~Naminé~
“Naminé, hurry! You must hurry, child,” my father shouted.
I was stopped in the middle of the lower courtyard taking in the sight of the burning building before me. I could not seem to tear my eyes away from the monstrous flame that consumed the stables. There were at least twenty knights scattered around trying to get the horses and griffins out of the burning structure.
My father and several men were in the back rounding the horses into the outside fence, and along the side of the stable I could see that many of the griffins were injured.
“Naminé, you must focus,” my mother said to me. “You must go and bring back Falla.”
All I could think of was Calen. If she had been caged here, as some of the Fëa were—no, I couldn’t stand to think that way. She was safe, safe in the forest. I could still feel her anguish and torment, but she was safe. That was all that mattered.
I turned to look at my mother as the words set in. I nodded and ran through the courtyard, past the great hall and up the stairs to the corner tower. I needed to find Falla who was the animal healer. She and her Fëa could aid the injured griffins. I ran as fast as I could up the tall winding stairs.
I heard loud noises coming from above and had to quickly move out of the way of about forty armed knights as they came dashing down the stairs. They didn’t spare me a glance as I hung to the wall, my body pressed close against the cool stone as they made their way around me.
When I thought they had all passed, I stepped back out and immediately collided with a very large knight who lagged behind the others. He forced me aside in his haste to continue on his way, and as he pushed, I stumbled over a step. The next thing I knew as my head hit the stone floor was that my vision blurred, and then it turned to complete and utter darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Six