Five hundred Years Ago...
The night could not have been more perfect for a wedding. The breeze whispered through the leaves. The moon was full and not a single cloud dared to mar its light. The warm summer air in the clearing was heavy with the scent of dew and fresh cut grass, which took the men of the village most of the morning to cut.
Rachel Williams stood on the edge of the woods in her bare feet, a ring of wildflowers twined through her red curly hair, hidden in the shadows so that her betrothed, Dunn Alric, could not see her in the simple white gown her mother had sewn for her. Nerves made her palms clammy and sent trickles of sweat running between her breasts. Though her skin felt on fire she shivered as a bead of moisture ran down the length of her spine.
A wave of nausea rolled through her stomach and she said a silent prayer in hope that it would pass. She lay her hands flat against her belly, closing her eyes as she tried not to be sick. She bit back a moan when someone circled an arm around her waist, hugging her form tight. "That will soon pass once you're married to your young lad. I should know, I felt the same way the day I married your father."
Rachel glanced at her mother, but only gave her a weak smile in reply.
Oh, mother, if you only knew the real reason why I was feeling sick,
she thought, as she lightly patted her relatively flat belly. Truthfully, though, she knew her mother would accept that she was with child before she was wedded. It was her father who would kill not only her soon to be husband, but also her.
Time passed quickly and soon the moment arrived. Her mother kissed her cheek and pressed a small bouquet of wildflowers into her hand as she told her that she loved her and then left to take her place near the altar. Her father was very solemn as he stepped to her side. She loved him so, but wished that he smiled more.
He looked so handsome in his silver armor, his battered sword at his side. When he placed her hand in the crook of his arm, she said, "I love you, father."
He gazed into her upturned face and seemed to swallow with some difficulty before he simply nodded and began the walk that would give her to another.
Four small bonfires had been lit around the crowd, where every villager, young and old, stood in attendance. Torches lit the flower-laden path, leading the way to a new part of her life.
At the altar, Dunn stepped up to take her hand. She watched as her father glared at him and for one desperate moment she thought that he was going to refuse to give her to her intended. Finally he placed Rachel's hand into Dunn's and said, "She is now yours to care for and protect. Don't make me regret this decision." Then he went quietly to her mother's side and looked on.
The ceremony was over quickly and the celebration began. Toasts were made as the wine poured endlessly. Breads, cheeses and roasted meat fed the ravenous crowd as the men told boastful stories to the groom and the ladies told shocking details to the bride. But as the festivities reached a righteous roar, disaster struck.
From the surrounding woods came the battle cry of what sounded like hundreds of warriors, instilling fear in every woman and child, and raising a sense of impending doom in every man.
Then they were upon them. Like water filling a pail after it had been dropped into a well, the enemy poured into the clearing.
Mother's screamed for their children as chaos over took the once spirited celebration. For one night they let their young sons and daughters stray from their sides to play and take part in what was suppose to be a beautiful beginning for two people. Now fear had them all agonizing over their choice to let children be children.
To escape the surprise attack everyone knew that they needed to reach the woods. To let the shadows of the night swallow them and hide them from a death most certain.
Every male from the village who was strong enough to wield a sword began to fight for their family's life, for the survival of their village. Clashes of metal and piercing screams filled the air. The enemy spared no one the torment of their blades in their relentless attack, killing men and women, shamelessly taking the lives of babes without a drop of remorse.
Dunn protected Rachel with his body as he slashed his way through the enemy, cutting a bloody path toward the trees, toward safety. Freedom from the hellish nightmare was within reach when Dunn fell to his knees in front of her, clutching his belly. She raced to his side and couldn't stop the heart-wrenching scream that tore from her throat as she saw the blood spilling from beneath the chest plate of his armor and seeping through his fingers.
His lip quivered as it became painted with the crimson color of his life force. He groaned in agony and stared at her with his sorrowful green eyes. Lifting a blood soaked hand, he cupped her cheek and said weakly, "I'm, I'm sorry that I, I failed you, my, my love." His body began to convulse as he took one last strangled gasp and fell onto his side.
"DUNN!" She wailed, the sound of anguish coming from the very depths of her soul.
She moved to kiss his blood stained lips when suddenly from behind someone grabbed her by the hair and began to pull her up from the ground. In that instant, something deep inside her, triggered by fear, by the pain of loss, and the need for vengeance, came to life.
Her hand shot out and wrapped around the hilt of Dunn's sword. She never thought of how normally she would not have been strong enough to pick it up, or how she feared the weapon and the feelings of disgust she felt at the death that always clung to its metal blade.
Her cry ripped through the air as she jerked her hair out of her capture's hand, tears streaming down her face as the roots pulled from her scalp. Wielding the sword with both hands and swinging blindly, she caught the enemy off guard as the blade slashed across his body, cutting clean through his chain mail and deep into his flesh.
Miraculously she gutted five of the enemy's men before a vicious coward ran her through with his sword. She fell to the hard blood soaked ground without a sound. Into the canvas of the night sky she stared, fought to block out the sounds of the dying that surrounded her, but her heart would not let her. She knew that within those cries of pain, those pleas for salvation and for death, were her mother and father, friends and neighbors that she had known all her life. Praying to the heavens, she asked that death be swift and end their misery.
A shadow fell over her, but she did not care as to who or what it was that stood there. "If you are the enemy, know that I will haunt you till the day that death comes for you." She took a deep shuddering breath, coughing as pain surged through her chest. Tears blurred the stars above as she whispered, "If you are death, I ask that you be merciful to all who lay suffering and end their torture swiftly."
"Child, I am not the enemy and I am not death," said a deep resonating male voice, "but I am someone who can offer you a choice."
Confused and unsure of his meaning she said through a haze of pain, "Explain yourself, sir."
A face appeared before her and blocked out the starry sky above.
