Aria stood before the tall wooden gate to the village. The day was near ending, and the sun was only just above the hills on the horizon. Candoria was strategically placed in the middle of a little forest atop a hill. It was as good a place as any for a strong fortress being as defendable as it was, but the village was known for its peacefulness. Aria was wondering how she was to get in when suddenly the gate opened. She drew her sword, unsure of what lay within the towering walls of Candoria. Walking slowly and cautiously, she entered the little town and stood in the doorway looking, looking for something though she knew not what. The village was silent, the streets empty, and all light in Candoria came from the full moon alone.

Suddenly a shout to her side caught her off guard. She back-stepped a swing from a silver sword, but not fast enough to avoid the little slice it managed to land on her arm. Men were pouring down the stairs from the two watchtowers connected to the gate, man after man, advancing on her with swords raised. Aria fought off twelve before they overwhelmed her with sheer numbers. Aria fell to the hard dry dirt. The last thing she saw was the silvery shine of the soldiers’ armor and the hilt of a sword racing towards her; then everything went black.

Aria woke to the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, and a pounding headache. She felt her hair – it was greasy and filled with dirt. Her skin felt oily, and her lips were chapped. By these findings, she deduced she’d been out for a while. The air around her was somehow stale as she breathed it in. Everything was pitch black – so dark that Aria could not see her own pale hand in front of her face. The ground beneath her felt rough and dusty. Maybe it was some kind of rock. If there were walls, Aria was not close enough to touch them. How had she gotten here?

Aria tried to remember what had happened previous to awaking in this strange place. She closed her eyes in an attempt to picture what had happened. She remembered the long journey to Candoria – all the berries she ate, and dried meat. She remembered the sight of the gate to the village as the sun went down. Then… nothing. Frustration furrowed her brow. Why couldn’t she remember? Aria knew there was something she’d forgotten, something she was missing.

Suddenly jumping from her kneeling position on the ground, Aria began to pace. Then she ran until she hit a wall. She jumped but could reach no ceiling. The rocky walls didn’t offer sufficient handholds or footholds, so she couldn’t climb to anywhere. She ran her hands along the bumpy smooth wall, and found no passage out. She didn’t discover any corners so she assumed she was in a somewhat circular area.

After pacing some more, and discovering nothing new, Aria collapsed into a heap on the floor in irritation. How had this happened? Why had this happened? Aria fell into a fitful sleep. She dreamt of silver lights that kept running into her. They pushed her into trees, pulled at her hair, and poked at her ribs. They backed her up a cliff and heaved her off the edge. Before she hit the water, the scene changed to an old man hitting her with a cane while she tried to eat berries with her mouth closed…

Aria woke to a bright light shining directly in her eyes. It was small, but it blinded her as surely as a lighthouse on her nose. She heard a husky male voice yell down in an amused sort of way, like a child whose father had just put on a rather entertaining puppet show, “Here’s your breakfast, girl. The last one you’ll see, I expect! Ha ha ha!” As her eyes adjusted, Aria turned her head in the direction of the voice in time to see a pile of slop dropping towards her. She tried to move out of the way, but having just awoken slowed her reflexes. The supposed food landed right on top of her head. The darkness began to return as the man closed the trapdoor in the ceiling high above her.

“Wait, wait sir! Please wait!” The darkness paused in its advance for a few seconds then retreated letting the light once again fill the chamber.
“What, wench?”

Trying to be as polite as possible while imagining punching the lights out of the man above her, she asked sweetly, “How might I be missing tomorrow’s breakfast? I promise I won’t run off through the walls.”

“Stop your yapping; you won’t live long enough to see tomorrow’s morning light.” With that the trapdoor shut and all returned to darkness. Aria tried the slop that covered her. It tasted of mud, but she ate what she could anyhow.

Because she couldn’t sleep, Aria sat against a wall, thinking. She recited all the nursery songs, all the poems, and all her favorite childhood stories she could remember to pass the time. She had no sense for time in the pitch dark prison. Hours could have passed, or only minutes. She figured it would never be days because of what the breakfast delivery man had said. She would not live to see the morning light of tomorrow’s sun. Why did someone want her dead?

A while later, though she could not tell how long, the trapdoor opened again. A ladder made of rope dropped down. Aria went to it and climbed up; too anxious to get out to think about what might be in store for her outside of the lonely chamber. When she reached the top, she was kicked in the side, and sent sprawling across the floor. She grunted in surprise, though she figured she should have expected it. She landed at another man’s feet. Trying to keep her dignity intact, she stood up. There were thirteen men in silver armor standing in a circle around her. She looked into the eyes of the soldier whose feet she had landed at. Shockingly, they seemed to be giving her a look of pity.

The soldier who had kicked her grabbed her hands and pulled them behind her back roughly. His hands were cold against Aria’s skin. “This way, madam!” the soldier laughed, taking her through a doorway to a large staircase. For what seemed an hour they ascended stairs. When halfway up, the guard who had given Aria a look of pity stopped the soldier who held her.
“Should she not be washed before the execution?”
“Her comfort is not of our concern.”
“Yes, but I’m afraid our eyes and noses won’t last the rest of the way should we permit her stench to further strengthen.”
“I believe you are right. See to it that she is cleaned, Robin. Good luck.”

The guard called Robin led Aria away. Once out of sight, Robin released her from the painful hold the lead guard had instructed him on using. Aria felt uneasy, unsure of this soldier in particular. Why had he let her go? Aria would already have knocked him out had she not been so curious. Robin turned her to face him gently. He leaned in, and whispered in her ear, “Make no utterance. Please follow me, miss.” Aria was shocked at the kindness in his voice. She followed him silently through a maze of stairs and halls until they entered a secluded bath house.

The guard showed her a new set of clothes for her to wear for once she had finished cleaning off. They were fresh. He told her not to doddle or the head soldier, Gabriel, would get suspicious, and that he would leave so she could bathe in private. Robin left, and Aria did as he had told her to. Once she had washed all of the food off of her she dried herself with a clean towel next to the new clothing and dressed herself. When she had finished she allowed Robin back into the humid room.

Robin no longer wore his helmet, but held it with his left hand. Aria discovered that he looked to be around the same age as she – sixteen or seventeen. He had dark brown hair, green eyes, and a handsome face. He stood about half a foot taller than Aria.
Aria asked him, “Why are you kind to me?”
He answered, “I see no reason to be rude to someone who has done nothing wrong.”
“Why am I being executed? I’ve done nothing to deserve death for a punishment that I know of.”
“It’s… because of a prophecy. When Prince William’s father conquered Aspen and became king thirteen years ago after the war that killed my father and so many others, he received a prophecy in a dream. He was told that the one who wields the Shadow Slayer, which is basically a black sword with unknown powers, would be the end of Prince William. He is the heir to the throne. The king ordered that if this person were to be found, they should be executed. Thus, the prophecy would be broken, and the prince safe. Many men and women have died that shouldn’t have. You wield a dark sword, and spies for the king have informed him of all the occasions upon which your sword has displayed unnatural power. So you are a threat, and threats must be disposed of.”

Her father’s sword? Her waist held the empty baldric for the sword. Could it really be her the prophecy spoke of? The sword had come to her through inheritance. She didn’t have to win it or complete a trial to get it. What if one of her brothers was supposed to be the one to end the prince? After all, they had taught her to use the sword and had wielded it plenty of times themselves. How could she be a threat to a prince she didn’t even know? Why was Robin helping her if he worked for this prince? She asked him exactly this.

“I don’t want to work for the prince, but my family once needed the money. I had a younger sister and a widowed mother. Now my mother is remarried and she no longer needs my help, but I’ve been forbidden to leave. If I do then the king will just capture me and do who knows what. It is the price for working under his rule directly. I hate the cruelty of this prison, but I couldn’t do anything for you in front of the others.” Robin paused, then pulled her sword from behind his back, and gave it to her.
“You got my sword! How did you manage that?”
“Easy, it was on the wall next to the trapdoor to your cell. They put it there when they realized they couldn’t break it. Listen I’ve arranged something to get you out of here, but you have to trust me.”

Aria waited behind a corner as Robin talked to the other soldiers. He led them down a long twisting hall out of sight of the stairwell. Once every last guard was beyond the bend of the corridor opposite her, Aria hurried to the staircase. Free to go at her own pace (a jagged sprint), Aria ascended the stairs quickly.

Nearly ten minutes later, Aria reached the platform (the only escape) atop the prison tower and hid behind a pile of crates at the edge of the tower’s walls. Many minutes passed while Aria waited patiently in the shadow of the crates. After a time, Robin appeared on the platform. He gave the signal that all was clear by rubbing the side of his leather shoe. Aria went out to greet him.
“Robin! How did you manage to lose them so quickly?”
“I know this place’s secret passages better than anyone!”
“Well I’m glad you’re alright. Were they suspicious of you?”
“How could they be with you as the prisoner? They remember the news of the twelve men you took down before capture at Candoria!”

For a short time they laughed together. It was well past midday when the griffin arrived. Robin and Aria stood. The creature was magnificent. It had golden feathers and fur. Its eyes were a deep shade of blue. The griffin stood tall and proud. The claws on its feet were over three inches long and razor sharp.

Aria turned to Robin and thanked him. “It was no problem, mostly… Have a safe journey, Aria. Make sure to make some use of that sword of yours!”
“I will.” With that Aria kissed him on the cheek, much to his surprise, and mounted the griffin. Almost immediately the beast took off. Aria held on tight. After a while she got used to the feel of the beating wings in the air, almost like a rocking chair, and fell to sleep. She was again a free woman, but now she had a purpose – to defeat the tyrant prince and his father who had caused so much pain and suffering. The worst thing about it was that they had done it out of fear. So Aria learned through her near death experience that fear could kill just as surely as a knife.