With that, the crowd parted and everyone pointed into the direction of Avreale's shaking figure, huddled into her father's side.

The male walked at an agonizing pace towards Avreale and her father. Avreale was pulled behind her father, as a bunch of gasps ran throughout the crowd. Her father -  as well as the Blacksmith and the Tailor -  had all pulled out guns, all of them aiming at the lead male.

He stepped forward slowly, and surveyed the scene, "Now all we want is the girl. If we get her willingly, then we will leave in peace. If we don't get her willingly, then we will just take her by force. And it will not end well"

That is when all the chaos started.

A gunshot from Avreale's father's gun caused a loud panic to arise. Over all the commotion, Avreale barely heard her father shout at her, "Run! Find Rowan, and run! I love you!"

Avreale instantly reacted to this. With one hand on the hilt of his sword, she turned around, dodging people gracefully, to get out of the crowd, frantically searching for her long-time best friend.

"Where did she go?" voices shouted.

"She disappeared."

"Find her then, you maggots!"

As Avreale turned a corner out of the Center Square. Someone grabbed her waist and covered her mouth with their hand. She almost let out a startled shriek. "Shhhh." a deep, masculine voice whispered in her ear,"It is me, Rowan." Hearing his voice, Avreale let out a small sigh of relief, melting into his broad chest.

Rowan turned her around so she was facing him. Even though it was dark out, Avreale could still make out some of his features. His dirty blonde, wavy hair, was pulled up into a loose ponytail to keep it out of his face. His father was the blacksmith of the town, so Rowan helped his father around. This lead to him developing a pretty impressive body. And it didn't really help that he was pretty tan too.

His chocolate brown eyes captured her attention. They always held a story. They were always full of some kind of emotion. Such as right now; they were full of kindness, sympathy, pain and... wait... hold up... love?

Avreale just ignored the last emotion. She was too focused on fleeing. She also needed answers to her questions. And being the curious person she was, there were a lot of them.

"Follow me," Rowan said in a low voice, "Stay low and quiet."

That wouldn't be too hard for Avreale. She followed Rowan, staying close to where all the shops and houses were, far away from the crowd still shouting nonsense in the Center Square. He kept her hand in his. Not only guiding her, but comforting her and keeping her calm..

They made their way to the outer edge of the village, where Avreale's house stood silently. Thankfully no one had noticed the bags, so they were still sitting there in front of the old oak tree. As she slung both bags over her shoulder, she glanced over at Rowan who seemed to be trying to remember what her father had told him to do next, "Run to the Aternitas Forest, Rowan will show you the way."

His voice, stern but gentle, echoed through her head. "Run towards the woods," she said out loud to herself.

Rowan glanced at her, nodding his head in agreement. He opened his mouth about to say something, but got interrupted before he could.

A stampede of feet and horses shook the ground like a mini Earthquake. "Oh goodness, really?" Rowan groaned clenching his jaw tightly together. He took one glance at the direction of the soldiers, before grabbing his sword, Avreale's free hand, then taking off in a dash.

They ran down the dirt road, dodging an occasional tree that came in their way. "What's going on anyway?" Avreale shouted to Rowan, dodging a low hanging maple tree branch.

"Don't worry about it," replied Rowan, "I will tell you once I get you safe in the Aternitas Forest."

Avreale, desperate to finally find out what was going on, dashed at a faster pace. Rowan made a sudden turn, veering off the dirt road, and onto a nearly invisible smaller path hidden by a cluster of pine trees.

Avreale was quick to follow him, getting pricked a few times by the pines of the pine trees. "Avreale. Hurry up, before we get caught," Rowan shouted looking back. Him doing so, resulted him smashing his head on a thick overhanging tree branch.

Seeing her best friend collapse, crumbling into a heap on the ground. Avreale sped herself up until she found herself kneeling next to him inspecting his wound.

"You're bleeding," Avreale stated, lightly touching his head.

They could hear a continuous stampede of horses and feet behind them. Fear filled up Rowan's eyes. "Do not worry about me. You are the one in serious danger. You must leave me behind, hurry to get out of here, far far away, climb a tree or something. But take cover."

"No way," Avreale responded, "If I do, you will be taken away, or killed. I refuse to let that happen. You are way too important to me."

Rowan reached up and touched her cheek, wiping away a few tears. He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, sweetly but firmly. Closing his eyes tightly together to prevent any tears from falling, he squeezed her close to him, as close as possible.

"I love you," he muttered under his breath, "I love you. I love you. I love you. I always have and always will."

To this Avreale clung tightly to him as if he was her lifeline. A few more tears escaped both of their eyes. Rowan gently pushed her off. Pain and hurt was clear in his eyes. "You must go now," he whispered, his voice on the brink of cracking.

Avreale stumbled back. Fear and adrenaline rushed through her veins like crazy. Tears were now streaming rapidly down her cheeks. Angry shouts were heard by where they were hidden.

"I will leave with a promise then," she said quietly, "If or if not you are still alive, I will find my way back to you," she said louder this time, not caring if anyone else heard her, "I promise."

Rowan carefully took something from over his head and tossed it to Avreale. She swiftly caught it. Only taking a moment to examine it.

It was his mother's promise ring. The ring that Rowan was supposed to give to the one who he promised to love and protect forever, hanging from a thin silver chain. "That is my promise to you." He whispered.

Avreale turned her head, wide-eyed, to Rowan. "I may not be able to protect you at the moment. But you will always have my love as long as you wear it. Now go!" he said, smiling slightly.

Clutching the necklace in her free hand, she took one last glance at Rowan. Then darting off into the trees to escape the soldiers.

She did not leave much behind. Except for a promise that she did not think would put her life and other lives in danger.

The promise to Rowan that she and him would once again reunite.