dream

(So, have fun reading and this chapter was written by my girlfriend and not me ^^)

~ 1129 ~ Raya ~
Death. She is dead! Died of the plague. How so? Why Gwendoline? What did my foster mother do to be punished like this? It's my fault if I hadn't saved her from the fire ..... wait, Ryan saved her.
> It's his fault! He has it on his conscience! <, my inner voice whispered in my ear. "No, I don't think so!" I whispered while staring at the grave of my foster mother Gwendolin.
>> Gwendoline rests here! A wise old woman and foster mother who always had good advice and never gave up. May she rest him peace! <<, it said on the tombstone. I knew the words by heart as often as I had read them. Yeah, I hoped she had a better life now. Without pain. Without suffering.
> You have to go! He broke the contract and he won't let you go willingly so run! You are free! <, called the voice to me. And she was damn right. I got to my feet, my knees protesting as I'd been sitting in front of the grave for the past two days. I rubbed my sleeve over my face and wiped away the stupid tears that had decided not to stop flowing. I sniffed, kissed my palm, and pressed it to the headstone.
"Goodbye Mum, I love you!" Then I turned and straightened my dress. I didn't really like dresses, but my mum said it was not right for young women to walk around in lederhosen. It was true that where I looked, women were walking around in simple cotton dresses with an apron over them. I only wore dresses because of Gwendoline.
I walked so quickly that it was inconspicuous, across the market square and past various thatched houses. I passed the village butcher's shop and the tavern. Then I slipped into a back alley. Since I kept looking over my shoulder, I hit a wooden barrel with full force.I looked around quickly, but no one had noticed anything. My heart was racing like a marathon. Ryan could show up any minute and then I would never escape. Ryan had a knack for showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fortunately, the gods were on my side today and I came undetected to my house, which I had shared with Gwendoline.
Now it was strangely dark, big and cold. Goosebumps ran down my spine and for a moment I thought I had felt something. There were ghosts, I knew that from "lessons about the other world," as he always called it. There I had learned everything about fairies, elves, werewolves, vampires, trolls and the like. Of course also about my peers. Demons.
I quickly gathered my few belongings and stuffed everything into a leather bag. I took off my dress and slipped into my leather pants and put a mider on over them. Both in dark purple tones that almost bordered on Bordaux. Slipped into my knee-high boots, daggers positioned and the sword tied, and the black cloak over it, and then I crept through the back of the house, heading east.
There was the forest. Fortunately, our house was very close to the eastern border of Ryan's village. Ryan wanted me and Gwendoline to live with him in the castle at first, but I was strictly against it and so we kept our little house.
I ran all day. I passed through a village where I stopped to eat something and now I set up camp at the edge of the forest. I made a campfire and sat down.
I would certainly not sleep, but neither did I want to walk through the night. So I sat down on the floor and enjoyed the last summer wind that day. At some point I had to doze off after all, because when I opened my eyes again, the sun was already high in the sky, triumphing over her world and making her shine in beautiful colors.I freshened up at a nearby stream and made my way again. I had spent the last day wondering where I wanted to go now. Because most people avoided me out of pure instinct.
They sensed that I was different and immediately labeled me "bad". I was fine with the whole thing as I wasn't the social type anyway. So I decided to go to the monster authority. There, so ryan had told me, I could start a new life, they would give me an apartment and a job. As if it were now for me: Off to Abbedon. As far as I knew, Abbedon was a very large Brug. But the Dof residents told each other that no one had ever seen the interior of the castle. And those who ventured into it were never seen again. I asked Ryan about it and he told me that the inside of the castle was kind of the entrance hall of the other world. Abbedon was about a two day walk. And since I mostly walked the side of the road, I was able to use one of my newfound skills. The super-fast run. Of course I had to make sure that nobody saw me. But until now I had only passed a wandering singer and two farmers.
I reached Abbedon after one day after walking through one night. Less than a mile from the gates of the village, I put on my black coat and the hood low over my face. I didn't know who was under Ryan's protection. Because those were obliged to tell him the truth ......
So if he decided to ask around his followers, they couldn't help but tell him everything. I walked through the gate and luckily only got the attention of the guards for a brief moment. I walked down the main street, carefully looking around. I decided to wait until night to get into the castle. I turned into a side street and accidentally bumped into an old woman who was leaning on her stick and started screaming when my arm brushed hers.I looked around in horror and saw the first people rushing up. I gave the woman a withering look which meant that she looked at me with even bigger eyes and screeched even louder. Before the first passers-by reached the old woman, I was already over the mountains. Another plus for the super-fast race, I thought, and went into a shabby pub. Inside it stank of beer, hay and other gross things. I never wrinkled my nose and went up to the landlord. Who stood behind the counter and wiped a dirty glass with an even dirtier rag. Ok, I wouldn't eat or drink here. But in such a pub it was easy to hide and learn useful things. I looked at the host and ordered a whiskey. Though I wouldn't even touch it. I sat at the table furthest away from the door and the counter, but still so that I could see everything. When someone enters the pub I caught a glimpse outside through my improved eyes and knew that it was about late afternoon when a man walked into the pub. The man was wearing the same long cloak as me and had the hood pulled just as low over his face. He went purposefully towards the host, said something to him that I could not understand. What the landlord had just said didn't seem to appeal to him at all, because he made a grimace and finally nodded.
The man sat at a table that was on the other side of the room, and from which he had a good view of the door and the counter as well as the guests, including me. Fortunately, my hood hid my face so he couldn't see me watching him. The host came to my table and put my glass in front of me, I nodded to him and watched as he also brought the man a whiskey.
He took the glass and tipped it down in one gulp, he gave the landlord a sign whereupon he disappeared behind the counter and shortly afterwards came back with the bottle and put it in front of the stranger.He poured himself the second and poured it down. I forced myself to take my eyes off him, because on the one hand he fascinated me and on the other hand I was scared as hell if I even looked at him. I limited myself to watching the other guests and listening to their conversations. Two older men were talking about something very interesting. I concentrated on what the taller of the two was mumbling into his beard. "Yes, yes, you heard that right, old friend. Lord Ryan is looking for a young woman, she should have run away, that foolish thing. He's given her a reward, apparently he really wants her back." He nodded eagerly but the other leaned her a little closer to his partner. "Why do you think she ran away first? I tell you something is wrong with this lord! I tell you.", The smaller one had a heavy accent which I barely understood. So Ryan was already looking for me. Great. I didn't notice the rest, because my attention was directed to a boy with bright red hair who was heading straight for my mysterious stranger's table.
The two men - one of which looked like 16 and yet had an aura of centuries - greeted each other and the boy sat down so that I could see both of them. I made an effort and listened carefully to what the two of them were saying. "Really Devon, it's rude if you don't speak to me face to face," the boy said in a reproachful tone. "You're right, excuse me it's a stupid habit of mine.", I looked startled at the man who had a youthful voice and then had an undertone of an adult. When he pulled the hood back, he exposed a dark blonde head of hair and very brown eyes. He wasn't an adult as I first thought, he was roughly my age. When he smiled he showed a row of gleaming white teeth."I like it better that way," said the red-haired boy. "So Corrib, why did you call me here?" Asked the blond boy named Devon. Corrib grinned broadly and leaned slightly over the table, took Devon's whiskey glass and poured himself. "I can?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and bottle. "Sure," Devon said, making an inviting hand gesture. Corrib drained the glass in one gulp and licked his lips. "Wonderful stuff isn't it? My father has in -"
"Corrib!" Said Devon in a warning tone. "Oh sorry, I like to digress." the man named Devon rolled his eyes and his gaze swept across the room and then he looked back at his neighbor. Fortunately, he hadn't discovered me. "So, let's get down to business ..... I heard you have information for me?", He said, looking serious and suspicious at the same time, if I could see that in the dim light. Corrib grinned and showed perfect teeth, which even shone a little in the dim light. "Yes, I actually have some information about your demon. But where is my money? I won't say anything without pay, even if you're my