Chapter 2 An Unwanted Companion

ALESSA

I knew I was going to die, but what was now more painful was having to take this innocent young man with me.

"You shouldn't have tried to save me. You shouldn't have interfered!" I yelled at him angrily.

"You're welcome!" He shot me a reply without even turning to look at me. He was so keen on cracking the riddle that he wasn't doing anything else.

"...what you see when you look at a face... bring two or more together..." He was murmuring words from the riddle we just read. In the middle of it all, I suddenly found myself staring closely at him, observing him more closely. He looked young but I could tell he was older than me, but within my age range. His hair was brown and rough, and it fell over his face in a naughty way. His face was stern, determined, probably from the efforts he was putting on the door. His eyes were dark but I couldn't tell if it was because the lights in the cave was dim.

Then I suddenly heard the boots of the bounding men coming closer and I woke up to reality. It was then I remembered we were just about to die.

"Think...think...." He was cursing at himself. It was a moment of utter frustration.

I read the lines again...

"I am what you should feel when you look at a face

But how I truly look like, no one knows

I can be your friend though every man is my foe

I bring two or more together to guide their pace"

I gasped as realization dawned on me and the answer washed over me.

"Love!" I cried. "Love it is!"

Suddenly, the stone groaned slightly and began to shift with an amazing magic that held us spellbound. We both shifted a little as the light of the outside world began to streak in, causing us to shield our eyes.

"Hey! Hey!" The men were right behind us.

"Run!"

We both took off, running as fast as our legs could carry us. We were descending a nasty hill and I felt my trembling legs unable to keep up with so much speed.

Still, the men were closing in on us!

I could hear their arrows and in no time, one swung past me, missing my neck with inches.

"Be careful!" He shouted. Grabbing me by the waist, we spun into a bend, hidden by the rocks. Behind us, arrows collided with stone and fell to the ground.

Instantly, he pulled me into a shade in the rocks and we stooped in silence. His moldy fingers was crossed over my lips and for the first minute, we just stared into each other's eyes, trying to regulate our breathing and stop the panting. We waited as we heard the men gather around the area.

"Follow that bend..." One of the men commanded and we heard the footsteps of the men fade away. They were gone. We remained still for another while before we slowly began to free ourselves. We could hear our breathing again.

Slowly, the boy raised his head and peeped from above the rock.

"We're clear!" he whispered. He turned to me and offered a hand. I hesitated, realizing he was a stranger. Then I remembered he had just saved my life multiple times and received his open arm. He helped me up and slowly led me out of the hiding place. We began taking the opposite route, realizing we were now in the woods. The sun was still high above us and I assumed it was well into the morning already.

My mother just died early this morning. I remembered her dangling from the ropes, struggling to live. I didn't even know when tears flooded my eyes.

"I'm sorry about her, but trust me, she'll be alright." The boy suddenly said to me and I realized he had seen the tears in my eyes. I felt embarrassed but was too engulfed in my grief to hold it back. I found myself crying even more. The boy didn't say a single thing anymore. It was like he understood my grief and knew it was just better if I cried.

"Where do we go now?" He asked me.

I turned to him in surprise. We? "You need to stop already. You've done enough, thank you very much. Now I need to run my way. Please..."

"No... no.... listen!" he turned me so that I looked into his eyes. "You don't need to go without me..."

"I don't know you!" I insisted.

"You will get to... I'm Ikaris, by the way...." He said. "And I don't have anywhere to go to or someone to be with as well so we'll travel together. The hunt for witches is widespread now. Believe it or not, you won't be safe if you move alone..."

"But I'm not one of the witches..."

"I know and you don't have to... they don't need you to prove yourself. They will just kill you as they wish... Now, let's..."

I shouted... screamed.... I could see something from behind him and Ikaris had no idea. The man behind had shot an arrow and it was coming straight for his neck.

They found us!