Chapter Four
The fear of the unknown was something that frightened humans the most. The fear of death, the fear of what was to come tomorrow and the fear of how people would think about you surrounds people’s minds every day. The fear of the unknown was particularly hitting Wendy as she ran as fast as her legs could take her. She listened to Steve when he told her to run, and she did not look back no matter how much she had the urge to. She knew that Steve was a great fighter and lucky when it came to survival, but this was an entirely different game altogether. Draven had power that she could not even fathom, and she knew that Steve would have a challenge in fighting him. She almost wanted to go back, but she knew that she had to run.
The unknown clouded her. Steve could be alive and well, standing above Draven as he begged for mercy. He could have escaped or could have gotten away with a fatal injury. Or Draven could have kidnapped him, but she doubted that. Draven stated that he would kill first, ask questions later, and she doubted that he would throw Steve into a river and just hope that he drowned. He would most likely skewer Steve and then throw him into a volcano, making sure that he was dead.
After her feet could not run any more, she finally turned around. No sign of Draven anywhere. She wanted to go back, but she knew that she had to keep running. If Draven saw her, she was as good as dead. All she carried right now was a diamond sword. In normal cases, this would suffice, but she felt like she needed ten tons of TNT just to feel safe. Sighing, she saw that the clouds were letting out a light drizzle, and she could not see any sign of a shelter just yet. She wondered if the village was okay, and she hoped the rain would put out the fires. She also missed Steve a whole lot. Normally, this would just mean that she missed his company, but she could feel something more. Feelings for him, in particular. She enjoyed dancing with him and wished to do it again, and she felt so alone right now. After resting, she continued to run, and that’s when she saw a horse-drawn carriage galloping down a dirt road, the driver inside of the carriage. When it saw Wendy, the horse slowed down, eventually coming to a stop.
The doors of the carriage opened, and an aristocratic woman with honey-blonde hair gave her a signal to come in. Wendy was skeptical at first, but then the downpour happened. Immediately, she ran into the carriage and shut the door.
Inside of the carriage, the driver, a mustachioed man in a suit, controlled the horses by holding reins connected to the outside. Meanwhile, the woman spoke to Wendy.
“Are you okay? It looked like you were running away from something.”
Wendy started panting. “Yeah, a wizard is out to kill me.”
The woman let out a laugh that was as rich as her bank account, and Wendy knew there was no use. “Not really. I was just running away from the storm.”
The woman nodded. “Ahh. I’m Lady Elena, and I’m returning to my mansion. I can let you stay there until the storm dies down, if that’s okay with you.”
“Yes, please,” Wendy replied, wondering if her mansion would be at risk. She had outrun Draven, but for how long? The man controlling the horses whipped the reins and made them gallop faster, and Wendy looked outside of the window at the surrounding fields. No sign of Draven here. She guessed that she really had outrun him. She just wondered if Steve had as well.
“So, tell me more about yourself,” Lady Elena asked.
“Oh. I’m a weapons seller from Chance,” Wendy replied.
“Oooh, Chance. I heard you could get richer than a king in that town, but I never trusted it. Instead, I became a miner and struck it big one day, finding more diamonds than you could count. Who said that hard work doesn’t pay off?”
Wendy chuckled. “I’ll turn those diamonds into weapons, if you’d like,” she told her.
Lady Elena chuckled. “I’m a pacifist, dearie. And besides, I sold them a long time ago.”
They made some more small talk, with Wendy eventually looking out of the window again. The road ahead turned to gravel and then paved stone, and soon the mansion in front of her loomed closer. It was three stories tall with a huge garden, and she couldn’t even imagine the back of it. The carriage stopped in front of the iron gate, and the man driving the carriage hopped out and opened it. Then the carriage went through, and the man got out again to close it. The fence should have made Wendy safe, but she knew that Draven could easily blow it to bits if she needed to. The carriage went toward the entrance, and the man got out again, coming back with an umbrella. He handed it to Lady Elena, and she stepped out, Wendy waddling close to her to avoid the rain. Eventually, they made it to the front door, and Wendy walked inside. She was safe for now, but she hoped that Steve had survived. The idea of him dying frightened her, and she almost had an anxiety attack, thinking about such a thing.