Helena's World

There was only one way out of the village at night when your father controlled the guards, and it wasn’t out of the front gate. Anyone else could leave the village at night, with only a warning to stay safe, but Helena’s father had instructed the guards not to let her through, even though at twenty years old she was an adult and fully capable of protecting herself outside of the village’s walls. In fact, she was more capable than the guards were, but that wasn’t something she wanted her father to know.

Luckily for Helena, she had her own way out of the village. She pulled her hood over her head as she walked away from her house, her boots crunching on the gravel path. It did not matter if one of the patrolling guards saw her walking around inside the walls; there was no law about taking a stroll under the starlight, and it was perfectly safe inside the village.

She did not run into any guards, however, and reached the small street closest to the west-side of the village. She walked beneath a large willow tree with long hanging branches that stood in front of two cottages and vanished into the darkness. She ducked down the skinny alley between the houses, stepping lightly now so no one would hear her.

The fence that surrounded the village was three times Helena’s height. It was made mostly of wood, but it was reinforced with steel and topped with sharp steel spikes. There were also several guard stations around the fence; Helena was far enough from the stations on either side so that they could not see her, especially in the shadow of the looming wall.

She crouched down. There, behind the tall grass, were three small markings etched across three of planks that were part of the wall.

They were runes. The first one meant passage, the second was a lock, and the third was for invisibility. The last one meant that only Helena could see the runes, in case someone were to stumble across them. It was a constant rune, so it was always on unless Helena allowed the enchantment to run out.

The second rune was a constant rune too. It was connected to the first, which meant that it applied to the first rune. Therefore the second rune was keeping the passage locked, whereas the invisibility rune was only keeping the runes themselves invisible.

She pinched the thumb and forefinger of her right hand together in front of the locking rune. It glowed a dull white, and Helena twisted her hand around so her palm was facing up. She made a fist and the glow faded, revealing the same rune in reverse and unlocking the passage. She pushed on the fence and the three panels swung upwards silently, allowing her to crawl through the gap.

She lowered the section of the fence back down, revealing the same three runes on that side. She repeated the hand movement she had used on the other side, locking the passage again. She got to her feet, brushing dirt from her hands and knees.

The village was located in a round valley, surrounded by sloping sides except where the road that had been cut into the hill headed southward. The sides of the valley were covered in sparse forest; they kept it that way so that they would not be vulnerable to sneak attacks. It was steep, and Helena had to climb on her hands and feet for most of the way until she was out of the valley.

Once she reached the top, the forest got thicker and started sloping gently downwards towards the farmlands. The forest canopy blocked out most of the lights from the stars, but it was still safer in there than on the road and Helena knew every ditch, vine, and tree root in this part of the forest. She could even tell the difference between the rustling of a rabbit in the bushes, or a deer, or a human.

Helena kept at a jog as she headed downhill, dodging between trees and jumping over large roots in the ground. The landscape started to change slightly; the trees were becoming further apart and the ground was now scattered with patches of grass. The terrain was flattening out and the trees were starting to let in beams of starlight.

Helena felt a prickle on the back of her neck. In a split second she had her back flat against the nearest tree, both of the knives from her belt now in her hands. She had not heard any rustling but she could feel someone watching her. She kept completely still, her eyes scanning the dark forest landscape and her ears strained for any footsteps or rustling.

Suddenly the forest turned bright blue as a great beam of light shot into the sky in the east. Her eyes rushed to adjust to the light, widening as they fell upon a young man who was staring right back at Helena from across the forest floor. His white-blond hair glowed in the light and his grey eyes also caught the blue light, giving him a ghostly appearance. Neither of them moved, only stared at each other for the ten long seconds that the blue light lasted.

The light started fading and Helena pulled back her hand, ready to throw her knife before her eyes had to readjust to the darkness. But as soon as she moved her hand, her blade gleaming in the blue light, the man took off so quickly and lightly that he could have indeed been a ghost. Helena felt slightly frightened by him; she’d never seen him before, and she’d never seen anyone like him before either.

He must’ve been a fresher, as new as from when the last time the portal opened, but he didn’t look like the usual crook that came through. It wasn’t his appearance that was different; it was his eyes, or, more accurately, what Helena saw in them in the blue light. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was, nor did she have time to let it occupy her mind. Her original destination for the evening would have to wait – she had to get to the portal first.

The portal had opened. It was the middle of the night, so whilst most people wouldn’t have seen the blue beam of light in the sky, there would be some who had, including the guards who would be on their way to tell Helena’s father straight away. She was closer to the portal, however, and she was faster too.

Her father wouldn’t be the only one heading to the portal. It was a beacon to the freshers who were expecting a family member or friend to come through. They would stand outside the fortress, hoping to see them come out; if they didn’t, the freshers wouldn’t even know if they had been executed or simply hadn’t come through at that time. Some of the new habitants would leave the fortress, only to run into a foe they had never expected to see again, and they wouldn’t last long. On occasion, the freshers would attempt to enter the fortress, under the impression that their loved one had been killed. But the fortress was given that name for a reason, and nobody who attacked it survived.

Helena reached the road. It was lighter there, for there were no trees above the road to keep out the starlight. She looked up and down the road, and into the trees that lined it, but she was already confident that nobody was around. She’d lived there her whole life, and her family for generations, so she had a certain instinct when it came to danger or trouble. Of course, that never stopped her from partaking in such activities.

She darted across the road and back into the forest. Not only was it safer for her than the road to the fortress, but it was a faster route too. She could see well enough to speed up, sweat gathering on her forehead as the terrain started to slope back upwards again towards the hill on which the stone stronghold was located. It was only just visible from the bottom of the hill. The portal that it surrounded, however, reached high into the sky, and Helena could see the still-glowing arch from where she was.

There was only one way up the hill, a steep path that had been cut into the side of the hill. Helena moved onto the path and starting climbing. Some parts were only wide enough for one person at a time, other parts were so steep that they had to have steps cut into them, and some parts had fallen away completely and replaced with bridges that swayed when it was windy. There were, however, wooden railings that lined the path all the way to the top. Even without railings, it was still safer up there than wandering the woods at night or entering wilder territory.

Helena had climbed the hill hundreds of times. Her father was in charge of the fortress and the portal, as well as the eastern mines, the native village and rest of the south, which meant that she had spent a lot of time there. After her mother was killed, her father wouldn’t go anywhere without Helena. Whilst her father was working with the prisoners, she would play with the youngest brother of the Stonewall family, Leonardo. Fourteen years later, and she made the trip to the fortress to see her best friend at least three days a week. The other four days, they would meet in the village, or at the farm where their two close friends, Sera and Mars, worked and lived.

She reached the top of the hill and looked down over the railing. She couldn’t see anyone else climbing the path, but it was dark. She approached the fortress, which covered the whole of the small hilltop.

“Who’s there?” came a deep voice from across the hilltop. Helena also heard the sharp sound of steel weapons being drawn. Helena stepped into the light coming from the lanterns lining the battlements and lowered her hood.

“It’s only me,” she said, holding her hands up jokingly. “My father sent me ahead of him,” she lied, easily. “He’s finally training me. I thought I’d never convince him.” She started removing the knives she had strapped to her belt, back and ankle. “I’ll be interviewing the prisoners first, then my father will see how our evaluations match up.”

One of the guards, a broad blonde-haired man called Nik Yates, clapped her on the back.

“Congrats, little warrior,” he said, in his deep voice.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” said the other guard, sounding sceptical. He still raised the portcullis for her, however, and she went inside.

“Don’t suppose you wanting to spend more time here has anything to do with the handsome young guard you seem to spend an awful lot of time with, does it?” Nik called after her. “Leo, was it?” Helena didn’t stop walking, but she swung around and pulled a rude hand gesture before they lowered the portcullis back down. She could hear Nik chuckling as she crossed the bailey, straight past the magnificent portal that loomed over the entire fortress. The portal was older than the fortress which had been built around it, yet it shined like it was brand new. Nobody knew what it was made of or how it got there, only where the people who came though it came from.

She headed into the keep at the other end of the fortress. The keep was home to the guard’s quarters, the armoury, and the entrance to the underground cellblock. The guards opened the heavy door, behind which was the staircase that led down to the prison.

There were three levels to the cellblock. Helena had only been inside once, when her father showed her as a little girl. There were forty cells in the prison, but usually only half a dozen were home to prisoners; the standard number to come through the portal when it opened. She went straight down to the last level, home to the worst prisoners, usually ones that they had already heard of from other freshers. If there was someone who could tell her what she wanted to know, they would be down there.

Being in the underground cellblock made the hairs on the back of Helena’s neck stand up. Many of the prisoners who had been kept there had been executed inside their cells or above in the courtyard. The flicker of the lanterns cast strange shadows and she could hear one of the prisoners on the first level muttering to himself and pacing his small cell.

She moved quickly, descending the last staircase to the third level. The passage was dark except for the dim light that was coming from two lanterns hung on the end wall. Her breathing quickened; there was a prisoner in the last cell. She started towards him. In her eagerness she didn’t even notice the two guards that were standing in the shadows.

“What are you doing down here?” came a sharp voice to her right. She jumped back, straight into the arms of a second guard.

The first guard came into the dull light. It was Damian Stonewall. She turned to see who the other guard was. He had the same short brown hair and dark green eyes as his brother.

“Leo!” Helena threw her arms around her friend, acting as though he was more than just a friend. He knew her well enough to know that she was up to something and played along, wrapping his arms around her waist. Helena looked over her shoulder at Damian. “Can we have a minute?” she asked.

“I knew it!” he exclaimed. “I knew you two…”

“My father’s on his way,” Helena interrupted him. “Would you wait up top for him? I’m supposed to be meeting him.”

“I’ll just tell him his little princess is down here macking on my little brother, shall I?” he asked, heading up the stairs.

“Not if you’d like to keep your insides on the inside,” Helena called after him.

They both waited until his footsteps had completely faded before detaching from each other.

“Who’s down here?” Helena asked immediately, acting as though she hadn’t just cuddled up to him. She started moving along the path towards the cells but Leo grabbed her arm and stopped her.

“What are you doing!?” he asked. “Your dad’s gonna-”

“That’s enough about my dad!” she exclaimed. “He won’t listen to me, so I’m going to find out what’s going on in the outside world myself!” She tried to shake Leo’s hand off her but he would not loosen his grip.

“You can’t talk to this prisoner,” he told her seriously. “He’s level five.” Helena’s eyes widened.

“Good,” she said, pulling her arm aggressively out of Leo’s grip. “He’ll have the information I need. Go and watch for my father.” She pushed him towards the stairs then she took off down the passage towards the end where the lanterns were hanging. The prisoner, the level five, was in the cell on the right. Helena stepped up to the bars to get a look at him.

His wrists and ankles were shackled to the ceiling and floor, so that he stood with his arms and legs apart. He was old, maybe sixty, and had long grey hair that hung over his face. His lightly wrinkled body was covered in more runes than Helena had ever seen on a fresher; most of them she’d never seen before. He would’ve kept them invisible in the outside world, but the magic that kept them invisible didn’t work in this world.

“What’s your name?” Helena asked him.

The prisoner ignored her.

“What’s your name?” she repeated firmly.

He looked up slowly, his narrow black eyes scanning her from her muddy boots to her shoulder-length brown hair.

“You’re more like what I expected,” he said, his voice raspy.

“What do you mean?” Helena asked.

“This is Hell, isn’t it?” he asked. “That would make you a demon. Or is it a demoness?”

“This isn’t Hell,” she told him. “At least it doesn’t have to be.”

“What is it then?” he asked. He pulled uncomfortably at the chains that bound him.

Helena took a deep breathe.

“Let’s start with your name,” suggested Helena.

“Marcus,” he told her. He shook his hair away from his face, like he was proud of who he was.

“Marcus Malone?” A chill spread up Helena’s spine and across her skin.

“You know who I am?” asked Marcus.

“Of course,” replied Helena. “I know all about you – that’s how I know that you’ll be able to help me.”

“Me… help you?” Marcus seemed confused. He rattled his chains at her. “I don’t see how much help I’ll be in these chains,” he hinted.

“They don’t stop you from talking,” said Helena, “so I don’t see-”

“My code is what stops me from talking,” interrupted Marcus. “Honour among thieves, and all that.”

“But you’re not a thief, are you, Marcus? You’re a murderer,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m not asking you to rat out anyone. It wouldn’t matter, it’s not like we can communicate with the outside world.” She stared at Marcus.

“What do you want then?” he asked. “And, more importantly-”

“What are you going to get out of it?” Helena finished his sentence for him. “It’s simple: freedom. This place isn’t Hell; I’d even go so far to say it’s the opposite. There’s nowhere else – nobody else – that can give someone like you a second chance as big as the one you can get here.”

“And if I don’t help you?” he asked, even though the he could guess the answer.

“You’ll never leave this cell,” she told him. “Alive,” she added.

“I see,” said Marcus. “How can I trust you, though? I don’t even know your name.”

“I don’t see another option for you,” said Helena. “With a history like yours, giving me the information I need is the only thing that will… qualify you for that second chance.” She was lying through her teeth, but she was convincing.

“So you can’t give me any insurance that you’ll let me go if I co-operate,” said Marcus. “I mean, I don’t even know what’s out there. I’m not sure I even believe that we travelled to another world.”

“That part’s easy,” Helena told him. “There’s no magic here, which you have undoubtedly already figured out. Outside these walls is a world where everyone works together to survive.”

“Sounds like Hell to me,” said Marcus sarcastically.

“It’s better than the alternative,” Helena said darkly. “Reserve your judgement until you see it; that is, if you get to see it.”

“Right, what did you want again?” asked Marcus.

“Information,” Helena told him, “about something big that’s going down in the outside world. Your world,” she clarified.

Marcus shook his head.

“Haven’t heard anything,” he said casually. “Perhaps some fresh air might jog my memory.”

“I don’t think you know how this works,” said Helena, her voice rising. “You’re the one who’s going to die if you don’t tell me what you know!”

“I think you’re the one who doesn’t know how this works,” said Marcus patronisingly. “If I die, then you won’t get the information you seem to so desperately want.”

“Or maybe you’re not as important as I thought you were, and you don’t know anything at all,” said Helena. “You’re the one who’s the criminal – I’m the one who shouldn’t trust you.”

“It looks like we’re at a stalemate then,” said Marcus. He smiled spitefully at her, then hung his head back down.

Helena kicked the ground impatiently. Quick footsteps approached from her left and Leo appeared, panting slightly.

“Your father’s at the gate,” he said quickly. “C’mon, you can hide in one of the cells until he’s gone.”

“I can’t – my father won’t let him live!” argued Helena.

“Now the truth comes out,” came Marcus’s voice from inside the cell.

“Yeah, it does,” said Helena. She bent down and pulled a small knife from inside her right boot. In the palm of her left hand she carved a rune of her own creation, blood dripping slowly onto the floor.

“Stop!” Leo cried, but he didn’t make any attempt to grab the knife; he knew better than to try.

“This is the truth,” said Helena. “I need to know what’s happening on the outside world. You have about one minute to tell me.”

“Why would – arghhhh!” His body contorted, his bones creaking as his limbs pulled against the chains. Helena had spoken the incantation that, combined with the rune and her blood, caused the victim horrific pain. It wasn’t the first time she’d used it to get information out of someone; unfortunately it also meant she couldn’t let the person live once they knew her secret.

“Tell me what you know!” she demanded, pressing herself against the bars, her hand outstretched.

Marcus panted heavily, spitting blood onto the floor.

“How?” he wheezed.

“How did I do that?” she asked. “I think a better question would be, how many times will have I have to do it before you answer me!” She repeated the incantation and Marcus’s body crumpled again. This time, however, he didn’t scream; he gasped hard for air and it looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

“Nobody’s safe,” he spluttered.

“Safe from what?” Helena asked instantly. Marcus coughed violently. “Safe from what!?”

“Helena, we have to go!” insisted Leo, grabbing her arm that was still outstretched into the cell. She shrugged him off.

“What’s coming?” she asked Marcus firmly.

“Nobody’s safe,” he repeated. “Especially not in here.”

“What do you mean? Tell me what’s coming!” she yelled at him. She went to repeat the incantation again but Leo grabbed her arm out of the cell and pulled her sleeve over her hand. He tried to pull her into the opposite cell as the sound of multiple footsteps echoed through the passage.

“Helena!” Leo was too late. Her father had seen her.

“He knows something!” she said quickly, hoping that if she could distract him from getting angry with her by telling him what Marcus had said. She didn’t even think about him telling her father that she had tortured him with magic. But that didn’t matter: Helena’s father raised his hand, signalling one of his guards to raise his crossbow and shoot Marcus Malone straight through the heart.

“No,” gasped Helena. “No! He knew what was coming!” she yelled. She rattled on the bars, as though if she could get inside she could save him. But it was too late; he had died instantly. His limp body hung from the chains and his eyes were still open.

“What the hell-” Mr Hereweald began.

“What have you done!?” exclaimed Helena, turning to her father. “You just killed the only person who knew what was coming!”

“There’s nothing coming!” her father yelled back. “You don’t know anything; you’re just a child!”

“Are you fucking serious?” Helena was shaking with absolute anger. Leo tried to hold her back but she exploded at her father.

“I’m not a fucking child! I’m an adult, and I’m doing my job to protect my people! And I’m doing a better job than you because I listen to the freshers, not just the natives! The freshers know something is coming and Marcus Malone knew what it was! But once again, you’ve let your stubbornness and your arrogance get in the way and you’re going to get all of our people killed!” She was panting hard by the time she had finished. The guards all looked away, pretending they had not heard everything, even though it was impossible that they had not. Leo looked terrified, not at Helena’s outburst but at what her father would do to her.

“I’m so disappointed-”

Helena pushed past her father so hard he was knocked off balance and fell into his guards. Leo ran after her.

“Mr Stonewall, you will clean up the body,” said Mr Hereweald. “Then I’ll be speaking to you and the other guards about how you let my daughter down here.”

“Yes, Mr Hereweald, sir,” said Leo reluctantly. Helena shot him a filthy look before running up the stairs, leaving her fuming father down in the dungeon. She emerged from the cellblock and flung the doors open to the courtyard, running across to the gate.

“Open the gate!” she yelled at the guards when they didn’t automatically raise it for her. “Open it!” she repeated, when they still didn’t open it. The guards looked past her, then proceeded to open the portcullis. Her father must’ve followed her upstairs and gestured to the guards, but she didn’t turn around to find out. Helena grabbed her knives and ran from the fortress.