Into the Darkness

Velvet Angel quietly entered the hall, her eyes slowly adjusting from the bright sunshine outside. As she stepped further into the hall, her gaze searching for only one man in particular. Her eyes lit up at seeing Coll resting quietly in a chair near the hearth, his own eyes closed as if in a light sleep. She walked over to him, not making a sound in her approach, leaning down she kisses his cheek lightly.

Coll opened his eyes somewhat sleepily, "Huh...what...who?" She began to giggle softly "Good Morn my dear Coll." He looks up and smiles, more or less coming fully awake, he reaches up and pulls her onto his lap. "Good Morn my dear." As she sat down upon his lap, she spoke gently to him. "How does this day fine you? Well I do indeed hope." "I could be better, but all in al things are going well." he replied. "And how does this day find you M'love?" "I am quiet well, and even moreso now that you and I are here together."

Coll looked as if in thought and once more began to speak. "Well, after the dragon attack, I have been kept busy routing out various looters as well as trying to repair the damages done tot he keep I was building. Recently thou, I have been avoiding these halls, because William has taken an action that I am honor bound to contest." She turns back to look at Coll, concern in her eyes, "And what action has William taken this time?" "He signed a treaty with the orcs, granting them protection upon his lands." "Are you serious? Why would he do such a thing? Why would any man do such a thing?" She looked at him as if searching his eyes for the answers to questions. "I am not sure, I only witnessed the signing of the treaty and now, I am afraid I must challenge him because of it." He just shakes his head. "I do not believe that I can ever begin to comprehend why he would do this."

She rose from his lap to stand beside him extending her hand down to take his. He looked up to her, his one eye's expression that of a trapped animal. She tried to smile to him "Would you care to walk out in the gardens with me, perhaps we can talk more about this?" He just nods and takes her hand into his own as they both make their way to the door, stepping out into the gardens, the sun shining bright and the birds happily singing as if all in the land was at peace. She looks up to Coll silently, almost unsure of what to say but her heart heavy with worry for the man that she has come to love so deeply. He squints a bit as he follows her out into the bright morning light, the look upon his face filled with his own thoughts.

"You said that you must challenge William for what he has done, how will you do this?" "If and when I see him, we shall fight out our differences upon the arena floor." She quickly turned to him, the look of worry in her eyes showing more. "Coll, Luv, what will fighting solve in this? Will not change what has already been done." "I know I know, but I have no other choice. If I do not do this, I will be reduced to trespassing upon his lands, and staining his honor. I can not allow these orcs live anywhere uncontested, I have no choice in the matter." "Fighting will not resolve this issue, what good is more bloodshed?" "You are saying to me the same things that Ian told me when I warned him of what I must do. "Angel, M'love, I have no choice in this. I must either fight or destroy the man that I am by doing nothing." She looked away, letting go of Coll's hand as she moved over to sit near the fountain. "I have to agree with Ian in this, fighting will not solve this, it will only make things worse. Have you even approached William and told him of your concerns? He is not an unreasonable man from I have seen of him in the past." "M'Lady he is as trapped as I am , for whatever reasons he had for signing that agreement he is now bound by his word. He can not nullify it without destroying himself." So tell me then, What good will challenging him do now? None that I can possibly see." She looked away once more and spoke almost as if to herself, "except perhaps cause more strife or.....get you killed."

Coll just shakes his head, thinking to himself that this is not getting any easier as time goes on. She looks back over to him a single tear in her eyes, her heart filled with worry and love. She rises and begins to quickly walk further down the path towards the maze. He curses silently to himself, standing there his mind and heart torn by conflicting messages. One telling him it was better this way, the other whipping him for ever hurting her in such a way.

She enter the maze, the shadows of it drawing her into its depths, her tears flowing down her cheeks. He stands there for awhile longer, then sighs, being tired of the running and the loneliness that has plagued him since his sister went off to crown a king. He turns and begins to go after her knowing this to be the best chance at a normal life. His one eye tracks her footprints easily, even as his hands tremble at the realization of what he is doing. She moves deeper into the maze, not watching where she is going and becoming hopelessly lost, her heart breaking, she no longer cares for her own safety. Coll continues to follow her, making a mental image of the path he is taking, moving faster now as he feels something deep within his being telling him something is not right here. She looks about as the shadows seem to consume her, drawing her further into the depths of what appears as an evil darkness. He starts to move even faster, his pace moving up to a ground trot. he still finds it easy to follow the trail left behind and knows he is drawing closer to her.

She looks around her, her tears halting and her fear increasing as she feels invisible hands guiding her deeper into the new found darkness. Coll reacts as the feeling that has been plaguing him ever since entering the maze has grown even stronger. He reaches back, pulling the ax from the sheath upon his back and continues forward, a bit slower now. Without a pause he calls out, "VELVET!"

She hears nothing except for the gentle almost eerie beckoning for her to step through the darkness and into its warmth. Feeling lost and alone, she silently follows the promptings of her mind. As she steps further into the darkness she lets out a scream. She no longer sees anything about her, no daylight nor even her own tracks of where she has been, only total darkness surrounds her. Coll suddenly stops as he can hear her scream, there is no trace of where she has gone. He looks down and retrieves a single silver ribbon from the ground, the very ribbon that she had been wearing in her hair. He looks back up holding the ribbon and thinks to himself, the only way out of here is the way from which he came.