Chapter 1: Darkness and Treachery

"My lady?" Tarina whispered to her queen. She looked out the window, the moon was high and wispy clouds blew too and fro. A breath of wind crept in and swirled around her ankles.
"Hmmnmn." Atta moaned and rolled over onto her side.
"Majesty please!" Tarina whispered urgently. The scraps of paper on the queens desk blew onto the floor and rustled around in the wind.
"What is it Tarina?" The queen sat up and rubbed her eyes, blinking in the light of her lady-in-waitings candlelight.
"You need to leave, now." Tarina said in such a serious voice, the queen jumped out of bed.
"What is it?" she asked looking in her lady's eyes to see the fear gripping the depths of her soul.
"Just go, now." Tarina said trying to be calm. Atta dressed quickly and silently, many thoughts swimming in her head. What had made her young earth servant act so...strangely? There weren't any problems with the council, she had been at the last meeting. There was nothing Atta could think of that would cause this alarm.
"Your horse is ready M'lady." Tarina said looking down.
"What about you?" Atta asked, hesitating at the door handle.
"D-don't mind me." Tarina said quietly, lip quivering. A tear fell from her eye. Atta took steps back to put her arm around Tarina, but she pulled away. "No majesty. Stay away from me." She closed her eyes and tried to regain her composure. "Goodbye." Atta looked at her once more, then glanced out the window. Something caught her eye. It looked like a discolored cloud of mist, but it was only there for a second, then it was gone. Atta grabbed her sword sitting by the door, and left for the stables. Minutes later she was galloping off into the night, riding toward the north, and to safety. She only stopped once at the base of the mountain path to look back at her castle. There where specks of black surrounding the castle. Atta gasped; where they shadows? She tried not to think of Tarina as she faced her horse forward, and shivered in the crisp, cold air. Another few seconds, and she was smuggled deeply in the mountains.

Tarina's heart pounded as she heard footsteps approach her room door. The air from outside froze her, and her breath was short. She lay in the queens bed thinking of who she would have said goodbye to if she had had the chance. she heard the door creek open, and whoever was there crept inside. Tarina took slow deep breaths, and sweat beaded on her forehead. She shut her eyes tight as someone snuck next to the bed. Then she felt cold air touch her as the covers were ripped off.
"What?!" The someone said angrily, as she grabbed Tarina by the front of her night gown and threw her to the floor. Whoever it was was hooded and cloaked. They were wearing a torn black dress ripped and ragged around the edges. They were wearing thick black boots that really didn't look like they matched the dress but looked menacing all the same. They had a pair of tell-tale leather wings spread to their fullest length. The shadow called out and several more shuffled in. The main one stepped in front of Tairna and held out her hand. One of the other cloaked figures handed her a dagger. It was stained red as if it had never been cleaned and had done much damage. On the end there was a hint of green. It was poisoned. She took of her cloak and Tarina gasped. The shadow was as pale as the moon and had empty gray eyes. Her lips were bright red and she had black greasy hair that fell around her face, eerily framing it in the moonlight. "You know what we hate about earths Tarina?" She asked, in such a cold whispery voice, it felt as though ice was piercing Tarina's ears. the other five shadows laughed under their breath, as if they new what was about to happen.
"n-no." Tarina said, and she backed up against the wall.
"Well, you see, they can't choose a side. You gave us information on how to get past all of the castles defenses and then you tell the queen to flee." The shadow turned suddenly and grabbed Tarina again, slamming her head against the stone wall, and holding the dagger to her throat. Her hands felt like ice, and Tarina couldn't look her in the eye. "Where is the queen, Tarina?" she asked in a mocking voice. Tarina stared at the shadow. She refused to say anything. The shadow held her tighter. "Where is your queen?" Still, no answer. "Where is your queen?!" She shrieked. She raised the dagger and cut down one side of Tarina's face from hair-line to chin. Tarina refused to cry out, but she closed her eyes and let the tears fall. Blood mixed with tears soaked the front of her gown, and she new that if the dagger was poisoned she would be dead in a couple of hours. When Tarina still refused to respond again, another slash went across her face and pain burst like a bomb in her head. Her eyes swam and she sobbed silently.
"I know helping you has cost me my life. But just remember, you didn't win last time, you won't this time. I would rather die then help this hideous rebellion again." Tarina said stubbornly.
"Well, that can be arranged." The shadow said quietly. In a second it was all over, and Tarina's body fell limp to the floor. The shadow turned to her fellow members and said menacingly, "The queen shall be found this night, or you shall pay with your lives." In an instant they were gone, and the shadow looked up at the pale moon. She said to herself while looking out the queens window. "Wouldn't this land look so much better bathed in blood?"