Chapter 1: Breath of Life

The tears fell down her face. I thought about how beautiful she was as I dove for her. I promised I would. She reached for me; her arms stretched out in longing, and said one thing,

"Let it be."

Wind whistled through the tall majestic pines, spraying a fine mist of snow in my vision. I lifted my muffler a little higher on my face as the cold nipped at my eyes and ears. Traveling in Faron woods in the middle of winter was not fun, but it was still twenty minutes to the closest town. I sighed and gently tugged at my horse Epona's reigns. She nickered softly, but otherwise did nothing. I couldn't ride her, not in the depth of snow we were traveling in. She'd break her leg.

The wind picked up speed, and the trees shook, spraying snow from their eaves. I could hear a faint whisper created by the wind, and an eerie feeling crept into my bones. It was terrifyingly quiet. To distract myself, I began to think of the warm food and coffee I would receive from Anju once I reached her inn.

Abruptly, there was bright flash of light, and I heard a ghastly scream, like a man's muscle was being torn from his very bone. Torture: red and bloody. I froze, unsure of what to do. Another scream and I ran, leaving Epona behind. I'd find her, I always did. I unsheathed my sword, and I saw it glint dully. I couldn't win with a sword like the one I had, but I had to try. People were dying.

The light, which had been constant and blinding, finally ceased. I squinted to allow my eyes to adjust, but otherwise kept running and leaping over logs and branches. The snow made it hard to move, and I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. More screams, how many people were there? And who was hurting them?

I rounded a tree and there I saw it. Red was mixed in the snow, creating a slush of blood and gore. My eyes widened at the carnage. There was just no way.

At least twenty people were scattered haphazardly in a circle, their bodies bent in unnatural directions. Many were missing limbs, and some were headless. Their eyes open and glazed. A man laid at my feet, his arm outstretched as if he had tried to crawl away from the massacre. Worst of all, they were all royal soldiers, loyal to the king. My insides churned and I could feel the bile rise in my throat. I gagged and forced myself to take deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I willed myself to scan the area again. There had to be someone still alive. Someone who was trying to hold on.

Then I saw her. In the middle of the small clearing, knelt a young woman draped in a heavy black cloak. How I missed her I wasn't sure, but she seemed to be the only one who survived the attack. Slowly, so as not to spook the woman, I moved towards her. She knelt, but her torso was bent back so that her head faced the sky. Her clothes were ripped, and it looked as though she was injured.

I heard sniffling and a low moan. She was crying.

"Hey," I said softly, "are you alright? What happened?"

She straightened quickly, and I could suddenly see her face. Her eyes, a startling electric blue, were wild and distraught. Her porcelain face, with high rosy cheekbones and red lips, was spattered with blood, and her auburn hair was a wreck. She eyed my sword, and I realized that I still held it in a fighting position. I raised my hand in a calming action and sheathed my sword, but she looked only slightly more at ease. I moved closer to her, with both my hands raised to show I meant her no harm.

A slight whisper reached my ears, "don't come closer."

I hesitated.

That had been a female voice, but the woman hadn't moved her mouth. I shook it off; I must've been hearing things.

I knelt beside the girl, and she flinched. Her eyes were even more intense now that I was closer to her, and her features were beautiful even though she was a mess. She was shivering, and her fingers were turning blue.

"Are you alright?" I asked gently. She didn't move, just stared at me. I heard a noise behind me and I turned to see Epona had made it to the clearing. I turned back to the girl and saw she had been cut by a sword on her forearm. She was bleeding profusely.

"You're hurt," I said, and ripped a piece of my sleeve off to make a bandage. The girl did nothing, finally seeming to submit to whatever darkness that had surrounded her the last few minutes. A soft moan left her lips and she fell forward, her head landing squarely on my chest.

"I'm sorry." Another whisper. It reminded me of the whisper of the trees in the wind.

I wrapped my cloak around the girl's shoulders gently and lifted her up princess style. I motioned with my head to Epona, and the gentle mare made her way over to me, avoiding the carnage that surrounded us as much as possible. I draped the girl on Epona's saddle and got on behind her. We'd have to ride the rest of the way. I needed to tell authorities about what happened and get the girl someplace warm. I rubbed Epona's neck apologetically, and she snorted in response. With a quick glance behind me, we plodded off through the snow.

Snowflakes began to fall, covering the blood soaked ground and creating a makeshift grave for the soldiers. My heart was heavy and confused as we continued on. The girl, although beautiful, was mysterious, and not in the good way. Why was she the only one alive in the clearing?

The muffled emptiness of the snow-covered forest surrounded us again, and without warning I felt them. They were hot and angry. It was only for a brief second, but it was enough. The eyes had come searching, but who their prey was I had no idea. Instinctively, I squeezed the girl tighter in my arms. Her face was peaceful, her tears dried. Once more, it was terrifyingly quiet.

So lately, I have been on a Florence and the Machine kick. Specifically, the song "Breath of Life." When I listened to that song for the first time, the idea for this story just kinda popped itself into my head. For awhile I just kind of held it in because I like to write only one story at a time, but then I realized that Codega's going to take a fairly long time to finish. So, I decided that if other writers can write more than one story at a time, than I can too. Although you must know what this'll do to my update time. It'll be fairly sporadic - for both stories. I'm actually still working on Codega's chapter right now, but I'm kinda stuck so we'll see how it goes. Anyway, thanks for reading and don't forget to tell me if you loved or hated this chapter!