Marguerite and Roxton walked through the quiet city. It took the dawn for them to fully appreciate the beauty of it. When they had arrived the day before it was near dusk and the sun made the city have an almost heavenly glow.
With the dawn, the city slowly came to life. Marguerite and Roxton watched as the dormant city sprang to life before their eyes. People emerged from their homes and went about their business as they would on any other given day. Shops and stands were opened, smells from the bakeries drifted through the streets, and sounds of children playing in alleyways and people trying to make bargains could be heard.
Marguerite and Roxton weren�t the subject of open stares, which they found to be the usual treatment when they found themselves in a new environment. As they walked through the streets they found the people to be quite friendly, most of them speaking warm greetings and several offering their services as tour guides to show them around the city. They politely declined and thanked them for the offer and continued their own exploration.
As their walk continued, Marguerite and Roxton found themselves to be in a brighter mood. Surrounded by people in such high spirits, they couldn�t help but feel their steps lighten as they went. Marguerite smiled as she saw a nearby group of children playing and envied them. As children, they had no worries and were oblivious as to what was really happening at the moment. Marguerite had a great deal of things to deal with, and many came with Abigail�s revelations from the previous night. It seemed as fate worked against her whenever it came to her parents. Just as it seemed she was going a step in the right direction, something would always happen to set her back.
Marguerite was interrupted from her train of thought as she found herself losing her balance. Reliable as always, Roxton made sure she did not fall. �Thank you, John. Seems you�ve been doing that a lot lately.�
He gave her one of his brightest smiles. �I�ll never let you fall, Marguerite.�
His words sent a rush of emotion through her body and couldn�t help the smile that broke out on her face. How he managed to say the perfect words to set her heart a flutter would always be a mystery to her, but it was one that she didn�t mind not knowing the answer to. Her eyes strayed to the ground and found the culprit that nearly caused her fall. She chuckled and watched as the rubber ball continued to roll down the street and into a nearby alley. Seeing a group of children nearby who looked as if they lost something, she knew who the owners were.
�I�ll be right back, John.� She chased down the small ball and found it had come to a stop near the end of the alley. She shook her head to herself and bent over to retrieve it. As she stood back up, she heard footsteps behind her and sighed. �Really Roxton, I think I can track down one small ball by myself.� She turned and saw the footsteps she heard did not belong to Roxton but a man she did not know. �Oh, I�m sorry, I thought you were my friend.�
The man smiled but for some reason it sent a chill through Marguerite. The man was dressed completely in black but looked strangely familiar to her. He was a tall man with dark hair and piercing icy blue eyes. One could go as far as to call him handsome, but looks did not tell the true story of the man. Marguerite felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze. Behind his eyes, she could see a fire smoldering though the smile on his face never faltered. �That is quite all right, Ms. Krux.� The man took a few steps forward and Marguerite acting on instinct, took a step back.
All of Marguerite�s inner alarms were going off. She was about to reach for her pistol when she realized that she hadn�t brought it with her when she had left with Roxton for their walk. Being weaponless, her only other option of running and that too was out of the question. She was boxed in the alley with nowhere to go. Cursing herself for getting caught in such a position, she put her wits to use and tried to find a way to stall and hope that Roxton would come to her aid when she didn�t return quickly.
�Who are you and how do you know my name?�
�Did I forget to mention that? How careless of me, please forgive me. My name is Dren. Perhaps you�ve met my father? Mordren?�
This time when he moved forward, Marguerite purposely moved back only to find herself with no where left to go. Her back touched the cold hard stone wall behind her and she shivered. Even though Marguerite had stopped moving backwards, Dren continued to move forward until he was mere inches from her body. He placed one arm on each side of her and brought his face so close to hers that she could feel his hot breath on her face. Marguerite turned her face to the side and clenched her fists at her sides as her fury built up within her. She lifted her leg and stomped down on Dren�s left foot with as much might as she could muster. As he knelt forward in pain, she clasped both her hands together and swung upwards connecting powerfully with his face. He howled in pain and Marguerite used that chance to make a break for it. �Roxton! Roxton!�
She got halfway down the alley when she felt an arm snake her and pull her roughly backwards. Dren was holding his broken nose with one hand while the other still held the rough grip on her wrist.
�What do you want with me, damn it?!�
�Isn�t that obvious, Marguerite? I came here for you of course.� He leered at her and Marguerite felt repulsed. Before she knew it she found herself surrounded by a dozen men all similarly dressed to Dren. She watched them step out of the shadows and her mouth dropped in shock. She didn�t have a second to react before two men stepped forward and she was roughly passed off to them. �Take her!� Dren ordered. It was at that moment that Roxton made his appearance.
�Marguerite! Let her go!�
What happened next could only be described as sheer chaos. All hell broke loose as Roxton fought several men at once trying to make his way to Marguerite. For every punch he landed, two more connected with him.
Marguerite meanwhile took advantage of the distraction to get free of the two men holding her. The two men had foolishly loosened their grip on her arms as they watched the fray. Freeing her right arm, she attacked the man on her left and managed to grab a stray piece of wood in the alley to arm herself with a weapon. With a well placed blow, one guard went down but wasn�t quick enough to avoid the second guard.
From his position, Roxton had yet to make progress. The noise of their battle had carried into the streets and runners were sent for the Avatar warriors. But Roxton fought on unaware, trying to get closer to Marguerite. He saw her fighting and was glad she was unharmed for the moment. He was beginning to tire but he wouldn�t give up until she was free or he had no more breath left in his body.
Then what he feared came true. He saw Marguerite fall and she was lost to his sight.
�You fool!� He heard one of the men shout. �What use is she if she�s dead?�
Fearing the worst yet praying it was not true, he doubled his efforts to get Marguerite with hidden reserves of strength he didn�t know he had. �Marguerite! Marguerite! Answer me, Marguerite!�
It was a heroic effort, and those who told the tales of the battle that day all spoke of how the brave Roxton fought valiantly for his lady love. The fates, however, were against him that day. So concerned with the fate of Marguerite he was, that he didn�t notice himself slowly surrounded, nor did he see the blow that would send him into darkness not knowing what would befall Marguerite once he was gone.
His body fell limply into the dirt with a loud thump. �Take him!� Dren ordered. �Our work is done here.�
One of the darkly clad men bent over and bore Roxton with ease over his shoulder. The dozen men and their leader disappeared into the shadows with their prize in hand.
Moments later when the Avatar warriors arrived, they found the alley empty save Marguerite, laying unconscious, alone and forgotten.