The Mystery Woman

Amber had always tried very hard to make sure her life lasted as long as possible. And it wasn't an easy task, considering the hostile environment that she had to live in with the other residents of their small village. Then there were the soldiers in their large bulky black armour patrolling through and around her home. They kept on giving messages from the Queen to leave their homes and join her forces, to become her minions for conquering the universe and beyond. Amber was targeted very often since her father trained her well as an assassin. She was thirteen when the Queen rose to power and her family were taken away from her. Now she was fourteen, though days were hard to keep track of since the Nightmare Blanket spread over the atmosphere and sent the world into a horrendous environment, making it hard for all creatures to survive.

Amber was a very skinny young woman, only able to eat and drink what she could salvage from killing small armies of soldiers and monsters created by the Nightmare Blanket that came to the village. Other villagers would swarm her once the last man was down and Amber only had little time to rummage through their things and take what she could before she was left with nothing. Bandages covered her body nearly entirely, seeming as health education and knowledge was hard to come by nowadays.

Amber refused to have any part of the Queen's forces because she only wished for her skills to be used for the good of the universe, not conquer it. If she had the strength, she would cross over the mountains, through the dead forest and across the wasteland where the Queen's tower stood to kill the Queen. Amber remembered the first day when the Nightmare Blanket invaded the skies the Queen's speech. She invited any knights, heroes, anyone who could fight to come and battle her. Most of the men from the village, including her father, left to battle her and Amber never saw any of them again. She would have gone with them but she wished to stay in case anything tried to attack the village. None of the men came back and Amber grew weaker with every soldier she cut down. Her mother and younger brother had been dragged off by soldiers on the seventh night and Amber never saw them again. She often cursed her weak body that she was unable to go out of the village and search for her lost family or go to the Queen's tower to confront her.

It was on one day when Amber heard the Outlandish Vultures attack the village that things began to go differently with her and her luck. She ran out with her whip and charged towards the large skinny creatures as they circled the young children playing the streets. She hollered out in her hoarse voice to make them take heed of her warning and run off. Amber roped the vultures together to restrain them as people scurried out to kill the bloodthirsty monsters. But her whip stretched and snapped from the lack of care Amber was able to give it. Amber could only watch with a horrified expression as they took off, snapping their beaks angrily and dived for her. She raised her arms and prepared for the sharp beaks to tear her apart and eat her flesh. They never came. What Amber felt instead was wet blood splattered onto her cracked skin. Opening her amber coloured eyes slowly, Amber lowered her arms and stared at the decapitated vultures in front of her. Blinking in confusion, Amber lifted her head up and saw a woman with blood dripping off her curved black blades. With blood red eyes, she turned her head to Amber and grimaced.

"Sorry about that," she said as she placed the blades in her sheaths on her belt.

She gently brushed the blood off Amber and delved into one of her pockets. She pulled a photo out of a young girl with shoulder-length pale violet hair and red eyes like hers. She looked no older than the age of twelve.

"Have you seen her?" the mysterious woman asked.

Amber studied the picture carefully then shook her head. The woman sighed and put it away.

"Do you know the way to the Queen's tower?" she asked "She's been trying to get there and I'm trying to stop her."

Amber's eyes widened.

"It's a long and harsh journey," she explained "There's the mountain range to cross over, the dead forest and then the wasteland which stretches for miles. I don't think it's possible that a girl this young could possibly survive."

"Vienna is a formidable young lady," the woman cut in curtly "Like yourself. I've heard of you, you must be Crystal's daughter, correct?"

Amber's whole body perked up as if an electric current had just flowed through her. It had been a while since she heard her mother's name. It had been four long months since the Queen's Nightmare Blanket took over the atmosphere and her family was taken away from her. Amber barely even remembered what they looked like.

"You know my mother?" she asked in wonder.

The woman nodded once.

"She was brought to what's left of my home town," she explained "I'm one of the better-off people and I bought her when I saw how she was treated. She was the only woman on offer."

"What about Jasper?!" Amber's voice became louder "Jasper, my little brother? He's about twelve now and he's got short silver hair with green eyes, please tell me you've got him too!"

She clung onto the woman's black cloak, staring up at her with wide eyes. The woman gave her a sad look.

"There was no boy of that description," she said "Crystal told me that your brother was sold off to another family in what's left of the city."

Amber's face fell and tears brimmed her eyes. When the woman put a comforting arm around her, she collapsed into her embrace, hugging her tightly to hide her tears from the world.

"My name is Xeann," the woman introduced herself and patted Amber's soft silver locks "I'm just passing through to retrieve my granddaughter."

Amber looked up and frowned. This woman looked awfully young to be a grandmother. With a kind smile, Xeann brushed back her long ebony hair back into her hood.

"Is there a shop where I can restock my items?"

Amber shook her head grimly.

"This village has no contact with the outside world," she explained "We can only salvage from monsters and soldiers that come by here. We can only drink blood or water that the soldiers bring and we can only eat their flesh. We're desperate here because money means nothing here."

Xeann looked down at Amber forlornly.

"Such horror fills these lands," she murmured as she looked out at the desert that surrounded the village "Is that what the Queen really wants…?"

"Take me with you."

Xeann looked down as Amber tugged at her belt.

"I want to go to the Queen's tower," she said "My father went to fight her and I want to look for him. Please."

"No."

Xeann placed a hand on Amber's head and sighed.

"It's too dangerous," she explained "The Queen is merciless and I'm only pursuing my granddaughter."

"But I want to come with you!" Amber pleaded "Please, I'll only go as far as when you find your granddaughter and then I'll cope on my own!"

Xeann sighed and pulled away from Amber's grip.

"You may follow me," she compromised after staring at her for a few long moments "Crystal has told me that you have a strong heart but I don't know if you're in any condition to travel…"

"I'll keep up with you as much as I can!" Amber stood up straight, despite how much her body protested "I won't be a burden, I promise!"

Xeann sighed as she stared up at the mountains. After a while, she looked back to Amber.

"You can come with me to the village by the mountains," she said "I know that they should have the right amount of medical supplies there so you can rest and recover more than here."

Amber's eyes lit up and she hugged Xeann as tight as she could.

"Oh thank you!" she exclaimed "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

She pulled away.

"Wait here, I just need to go and get the supplies I'll need!" she said before turning and running into the small ruined hut at the end of the street.

Xeann smiled sadly as she watched Amber's frail figure disappear and looked around the dusty dry village in dismay. She was sure that just last year, it would have been bustling with so many people and much more colourful. The well that stood a few yards away from her must have been flowing with water for the villagers and there would have been lots of laughter as the children played along the streets. But ever since the Queen rose to power, Xeann had not heard a single child's laugh. Being a very experienced mother, the fact that children were not as happy as they should be saddened her greatly. When Amber came running back out with nothing more than a small dagger in its sheath and a small cloth wrapped in a bundle, Xeann saw how Amber's state of health will hinder her progress in finding Vienna. The poor girl was only fourteen and she seemed to be pushing her limits too much.

"I'm ready," Amber said as she stopped in front of her "Shall we go?"

Xeann smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Shout if you feel like you're falling behind," she said "I will carry you across this desert if I have to."

Amber nodded and took one last look around the village before following her out into the desert. Xeann pulled her hood over her face more as Amber hobbled after her with only her bandages and tattered shorts covering her body. Realising that Amber would be cold during the night time, which was approaching rather fast, Xeann took off her cloak and placed it around Amber. Amber stopped and looked up at Xeann in her ethereal beauty.

"But don't you need it?" she asked.

Xeann shook her head.

"You need it more than I do, little one," she said.

"I'm not little!" Amber argued.

Xeann's lips quirked into a smile.

"Compared to me, you are," she said and stalked off in her high heel boots across the sand dunes "Come, Amber. We'll reach the village by dawn if we continue to walk like this."

Amber stared at her boots oddly, wondering how they weren't sinking into the sand before running up to catch up with her, her petite bare and bloody feet leaving small prints alongside Xeann's.