Chapter 3 Against the Law

Lowenna tapped her crystal to cancel the seeing spell, and the crystal stopped glowing. She quickly got dressed and grabbed her bags and placed them on her shoulder. Her heart rate was increasing again, trying to forget about the dream and concentrate on the new threat that was approaching very fast. She positioned herself against the wall, so she could just see out of the open window, trying not to move or make a sound.

The lawmen stopped outside the inn. “She is here. I can sense her,” a female voice said. Lowenna cursed under her breath, someone that could sense her presence. She didn't know Lawmen could do that.

All the lawmen dismounted. The largest of the four banged on the inn’s door while two drew their swords and the final one readied his bow, pointing it at the door. “Be right there,” Torin’s voice shouted to the noise that had woken him. Lowenna drew her dagger slowly, readying herself.

Torin opened the door, but said nothing, standing there, not believing what was in front of him. “You are harbouring a dangerous criminal. By the order of the lords of Penbirth, we demand entrance.”

“I'm sorry?” Torin said, still very confused. “The only guest we have here is a young woman, and four lawmen seem a little excessive for apprehending one girl no matter what she has done.”

The archer was scouring the building. Lowenna was wondering if he could he see in the dark like her friend Rique.

“Erkut,” the female lawman that had sensed Lowenna suddenly said, “the Lowenna is awake.”

“Lowenna?” Meridif's voice said from behind her husband. She sounded scared with a slight tremble. “She is upstairs first door on the left…”

“Meridif!” Torin said in an elevated voice, interrupting his wife.

“Stand aside!” The Leader of the lawmen said, and Meridif did, taking the arm of her husband, but Torin only moved a little. “Stay with the horses,” he said to the lawman that had sensed Lowenna, as he drew his sword.

“Wait a second,” Torin said, trying to be brave. “What crimes did the Lowenna committed?”

“That is none of your business! I have my orders to arrest her, so get out of my way!” Erkut replied. Torin stood aside, and the three lawmen entered the inn.

Lowenna knew she only had a moment before they came through the door. She climbed through the open window and jumped. She landed on the lawman who was outside, catching her in the face with her arm-guard. She heard a smash, as the door to her room was forced open. Lowenna didn't pause jumping onto the nearest horse and rode as fast as she could away from the inn. She touched the creamy white crystal in her wristband to activate her shield of light and positioned it over her back as she rode. A magical arrow hit the shield and exploded, causing no damage. “Lucky,” Lowenna whispered to herself. She knew if it had been a non-magical arrow it would have penetrated the shield, which only stopped magic and elements.

Lowenna turned her head expecting to see the three horsemen in pursuit, but what she saw surprised her. One of the lawmen was flying, watching her from above. Never had Lowenna dreamed lawmen could fly or sense her presence. She turned off the path and rode into the forest hoping to be out of sight of the flying lawman, hoping to make it to Hymdale City.

The sun had risen, and Lowenna had finally slowed down. She had touched her crystal to activate the seeing spell again. Even though it was light, it heightened her vision. Allowing her to see movement and even people who were hiding from her view. For the moment, she could see no one, and apart from some rabbits and birds, nothing else was moving.

She patted her new horse and stroked its long mane. It was very strong and fast, but Lowenna knew it was tired. It had tried to rear up and get rid of her as soon as she had slowed, but Lowenna had managed to stay holding on. She ate the last of the cured meat that Grilk had left in his bag and kept trotting along, wishing she had something else to eat.

Lowenna was trying to follow the river without seeing it, keeping her ears open for any sound that would let her know she was heading in the right direction. The lawmen would know she was heading for Hymdale. Would they be waiting there for her? Or were they still on her trail?

She lost count of how many suns ago she had awoken on the beach, not that it mattered. It wasn’t that many, and she had no memories of before that. Monsters, a Demon-god, and men with powerful magic had all attacked her. She had been stabbed in the back, shot with an arrow and now was being hunted. And it wasn’t like she had done anything wrong. She had just been in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong name.

She had even gone after a group of raiders and saved lives, but only a few people had accepted her, and she had left them behind not wanting them to be hunted as well. She wondered what they would be doing now, trying to return to their normal lives, training or heading out on new adventures? Lowenna hoped she would see them again, but she knew if she was taken by the lawmen that would be even less likely than it was already.

Lowenna looked at her crystal. Its colour was starting to fade due to constant use of the spell, which illuminated the world. She was about to shut the spell off, but suddenly she heard something behind her. She picked up the pace again in case the lawmen were getting close.

Lowenna turned onto a path. She was making good time, considering in her mind she had only got on a horse for the first time a few suns ago. She came to the edge of the forest but kept going, knowing the lawmen were not far behind. She rode up the steep hill that flattened out at the top, but Lowenna suddenly had to stop, pulling hard on the reins of the horse.

Lowenna could see the city in front of her, it was huge, and a large tower stood in the middle, surrounded by large houses. There was a palace or a temple with a golden roof, a large cathedral, several tall towers, and a fleet of ships surrounded by a stone walled harbour. It was an impressive sight, but Lowenna had a new problem. Between her and the city was a sheer drop and the ocean, she was on the top of a cliff, she had to go back around, but as she turned she saw all four lawmen walking up the incline towards her. She was trapped.

Lowenna dismounted, leaving her bags on the horse, drew her dagger and activated her light shield again. The magical strands of light formed an intricate lattice. If she was going down this sun, it wasn’t without a fight. “Take her alive if possible,” Erkut shouted to the others, “Azmil cover us, Neara take to the sky, Zenith, prepare yourself. This Lowenna is mine!” And with that Erkut launched himself to the top of the hill landing just a few steps away from Lowenna. “Surrender or fall, it’s your choice Lowenna.”

“Funny I was just about to say the same thing,” Lowenna replied with a smirk not taking her eyes off the lawman. Suddenly he was on her. He was faster than she thought possible. His sword swung down. She blocked it with her long dagger and grabbed his other arm with hers pushing against him, but he was stronger than her. He was forcing her back towards the edge of the cliff. Lowenna suddenly switched direction pulling him towards her while twisting. She kicked his leg forcing him off balance and using his strength against him threw him over her, but Erkut didn’t let go, landing on his feet and throwing Lowenna into the air. He launched himself after her sword pointing at her chest, but Lowenna was ready. He couldn't dodge in the air. She had already touched her crystal and pushed her hand towards him; pink fire suddenly headed toward him. He tried to deflect the fire with his sword, but it exploded on contact with the lawman’s weapon forcing him to hit the ground hard rolling back down the hill.

Suddenly lightning rained down around Lowenna as she landed. She used her shield to block the attack, but the archer was aiming at her, she placed all five of her fingers against her crystal and then flicked sparks between her and him. The arrow flew and another and another, but a spark intercepted each arrow in turn allowing Lowenna to focus on the threat from above.

Lowenna’s shield was taking a battering. Its colour was fading fast from bright white to a dull yellow. Lowenna tapped her crystal again but this time spun her wrist, she pushed her hand through the light shield and pointed at Neara. A stream of pink flames shot from her hand forcing her assailant to halt her attack and back off, but now Lowenna had a new problem, Zenith.

Zenith charged at Lowenna, a sword in each hand, forcing Lowenna on the defensive again, blocking with her dagger and arm guard. “Surrender Lowenna, I have no wish to see you die this sun,” she said as she took another swing.

Lowenna stayed quiet. Zenith was fast, skillful and full of confidence, but she was not as fast as Erkut. Lowenna knew her magic was tracking, or some sort of sense, which allowed Zenith to find her, but still she was incredibly skillful with her swords.

Lowenna was doing everything she could to keep Zenith between herself and the lawman archer, without getting herself stabbed. Lowenna jumped to the right blocking the swords with her dagger. She blocked another arrow with her shield, and then thrust it towards Zenith. Zenith tried to block the shield with her sword and grab it, but her hand and sword passed through the magical strands of light and Lowenna struck her in the face. Zenith jumped back, trying to recover from the strike, but Lowenna kept in close blocking one sword with her dagger and grabbing her other arm. Zenith tried to break free, but Lowenna wouldn’t let go thrusting her knee into Zenith’s side and with one swift movement released her arm and hit her in the chest.

Zenith landed hard, partly winded, with Lowenna landing on top of her. Lowenna held her forearm on her throat and raised her dagger above her head. One strike and the lawman would be dead. Lowenna paused, looking into Zenith's eyes. She didn’t want to kill her. This wasn’t like when she had been attacked before. These were lawmen, like her friend Marchel. They were only following orders. They weren't trying to kill her just capture her and take her back to Penbirth.

An arrow suddenly flew past by Lowenna's head, nicking her ear. Lowenna jumped up quickly away from Zenith, readying her shield to defend herself, ignoring the little trail of blood running down her neck. She looked down the bank, Erkut, Neara and Azmil stood together, all three aiming their gauntlets at her. “Kill her!” Erkut ordered as fire, lightning and beams of light headed towards her.

Lowenna raised her dusty yellow shield. There wasn’t time to dodge the attacks, and the magic struck it. The shield shattered into hundreds of shards of light, forcing Lowenna to take a couple of steps backward, but there was nothing to step on. She looked back below her. There was a sheer drop and all Lowenna could see was rocks and the ocean far below. There was nothing to hold onto, nothing to stop her falling. She glanced over at the lawmen. Azmil was loading another arrow; Neara was firing more lightning, and Erkut was charging up the hill again. Lowenna pushed off with her feet, launching herself off the cliff, with the thought, she had more chance of surviving the fall, than fighting the three lawmen that were still standing.