Sons of Dusk

Silence and the crackling of the fireplace are the only things that greet her when she regains consciousness. Every muscle and bone in her body aches, which is to be expected with the beating she’d just taken. She’s surprised she’s even alive after the day’s events. Trying to ignore the temptation of falling back into a dreamless slumber, she forces her eyes open and is greeted with the wooden floor and a shoe.

It’s clean, expensive, and made of black leather. Nobody around here would have the money to afford shoes like these. The bottom of a black pant leg is made of nice material just like the shoe brushes the top of it. Her eyes trace the line of the body in front of her until she meets the piercing blue gaze of the man lounging before her.

She’s lying in the middle of the sitting room in her childhood home on the floor at the man’s feet. Every muscle in her body screams at her. The moons glow through the windows and the fireplace is the only source of light in the dark room.

The man has made himself comfortable in her father’s old chair in front of the fireplace. He sits with one ankle thrown over his knee, one arm thrown over the back of the chair and the other hand cradles a wine glass. He raises the glass to her.

“Nice to see you’re finally up, Darling. I was getting impatient.” The man says exasperatedly. It takes some effort, but she lifts her head from the hardwood, her cheek sticking to the floor. Her clothes are dirty and torn. She’s covered in cuts and blood. She’s not sure if it’s her own or someone else. Her head feels like a sack full of bricks, she tries to study the man in front of her through the pain swimming around in her head.

The glow from the fireplace reflects off the man’s strikingly dark hair. His hair is such a dark black it almost looks blue. His hair is thick and curls around his face and ears. Pale blue eyes are framed by pale skin and sharp cheekbones. His white shirt almost seems too big on him and shows off just a hint of his chest. It looks like it’s made of the softest cotton.

Turning her attention to the room, she examines the damage done to her childhood home. The living room is in chaos. Chairs and tables were overturned, pictures broken, the dinner that was being served was all over the floor, multiple bodies strewn about the room, and blood covering most surfaces. She fully expected to be one of the corpses lying about and had a strong feeling that the man sitting before her was the reason why she was not. She has no idea why he would save her unless he wants something, but she has nothing to give. No money, no connections, nothing.

A throat being cleared pulls her attention back to him. He raises an eyebrow at her, expectantly. She meets his stare right back, silently.

“They didn’t hit you over the head hard enough to give you brain damage surely! Or were you just raised not to thank people who go out of their way to help you?” he asks snidely. She rolls her eyes at him, and now he’s fully glaring at her.

“And you thought it gentlemanly of you to just leave me lying on the floor while I was unconscious?” She shoots back at him in the same tone. He sniffs indignantly.

“I’m sorry Darling, but you are covered in blood. This is a very expensive shirt.” This is all he offers in response, not sounding apologetic in the slightest.

“They were going to kill you, little witch. You’d be dead right now if I hadn’t stepped in and saved you.” He adds as he leans forward, his forearms lying on his knees. The man stands and steps right over her. He makes his way around the room, canvassing, sidestepping around the blood.

“You didn’t think they were going to just let you run off Scot free after what you did, did you?” he asks, suppressing a laugh. He practically waltzes around the room. Moving with an unnatural grace and ease, she’s never seen before. His tall lean frame easily moves around the debris and corpses. The fire causes something to glint at his side, grabbing her attention. He has two daggers strapped to each side of his trousers. They’re about as long as his forearm and incredibly sharp. In addition to the daggers, he also has a bow strapped to his back.

She’s not sure if it’s the potential concussion or the day’s events but she finally focuses on what he’d just said.

“Do I look like a witch to you? You clearly have the wrong person.” She says trying to get to her feet. She shakily, and slowly stands up. The man is now across the room leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. A wide smirk on his face as he watches her, he makes no effort to cross the room to offer to help her up. She gets to her feet and stubbornly grits her teeth, trying to hide how dizzy she feels. She doesn’t need his help. He snorts.

“Did you not see what you did to the Lord’s son? There’s nothing left of him. He simply incinerated. Sounds like a witch to me. I could sense the magic from a mile away. Anyone trained could. Why do you think they were so intent on killing you? They’ll burn you for this if you stick around.” He says as he pushes himself off the wall and comes stalking toward her. He stops less than a foot from her. He towers over her and looks down at her. She meets his gaze head-on.

“Why are you helping me?” she asks quietly, curiously. The air is heavy with tension. The sound of her breathing and the fire crackling are the only things filling the air. Oddly enough, he’s dead silent. Only her breathing can be heard.

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out. We need to get you out of here. Those guards I killed will not be the only ones. Once they realize they aren’t coming back, they’ll just send more.” He says seriously. She takes a step back, trying to put some distance between the two of them.

“You expect me to just leave everything behind and follow a stranger to who knows where?” she asks incredulously.

“Where else would you go? You’ll die out there alone. They won’t stop hunting for you here. You’ve made a very powerful, dangerous man, very angry and he will chase you as far as the sea. It’s in your best interest to come with me, Darling.” He flashes her a charming smile and looks up at her through his lashes. If she wasn’t so stubborn, she’d admit how beautiful he is. That’s the last thing she’ll ever do though. She rolls her eyes instead and deliberately ignores the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. She crosses her arms and stares at him. He rolls his eyes at her.

“Fine, stay here and die.” He says throwing his arms up in the air. He turns on his heel and marches towards the door. He throws it open and slams it behind him.

She’s left in the glow of the fireplace and the only life she’s ever known is in ruins around her. The silence he left behind is thick and acrid. She almost feels like she’s choking on it. She glances around at the ruins of her childhood home and for the first time in a long time feels her throat and jaw tighten as she refuses to let the tears come. She feels panic slowly start to rise within her. Her feet have a mind of their own, and she’s rushing to the front door and throwing it open. The night sky greets her. The moon shines down on her and the mystery man who is cockily leaning against a huge black horse with his arms crossed.

“Changed your mind, Darling? Go grab anything you have left that you want to bring with you. We have a long journey ahead of us.” He says with a smile.

He was already up in the saddle when she joined him back outside. The very embodiment of tall, dark, and handsome. He sat atop the dark horse cleaning his nails with a knife, not paying her any mind. She didn’t wait for an invite as she hoisted herself up behind him on the horse. She wasn’t graceful about it and he grunted indignantly as she jostled him. He shot her a quick glare. She grinned at him.

“Did I interrupt his highness grooming?” She asked sarcastically. He rolled his eyes at her and with a flare, flipped the knife shut and shoved it into his boot. He dug his heels into the horse and they were off. With a startled yelp, she threw her arms around his waist.

“Hey, You never even told me your name.” She said tightening her hold on him as the horse picked up speed. He glanced back at her.

“Kaelar, call me Kae.” He said turning his attention back to the front. She nodded.

“Vaeleria, Thank you for saving me back there.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Where are we going?” She asked curiously. He sighed, his hopes of this being a nice quiet ride diminished by the second.

“The people that attacked you are going to keep tracking you. I have an old friend who might be able to hide you from them. We’re going to see her. She lives in a cabin not far from here, we should be able to reach it before dawn.” He explained quickly. She just nodded, he’s obviously not in a chatting mood.

Silence enveloped them both. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the night creatures around her—a welcome respite from the chaos of the day. The chirping of the crickets and the croaking of the frogs calmed her racing mind and like a lullaby she slowly welcomed sleep.

She dreamed of two lovers who loved each other more than life itself. She saw how they met, the conversations that led to them falling for each other, the first hesitant kisses, then the confident hungry touches that followed, and the fights that tore them apart only for them to come back together even stronger in the end.

Something watched from the sidelines during those moments. Something dark and evil. She tried desperately to yell out and warn the couple but it was like someone silenced her. She’d open her mouth to yell a warning only for a tortured sound to escape. The couple continued, unknowing, of the evil presence that followed them around.

She jerked awake when whatever she had been leaning against in her sleep abruptly moved away from her. With a squawk, she reached her hand out to grab the horn of the saddle before she fell face-first off the horse. She pushed herself up and glared at Kae who now stood on the ground beside the horse looking at her unamused.

“I’ve been listening to you snore for the past 4 hours.” He says snidely.

“Shut up.” She grumbles as she hops down off the horse. She gives him a thank-you pat before turning to Kae. They’ve stopped in a clearing in the middle of a forest. Right in the middle of the clearing is a cute little cabin, covered in green vines and surrounded by a beautiful garden.

Kae gestures for her to follow him. She notices the tightness in his face and shoulders as they approach the door. She wonders why as he knocks on the door.

A striking red-headed woman answers the door. She’s tall, with long waist-length wavy red hair, green eyes, and a light dusting of freckles across her face. She looks confused when her eyes land on her but then her face contorts into a face of complete fury when her eyes land on Kae. He opens his mouth but before he can get anything out her hand is cracking across his face.