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I burrow into my feelings and my deepest nightmares, layers upon layers of discarded information that built up over years like soil deposits. Reflection, real reflection, is an archaeological dig. You find yourself sectioning off the area into blocks and keeping track of what sites, what points in time in your life were the most active, which had something unique about them compared to the other years.
I feel old.
It hurts to see how much, how many parts of me, I’ve buried all this time.

I was walking through the hallways before I noticed it–just a small piece of paper which jutted from a locker. I shouldn’t have cared, but I did. I shouldn’t have stepped forward to grasp it…but I did. Although I didn’t feel anything as I lifted it up to my eyes, I knew something inside of me had changed.
When I read the words written in a masculine scroll, I knew without a doubt that I had accepted a mission without knowing it. That no matter what lie I fabricated, it was my duty to carry out the note’s message. I knew that this mission would change my life. Forever.

There are seven lords who rule seven cities in the country of Alikahtolm. As rulers over us, they are vicious and cruel. Nothing seems to be able to penetrate their forces, so it is with a fading hope we continue to march on through our day. Hoping -no praying -for a deliver to save us.
We have not heard in four hundred years. Many of us have lost the remnant of hope that we possessed.

When I saw my picture on their magazine, my heart swelled in fear. It didn’t matter that they had covered my face with a black box . . . I didn’t feel any safer. I studied my clothes and hair in the photo. Without further thought, I ripped my hair from its bun and braided it down my back. I took a soiled handkerchief from my laundry basket and secured it around my hair. Then, I went inside the hut and found the clothes I had worn. I hesitated for a brief moment before casting the dress into the fire. My very last outfit . . . burned because of a simple picture.
But the cinders just may save my life.
Gazing into the fire, I determined to flee my village. Tonight.

He throws his sword to the ground. “Do you really think all of this –the lying, the thievery, the killing –will amount to anything but your own death?” Glaring at me, Nate nervously runs a hand through his tangled curls, his face showing the conflicting emotions that tremble inside of him. “This is not about making sure your family has enough to eat anymore, Lydie. This is a matter of principles!”
Slowly, I stand from my stooped position. Around me I feel all my men gathering to listen to our argument, curious as who will win. Whether or not I’ll fire the arrow that my fingers are twirling between themselves. Knowing that I won’t miss. “Don’t speak to me of principles, Nathan Scarlet! While your father burned my village to cinders, you stood by and did nothing. You bedded all the widows and teenage girls from my village who had nothing to eat. When given the opportunity, you lied about your heritage just to gain favor in my eyes. Do not speak to me about principles unless you can condone your own actions!”
Nate grows silent. His eyes spit fire. He gathers his sword. “You are a hoodlum, Lydia Robin. No better than the ruffians who burned your village to the ground. You can’t keep killing people who oppose you. I understand the pain and anger you feel, the wrath you wish to descend upon my father. I also know that you’re better than this. Everyone knows.”
“That’s the last straw!” Growling through my teeth, I point my arrow at his heart. “Leave right now.”
“That’s no what you want . . . or what I want.” Nate steps closer. “Lydie, I-”
“I never want to see you again.” I pull my hood over my head. “Goodbye, Nate.”
“Farewell,” he whispers to my retreating back, “Robin Hood.”

“It’s actually quite simple,” he says, jumping down from his perch in the tree. Standing closely to me, he points off into the distance, raising my hand until I see the palace in the far off distance. “We blend in at their own palace! They will never know. With your skill and my brains, we could be the best hunters of the forest, and they can’t resist hiring us!”
I bite my lips, gingerly walking away from him. “It could work.”
“It’s simply genius, Lydie!”

I rise from the ground.
Dust coats my eyes, blurring the city into obscurity. I blink and everything becomes clear.
Destruction had flooded my city, leaving behind only rubble.
Death had risen like a lion, slaughtering all in sight.
Unmovable buildings now lay in ashy heaps at my feet.
Immortal people lay dead around me among the debris.
Fire scorches the area, devouring everything left in sight.
Sounds of war grow nearer.
Blocking out the gut-wrenching pictures surrounding me, I tighten the satchel across my chest. I check inside it –food, water, clothes, matches . . .
“Lydie,” a voice hisses. I turn around, pulling an arrow into its socket. “It’s me,” the pale male in front of me huffs, walking nearer. Beneath the dust and soot, I see who it is before he says, “Nathan.”
I lower the bow. “Is there anyone left?”
He shakes his head, bites his lips, and kneels beside a corpse. He chokes out, “No.”
There is no time for emotions, I think, taking deep breaths. “Do you have food? weapons? blankets?”
He touches the hilt of his sword, resting in his back scabbard, and the backpack strapped upon it. “Everything I own is here.”
“We need to leave,” I say. “Immediately.”
“The soldiers are coming.” He rises. “I’m ready.”

Nothing was worse than being called into the Great Hall. When a person enters through its colossal, wooden doors, they never return.
That is why I quaked with fear when soldiers encircled my house, and the captain of the guard stood at attention before my door.
“You’ve been summoned,” the Captain spoke, clenching his teeth. I realized that I knew him…in fact, I knew them all.
I did not have to ask why or felt the need to ask where I had been summoned to. I just knew.
“Allow me to draft my final will.”
Sighing, the Captain glanced behind him before edging closer to my side. He whispered into my ear, “You have one hour.”
I nodded. Tears sparkled in my eyes, but I blinked them back. I had to be strong. For my family, for my friends. For my country.
“I’m so sorry, Ellen,” he whispered, bowing his head.
“Don’t offer me your apologies. Offer me a promise.”
“And what promise is that?”
“That I will emerge from the Great Hall. And not in a wooden casket.”
“I do not believe I can promise-”
“Captain.” Grasped between my fingers, I tugged on his tunic. “I have to live. Please contact the General for me.”
“He will not help you. You are a rebel.”
“No, Captain. You are wrong. I am a rebel, and that is why he will help me.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said through clenched teeth.
“What you did was amazing!” Livvy insisted. She paused, a smile flashing her dimples, and reached out to gently touch his arm. “Thank you, Eli.”
Jerking from her touch, Elijah glared at her, his blue eye* flashing. “I said. Don’t. Mention it.”
Livvy shook her head. “You’re not the beast everyone thinks you are.”
Without another word, she turned on her heels, leaving Elijah in the wake of her frightening words.
“She’s not the one,” he whispered to himself.

*the singular “eye” was on purpose