MADELINE

The Edenwoode forest is the most beautiful space in all of Amberfalls.

 Especially at night when the stars come out, and it's the most peaceful, or so it used to be before Ragdore, and his army of demons took over the realm 17 years ago.

 So much has changed since then. There is no longer harmony between the people. The animals are scared to come out, and at night, the creatures of the dark lurk waiting to terrorize our people. 

For 10 years, I have heard their cries and have never been able to help them. But that will all change. Things will surely go back into their order with the heir returning and the army waiting for years.

 As I sit in the grass, taking in the breeze and the quiet, my mother comes into my view, throwing a sword onto the grass in front of me, "it's time to train. We have little time left." 

She has been pushing my sister and me to train for years, but since Gwen has left on a mission, it's been me. 

Training day in and day out, and though I think I surpass my sister's skill on the highest level, the mother still pushes me harder than she does Gwen. 

I get up, picking up the sword, and stand in an offensive position. Mother stands before me unphased though I had beaten her several times since I was 14.

 But she stands bold anyway, piercing me with her eyes, causing me to feel stinging. Catching me off guard, she swings, but I dodge. 

Using magic was against our sparring matches' rules, but I guess today, the rules don't apply. Something must be bothering her.

 She looks as if ready to kill me. We continue to fight, and as she moves to pin me down, I jump and flip, tripping her causing her to tumble to the ground. 

She laughs, getting up from the ground and burying the point of her sword into the ground. 

"Not bad, you're becoming better, quicker thinking, as a real soldier." 

Hearing her say this made me feel like I had finally won her acceptance. 

"The heir will be glad to have you by her side."

 Oh my, this is more than I had been expecting. All I've ever wanted since our parents died was to take down the people who did this to us. 

Now I finally have that chance. 

Though I don't quite believe in fate, I see why people do. To fight by the side of the queen to be is a chance of a lifetime. Many who are on the side of the order would be all too happy to have this chance.

 It all seems to be going so fast. I remember just being a little girl at the outpost, beginning to learn how to wield my sword and hand-to-hand combat.

 Now I'm about to meet the heir herself and engage in the fight of a lifetime. 

I've always had thoughts of what I wanted the heir to be like and what kind of ruler she should be.

 I hope she is like I imagined; it would suck if she turned out otherwise. My life has been based on her.

My mother doesn't stay for another round of sparring, so I go back to meditating and taking in my last moments of peace. 

Who knows when another moment like this will occur again. Not for a while, I expect though I never really had much time on my hands. 

But when I did, I'd always come out here to have time for myself.

 I lay in the grass, shutting my eyes for only a minute until I hear something rustling in the bushes near.

 I quickly stand to my feet, grabbing my sword, preparing to attack. 

As I stand there, I see the shadow of this creature running quickly through the trees, but it disappears into the Edenwoode. 

I relax, thinking maybe what I saw was just a figure of my imagination. 

It could have very well been, seeing as I hadn't slept in days. 

I pack the sword to my side and ready my horse to leave. But something doesn't feel right. 

I kick my horse, not hard enough to hurt him but enough to let him know to ride faster. I finally get home to the smell of Mother's cooking. 

As I get off my horse, a shadow comes into my rearview. 

I place my hand firmly on my sword and turn to look at the figure. But looking at it, it's not a figure at all. Instead, I am standing in front of a person who seems to be injured. 

I take a step closer to it, they haven't spoken, but as I walk closer, I see their face. 

It's Wakeyme, and he clings to the wound and his side. His face flushed and paled, trying to speak, but words don't come out. 

I rush to his side, giving him help and calling for my mother, who rushes out immediately.

 "Whats happened?" 

"I'm not sure, but he's injured, and his wound needs attention." 

We quickly bring him inside and place him on the kitchen table where my mother wants to stitch his wounds.

 I take off his coat, and I see his shirt filled with blood. What could have done this to him? I remove his shirt to see three claw-like wounds. 

It must have been one of Ragdore's black hounds. 

They are the only creatures capable of such a deep wound apart from dragons. But those have been dormant for years. 

My mother comes back with tools and stitches Wakeyme to the best of her ability. And I put him to sleep in a spare room. I couldn't leave him there alone, so I sit in the room waiting.

Wakeyme has been one of my best friends for many years, but I hadn't seen him for some time since leaving the outpost. 

Though I had not been there long, Wakeyme and I became close, and we helped each other until I left. My family had been tasked with the responsibility to bring the heir back safely. 

The outpost is in the Golwoode forest, which is about 3 days ride from the gate. Every day I thought about him. 

I thought about our adventures, and though even with the odds of him being a nature elf and a human getting along, we still had fun together. 

I sit there in silence, just watching as he sleeps. Sometimes his pointed ears would do a little wiggle and then fall dormant, and it was one of the cutest things.

 Hours pass by, and he wakes up distorted. 

"Where am I?" 

I stand and lay him back down when he tries to get up. 

"You're safe, but you need rest Wakeyme."

 Even amidst all the pain he must have been feeling, he still gave me a little chuckle and smile. 

"It's been so long since I last saw you."

 "Nearly a year."  

"What happened to you out there?" 

Wakeyme chuckles and then tells me not to worry. But all I can do is worry and now that I think about it, are more people hurt? 

"Who hurt you, Wakeyme?" 

As I am saying those words, I feel the tears trickling down. He knows that I hate seeing him in pain. He reaches out and wipes my cheek. 

His hands were rough, but for this moment, I didn't mind. I hold his hand near my face, and we just sit in silence for some time.

 "I was coming to warn you."

 His words didn't help with the emotions I was going through. It made me feel worse, seeing that I could be the reason he is hurt in the first place. 

"Warn me of what?" 

"Demons, those filthy things have made their way into the Edenwoode. 

"They released their hounds on my troop and me. I barely got away." 

Oh, that devil of a man, hasn't he caused enough trouble through the realm.

 He already has control of it all. If he keeps killing at this rate, he won't have a people rule, just a demon army.

It is pathetic that someone would do this to his people. King D'Alan wouldn't have put his people through such heartache. 

He was a true king and a true warrior for his people. I hope the heir can live up to the task.

 I leave Wakeyme to sleep, and I retire to my quarters. 

I change into my sleepwear and lay in my bed, but I can't shut my eyes for a minute without seeing Ragdore's demons torturing innocent people. 

I let my mind wander, straying away from any thought of evil.

 Instead, I think of what it will be like when we finally win back Amberfalls. What a happy day it will be. A day worth waiting years for. 

But nothing seems to come after that day. It just turns into a world of unknown. Slowly, I drift into a deep sleep.

I wake at the break of dawn feeling strange. It wasn't a sickening feeling. It was more of something not feeling right. I go running myself a bath. 

I wait for the water to fill, and I sit in it. It's quite early for one to be awake, so I have some time to waste just soaking in this warm water. I spend some time soaking and thinking. 

Thinking of how Gwen is doing if she is having any progress with her mission. I begin thinking about the demons and why they have decided to come to Edenwoode. 

There is nothing but animals and trees here, and the gate but none of Ragdore's demons can know that. Not unless we have a traitor in our midst. 

The thought alone sickens me. But it's a big what if, and I have no proof of it. 

But if there is a traitor among us, who is it, and who can I trust? 

I must tell mother. She might know what to do about this. I get dressed and go to knock on her door. This, of all things, had to happen.

 A traitor.

I knock, and she says to come in. Mother stands next to her bed, polishing her staff like she does every morning.

 "Madeline, is everything ok?" 

No, that's what I want to tell her, but the words don't form. This is already stressful enough, and now I'm about to tell my mother I think there is a traitor among us.

 I give her a worrying smile, and I go to sit on her bed. She sits next to me, comforting me. 

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

 "It's my fault he's hurt. He came here to warn us. His whole troop is dead because of me. 

"That's not true." 

"But it is mother, Ragdore's demons have entered the Edenwoode. He's only here because he wanted to warn us before they got to us." 

"Did you say demons in the Edenwoode?" 

Yes, that's exactly what I said. Why is she so confused? I thought she might have known maybe a little bit, 

"Did you not know?" 

"Why would I know Madeline, but this is serious. They could only be here for one reason." 

I could see the fear in her eyes. As much as I came for answers, more questions arose. More stress and pressure are being applied. 

Now how do I tell her about our traitor? 

"Madeline, they could have only come for the gate or to kill us." 

I look at her with unphased eyes shaking my head in agreement.

 "But you already knew that, didn't you?" 

"Yes, I did. I figured it out earlier. 

I also know that only a certain amount of people know of Edenwoode's gate. Ragdore couldn't have known of it." 

"The only reason they could be here is for the gate. You said so yourself, which means that if you are as smart as we know, you have already concluded that we have a traitor." 

Her fear deepens. I see it in her eyes as she gets up slowly, pacing the room worryingly. After some time of just watching her pace, she leaves the room, and I follow after her. 

Where was she going? 

"Mother, Mother, we must tell someone, and we must figure out who the traitor is." 

"No, we must tell no one of this. We have no idea who we can trust. We must figure this out on our own." 

"Well, I'll save you the time."

 We turn to see Wakeyme coming down the stair, clinging to his side. 

"The time with what?" 

My mother says, showing no emotion in her voice.

 "Oh, Councillor, I'm very aware of everything going on. You see, upon coming here, I asked the same questions you did and drew the same conclusions, so let me save you the time." 

His voice took a tone I had never heard in him before, demanding and urgent. 

"Who is it?" 

He grins like one does when they have the information that other need. 

He walks to us clearly in pain but stands firmly as always, never wanting others to see his pain. 

"The name Wakeyme," I say firmly. 

He stares dead in my eyes, "The man that sent me to my death, General Alik."