Mysterious Man(SHORT STORY)

The sun was high in the sky, it had several stripes of colors intertwined creating a vast array of delight. I was strolling around a marketplace. It was the first day of Trepenzum festival, the most important one in the town. This festival symbolized the victory achieved in the battle of mighty, that happened hundreds of years ago. The lights were set up on the pillars and on top of stone walls. I enjoyed looking at the decorations. The crowds of people were busy buying and selling different exotic things. There were all kinds of delicacies in many stalls. Every part of the market had smells of fish, beer, kebabs and sweet pastries. I saw silver stalls, cake stalls, seed stalls, and all the ornaments. The fragrance of jasmine hung loosely in the air among the baskets and plant pots. 

In the center of the stalls, people were dancing to the melodious music of lyre and drums. The song of the troubadour made me reminisce the olden days. The children were gleefully huddled up against the steps of the fountain, ready to hear the stories of the dark ages and the brave warriors. Everything was so lively and vibrant. Some of the people wore costumes and masks representing the warriors who helped the town. For a moment, I felt lost at the sight of all these things. Few paces away I noticed a masked man running swiftly to the other entrance of market. Something felt very mysterious about him. I had come there for a short visit. I bought a bar of dark chocolate, and ate it. 

There were sounds of trumpets and an animal show going parading inside the market. A large elephant had been adorned with flowers and multi-colored cloth was placed on its back. Some town guards scurried off riding horses, checking the market, to keep everything intact. Mostly, during the gathering, the festival is always the spot for deceitful works.

I went towards the western exit and I saw a lame beggar with a carved silver-like amulet. He held it up as I passed by him. He cried out “please somebody help me to sell this”. Everyone ignored his plea for help. I looked at his poor condition and couldn’t ignore his request. I took the amulet from him and went to the jewelry stall that was a bit far from the exit. The shopkeeper immediately took me for a thief. “You steal from my stall and again try to sell it to me?” He shouted. He called the guards “Hey this girl here is a thief!” and before I had explained my situation I was hauled inside the underground prison. The prison guard locked the cell “I didn’t steal anything!” I screamed as they went away.

I stood there astonished. I hadn’t committed any crime whatsoever. I was innocent. I looked around and found that the prison cells were all empty. The place was gruesome dark, lit by the faint light that battled their way inside from the thick metal windows at the top part of the walls in each prison cell. The cobwebs hung loosely on the ceiling inviting a faint chill. I backed away slowly almost tripping onto something that was at the corner. I didn’t dare to turn around. I felt lonely.

Suddenly, I heard heavy footsteps get louder and louder until they stopped to a cell across mine. I shivered with fright as they flung the cell door open and pushed a man inside. The prison guard had a lantern, and it flashed slightly unto the pieces of corpse lying in the other cell. The man stood holding the bars, as the guard quickly locked his cell. I could make out the man’s appearance; he had a scar on his upper arm and one on his forehead. I recognized that he was the masked man I saw at the marketplace. The guard walked upstairs dangling the lantern on his hand and any beam of light was stripped off from where we were.

 I pondered over the idea whether I should speak to the masked man or not. What if he is a dangerous person? I heard his cell door creaking open. He quickly picked the lock on my cell and left. I hesitated to come out for a moment. I was scared and thought about the consequences of escape. If guards catch me again, I would surely be locked up in the cell for indefinite amount of time. I looked behind me at the dark cell and decided to leave while I could. I ran up the stairs, and luckily, there were no guards in the hallway.

I came out just in time to witness something shocking. I stood there with my jaw dropped. It was all chaos. The market had been ransacked and everything spilled on the floor. The barrels, carts and stalls had tumbled down. I heard a shrill of loud cry. The town people were running in all directions, trying to get to a safe place. The circus animals had escaped.  The man in the mask called out to me, “What took you so long? Run away from here.” 

The Volcoms had invaded the market place. There hadn’t been any violent battles in this town for a long time. I looked away from the reckless slaying of people. The blood splattered on the walls, and objects. The sounds of swords clattering filled the terror in the air. The people were running wildly. The guards were trying to kill the intruders. The town guards were no match against the terrorists. The masked man was also fighting the terrorists. He seemed quite strong and invincible. The rain started to shimmer down. The Volcoms had long swords, scimitars and throwing knives. They were fully armed and their integrity lay on sparing lives of no one. I couldn’t believe that I was in middle of this war and felt secure to watch instead of running away.

I wanted to flee but suddenly I was trapped. I was surrounded by the terrorists. A terrorist came running towards me with a battle hammer. I quickly dodged his attack. “This way” said the masked man. I grabbed a bag of arrows and a bow and followed him. Half of the terrorists had already been slaughtered. The remaining ones focused on us. I skipped past a small hurdle of stones. We ran through the gate and stumbled upon massive barricades. We went up into the tower above the wall gate and threw a rope on the other side. The terrorists ran up, their chose clattering against wooden surface of tower. We climbed down the rope. Then we ran through the deep mahogany forest. The ground was covered with fallen dry leaves. 

“Why are they after us?” I mumbled being breathless. “They are after me, I’m sorry you got caught up in this.” I was keeping up the running pace when all of a sudden I stepped into a pile of leaves that was set up for a trap. I fell in the ditch. “Take my hand” He extended his hands towards me.  I shouted, “Go, run”. He replied, “No!, just grab hold of my hand, we got this.” He pulled me out of it but we were surrounded by the Volcoms. The masked man got into a fighting stance, pulling out his enchanted double-edged sword. His word had a engraved gemstone that sparkled.

There were about 7 of the Volcoms. They got ready with their swords. One of them had a devilish laugh. “You can’t run from us, now finally we have caught you.” The tall guy among them spoke, “I can take on him by myself”. He was very muscular and had strong arms. He took his steps forward, gracefully at first, and then with a sudden speed, he slashed his sword. The masked man dodged the attack, and jumped behind his back and struck on the tall man’s head with the sword handle. The tall man fell down on the ground lifeless.

  
In a moment of rage, all the remaining Volcoms took out their swords, all aiming on the masked man. I stayed a little back, with my sweaty hands on the throwing knives. He faced all of them, dodging every attack. Clash! The sound of the swords echoed upon the breeze. A large flock of birds violently flew across the sky startled at the loud sounds. The men kept attacking him from all sides. He was fighting with two when the other one tried to stab him from the back. I saw the motive. I took our bow and arrows that I had grabbed at the town. I placed the arrow on the bow, taking it out quickly from the quiver. I hit him exactly on his neck and he fell down. The masked man slew all others. 

It was already starting to get dark. The forest became animated with shrieking sounds of bugs, birds, and wolves that howled at the distance. I didn’t know the way back. “Do you know the way back?” I asked him. He placed his sword in the scabbard. “Yes, I do, I have been in these woods many time”. We walked through the dense forest.

The dark moon shone ghastly upon the midnight-blue sky. The stars had come out into the sky. They lit up like the diamonds.  He cut the branches of bushes that blocked our ways through the trees. After walking for a long time, we came to a small stream. There were all marks on the trees and boulders. “What are these marks?” I asked. “It’s been marked to show where the battle had taken place years ago.” Soon, we were back into the edge of town. We stood under a lamp at the street. All seemed alright. The town was quiet.

“I think you know your way from here.” He smiled at me. “Just follow this street and go to left.”

I glanced around, “Yes, this is all familiar now. I can find my way back to home.” 

“Nice meeting you, goodbye”

“Wait, who are you?” I asked.

“It’s better if you don’t know me.”

“I’m curious; I’ll keep your identity a secret.”

He pushed aside his cape and He gently took off his black mask, revealing his face. “I’m Cahir.”

“The great swordsman that all talk about?”

“Yeah, but I prefer to stay anonymous now.”

Cold breeze ran past my feeble skin arousing shiver. A group of  horsemen rode nearby, talking in some dialect with fire torches on their hands. “Hide!”, Cahir, pulled me beside a Yew tree. “They are still on the lookout for me.”  We stayed in silence for few minutes, and the guards rode down to the stream. Cahir told me he will be on his way and wore his mask and started walking away. 

“Will we ever meet again?” I shouted. 

“Maybe.” Saying this, he faded away from the horizon. 

All the stories of his sword skills ran in my mind. The people talked of him all the time. But I had never seen him before. We all thought he was dead, because the Volcoms had always envied his sword skill. He was wanted by the town guards as well. I walked past the bustling area, till I reached the house. Everything seemed to be in a harmony like before. People were all in their homes after the devastating wreck of Volcoms. I reached my home, and everyone in my family, came to welcome me in. “Where had you been?” dad spoke. “It’s a long story” I said, sitting next to my sister. The fireplace was glowing with warmth. A soft knock was heard on the door. I opened it, and saw Cahir.

“I need a place to hide, for tonight; town guards are searching for me in the outskirts of town.”

“Okay, come in.” I let closed the door behind him. 

“Who is he?” my mom asked.

I motioned everyone to speak in low voice. “It’s Cahir.”