Through the Darkness

Through the darkness I felt strong arms around me. The air was cold, biting my skin. A blanket was wrapped around me. I was tired; so very tired. But I wanted to look to my rescuer. My eyelids opened just a crack. My sight was fuzzy, and all I could make out was a figure against the tops of the frozen trees.

“Rest,” a man told me. I fell into the darkness.

I had nightmares; nightmares that tortured me. I saw visions of my captors, standing above me, laughing cruelly. I felt the pain they inflicted on me. Through those nightmares, I relived the terrible past months. But I could never wake up. I tried, but couldn’t. Something was holding me back. Sometimes, I got so close that I could hear other sounds than those of my dreams. I heard deep voices, or the clashing of swords. But my eyes could never open. I was stuck inside my nightmares forever. I began to shake; not from the cold, but from my torturous prison. I knew time had passed, but it was impossible to know how much.

Over time, I felt myself getting closer and closer to consciousness. I could hear clearly at times. I could feel the presence of someone always near. One day, I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the tops of trees again. They were covered in wet snow, and the sky was dark with gray clouds. I turned my head slightly, and saw a man sitting next to me, with dark eyes and hair. He was dressed in some sort of black leather. Once he caught my eye, his brows turned up in surprise, making them disappear under his longer hair. He scooted closer to me, as if checking to see if I was really awake. My eyes were locked in his gaze.

“Hey Gareth, it’s my turn to watch-“

I looked away from him, looking at the man who had spoken. He was big and tall, with gray eyes and hardly any hair at all. The smile on his face was fading to surprise.

“She’s awake!” he shouted. I winced as my sensitive ears took in the sound. I was soon surrounded by three other knights. Curiosity burned in their eyes. I shrank away.

“Back off, knights. I think she is a little crowded.”

The voice! That was the voice, the one from the darkness. He was directly to the right of me. As the knights moved off, he took my hand.

“Are you alright?” he said softly. I stared at him cautiously, but nodded. My neck ached when I did that.

“You had a pretty good bump on your head, not to mention all the scratches and sprains. But you’ve been better-you haven’t had a really bad nightmare for a couple days. You were bound to wake up soon.”

I processed all of this in my whirring mind. I now believed I was probably safe with these men. After all, they had each taken turns to sit by me. Now that I looked back, I even remember a hand holding mine each time I would scream and writhe.

“I am Aaron, the leader of these knights. There is Ozias, Darius, Gareth, and Galahad.” He gestured to each one. Ozias was the one that loudly announced my consciousness. Darius was of a medium build, with curly brown hair and sweeping hazel eyes. Gareth was the one I first saw when I woke up. He seemed shy, tucked back into his own corner. Galahad was last, looking skeptical. His arms were crossed in front of him, and he flipped his dark brown hair out of his eyes. Like Ozias, he had a sparkly look in his eyes as if he had just laughed long and hard.

“Would you mind telling us your name?” Aaron said. I looked back at him, debating. My name couldn’t do much harm, could it?

“Arianna.”

“Would you mind telling us where you came from?” Galahad said in an offhand way. Aaron shook his head at him.

“Just rest, Arianna. That is the best thing for you now. If you need anything, just call any of us.” He signaled for the rest of the knights to move away. They reluctantly did, but all the while glancing at me. After a while, they drew their swords and pulled their armor on over their leather clothes. For entertainment, they trained on each other. Darius was paired with Galahad. While Darius’ face was pulled tight with concentration, Galahad had a big, open smile on his. They were both experts with long swords, and both of the same build. It was difficult to see which one would win. Ozias and Gareth, on the other hand, were very different. Ozias was huge, and used power to his advantage. He brought his ax down with back-breaking blows. Gareth was agile and fast, and avoided these blows easily. He had a thin sword that sliced the air easily. Aaron sat against a tree, watching and giving hints to all of them. I got out from under my blankets and settled against a tree to watch. In my mind, I calculated their moves, knowing what would happen after each one. On the outside, I was a girl. On the inside, I was a warrior.

In the end, Darius beat Galahad, and Gareth beat Ozias with a creative move. As Ozias brought his ax up, ready to swing down and hit his opponent, Gareth slid underneath Ozias’ spread legs and then sprang up, touching his sword softly on the back of Ozias’ exposed neck.

“Good one, Gareth,” Aaron murmured. Gareth just nodded and sheathed his sword. Ozias threw his ax down in defeat.

“You know, Ozias, if you actually moved those legs of yours and thought ahead; maybe you would have had even a fifty percent chance!” Galahad said, cracking a smile. Ozias whirled around and charged. Gleeful, Galahad sprinted away. Looking behind him at Ozias, he tripped over a bag near me and spilled its contents. There were some rolls of food, and then two short swords. Standing up, I took them and examined them. Aaron and Gareth quietly watched me. I swung them in my hands, feeling the balance and swiftness. It felt so good to have a weapon in my hand again.

“Do you fight?” I could barely hear Gareth’s voice over the racket of the other two knights. I didn’t answer, just shrugged my shoulders. Gareth rose from his sitting position, holding his sword at the ready as if he expected me to fight him. I hesitated, thinking of keeping my warrior identity a secret. But I was itching to fight and feel the adrenaline. So I lunged at him, swinging my swords. He had barely enough time to block one before another blow came close to hitting him. The swords swung easily in my light hands. I felt like they were just two extensions of my arms. I loved feeling the excitement of butterflies in my stomach again. This was my true self. Soon, Gareth began to retreat, one step at a time. Astonishment grew on his face as he back into a tree. I swung one sword at his head (which he blocked). I clanged my other sword on the other side of his sword and twisted it out of his hand. It dropped to the ground beside us, and I pointed both my swords at his chest. He raised his hands in surrender, eyes huge. I backed up and turned around. Aaron, Ozias, and Galahad were staring at me. The only thing I could hear was Gareth breathing hard.

“How did you learn?” Galahad sputtered after a few moments of stunned silence.

“My father taught me,” I said, certainly not telling the whole story. “Who do these belong to?” I gestured to the swords I held.

“Mine,” Gareth said quietly behind me. “But you can keep them. I only used them for practice.” He picked his sword up from the ground, sheathed it, and walked back to his spilled pack where the two short swords came from. He started shoving things in it. Aaron finally broke the silence.

“Do you feel fit to travel, Arianna?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s pack up. We leave in half an hour.”