Rules of Engagement

The endless corridor before me sent shivers down my spine as I saw the darkness that proceeded to engulf the entire hall. It was rushing towards me and no matter how much I tried I couldn’t make myself run faster to escape it. The dress I was wearing was holding me down and I felt like I was stuck in the deep mud that usually fills the streets around the palace after a big summer storm.

“Arabella.”

I saw my sister was standing in front of the darkness not moving. I cried out for her telling her to run but no sound left my lips. Just the rush of air. Isabelle reached out for me and I started running back to her wanting to get her out of reach of the danger. I didn’t know what was in the darkness and I felt the fear coursing through me but I looked past my phobia because my little sister needed me and that was much more important than the irrational fear of the dark.

Before I could reach her a giant gray skin covered hand that was course with hard and heavy labored, reach out of the blackness and grabbed Isabelle around the waist yanking her back with it. Her scream was the only one that echoed around the enclosed space because for some reason I could make no sound.

As she completely disappeared into the nothingness I fell to my knees not caring about the dress. I felt like a part of me was ripped away just like she was ripped away. I couldn’t protect my sister. My head snapped up when I thought of someone who could protect her.

Elmont.

I rushed back up to my feet and started running down the hallway, this time going at a quicker pace. I rounded a few corners before I realized something. I had no idea where I was. This wing of the palace had no doors and no windows and it felt like I was going in a completely and useless circle.

“Elmont!”

My voice rose up and carried around the entire space. I kept screaming and screaming for Elmont or anyone to hurry and help my sister. When no one came I could feel the tears sliding down my cheeks. I turned one corner before I ended up tripping over something and stubbing my toe in the process. A few unladylike words left my mouth but I wasn’t in the mood for caring.

“Arabella! No! Run!” I looked up at the voice yelling at me to run and what I saw froze me in place no matter how much I wanted to flee to safety.

I heard bones cracking and my hand flew to mouth to stifle the sob that now seemed to take over my whole body. The whole hallway shook like an earthquake and soon I was screaming in fear as I too felt my feet leave the ground as I was yanked upwards. The gnarly yellowing teeth that held back the fowl breath of death was what I could only focus on. The lips were cracked and the same skin tone as the rest of the body, which seemed to be as big as the towers that were surrounding the palace. The eyes looked like merciless black abysses full of pure evil and hunger that made me shut my mouth and want to faint, but I knew I had to stay awake. I had to get away!

“Elmont.” I whispered as I stared at the ugly beast before me that was tightening its grip on me and crushing my very being.

A giant.

The giant ended up throwing Elmont against a wall knocking him out cold before the giant stomped down on his body which was at an awkward angle. I started pounding my fists against the giants hand crying even harder now as I felt my heart fall to my stomach and start to hurt like it never hurt before. My useless fighting only made the giant laugh as he wiped Elmont off the bottom of his foot. I couldn’t look down there, I didn’t want to see any of that. Soon the giant stopped laughing and started raising me to its lips and the last thing I remembered was the foul breath and the blackness that was its mouth.

“Your Highness! You need to wake up!” I felt my whole body being shaken and I swung my fist out and I felt it connect with something. “Ouch! Arabella wake up!”

“Told you not to startle her awake.” My eyes flew open at his voice and I could feel that my face was wet from either the rain or my crying.

“Yeah well she was having a nightmare and crying. Any sensible person would try to help, Captain.” I could hear the underlying tone to Jack’s comment and I quickly sat up feeling the blood drain from head. Too fast too fast!

“Are you trying to imply I don’t care about her high-.” I shut Elmont up as I got up and threw my arms around his neck embracing him. I was never so glad it was only a dream but it felt so real to me.

Elmont stood frozen not know what to do but I didn’t care in that second. “I thought I had lost you.”

My whisper was barely audible even to me but he heard me as he stepped back and looked at me calmly. “I’m not that easy to get rid of Your Highness. Besides, it was merely a dream!”

I cleared my throat in embarrassment as I realized he had distanced himself from me since our close encounter the day before. What had changed since then? Elmont was looking at me but his face was guarded and I felt worried.

I looked away from him ashamed I would let such vulnerable feelings show. And to the Captain of the Guardians of all people! Jack was staring at me confused but one look over my shoulder at Elmont and he quickly composed his features and turned away. I didn’t bother looking behind me instead picked up my few meager things and began climbing with them once more. I thankfully didn’t have much farther to go because my arms were starting to stiffen up from all the climbing.

When Jack’s house came into view Crawe and Elmont hurried up on ahead to check it out as Jack, Roderick, Wicke and I stood at the mouth of a cave type thing that had rushing water pouring out. This was the most odd thing I had ever witnessed that was for sure.

“Tis a pity isn’t it? You not being able to be with the one you love without putting his life at risk.” I didn’t bother facing Roderick as he stood next to me with a big smirk on his face.

“Watch your tongue snake.” I hissed at him started to walk away before he grabbed my wrist and twisted it causing me to come to a stop.

“You better watch yourself, Your Highness.” Wicke was cackling behind Roderick and Jack wasn’t paying attention since he was focused on his house.

“I’ll have you both hanged for this!” I whispered yanking my arm back and wishing I knew how to throw a good punch. They merely laughed and walked away. If only I could push them off the side of a cliff!

“Well, she's not in the house. This is the only other place she could've gone. And if she climbed down we would've seen her.” Elmont said coming back up to us. I didn’t look at him pretending to be interested in the carvings around us, which in a way I was. I noticed the cave had what looked like teeth so I was wondering if we were standing inside a mouth. Thinking about that made me shutter because of my dream.

“She didn't climb down. She climbed up.” I said looking further up ahead. If I knew my sister as well as I thought I did she would have taken this opportunity to keep going while she could.

“Why would she do that?” Roderick said rolling his eyes like he thought my statement was the world’s most silliest joke.

“If she were cold. Or hungry.” Crawe said trying to come up with an idea but I already knew why as I looked to Jack.

“Or looking for an adventure.” I said smiling. Elmont looked between us before walking forward without a word. We all silently followed suit.

As noon came around we had finally left the damp dark cave but the light wasn’t making me feel better. If anything I felt more exposed and afraid. Something didn’t feel right and I couldn’t shake the feeling away. Elmont had given us all gold to us if it came down to bargaining with someone for my sister back. Apparently it wasn’t as much as he had brought, which had gone done with the men that fell.

“Crawe? It's her, yes?”

“Course it's her. She's a smart girl. You forget who her older sister is.”

“Isabelle?” I asked rushing forward looking for sister only to find they were examining the bark on a tree which had a freshly hand carved ‘I’ in the middle of it. I smiled realizing what she had done. “So she can find her way back.”

“Keep up, or you'll be left behind!” Elmont yelled back to Jack and the Deviled Duo who seemed to be having a little chat a bit back. I didn’t really worry about it too much now that I was on my sister’s trail.

“There's another mark! Only…It’s half finished.” I said as I touched it feeling along the back like I would get the answer as to what happened and why she didn’t finish.

Elmont walked up to exam it and I took a step back quickly. “Something happened here.”

I could feel my body go numb as I realized trees were uprooted and the dirt beneath us was freshly stirred up and tossed around.

“Isabelle!” I called out slightly jogging along the trail that was telling its own story. “Isabelle! Answer me please!”

“Isabelle!” Elmont cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered.

“Isabelle!” Jack called out.

“Isabelle!” Crawe yelled out just walking around in a circle.

We all called out for her for about a quarter of a hour before I sat down on the ground pulling my knees up to my chest and laying my head down. She was no longer here and I had no idea where to start looking. If we had just gotten here soon maybe we would have already been going down the beanstalk back to Father and the only thing we had to worry about was our punishment for running away. Now I was fearing if my baby sister was even alive anymore.

“I'm getting an awfully bad feeling about this, Crawe.” Elmont stated looking around still.

“She's a resourceful girl. We'll find her.”

“She hid in here. I think something grabbed her.” Jack said making me lift my head in shock. Like in my dream when something grabbed her from behind.

“Why would you think that?” Roderick said incredibly snarky about it.

“This is the book I gave her. And look at those broken branches. Crawe. Something big pulled her out of there.”

“She's in trouble.” I got up and pulled out my sword angry now that something thought it had the right to take my sister. “Well Captain are we going or not? Cause if you want to sit here and wait around be my guest. I need to go find my little sister.”

Elmont backtracked at my hostile tone but he had no right to look confused at my change of heart. He turned to the only other soldier with us next to Crawe. “Bald go with Wicke and Roderick. Take the high ground. We'll continue on this way. Don't engage in anything unless you have to. Our mission is to find and return the princess. And we must assume that this is now hostile territory.”

“And that every story your fathers told you was true.” Crawe finished up looking at the broken branches that were a good house sizes up in the air. Something big had to have broken all of those. “Good luck.”