Hold up! Are you new to the site? If so, I would recommend starting with the prologue of Mane of Black which can be found here: The Last Night of Autumn. It will be a lot more enjoyable for you if you read it in order!
19 Spring, Cycle 455 // Outskirts of Nighthaven
There was a slow throbbing in her head of which Eliana was becoming keenly aware as the sun’s rays shone down onto her face, rousing her from a deep slumber. Her fingers groped weakly at her sides and she felt the soft warmth of a bed and sheets surrounding her, something that would have provided much comfort were it not for the unsettling feeling of unfamiliarity. She tried to sit up but her head felt too heavy, so she settled for turning her gaze to observe her surroundings.
It was a small room that contained only a bed, a table next to it on which sat a candle and a tankard filled with water, and at the foot of the bed a large wooden chest. The last and most unsettling part, however, was that there was a figure leaning on the doorframe. Remembering the events of her capture, she assumed the person was involved and she frantically tried to locate her knife, but she only wore a thin shirt and pants and there was nothing on the bedside table or on the floor. Then the most terrifying thought occurred to her, and her hand shot up to her neck where she always kept the precious vial that Zeno had given to her, his last gift before leaving her on her own.
It was gone. Shit.
“Hey Ax, she’s awake,” came a woman’s voice from the figure near the doorway. Eliana’s head was becoming clearer, and she finally gathered the strength to sit up in the bed. The woman began walking towards her. As she stepped into the rays of sun, the light revealed her hauntingly beautiful features: large, narrow eyes with irises as dark as night, a flawless pale complexion akin to that of a doll, and long, straight hair as black as a raven’s feathers. She was not a woman of Antovia, but of the large continent to the southeast, Dargonis.
The Dargonian woman began advancing towards her, and Eliana felt a familiar restlessness. She had absolutely no reason to trust this woman. And who was this “Ax” she spoke to? Why was she here? Did these people have something to do with the lost raven?
The woman stopped next to her and her hand started towards her hip. Eliana’s instincts kicked into action instantly, assuming she was reaching for a knife, and her hand shot out to grab the woman’s wrist.
The woman stood motionless, without even flinching at her sudden forceful grip. “Feeling a little jumpy, are we?” she said, a smug look stretching across her face. “It’s too bad you weren’t that quick during our first meeting back in the alleyway, otherwise perhaps I’d be the one with the headache.” She chuckled.
Eliana said nothing in reply, but narrowed her eyes with suspicion at the woman.
“Are you going to let go of my arm? Because if I was going to kill you, I would have done it in your sleep.” Her smooth voice had the touch of a Dargonian accent, but it was expertly obscured, she assumed, by years of speaking the common tongue of Antovia. She exuded a surprising amount of confidence, despite the fact that her small body appeared as fragile as porcelain; but she had a feeling this woman was somehow much more resistant than that.
She had a point however. If these people had wanted to kill her, they would have done it while she was knocked out. That meant she must have something they wanted from her, which gave her a decent advantage. There were only a small few things that could be, considering her line of work – they either wanted her bow, her alchemy, or both.
But she had never seen this woman before and was curious about how her talents had come to her knowledge. There must have been someone who had been feeding them information about her. But who?
Then her mind briefly flashed back to the moment before she’d been knocked out. Joseph had been the one to drag her out of Pendleton’s office onto the street. She vaguely remembered overhearing the words he’d spoken into the dark alleyway while she had laid on the ground with her head spinning.
“…her…definitely valuable…deadly…poison…”
But Joseph had always seemed like a man loyal to his master, someone too stupid and brutish to be passing information. Especially someone like whoever this “Ax” turned out to be. Who was he anyway?
Suddenly as if her thoughts had been answered by the Gods, a well-built, somewhat aged man appeared in the doorway. He had a rough appearance about him, with short greying hair that he had clearly attempted to comb back but had insisted on staying disheveled, and a thick, bony nose that she wouldn’t have doubted had been broken at least twice. He wore a well-fitted black leather vest and pants with tall black boots; the most notable thing about him, though, was his undeniable aura of absolute authority and intelligence.
Eliana reluctantly released the woman’s wrist with a sneer on her face. The woman smirked and continued reaching for her original destination on her belt, and out of a pouch she pulled a recognizable object – her vial.
“Give that back to me!” Eliana snapped, snatching it out of the woman’s hand.
“Calm down, little lady, we didn’t steal it. We were keeping it safe while you were asleep. We are only thieves when we’re paid to be, darling.”
Eliana began to tie the vial necklace back around her neck where it belonged. She resolved to be even better about keeping it safe. She would never let anyone take it from her again.
“You must be hungry.” Finally, the man, whom she assumed to be “Ax,” spoke. His voice was gruff, but it had a genuine tone behind it.
Eliana was beginning to accept that she really had no choice in this situation for the moment. She would have to play along, for now. Plus, he wasn’t so wrong; she became aware of a painful hunger in her stomach, as if it had been days since she ate.
“How long was I asleep?” She asked, almost fearing the answer.
“Two days. I really got you good, didn’t I? You were out cold, little lady. I was starting to get worried I had hit you too hard.” The woman laughed, and began walking back towards the doorway, where the man named Ax was standing. “But at least I don’t have to listen to your god-awful snoring anymore.”
Eliana gritted her teeth at the mockery. If these people hadn’t offered her food and hadn’t returned her vial without trouble, then she’d be halfway to having her hands around this woman’s throat.
After the she’d left the room, still chuckling at herself, the man stepped into the room and came next to her bed, leaning against the table.
“My name is Axton. I know you must probably want to throttle us at the first chance you get, but we have something to offer you, so try to keep your hands off my throat for at least a few hours, deal?” Axton had a way of speaking that made him almost seem like she could trust him. But Eliana knew better. Trust will get you killed. Zeno’s words echoed in her head.
“You already know my name, so I won’t give you the pleasure of telling it to you myself,” Eliana responded with a cold bitterness behind her words.
“We know a lot of things about you, Eliana.”
“Like what?”
“Like the fact that you love visiting Hank’s Tankard every time you get paid, which you will be able continue, should you wish.” The man gave a little smile, an expression she hadn’t expected to see on such a hard face.
“I have a hard time believing that you captured me because of my drinking habits,” Eliana said with a sigh. Her head still hurt and her body ached, but at least she could sit up now.
“Please, have some water. I’m sure you’re thirsty,” Axton said with a kind undertone, pointing to the tankard of water.
Eliana eyed him suspiciously, but could think of no reason that they would poison her, so she drank. Once the fluid hit her dry tongue, a desperate thirst was triggered within her, and she began to gulp it down tirelessly.
“Whoa, slow down. It’s no good if you drink it too fast…” But before Axton had finished his sentence, she had already downed it entirely. “Well, two days asleep can make you quite parched, I suppose.”
The water revitalized her a surprising amount. Her head was still throbbing, but she could tell it was starting to subside, even if just a little bit.
“We have your bow, knives, and potions, and your clothes are in the trunk. When you’re ready to get up, you may have them back. As Iyasha said, we are only thieves when we are paid to be. You are not our prisoner; so please, feel free to roam around and help yourself to anything–food, wine, what have you. On that note, we’re about to eat breakfast, so you may join us when you’re ready.”
Eliana couldn’t bring herself to thank him, considering they had knocked her out and brought her to this place against her will, and she still didn’t fully understand why; but even so, her heart felt a strange sense of excitement about what was ahead while her brain screamed that she should escape, that she should not trust them. Because after all, trust will get you killed. But maybe this time it was worth the risk. Why would they go through all this trouble for her specifically if what they wanted her for wasn’t important?
Eliana watched as Axton left her room. She didn’t linger for long however, as even though her heart and mind were at war, her stomach told her that the first step towards surviving another day was to join them for breakfast.
Mane of Black is my first on-going fantasy story. It features Eliana, a bastard born to two people of different royal houses, Goldmane and Nightmane, in the land of Antovia. Because of this, she was wanted by neither and was forced to live on the streets until she was taken under the wing of Zeno Syris, a mysterious wandering alchemist. Through him she learned potion-making and the art of survival until he left her on her own. Her story continues.
The art in the featured image for this post is done by JoakimOlofsson on DeviantArt, who is gracious enough to allow the use of their art. Please help support their art by at least checking out their DeviantArt profile and seeing their other gorgeous pieces of work!