The Fithiarch and Gideon, Part 2

[Guest]

“Come on Lillith,” the pretty young woman said, her arms crossed, looking about her anxiously. “This place doesn’t feel right.” The young woman who had been the subject of so much interest to the Faerun, both of the Light and of the Dark, bore the name of Gideon. Lillith looked very similar to Gideon, except her eyes were the colour of Gideon’s hair, and Lillith’s hair was the same hue as a raven’s wing. Lillith and Gideon differed greatly. Gideon was serious, mature and had an air of sensuality about her that drove the men of her hometown insanse with desire. None had been able to court her yet, however, as she had never shown a single scrap of interest in them. Lillith on the other hand, was flighty, childish and almost always giggling with the band of girls she had gathered around her. Lillith was popular because of her demeanour. Most of the women in town found Gideon too serious for a lady, and too mature, or as they said, “stuffy” to be of any interest. Gideon and Lillith’s parents, however, realised that Gideon was the dependable one, and more often then not Lillith’s queries to whether she could go to this or that event were met with, “Only if Gideon is going also.” Gideon loved her younger sister, so she endured many events so that her sister could have fun and have a life.

“Oh Gideon, stop being so stuffy!” Lillith exclaimed, and the girls around here tittered in agreement. They were like sparrows, Gideon thought. Silly little sparrows surrounding Lillith, a peacock. The little sparrows agreed with the peacock no matter what she said, and they always tried to be like her. It was ridiculous, Gideon thought, sad that they had no minds of their own. “We’re having fun out here, aren’t we girls?” Lillith continued a slight pout to her words.

“Yeah Gideon.”

“Please let us stay!”

“Oh yes please!”

The sparrow’s chorus.

“It’s not quite dark yet, we don’t have to be back for ever so long,” Lillith continued.

“Lillith, the sun has almost slipped past the horizon. You know these lands aren’t safe after dark.” Gideon read, unlike her sister. She had read the old folklore books of this land, and had seen the proclamations of the towns’ heralds, and notices put up around the town, telling of mysterious disappearances of some of the townspeople from around the area where they were now currently picking roses.

“Oh pshaw!” Lillith said, waving her hand and going back to pulling petals off the roses and cramming them down her bodice. “You ought to try this Gideon,” she replied by way of a retort. “You might actually land yourself a man before you get too old!”

The sparrows tittered.

“Shoving broken rose petals down between your breasts won’t get you a man Lillith. It won’t make Phillip Jefferson like you,” Gideon growled, a smug smile on her face.

Lillith blushed and looked guiltily at one of her friends. This particular friend was being courted by Phillip Jefferson, yet Lillith had been secretly vying for his affections and Gideon had found out. She had never said a word about it until now, and Lillith’s friend scowled at her, and the two began arguing, while the other little sparrows flitted to and fro, trying to decide which side to be on.

Gideon smiled to herself and walked away, walking towards the land of the Dark, though she didn’t know it. Gideon was deep in though, so she didn’t notice the foliage around her growing darker, nor did she hear the noises of the creatures that dwelt within the Dark Forest. Gideon barely even noticed that she was walking into a forest, as the Dark’s glamour prevented her from seeing it. Gideon also failed to notice the snort of horses, and the sound of their hooves pawing nervously at the ground.

After the sparrows and Lillith had stopped squabbling, they realised night had well and truly fallen. They gathered themselves and their roses together and began to head home. Lillith couldn’t see Gideon anywhere around, and so figured that her older sister had already gone home. She was worried about how much trouble that she’d be in when she returned home, but she figured Gideon would get into trouble too, for leaving Lillith out there alone.

·•♪♫♥◦○●•·

Gideon seemed to suddenly snap out of her reverie and look about her, alarmed. It was dark, and she was in the middle of somewhere she had never been before, with no recollection of how she got there. “Lillith?!” Gideon called, her alarm rising. “Oh dear,” she murmured, when the only response she got was the echo of her own voice. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.”

“Oh dear indeed, my little one,” a male voice drifted out of the shadows, and Gideon whirled around to face the direction from whence it came, only to see nothing. Strange, inhuman cackles began to sound, each one coming from some different direction, and she spun wildly, trying to locate the source of the laughter. She bent down and picked up a large stick that she saw lying on the ground and held it out in front of her like a sword, the tip at chest height.

“W..W.. Who are you?!” she yelled, her voice wavering slightly with terror.

“We can smell her fear, General,” one of Durion’s soldiers growled, smirking. “Can’t we eat her, or at least play with her for a little while.”

Gideon was terrified.

Durion stepped out of the shadows, in full view of Gideon, as the rest of his men did the same. “No,” he said. “We take her to the Fithiarch unharmed, just as he ordered.”

“What of the others then?” a hissing voice said to Durion’s left. “What of them?”

Gideon shuddered at the voice, and shuddered at the creatures behind Durion. All of them were part human, part reptilian, and exuded a foul stench that made Gideon want to gag. Durion himself was handsome, Gideon noticed, and wondered why he commanded foul creatures such as these. When the creature mentioned ‘the others’ though, Gideon realised it meant her sister and her friends. “No,” she thought. “It mustn’t hurt them.”

Durion continued, having never taken his eyes off Gideon. “Play with them,” he said to his soldiers. “Kill them if you want.”

“No!” Gideon yelled.

“No?” Durion said, feigning surprise. “Why not little one? You don’t like your sister, and you certainly don’t like her friends.”

“Be that as it may,” Gideon said, her voice gaining that elder sister tone, sounding more confident then she felt. “No one will hurt my family. Or my family’s friends.”

“So she has honour,” Durion thought. “The Fithiarch will like this.”

The reptilian creature, who asked of the others girls, Sith, growled. “Enough,” he said. “I go to hunt.” He left the pack and began to walk across the clearing, between Gideon and Durion.

“No!” Gideon yelled, moving as fast as she could in her skirts to stand between Sith and her sister. Sith pushed her roughly aside and she fell to the ground. The General’s men laugh. Durion simply stayed silent and watched, thoughtful.

Gideon was gasping, fighting back tears now. She got to her feet with difficulty, tripping over her skirts. She looked around as the creature strode across the clearing, and her gaze fell upon the stick that she had dropped when the creature had pushed her over. She lifted it up, held it like she would a lance, and to everyone’s surprise, ran after the creature.

The creature turned around in time to see the young, pretty woman running towards him, and his look of disdain turned to surprise as she quickly closed the distance. He was stunned and did not even move. His eyes boggled and he let loose a hissing scream when he realise what was about to happen. Gideon yelled with the effort as she pushed the creature back against a tree, the pointed end of the stick angled up under his ribs, and when his back met the tree, Gideon didn’t stop, she kept going. The creature let out one final hissing scream as the stick pierced his skin, his lungs, and eventually hit his heart. The dark purple goop that was the creatures’ blood washed over her hands, and flecked her chest and face. She was gasping, almost in tears, as she let go of the stick and the creature slid to the ground, still.

Durion and his soldiers were shocked.

After the initial shock, a ripple of anger went through the soldiers and they began to advance on Gideon, who squealed and ran. They chased her, and she ran blindly through the forest, not caring and not knowing where she ran. Durion’s men chased her. Durion himself, however, had swung onto his horse and leapt ahead of them and fell into a gallop beside Gideon, his hand extended down to her. “Take it little one,” he yelled.

“No!” she yelled back.

Durion growled with frustration. He wanted to protect the girl, not only because his Lord had commanded it of him, but because he really felt for her. He almost admired her. The instant that the stick had pierced Sith’s heart, Durion had decided he would always take care of this girl. “Little one, they would kill you. My Lord will protect you. You have to let me take you to him.”

She considered this. Take her chances with the reptilian men who were gaining on her, or take her chances with this blonde man’s unknown Master. Neither was a safe option.

“Does he look like you?” she called as she ran beside the horse, her skirts up in her arms.

“What?” Durion asked, confused.

“Is he human?”

Durion paused. “He’s more human then these creatures,” he said honestly. “I give you my word.” He held out his hand once more.

Gideon took a deep breath and took his hand. Durion wasted no time. He pulled her quickly onto his horse, sitting her in front of him, his strong arms on either side of her body, and his horse reared suddenly in protest as he tugged hard on the reigns, forcing it to change direction suddenly. Gideon squealed and grabbed onto Durion’s arms. She felt suddenly very ill and very faint. The last thing she heard and saw was Durion’s face brushing his cheek on her forehead, and his voice saying, “You’ll be alright little one. Hang on.”