Air rapidly filled my lungs as my feet brought me closer and closer to the field just out side of town. I loved to run, feeling the damp ground under my feet. The wind ripping at my face and throwing my hair back, the rapped beating of my speeding heart. The blood pumping through my veins, making its way from my heart down to my legs, the expanding and contracting of my legs with each stride. But unfortunately I wasn’t running for fun, I was late. I was supposed to be at the field half an hour ago.

It was dark in this forest. Running through it everyday, I had come to know it, familiarized my self with it. Every fallen log, every rock, every tree that would find itself in my way, I knew were they would be and how to maneuver past them with out hesitation. I swerved the trees as I flew past them, running through Coucy Forest, just out side of my town Alberic.

It was a small town that I lived in, which is surrounded by farm land. The town has one black smith, a small little church, a small little market were goods are sold, about ten houses, and there is one tavern for travelers passing by on there way to one of the kingdoms. There are four kingdoms, The Kingdom of Adestan, then there is The Kingdom of Kendrick, which is the kingdom across the Fallen Sea, it is known to be one of the most peaceful kingdoms, and then there is The Kingdom of Aldredus, and The Kingdom of Tolkien. The Kingdom of Tolkien is ruled by Samuelle Tolkien III, the most barbaric king of them all. He is sometimes known as The King of War or Cruelty; he has no limits when it comes to getting what he wants.


My family and I live about one and a half days away from The Kingdom of Adestan. I live with my mom, father, and brother. My father’s one of the best knights that ever lived, everyone knows his name, he works for King Adestan. My father is tall with dark sun kissed skin, dark brown hair, and green eyes. He has the muscles of a fighter; he is a fast runner too just like me. My mother always says I’m my father’s daughter. My mother is the exact opposite of my dad. She is short, with pale skin and long, blond curly hair, her eyes are like sapphires, as blue as the sky. She could possibly be the most beautiful women out of all the kingdoms if she didn’t always ware a scowl. My brother is eight years old, and even though he’s two years younger then me he’s still two inches taller then I am. He has blond hair, green eyes, and tan skin just like our dad even though he spends most of his time inside helping our mom with the chores or reading books. I’m ten years old, I have dark brown hair just like my dad and sapphire eyes like my mother, and my skin is pale white even though I spend most of my time out side. My dad is my hero, one day I hope to become just like him, a knight, so that one day I might ride by his side to battle, and join him on his quests. But that was just a fantasy; it was unheard of, unthinkable even, for a girl to become a night.
Thinking about my dream of becoming a knight reminded me why I was so late.



“Hay, Air. What you doing way out here? Going to meet your boyfriend?” Richard taunted as he and Henry blocked my way into Coucy Forest.

“Yeah. We’ve seen what you do out their. But you know what, no matter how hard you practice, you’re still a girl, and a girl could never be a knight. Just face it; you don’t have what it takes. I mean you’re not strong enough, or tough enough; as soon as you broke a nail you’d probably run home crying to your mommy,” said Henry, adding his two sense.

My fingers started to curl under, forming tight fists, knuckles whitening as they flexed tighter. I closed my eyes, in haling deeply, trying to com the rag that was slowly starting to bubble up inside me with each word Richard and Henry said. Control your anger, I thought to myself, don’t let it control you. I opened my eyes, not looking at Richard or Henry; instead I looked behind them to the forest. Looking in it was like trying to look through murky waters, it was dark and it just got darker the deeper you went in. Yet even though it hard to see, it was filled with beauty. Each fallen leaf turned golden, a fallen log covered by rot and mold. The smell was even beautiful; it was the smell of mold, rain, dirt, and pine, the smell of fresh air and wild animals hiding in the shadows. It was the smell of freedom. My eyes darted daggers at Richard, angered that he would try to take that from me. I shifted my body to the side and started to walk around them. But they just moved to block me again.

“Ohw, I think we angered her,” said Richard in mock horror.

“Aw, I think she’s gona cry,” Henry looked at me with a look of fake sorrow on his face. “Are you gona cry, Air?”

I couldn’t look ether one of them in the eye; instead I gazed at my shoes. I inhaled deeply; I had to stay calm, and with them harassing me like this, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could control my anger before it exploded out of me. “Please. Move.” I said each word very slowly in a way that made it sounded like a threat. But they just stood there and laughed.

Richard took a step forward, his nose inches away from mine, and gave a big shove to my shoulders. Unprepared for the push, I started to fall backwards. I gasped as a sharp pain shot through the side of my hip, as a landed with a hard thud. “Why don’t you make me and then we can really see how good a fighter you are.”

As Richard turned and gave Henry a high five and started to laugh with him, the thin string that was holding my patience together snapped. I felt the adrenalin start to swim through me as the anger I tried to keep in bubbled to the surface. As he turned his back on me, I lunged; tackling him with a satisfying thump to the ground. Hovering over him, I lifted my self on to my knees and rolled him on to his back. Held both of his hand down over his head with my left hand as my right came down with a hard crunch against his nose, my original destination forgotten.

Henry, out of his shock, runs over to me and starts yanking on the back of my shirt, trying to pull me off. I take the hand that was smashing Richard’s face in and give a hard push toured Henry, as I lift my self off Richard. I look down at him. He lay there, passed out, clots of blood gushing out his nose, which is hanging limply at an angel, and down his chin, staining his dirty old shirt. I look up, my body tense as I gaze at Henry. He is a few inches shorter then me, with brown hair, and brown eyes that were starting to pool with fear as I slowly took a step closer to him. But then it was gone, and a broad grin started to spread across his face. Was he really that stupid, did he not know that his face was going to look like Richard’s after…? I never got to finish that thought because I was grabbed from behind; my arms pined to my back.

“You stupid b****!” It was Richard; he must have regained consciousness, unless he was faking it. No, he was too stupid for that. He twisted my wrist in an unnatural position as I started to struggle against him. “Henry, get over here. I think we should teach this stupid girl a lesson.” Henry came over with a smug smile on his face. When he finally closed the distance, he looked at me and whispered in a low voice, “This is probably going to hurt.” I tensed my body as his fist hit me hard in an upward thrust to my stomach. My body hunched over in pain at his blow, as a grown escaped from me. Richard released me of his grip, as I fell into a massive lump of agony on the ground.


My hands flew down to my stomach, as the memory refilled the pain. I was defiantly going to have a bruise there. Light was starting to flow in through the branches of the outer trees, separating the forest from the field. I was almost there. I could feel the adrenalin course through me as my feet picked up speed. Then abruptly, I stop and crouch down behind a tree right before the entry to the field. I look out. Drake is in the middle of the field, surrounded by a sea of golden light. The rays of the sun play with his blond hair, catching hints of strawberry red. He was fumbling around getting things together for my lesson. Drake is my best friend, and the only one who respects my dreams of knight hood. He is fourteen and an orphan. He was ten when he came here and, no one knows who he is or where he came from, he just showed up one day, with no money, no food, and no were to stay. The Lionheart’s, a very kind and loving family who were having trouble conceiving a child of their own took him in with open arms.

I stay hidden as he is setting up in a big circle of flattened grass. Once he is done he turns around with his back to me. I slowly hunch forward, inching myself closer to him. The golden grass almost reaches over my head in my crouched position. Once I’m about five yards from him, I launch myself from my position not bothering to keep quiet any more. There is only mere seconds before he will be tackled to the ground face first, but in those second he quickly turns around, bringing his arm out latching on to me and sending me flying to the ground. I land hard on my out stretched hands. I moan as I push myself up, ignoring the pain as it throbs in my wrists.

I faced Drake as he stood in a ready position. I take a step to the side, thinking of my next move. He mirrors my every movement. As I look at him, I see a stick at the corner of my eye. The stick is as thick as my fist with a jagged dull point. I knew what I had to do to take him down. He steps to the side as I do. I move away from the stick as he moves closer to it. Every time I step to the side, I take a step closer to him. We move in a circular position, until I stop. The stick is a little ways behind him to the right. He is about a yard away from me; I have to make my move know. I drop down on my left leg as my right goes out and yanks his feet out from under him. He falls, landing on his back, hitting his head hard against the flattened grass. I leap on top of him grabbing the stick, bringing the jagged tip to his throat. His eyes widen in amassment, as a smile enveloped his face.