Sacrificed to the Ends of the Earth

~The dense grey fog was intoxicating that brutal night Lady Ongela was taken from her family. Her frail lungs struggling for a touch of oxygen through that damned disheveled bag was too much to bear. It was only a fortnight until her 19th name day and the harsh twisted minds of the bandits had poisoned her ever so slightly as to knock her into a fuzzy haze of bizarre hallucinations. They were ready to make their sacrifice to the lords of the realm. Sweat and tears dripped down her soft skin and immersed her lavender wine hair in a salty mess against her chest. The knobby ropes cinched around her tiny chafed wrists. Her flush pink lips quivered with fear. 

The trees hissed and crackled in those dreaded moist winds while they danced the dance of the melancholy vibrations that rang throughout the thick green forest. There was no moon to be seen in the dark somber sky. 

The once magnificent palace was now broken.

A young man by the name of Alias the 2nd quickly caught word from the Duchess of the realm that her daughter had been taken. He instantly knew that he had no choice but to save her, for he had loved her for many years. Lady Ongela had been so gracious in her adoring friendship for the young lad and he had fallen so deeply in love with her that his heart longed for her touch. If only just a chance at a mere graze of her hand or a short evanescent look of tenderness. If only for a brief moment in time.

His striking blue eyes wept in a silence so loud it could break the hearts of 1,000 men. It would melt the ice that engulfed the souls of the wicked. 

The agonizing ritual would endure for 4 days and 4 nights, as the legend had been told. Alias had but a small window before the final cut would drain the last ounce of the fair beauty’s innocence and end her life. Alias jumped on his trusty steed and charged into the ominous night, his choppy ash hair thrashed by those winds. Those awful dreaded winds.

His horse was fierce, and the duo surged through the night like a tornado destroying a hay-field just before ripping a barn in half and spitting the wooden pieces into oblivion. Before long, Alias could hear the clamoring hooves of the hijackers horses, as black as they were he could not see them very well. But that did not stop his tenacity.

With a piercing stab to the side of his faithful white stallion, he crashed through the trees as if they were nonexistent.

The treeline broke into a large open field. It was suddenly a race to end… the final point of no return where the earth dropped off and the floating castle of darkness would consume its sacrifice into the vortex. The place where frightening nightmares are made.

Gaining speeds of immense urgency, Alias advanced the ratty carriage and noted 3 men atop of the freight.  In one mighty bound he rocketed of his horse, pulled his razor-sharp blade and slit 2 of the men’s throats in a single plunge. The bloody limp carcasses fell to the soft mossy ground as Alias grabbed the reigns and halted the carriage before the 3rd rotten villain could let out a scream. The horses hollered into the dead of night and dug their hooves into dirt. The filthy brute regained his balance and threw a lazy fist at Alias. He missed but Alias fell off the wagon hard into the earth. 

A bright flash of lights blinded Alias as his head hit. Then black.

Alias slowly opened his eyes to a dull yellow light above his head. A soft fluffy pillow lay under his frosty ash hair. He ran his hands along the surface where he lay as the silky sheets brushed against his skin. Turning his head ever so slightly he peered to his right to see a small frame close to him. 

He blinked once and then opened his eyes as wide as he could as if admiring a beauty so bold it was nearly impossible. 

There she was in her light delicate negligee. Her long lavender locks nestled against her smooth ivory back. Her skin was gleaming like a newborns. She smelled of luscious sweetened honey.

His hand gently touched her shoulder, just for a brief moment. His heart skipped a beat.

She had been by his side all along. She was more than a dream, she was an everlasting eternal love. 

He would have sacrificed himself… to the ends of the earth. His body sank into hers and they were intertwined in a warm, fiery embrace for all eternity.