Ashe awoke abruptly out of a deep sleep when something heavy crashed into her wall from outside. She sat bolt upright; noise coming from every direction. Through the stone wall, she could hear the panic of people running in the streets. She got up and quickly threw on a long robe to go see what was happening. As she crossed the front room, she saw her mother's eyes full of terror when she turned after barring the door with a heavy chest.

"Ashe, quick, hide! In the cellar!" she shouted as she ran towards her, arms outstretched. "The Citadel is under attack. We need to barricade ourselves in." She grabbed Ashe's arm and tried to drag her toward the back of their small cottage.

Ashe's throat clenched closed, and her mouth went dry. She coughed as both fear and anger wrenched at her stomach. She knew this would happen. The evil men from the bottom of the cliff had somehow found a way up and were now attacking the city. She had even tried to warn the sentry, but they didn't listen. A wave of hot anger raged in her heart. Then she thought of Miles. He wasn't safe in his hovel behind the fruit stand. She knew he was in danger and had to go help him.

"Mom," she said as she jerked her arm free. "I have to go get Miles. He's out there unprotected!" She ran for the front door.

"No! Ashe! Stay safe in here!" her mother called after her as she ran behind. She reached and caught hold of the hem of Ashe's robe. Ashe stopped and glared at her mother with flat eyebrows.

"I know we are safe in here, but Miles has no place to hide. I need to go get him and bring him back. He needs to be here." She yanked her robe from her mother's fingers. "I'll be back soon. Please go hide." She turned, used her hip to slide the chest out of the way, and wrenched the door open.

"How are you going to be safe out there?" her mother cried in a worried voice.

"I don't know, but I have to go get Miles!" With that, Ashe slipped out the door.

The city was chaos. Families were running up and down the streets together, looking for places of refuge. The soft morning light illuminated the clouds overhead so there was just enough glow that Ashe could see where she was going. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to slow the beating of her heart. Then, she took off toward Miles' place. She turned down the different streets, staying close to the walls. People were ducking into any open door. Many of the homes in the Citadel didn't have solid doors, let alone any place to hide. Those without solid doors were running to any cottage or shop with a door that could be barred. People were locking themselves in the homes of friends hoping that the attackers wouldn't force their way in. Ashe's house was different, though. No one else in town knew about its fortifications, and she knew she had to bring Miles back there. In the distance, she could hear the dull clack of metal hitting metal. A rush of anger burned in her cheeks again as she guessed who it was. She shook her head in disgust.

Miles did have shelter and could easily be hidden, but his little makeshift shack provided little protection should someone push their way behind the shop. It was missing real walls on either end; it only had a couple of wooden crates blocking the thin gap between the close walls of the two adjacent buildings. She ran towards his little shelter, fearing the worst. As she came running around a corner, she saw his curly red hair peeking out from between the two buildings. Amid the frenzy of people still running chaotically in the streets, he spotted her and waved her over with a smile and a scowl. When she got there, he was already packed and geared up to go.

"Where do you think you are going?" he demanded of Ashe. "Why are you out? You should be locked in that dungeon of yours!"

"I was coming to get you!" she shouted, "When my mother told me the Citadel was under attack, I thought of you. I knew you didn't have a place to go! Come with me and hide in the cellar! Please!"

Miles let a thin grin slip from his lips. "Oh, but I do have a safe place to hide. And now I think you are going to have to come with me. Your house is near to castle gates, and if those grunts make it past the main wall, they'll be headed straight for that gate. We won't be safe going back that way. Come, I know a place that is well hidden where we can hide."

Ashe didn't like this idea one bit. Her cellar was hidden and had plenty of food. They would be safe for a while at least. She looked at Miles; his hand held out, "You going to have to trust me." he said. After a moment, she let her shoulders fall and gave in. Miles was right, of course. If the attacking army got past the main city walls, it wouldn't be safe to be outside anywhere near her house. She only hoped the heavy mahogany door would protect her mother.

"K, what do you have packed?" she relented. Miles led her back to his little shelter.

"I have been gathering food in my pack, but we'll both need weapons. You know, just in case," he said. He picked up a thick hand-and-a-half sword, with a huge blade and rough, leather-bound wooden grip, and looked at Ashe. He smiled and smirked, "Is this big enough? I stole it from the guard's weapon-smith across town. Pretty cool, eh?"

"I hope you know how to use that."

"And I found another one on my way back. I think it might be just the right size for you," he said as he pulled out a smaller sword. It had a thinner blade, but it was still larger than Ashe would have liked. The pommel was beautifully fashioned out of shining, polished steel that wrapped around a large amber stone. The stone had a large crack running through it, as if it weren't a stone at all, but merely an amber-colored piece of broken glass. The steel crossguard was adorned with swirling grooves that made it look like aged wood, and on either side were two empty cavities that looked as if they once had held stones like the one in the pommel, save not quite as large. More strange swirly designs ran down its blade, outlining the fuller on either side. "It's lighter than it looks, I promise," He said as he held out the handle for her to take.

Ashe looked at the handle, then back to Miles. A tear welled up in the corner of her eye. "When did all this start?" Her voice cracked as she asked.

"A couple of hours ago, at the beginning of the first watch. A horn, like we heard last night, woke me up. I had a feeling it would get worse, so I went out foraging. Most of the guards were at the gate and on the ramparts, but I was afraid that something worse would happen." He offered the sword again, "Please take it, we've got to run... like now."

Ashe hesitantly took the sword by the handle. To her surprise, it was quite light. "Wow!" she said, "Where did you find this one?"

"It was lying on the ground over by where we are going. I'll tell you more when we get there." Miles handed her a pack and the scabbard for the sword. It was just as ornate as the sword itself; encrusted with small jewels in each of the rivets and had strange designs stitched in gold scrolling around the thick leather belt. She threw it around her waist and began to sheath the weapon. "Don't do that," said Miles, "You never know when you'll need to swing it."

Miles walked to the end of the alley and peered around the building. The streets were still abuzz with people plundering the shops for food and running to find family. Ashe could still hear the battle waging toward the main gates to the town. "This way, and keep up, we've got to run," said Miles as he turned down the street. Ashe ran behind him but struggled to keep up. He dodged this way and that through wide streets and narrow alleyways. They finally made it to the city walls. The wall was several feet thick and at least twenty feet high. There wasn't an easy way to get over it to the other side. Confused, Ashe looked down both directions; there wasn't anywhere to go.

"Now what?" she asked.

Miles smiled, "We go under the wall! Follow me; there is a hole down here. We can sneak out using it." He set off in one direction, staying close to the wall. They couldn't hear the clacks and sounds of battle on this side of town, but news travels fast and people were just as nervous in this district as they were on the other side of town. "I found this place a few years ago but never thought it would benefit me any. Man, I hope we can fit." He seemed to talk to himself as he walked.

Finally, they stopped. Miles moved a wooden crate to reveal a semicircle hole where the wall met the ground which was blocked by a thick thatch of steel. He bent down and fiddled with the thatch until it finally moved. He wriggled it a little more to move it enough so they could climb through. "Ladies first?" Miles offered politely.

Ashe put her sword and pack onto the ground and dropped her legs through the small opening. Underneath the ground, she could feel small ledges with her feet on the side of the hole she could use as footholds on her way down. "How far does this thing go down?" she asked, just barely able to hold onto the rim with her hands.

"It's about six feet." He said just as Ashe ran out of footholds. "When you no longer have a place to put your feet, just jump, it's not too far down to the floor."

"You want me to jump?" Ashe exclaimed, indignant at the proposal. She scowled at him, hoping to see if he was kidding. He wasn't. She sighed, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She let go of the rim and screamed, falling into darkness for the remaining few feet; landing hard on her rear.

"You okay?" called down Miles.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She winced as she got up, rubbing her backside. "Toss down our stuff." Miles tossed down the packs and tucked Ashe's sword beneath his belt. He squirmed through the hole and did his best to move the thatching back into place while he stood on the last footholds. Then he jumped down too.

They found themselves in a dank, dark tunnel, but where they stood there was just enough light coming from the opening above that they could see each other. "I don't know what exactly these are. I'm guessing water runoff channels. We should be safe down here."

Miles bent down and opened his pack. He pulled out a ball of cloth, wrapped it around the end of his sword, and dug out another leather pouch. He opened it and smeared a thick paste all over the fabric. Then he struck a couple of steel rods together to spark the whole thing on fire.

In the light from his makeshift torch, Ashe could see that the tunnel ran off in both directions. Miles looked up to get his bearings, then set off in the direction away from the castle and city. The tunnel winded and twisted through the ground. Perhaps it was a cave and not a man-made water runoff channel. The walls started smoothly as if they were expertly hewn out of the earth but then turned rough, with jagged rocks jetting out left and right. It was quiet, but they moved quickly to make sure they wouldn't be discovered or pursued. The torch burned quickly, and as they ran out of light, the way turned and revealed an opening. They quickly walked to the mouth of the cave and stopped.

"I'll lookout to make sure we're safe," said Miles, rubbing the last of the fabric from the tip of his scorched sword using a dry bush.

The mouth of the cave was on the side of the rock face, hidden behind a jetting crag. Miles looked down and saw a sparsely treed forest below, similar to the valley they had seen the night before except, looking south, the rock wall curved sharply and continued down the far side of the valley. He then looked up to see that they were twenty feet or so from the ledge at the top. He surveyed the valley as far as he could, squinting to see farther. He hoped he might see the camp where they witnessed the battle between the men and the beasts. Deciding that they were in a different part of the valley, he called back, "Ashe, I think we are safe. We are on the side of a different cliff and I think I see a way to the top."

Ashe came to the opening, peered out over the edge, and looked around. To the left of the mouth of the cave, there seemed to be a path hewn from the rocks that switched back and forth up the side of the wall from to the top. To her right, the path ended abruptly in a large crack that went all the way down to the ground below. "Do you think they could have climbed a crack like this one?" she asked Miles. "Is their camp anywhere?"

"I don't see it anywhere below. I think this valley may be a different one, perhaps we're farther north than we were last night." He checked out the crack. It was skinny and not very deep. "I can't imagine all those men climbing one little crack like that in the middle of the night. My guess is they found a different way up."

"I guess we don't even know if the attackers were those guys we saw in the forest last night. Let's hope they aren't and that the king's guards can fend them off." Ashe looked up to the ledge above. "Do you think we should go up there or just stay here?"

Miles looked up as well, "How well do you know the forests around the Citadel?"

"It all depends on where we are. If we are north of the city, there's nothing between us and Keiper. If we are south of the town, I know a few of the paths between the Citadel and the falls. The forest gets too dense beyond them. There is a pathway to another town, but I've never been that far. It's ten miles or so, Keiper is only about three." She took a deep breath, "Well, let's get up there so we can see where we are." She sheathed her sword and began up the path.

Miles stood there for a minute and attempted to get his bearings. Then he followed her. At the top, the path continued away from them. Ashe sat down on a fallen log. The sun was now fully up and the sky was a brilliant blue. The morning clouds had dissipated; it was a beautiful, clear day.

"I'd say it's at least halfway through the first watch," Ashe supposed. The forest was a little less dense than the woods south of town. The sunlight easily broke through the canopy, and the entire wood was filled with a warm glow of autumn. Pointing down the path she suggested, "That means that way is northeast. I bet we are in the northern wood."

"Do you think we should head down to Keiper then?" Miles asked. "They might help us."

"Yeah, if we can find the main road. Let's get going." Ashe got up and started down the path. "Hopefully we can find it by following this path."

Miles followed her but didn't sheath his weapon. He wanted to be ready to defend them in case something happened. They walked as quietly as they could for a while. Then they heard a crack like a branch breaking. Miles gasped and turned toward the sound, his sword at the ready. "What was that?"

Ashe sloppily jerked her sword out. "I hope it's an animal," she whispered shakily.

Miles raised his weapon and prepared himself for a fight. They stood back to back, and both turned every which way looking into the forest.

"Don't be frightened," said a deep scratchy voice. There was no one around, at least not anyone they could see. "Miles," the voice started again, "We'd like for you to come with us. We promise we won't hurt you if you come peacefully."

"Who are you?" shouted Miles. "You're daft if you think I am going anywhere with someone I don't know. How do you know my name?"

"We know a lot about you. We know..."

"And who are we?" Miles rudely interrupted.

"You want to know who we are. Very well, we shall show you," said the voice. Then he shouted in a foreign tongue, "Vinkompisit!" Just then, there was a wave of invisible movement in the trees that rustled the leaves on the forest floor. Then, like a lightning strike, a tall, dark, muscular man in long black robes, like those they had seen the night before, was standing before him. Miles didn't see where the man had come from. It was as if he just appeared out of thin air. Then, in the same manner, two others appeared, flanking him from behind.

"My name is Ba'roush, and we have been sent to collect you. Are you coming with us of your own accord or are we going to persuade you with force?" all three men kept looking only at Miles; they didn't seem to pay any attention to Ashe, who stood right next to him. It was as if they either couldn't see her or they didn't care that she was there.

Miles raised his weapon in a threatening manner and replied, "I am not going anywhere with you."

The two men behind Ba'roush stepped forward, and Ashe slowly backed away leaving Miles alone, standing in the midst of them. In a quick motion, Miles checked over his shoulder and saw what looked to be an old, run-down, abandoned stone tower nestled within the trees; its door slightly ajar. Looking back at the men, Miles called over his shoulder, "In that tower. Run to that tower." Ba'roush didn't seem to care about what he had said; his eyes remained fixed on Miles, who slowly slid his pack off his shoulder and, switching his sword, got it off his back. Ba'roush just shook his head as Miles picked up the pack in his free hand and held fast to his sword with the other.

"So, you are coming?" asked Ba'roush. "Don't try anything brave, we don't want to have to use force."

Miles glared at Ba'roush. He didn't have anything in his hands, and neither did his companions. They might have had a weapon hidden under their cloaks, but if that was the case, it wasn't at the ready. Ashe heard another crack like the one before, like the snap of a twig, and looked in its direction. It was then that she noticed the tower of which Miles had spoken.

In one quick movement, Miles threw his pack into Ba'roush's face and yelled, "NOW!" He and Ashe both turned and ran straight toward the tower with everything in them.

Ba'roush and his companions were caught off guard. The pack hit him square in the face and he stumbled backward a few steps. One of the others reached out to steady him as he furiously hollered, "Get them, you fools!" But it seemed too late; they were already halfway to the tower door.

Ashe ran in front of Miles as fast as her legs could go. She glanced over her shoulder a couple of times to make sure that Miles was right behind her. She kept running. Miles did too. He looked over his shoulder and saw the three dark-skinned men now in pursuit.

"Faster, Ashe, get in there!" prodded Miles. The men were running much faster than the two of them and were closing in. Ashe reached the tower first. She ran inside and got behind the door, ready to close it after Miles. The men were almost upon him as he dove for the door. He had jumped too early and fallen short of the door. He tried to scramble to his feet, but the men pounced on him before he could get up. They grabbed his ankles and pulled him away into a clearing just across the path from the entrance to the tower.

Ashe tightened the hold on her sword and gathered the courage to run out the door to help when she felt something grab her. She struggled against the invisible presence that held her. She was alone in the doorway of the tower. She couldn't see anyone or anything that could hold her. It was as if the tower itself detained her. She tried to scream out to Miles, but the unseen force bound her tongue. She watched in silent helplessness as the men surrounded Miles.

One brute wrenched Miles's sword from him and hurled it aside. Miles kept swinging his hands and kicking his feet, now and again landing a blow. Ba'roush rolled up the sleeve of his robe and leveled a heavy punch to the side of Miles's head. Ashe watched in horror as his head slumped in unconsciousness.

The two other men grabbed Miles by the arms as Ba'roush stood before him. "You thought you could overpower us? Silly boy, we must go now." Ba'roush put his hand on Miles's head, raised the other toward the sky, and spoke something in his different language, "N'alekay met-la!" A ghastly black haze materialized and swirled around all of them. It looked like a cloud of smoke, but as it surrounded them, it seemed to seep into their skin. Then they all seemed to fade into the haze. Ashe watched helplessly as Miles's body slowly disappeared until there was nothing left behind.

Ashe struggled against the force that held her as she watched. She couldn't bear to see her best friend simply disappear into thin air. She screamed, but nothing came out. She tried to move, but the power that held her remained steadfast. Finally, several minutes after Miles and the men had dissolved, for that's the best she could describe it, the hidden force released her and she fell to the floor. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she stared at the spot where, a few moments before, Miles had been.

"MILES!" screamed Ashe, "WHERE ARE YOU!" The forest was still and quiet. She slowly pulled herself to her feet and staggered out from the awful tower. She forced herself to move, her energy completely spent. She slowly crawled over to the place where Miles's sword had been thrown. She sat down, picked up the sword, and held it close to her chest as she wept.