I don't know what pulls me from my sleep, but when I wake up I find myself in the woods. The girl still lays slumped against my shoulder, her neck sits in a sharp, uncomfortable angle. I move my free hand through my dark hair before struggling to get both of us up. My feet ache and my muscles remain stiff. I lift the girl up and start through the dense forest. The ground is covered in dead leaves. The trees are coated in moist green moss.
The minutes tick by. The dead silence weighs on my shoulders. How did I find myself chained to this girl? I let out a huff of air as I shake my head. I listen for noise, but hear nothing. No birds, no shuffling leaves, no water. Just silence. The minutes tick on. The girl doesn't stir. I continue shuffling through the silence until I reach a cliff. The gray brown rock rises in a sharp angle. Frustration courses through me as I try and figure out the best option.
Screams erupt in my ears as I try and think. Her screams startle me and I almost drop her. She writhes in my arms, pushes against my chest. Her screams are caught by a sob. Her body trembles as she shoves herself from my arms. The chain bites into my wrist but my feet stay put. Her body thumps into the leaves. She tugs against the chain hooked on her wrist, she squeals in pain or in fear, I'm not sure which. She begins crying again, she's awake.
I'm frozen, all my words are caught in my throat. What do I say? Can she speak? I can't say she’ll be okay, not even I know that. I take a deep breath, “Are you okay,” idiot, obviously she's not okay.
She tries to pull apart from me, the chain digs into our wrists and blood spills from her arm. She squeals again. “P-pl-please d-don’t hurt m-me.” She tries to back away from me again but she stops.
I squat down in front of her, my chained arm extended forward to give her more room, she shuffles backward until the chain is fully extended between us, her arm, like mine is extended in front of her. About a six inch gap stays between our fingers. “I’m not going to hurt you, I'm trying to help.”
I watch her head shake vigorously as her eyes begin to water again. “Help? Sir, I’m chained to you. Perhaps to keep me close. But I won't run, I swear it. Just don't hurt me, please, please don't hurt me sir. “ She shudders away again. The chain tugs at our arms.
“I'm not here to hurt you. I don’t know who you are, I don't know what you were to that man. I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I didn’t chain us together, your master? Well whoever he was did this to us.”
“No, No. You can’t run away from him.” she begins crying, shaking. She ties to stand but falls to the ground. She shakes her head as she cries. “No, he’s going to punish me. No, please. We can't escape. I can't escape. There's no escape.” She lets out a cry and she begins hyperventilating. Her body begins to quake. She tries to stand and she begins running towards me, past me. She forgets about the chain until she gets yanked back. Her body crumbles and her tremors subside. She grows unconscious.
The fear in her brown eyes keeps me in place. ‘We can't escape.’ The words echo through the still air. I walk towards her and listen to the clank of the metal rings hitting one another. I sweep her into my arms and begin walking along the left side of the cliff. My arms grow tired after hours. Her body stays still throughout the trek. It's just like last night. Not knowing for sure if she was alive. She remains silent and unmoving.
The first thing I noticed was an occasional shuffle of leaves. Then I thought I heard a growl. Soon the sounds grew closer. An occasional bark would startle me from my memories. And finally I realized what I heard. I grew jumpy, quiet and waiting. They were hunting us. The hounds’ barks and yowls grew closer, louder, deadlier. I finally begin jogging, the girl gets startled awake. She tries to push herself out of my arms but finally stops. She cries silently as the hounds bark once more. She lets me carry her as I run away from the sounds of the hunters. The hunters that are looking for us.
Minutes go by, maybe thirty. I lost track a while ago. The girl stopped crying a while ago. Her bony form is light in my arms. A lake comes into view.
“His hounds aren’t good at tracking through water. It can slow them down.” I look down at the girl. Her whispering voice is barely audible. “I can't swim though. I don't know how deep that water is, sir. I'm sorry.”
I look at her as she scrunches her face in fear. “That's okay, I don't think it's that deep, but if need be I’ll find a way for us to cross.” I hear her sigh in relief. I set her down on wobbly feet. We march towards the murky lake and wade in. The water rises fast and I hear her gasp as it strikes her. She's shorter than me by about a foot so the water may be an issue for her. The water rises to my knee, then my waist. It reaches my neck and I look over to see her barely keeping herself above the water. The water laps over her face and she sputters. I reach over to grab her hand and hear her muffled cry of fear. I raise her body from the water as we continue crossing the lake.
More howls sound from behind us. Loud growls. I look back to see shadows behind the trees. I yank the girl along as I begin the mad dash through the rest of the water. The dogs bark and I begin to panic. The girl looks like she’s on the verge of crying. Fear pours from her in waves. And then, without thinking. I tug us both under the dark, murky water. She thrashes but I grab a hold of her and force her to stop. I hear a squeal escape her lips. She tries to push away from me. And then I finally pull us up.
She's crying again. She's sputtering. I look behind us and see the dogs disappear down the bank. She tries to push herself from me, and when she succeeds she falls under the water, she thrashes as I try to pull her up. She's shaking and scared, I lift her and glide through the water. She pushes herself away from me once we’’re on lan.
“I'm sorry, the dogs. I wasn’t thinking.” She slinks to the ground and cries. I stand as far away from her. I don't know what she has been through. I don't even know her name. I just dragged the girl under water. I didn’t warn her. She could’ve drowned. She might’ve thought I was trying to kill her. But.. Ugh. This is too much.
“I'm sorry, sir.” She startled me. “We should go.” She gets up and begins to walk. I follow.
“If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?” I don't look at her.
She waits a while before speaking, “my master calls me as he pleases.”
I wait for more but she doesn't speak. “I'm not one of your captors. And I don't plan on keeping you hostage. I wish to be your friend, not your master.”
“I don't have a name sir.” I look at her and see her flinch away from her own words. “I only know what I'm told.”
I look away from her and replay her words in my head. “You can call me Zhar, but my name is Zharavian.” She does a half curtsy in response to this.
“Xaeline. If you don't mind, I like the name Xaeline.” I look to see her bowed head turned away from me.
“I like that name. Xaeline it is.” We continue through the almost bare trees. The sun is towards our backs, casting long shadows in front of us. Xaeline slows down quite and I match her steps. “Do you know how old you are?”
She shudders. “Yes and no. I do not know for sure. I was given away at six on my...birthday. Every year. On the same day. I was given a scar to represent my age. I can't see the scars. I don't know but my body does.” I watch her clutch her tattered shirt in her clammy hands.
“May I see?”
She shudders again. Shakes her head. “No, no. please. No. You can't. Plea…”
“It's okay. I understand.” I cut her off. She slinks away from me again and cries. She bites the skin under her thumb to calm down. It doesn't seem to help. She whispers something that sounded like ‘I'm sorry’ but I'm not quite sure.
The sun has gone down, we keep walking. I look at Xaeline. I don't understand her. She said she was given away. But by who? Her parents? She doesn't have or know her actual name. And she said Masters. How many? How did she get tangled up with Stephano Grandeur? I was dragged to his house because I literally bumped into his brother. But her? What happened? Who was her original ‘owner’? And who is she? What happened? We walk on for a while. The darkness has settled over everything. I can barely make out her figure. I can see her stumbling from side to side. Then she crashes, taking me down along with her. She still breathes. But her body no longer moves. So I rest.