the beginning...

agosto = August

Lelia remembered when the men had come for her father. she had stood motionless, a wisp of a girl, barely 11, and her long black curls had bounced dangerously from under her white cotton night cap almost attracting unwanted attention to herself. she had stood straight up in between the tall vases from China that father had just unpacked from his latest voyage, and her curls cast telling shadows that danced on the walls behind her. her father walked with dignity, despite the beating that they had given him. he flashed her a secret smile and winked at her and she nodded solemnly. she was prepared. they had discussed this too often, and father had drilled into her the rigour of what she needed to do next.

she had waited a full 3 hours after the men had gone. she stood soundless, unmoving, listening to their grandfather clock chime each quarter of an hour. she continued to stand still, up to her own count of 100, even after the third hour had sounded, just for good measure. she then moved cautiously across the drawing room, staying very close to the heavy black silk drapes, dragging her little brown teddy bear along with her. she tip-toed into the cellar, to find the hidden chest of clothes that father always kept there. she unpacked hurriedly, pulling on the little boy's clothes that fit her perfectly. she pulled on the heavy woollen socks and boots, lacing them up tightly. she then knocked off her night cap and pulled her heavy tresses into a loose ponytail, tucking all her hair up into the boy's hat she put on. she pulled out the boot polish her father had left in the trunk for her, and rubbed some over her pale cheeks and the back of her hands. it took away the obvious glow of her light brown skin in the moonlight. she took out the travel sack that father had made for her. she pushed her teddy bear into the sack but did not look inside, confident that the cured meat, water pouch, and paring knife would have been resting on top of a dry change of clothes, paper bonds, gold nuggets and the wooden stakes he would have also packed.

she made her way quietly to the cellar door, standing in the darkness for a full 15 minutes, listening to the wind outside. she stood there to make sure that the men had really gone. she forced herself to remember her next instruction. and she kept repeating in her mind, the words she needed to finally say. she moved then to the cellar staircase, and walked half-way up the solid steps. in a wooden panel to the right of the staircase was a hidden passage that she easily opened and slipped silently into. she crouched down on the floor, feeling for the letter her father would have left for her. it would be her introduction to the dark master's castle across the lake. shivering now from the realization that her father was probably dead, murdered by those men that had taken him, she forced herself to pick up the letter and to slip it into her travel sack. she took her first tentative step, and then her next, and then she was running. the sound of her boots were muffled by the dark wood panelling that covered the outside of the secret passage.

she must have been running for an hour now, and finally the passage started to ascend. she knew then that she was beyond the walls of her father's castle, and that she would soon be in the woods, at the edge of the lake. she was scared and focused on the words again. finding the quiet confidence she needed, she made her way out of the passage and through the great Woods of Aspirations. she kept walking quickly, careful to walk lightly as father had taught her so she would not snap a fallen branch or draw any particular attention to herself. dressed completely in black, she became one with the long moving shadows of the woods. she finally got to the edge of the lake, and hesitated for a moment. it would now become very difficult and she was prepared. she strapped the travel sack across her shoulder and stood firmly on the ground. digging her heels into the soft ground, she opened up her arms and held them away from herself. she looked across the lake and the words spilt out of her, unbidden, and she repeated them over and over with force.

"i call upon you Ismay the keeper of the great shadows of the north, and i command you to reminisce the refuge you took in the house of Lord De la Fuente. i command you now to reciprocate this refuge to Lelia De la Fuente, the only child of the great Lord and hence his only living advocate."
Lelia could barely keep count of how many times she had repeated the same words. she was shouting them out into the shadows, competing with the howling winds that were whipping through the woods and tearing the hat from head and her hair from her pony-tail. she kept her eyes half-closed, and her arms were held up now across her face, protecting her from the debris the winds were huffing violently into her face. she felt the ground start to shake and watched the dead leaves swirl in a united frenzy all around her. as the leaves spun maniacally through the air, slapping hard against her, they started pushing her forward into the lake. Lelia dug her heels deeper into the wet ground and shouted the words out loud yet again. she heard her father's lessons echoing in the back of her mind, and she suddenly remembered the promise that she would have to make to draw Ismay forward, should he fail to recognize the refuge she sought.

"i pledge Ismay to defend the woods and all of the lake, all the creatures big and small, air and water bound, of the ground itself, with my own soul. i pledge to keep them and to defend them and to take on the guise of the mistress to the dark master. and i command you now to reciprocate the refuge to Lelia De la Fuente, the only child of the..." she was knocked off her feet by a heavy log to the back of knees, and twisted sideways to look into the eyes of a savage wolf. she froze where she was on the ground, holding her breath. she was shaking and quickly averted her eyes, dropping her head forward. the beast was enormous and as black as the silken night itself, except for a white flash of fur running down his neck and under its belly. its teeth gnashed and it snarled warningly, barely inches from the side of her face. the beast stood there over Lelia for what seemed to be an eternity to her. she could almost make out its silver eyes flashing under its thick black unkempt fur, but kept her eyes carefully averted. she then heard the wolf lie down beside her and felt its warm raggedy breaths on her inner thighs. before she could decide what she needed to do next she felt a strong hold on her upper arm, dragging her up to her feet, and she was spun unceremoniously around to face the legendary Ismay himself.

well over 7 feet, he was pure muscle. with the skin like the Moors, black as night, he flashed his grey eyes at her. she took in the long white scar that ran down the length of his vast neck and she took two steps backwards to suddenly realize that the wolf was gone. "could it be...?" she spoke aloud without realizing, and immediately put her hand childishly over her mouth. Ismay threw his head back and shouted his raw laughter across the woods. "come now child. for one so brave to have met Ismay in his true form, to now stand there like a helpless girl caught speaking when she should be silent? tell me Lelia De la Fuente... you share the bloodline of the great Lord of the fountains? why then did he send you alone..." he trailed his sentence off, watching the little girl struggle with her unshed tears. "and so the great Lord has ceased to exist.." he shook himself, feeling the sadness in the back of his throat.
"you took an oath child. was that in fear or would you take it still?" Lelia slowly pulled herself up to her feet with as much dignity as she could muster, she was still shaking and covered in damp leaves. her hair stood up in long strands, blown wild in the winds, but her voice was unshaken and she said firmly, "i stand by my oath Ismay and i command you to.." "yes, yes. i heard you the first 99 times." he looked her over very carefully, and watched her blush innocently at his raw scrutiny. "this oath child will mean that you turn at the age of your 21st year of birth. and it will mean that you walk these woods and across the lake and the skies above for all eternity. and so are you prepared?"

Lelia did not even think about hesitating. her father was murdered now, and she would be next. she had sworn to keep their bloodline pure and now the prophecy had already been set into motion. her destiny ahead was widely written about in the many books that lined her father's library. books that documented her dark turning.
"i stand by my oath Ismay, and i will embrace the dark master willingly as promised, at the dawn of my 21st year of birth..."

~a fictional piece by amreeth~