The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) Read Online Free Page A

pulls me two stables down from
Ruby's, and we peer over the gate to see the foal inside.
    "This is what I mean," Simon says and I
stare at the foal in awe.
    "It's beautiful," I whisper so that the
foal will not be woken.
    "Yea, she is." Simon whispers back and we
move away quietly. "Anna why did you come here? You have more important
things to do on your last day of freedom than to be in a stable." Simon
says, his eyes full of worry and concern for me.
    "I came to warn you of my father. He threatened
me with you and Meg's safety. I wanted to make sure that you knew to stay away
from him. I didn't want to see you get hurt." I say to him, worried for my
friend. It has always been that way though, he has protected me and I protected
him. We protect each other from the cruelties of this world.
    "I will stay away from him, for your peace of
mind Anna. Just promise me that you will try to do the same." Simon says
and I promise him. I part from him and make my way towards the gardens at the
side of the castle.
    The garden is filled with beautiful flowers, roses
and lilies, orchards and lavender and all sorts of other wild flowers. However,
in the middle of the garden is the labyrinth, which Meg, Simon and I use to
play in as children. It was in the Labyrinth that I usually found sanctuary
from my mother and most of all, my father. It was there that my imagination
grew and I began to love the things that go bump in the night. It was there
that Simon, Meg and I told ancient stories, with monsters and heroes,
princesses and damsels in distress. It was there that I not only learned who I
was but found myself when I would get lost time and time again.
    Perhaps it could give me another night of sanctuary?
Perhaps if I allowed myself to fall deep into the stories they may swallow me
whole. Perhaps in the Labyrinth I could find myself once more?
    I begin to walk towards it as if I was being pulled
towards the centre point by gravity itself. Now, as the sun is getting higher,
the high stonewalls of the Labyrinth cast the narrow rows into darkness and the
darkness gives the labyrinth the feeling of the unknown, when it should remain
known and cherished within my heart.
    I lose both myself and time within the Labyrinths
walls; there seem to be something lurking within the Labyrinth, something dark
and evil.
    "Is anyone here?" I call as a strange
sense that I am no longer alone pulls those words from my lips, but no-one
answers my call. I can feel eyes upon me, watching me with an intensity that I
cannot begin to describe and it makes me want to run back out again, but I
cannot, the gravitational pull will not let me go.
    I'm not far from the centre now and I can now see
that I am no longer alone. It is clear from the tall figures angular shape that
he is a man, though I cannot see his face.
    "Who are you? And what are you doing in my
Labyrinth?" I ask the tall cloaked figure.
    "Your Labyrinth? What claim do you have over
it? Did you build it? Did you design it? Did you dream the very idea of a
Labyrinth?" The cloaked figure asks, his voice silky and seductive. I do
not have an answer for him, as I never built it nor designed it, it has always
been here and it has always been my sanctuary.
    "That's what I thought. In case if you were
wondering, I was the one to create this Labyrinth. I designed it for someone
very special to me. So that they may find some kind of joy in these walls, when
they found none within the castle." His voice drifts off, and for a moment
I wonder if he has forgotten that I am even here.
    "If you don't mind I would like a moment to
myself before I walk you out." The stranger says to me.
    I go to say that it is alright, that I can show
myself out. However something about the man stops me, stops my words from
leaving my lips. I get this sense that he feels lost, alone even though I am
here with him. He turns towards me and stands before me.
    "You should probably make your way back into
the castle. It's starting to get dark."