The legend begins final format

by gmakalani

  He looked again at the dying fire and gave up. He slipped back into the little bed, wrapped his arms around Flare and held her close. She murmured in her sleep and his eyes closed quickly.

  Then he was being shaken awake, Flare’s face wet with tears.

  “Your father won’t mind if I’m a little late,” he muttered but as he focused on the room around her it was still dark. “What is it?”

  “It’s always night.”

  He shook his head.

  She nodded. “It is. The fire is out and there is no wood. The food is spoilt on the table.”

  He pushed out of the bed and towards the table. The smell hit him before he reached it. “I don’t understand,” he muttered, covering his mouth and nose with his hand.

  “She is the witch,” Flare whispered.

  He shook his head.

  “We have slept for days.”

  “The cottage is cold,” he said.

  She gave him a look like he wasn’t listening and raised her eyebrows as she had done as a child and he shifted under her gaze.

  “The mushrooms,” he whispered and she nodded.

  “But why?”

  “She thinks we are the twins to stop her.”

  “But we aren’t twins,” she sobbed. “Why would she want to keep us here if we are who she thinks?”

  Iski turned the words over in his head but he couldn’t say them. Instead he stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. The room was cold and dark and he shivered. “Where are your shoes?” he asked and she moved to pull from his arms but he held her close.

  “By the bed,” she muttered.

  He took her hand and led her back through the curtain where they sat side by side on the little bed and pulled on their shoes. Then he gave her a smile, held her hand tight and pulled her towards the door.

  He couldn’t grasp the latch, as though it was slippery or not as solid as it should have been. When he was finally able to get a hold of it, it wouldn’t work. He pulled and pushed and rattled the door. He turned to the little window, again struggling to close his fingers around the latch, as though it were not really there. He couldn’t find the axe and picked up the pot from the side of the stove, the meat’s juices rancid in the base and he gagged as he lifted it and swung madly at the window. It bounced back without even reaching it like the window was a picture painted on the wall.

  Dropping the pan on the floor he reached forward for the latch again and his hand slipped off it. He looked around the small room for any sign of a way to get out, any opening he hadn’t tried. He pulled at a small door in the far wall and stopped.

  He squatted down before the cupboard and peered into the darkness. Inside was a cage. There were bars on all four sides even though three of them were built into the walls of the cottage. He couldn’t see a door to the cage but it was dark, the floor hard and the cage empty.

  Iski sat heavily on the floor as the room began to spin. And then he jumped to his feet searching the small room like a madman. Where was Flare? He moved back and forth through the curtain.

  His heart stopped and a metallic taste filled his mouth.

  In the silence he could hear her sobbing quietly.

  She was pressed into the small space between the bed and the wall and he carefully lifted her out and held her close.

  “She’s going to kill us,” she whispered.

  He nodded and pulled her closer.

  Iski looked over the dimly lit room and tried to decide what they could do but every option evaded him before it settled in his head. All he could focus on were the cage and the locked door and the window he couldn’t reach.

  Flare shivered in his arms and then yawned. “I’m still so tired,” she muttered.

  He nodded and they sat slowly on the bed. “What do we do?” she asked, her voice small and fragile.

  His arms tightened around her. “Maybe we wait until she returns and then fight our way out.”

  Flare nodded slowly. “But what if we aren’t quick enough? Or she is too strong for us?”

  “I don’t know,” he whispered. “I don’t know how to save you.”

  She leaned into him heavily and then she was standing quickly, fidgety and hopping from foot to foot.

  He reached out to take her hands but she slipped through his grasp and the panic closed his throat that he was the problem and not the house. He stood himself and moved quickly back to the table. How could this have happened? Had anyone noticed they were missing? Flare surprised him as she slipped between him and the table, threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself against his chest. He closed his arms around her and pulled her closer and then she was kissing him and pulling at his clothes.

  He pulled away from her and her face fell.

  “We are going to die,” she said, her voice too calm.

  “Is that why you want to do this?” he asked, and regretted the words the moment they left his lips.

  She shook her head and then her hands slipped from his shirt and she folded.

  He caught her before she hit the floorboards, his arms strong around her and his lips over hers. “I love you,” he mumbled and she pulled him closer.

  “I can’t die here,” she breathed as he kissed down her neck.

  He shook his head. “Maybe that is why we are here,” he said.

  She pushed out of his arms and looked at him seriously. “You think we were sent here to die?”

  “No. To stop her. Maybe we are the two to end this.”

  “But we aren’t twins.”

  “Maybe the Prophesy didn’t specify twins. It was two coals together, maybe two born together or two that come together.”

  “How are we going to stop a witch?” Flare asked.

  “I don’t know. But we found her for a reason.”

  Flare shook her head and shuffled back from him. “This is crazy.”

  “Our life was crazy before this. Parents that don’t want us to marry. A nowhere life in this little town covered in snow and ice all year. What else were we meant to do?”

  “Marry and have babies and live in this little town with you working with my father and the other men that are left.”

  “It’s not enough,” he said and it was hard to keep his face firm as the fat tear rolled down her cheek. “You know I love you, that I wouldn’t go anywhere without you. That I’ve never gone anywhere without you.”

  “Always a step behind,” she muttered.

  “Beside me,” he said taking her hands. “You are always beside me. I would follow you anywhere. I want to marry you, I want us to have babes of our own,” he pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “But we are destined for more.”

  They were there for a reason, he could feel it. The old stories of witches and prophesies his mother had told and retold him over the years suddenly made sense. He could feel the strength of them calming him. There would be a way for them to escape and save Muteguard. He just had to find it.

  Flare nodded slowly. “How?”

  “Let’s forget it for now,” he muttered, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.

  As he led her back to the little bed, she pulled him to a stop. “We’ll go to sleep,” she said.

  He shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed. But as they lay back down Flare yawned and his eyes pulled closed.

  The room was still dark when Iski woke. Was it still night or was it night again?

  And then the door clicked and Flare stiffened beside him. Shaking the fog from his mind he pulled Flare out of the bed and towards the door but it was already closed.

  Edris stood before it with her hand outstretched and he stopped dead. He pushed and struggled to pass her but he couldn’t move. He slipped to the floor exhausted, how long since he had eaten? Days, weeks? All that decay and until that moment he hadn’t thought about just how long they were trapped in the cottage.

  Flare watched in horror as Edris, wearing a crooked smile, str
etched out an old foot and kicked him. He looked so fragile and unmoving. As the sun shone through the window for the first time in so long a strange sick feeling settled on her. There was no way they could leave the cottage unless Edris allowed it.

  “Give me a hand,” the old woman said and Flare focused on her leaning over Iski.

  “Get away from him,” she whispered. She tried to scream, tried to be forceful, tried to run and shield him but she couldn’t move.

  “Help me or he dies,” Edris said, her voice flat.

  Flare nodded and her heavy legs slowly stepped forward. She rolled him onto his back and Edris lifted his arms. Then she started to drag him towards the cupboard.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Shh,” she said, letting an arm drop and bringing her finger to her lips.

  Flare opened her mouth but no sound came out. She tried again but nothing and she stared at the witch through blurry eyes.

  “Help me,” she snapped.

  Flare nodded again and tried with everything she had to lift Iski’s prone body from the floor but they dragged him more than carried him towards the cupboard. When the door opened there was no sign of the bars they had seen before and Flare leaned forward. There was enough space for two people to sit inside the cupboard but neither of them would be able to stand.

  The witch slid Iski along the floorboards and through the door and then closed it behind him. “There isn’t much of him left, is there dear?” she said and Flare backed up. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. “Nothing to say?” She laughed a strange cackling sound that echoed off the walls. “You cook, child. I have provisions in the basket. Get this house clean again and then cook my supper. We have guests coming.”

  Flare stared at her for a moment.

  “Do you want to eat?” she asked.

  She nodded slowly but she watched the cupboard.

  “He’s more trouble than I expected but he can eat too. You do as asked, and he won’t die.” She sat at the table and screwed up her nose at the plates before her. She waved a hand and Flare cleared the table, piling the dishes in the little sink. “There is a well outside, go for water.”

  Flare lingered in the sun before she dropped the pail into the little well beside the house. How long had it been since she had felt the sun on her skin? Had she ever felt such sun in her life? As she wound the pail back to the surface, she looked around the small clearing. The trees surrounding it were strangely green and small bright flowers grew amid the grass.

  She had managed to walk so easily out into the world that surely she could again. And now that the bars were gone inside the strange cupboard, she was certain she could find a way. As the pail reached the top of the well, she dipped her hand into the cool water for a sip. She coughed and spluttered and it slipped back into the dark. She called out but nothing happened, her voice still gone.

  Would she ever get her voice back? She wiped at her wet face and took a deep breath before she wound the rope back up. She unhooked the pail, squared her shoulders and headed back inside.

  She sat the pail on the table as the witch watched every move. She filled the dented kettle, sat it on the stove and then put her hand on the stove top. Cold. She looked at the witch who looked away with a nod. Flare opened the little door and looked at the coals and ash piled inside and sighed, although no noise escaped.

  “I have guests coming, move faster. Or do I have to threaten your twin again.”

  Flare looked up sharply to see her standing by the cupboard door, as she opened it the bars had reappeared and Iski was still unconscious on the other side.

  Flare shook her head quickly and looked around for tools to clean the fire out. She hurried to scrape out the ash, wondering how she was going to get to Iski. She set the fire with kindling but she couldn’t see any logs.

  As she stood back from the stove, Edris, still on the other side of the room, clicked her fingers and the kindling caught. “Close the door.”

  Flare closed the stove door and stood beside it.

  “There are logs outside. You are only to bring in what you need. You are not to pile wood inside.”

  Flare nodded.

  “You may drink now.”

  Flare looked at the bucket still on the table. She found a small cup on the shelf by the sink and she scooped out a little water. She slowly raised it to her lips and then glanced at the witch but her eyes were on the stove.

  “Two logs only,” she said.

  Flare gulped down the water, cool and fresh and did as she was bid. The stove took little time to warm and the water began to boil in the kettle. She poured it into the sink and then refilled it and sat it back to boil. She scrubbed at the plates and the table and swept the floor listening for any sound at all from Iski’s cell. As she placed the old teapot on the table Flare couldn’t see Edris. She peeked slowly around the thin curtain before slowly reaching for the cupboard door. A hand closed around her wrist and she jumped.

  “The tea is in that cupboard,” Edris said, pointing across the room. “We must hurry, they will be here soon.”

  Flare nodded and moved to the cupboard she indicted to find the tea. There was a range of strange spices but little else besides the tea. Flare made the pot and set out two cups and saucers and two little plates as directed. Then she stood with her hands in front of her and waited.

  “Stand by the bed,” Edris snapped.

  Flare found her legs taking her to the small space behind the curtain without her telling them to. All she wanted was Iski but instead she was trapped, hidden from the rest of the room. When the quiet knock came at the door, she held her breath. Was it someone that could save them or another as bad as Edris?

  The chair scraped across the floorboards and Edris moved towards the door. She sounded slower, older somehow.

  “Hello my dears,” she said but Flare couldn’t hear any response. And then the door was closing and a second person moved towards the table. “Your father tells me you have been bad,” the witch said, her voice harsh and scary. Flare shivered and then at the sound of a child crying she tried to step forward but she was stuck.

  The child began to cry more earnestly and Flare called out but nothing followed. She waved her arms around and by luck she caught the edge of the old curtain and she pulled with everything she had and it fell slowly to the ground before her.

  Edris dropped the husk of the boy in her arms to the floor. “Make tea, dear,” she said sweetly giving Flare a smile. “I get so thirsty.”

  Flare stared at the dried remains on the floor. There was something familiar about him but she couldn’t be sure.

  “You can clean it up later. Prepare the tea and dinner. You are hungry, aren’t you dear?”

  Flare nodded, her eyes still on the boy. Did she want to recognise him?

  “It’s Flare, isn’t it? Like flame?”

  Flare looked at Edris in surprise, somewhat younger than she was before. “Yes,” she said. Her hand moving to her lips in surprise as the word was spoken aloud. She opened her mouth again but nothing came out.

  “Pour the tea, Flare. I don’t like to ask more than once.”

  She nodded and reached for the pot pouring it into a chipped cup and sitting it before Edris as she sat at the table.

  “Do we not have sugar?” she asked.

  Flare shook her head.

  “Oh well, we can’t get everything we want in life,” she said. “Sit down. Have your tea and then you can cook, for I think your young man will need some food when he wakes.”

  Flare looked towards the silent cupboard. Then she sat at the table and poured herself a cup of tea. She sipped at it slowly and found it far more refreshing than she thought possible. She sighed as it warmed her insides and eased her panic and then at the sound of shuffling within the cupboard she was overwhelmed with guilt.

  “Give him some water and then cook. I need to sleep.”

  Flare scooped a cup of water and r
aced to open the door for Iski. Iski slowly sat up as she reached between the bars for him. He took her hand tightly in his and pulled himself against the bars and she handed him the cup.

  “Are you ok?” he asked.

  She opened her mouth and nothing came out.

  “Flare?”

  She shook her head, the tears spilling over despite her willing them not to.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “This is my fault.”

  She shook her head. It was hers, she should have agreed to run away with him the moment he suggested it. Then he was looking beyond her and she turned to see the husk of the boy still on the floor. She closed her eyes against it and leant back into the bars.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said again, his voice breaking and she reached in and pulled him closer, wishing the bars weren’t between them and that they could just become one. If only her father had said yes and they had stayed in the village. Or they had left over the hills as those before them had. As she squeezed her eyes closed, she heard the cries of the little boy; had they really all left like she assumed? The idea was overwhelming and she started to sob.

  “What is it?” he asked but she could only shake her head.

  They had been gone too long; their families would think that they had run away like those before them. Assumed they had left Muteguard for a better life. Only this was far worse than staying in the village.

  “Is there a way out?” he whispered in her ear.

  Flare pushed slowly off the floor, checking briefly that Edris still slept, she sucked in a breath and pressed her thumb down to lift the latch, the door swinging towards her easily. Iski nodded but she pointed towards the little bed. She silently closed the door and crept closer to the bed. Her face, relaxed in sleep, was smoother and firmer and her hair seemed less wiry. Flare turned from her to the remains of the child and then shook her head.