Awakening
The new world opened up before her eyes as she stepped from the doorway of the wrecked fuselage.
Her first thought was reflective, almost hopeful. The enormity of her surroundings did little to dampen her thoughts, but as the seconds crept by eerily, like the aged turnings of an old clock, the reality dawned upon her ever so slowly.
Her hand left the safety of the cool steel behind her as the doorway creaked to a close, almost forcing her thoughts from calm collection to frightened panic. She momentarily lost her footing on the slippery metal beneath her, as thoughts dashed aimlessly. She regained composure soon after.
Her arms crept nearer to her face covering her cheeks as if in a gesture of comfort from the elements; she hardly dared to stare out onto the open landscape for fear of what she would see there. The fear of the unknown was far too much to bear. The journey here had been long and arduous, ending tragically, but she had never brought herself to look out at the land beneath them when they had made their final dooming decent. She had no idea where she was.
Closing her eyes, she tried to force herself to calm, clambering to recall the hypnotherapy lessens that her mentor, Claude, had so desperately tried to teach her. He had told her that despite her youth and petulance, she possessed a clear and thoughtful mentality. If she could be dragged into the real world every so often instead of playing the spoiled princess at every turn, he believed that she might even actually learn something. She had her doubts. Carrie, the princess it was to be. Now in this dark place, she felt alone, the opportunity to be someone else, someone better, had been left far behind her. Still she tried; she tried ever so hard.
She dared a moment to open her eyes and saw shades of green and gold. Her mind was encompassed by beauty, no images yet becoming clear, but they were still there nevertheless awaiting acceptance from her. Yet she did not dare a moment for fear of what she would find lying out there beyond. Her head looked down to the white shoes on her feet, crimson substance creeping upwards from her sole.
Her mind dashed to the others, her servants, her companions, her friends. Lost. She had come to terms with it in the aftermath of the crash, she was alone now. She had little choice.
"Carrie". She said her name aloud for a moment, barely audible to anyone not within whispering distance, but enough to alert her, an attempt to bring herself back from the brink. She had always relied on others to do her thinking for her, her welfare assure by her father's servants but now she had no one left in the world.
"Carrie," she said again, louder this time. She had often recited her name when afraid, it was another of Claude's lessons, about the only one she had ever paid attention to, and it had helped her along in the past, shocking her to sense. She had experienced nothing on a par with this, but maybe it would help.
Her heart raced as she raised her head slowly. Her vision more clear this time. She saw the lush prairie of late autumn, she gentle sun warming the meadows for miles in all directions. There was no sign of life.
She took a deep breath, not quite relief, but about as close to it as she dared. There was no sign of life.
Squinting her eyes slightly under pressure of the sun, she ventured a single step forward onto the wing, her head ever so slightly turning as she did so to encompass more of her peripheral vision. There was no sign of life.
The thought repeated in her head, the feeling of relief a huge weight lifted from her mind.
She took in more of her surroundings, seeing the distant crags and the welcoming sight of Shadowfort, the highest crag on the peak of the Cathrethian range that bordered her home from this vile place. The place had served as a fortress of her people for so long, but now it offered her a different kind of comfort, a familiarity to this alien world. She took a deep breath and swept her gaze right.
The forest was a great willowing beast; an endless array of greens, blowing in a gentle fashion, as if the world was calm and inviting place to be. The façade of peace did not fool her. Danger and menace lurked somewhere within the forest, not obvious at first sight but there no less. There was a dank evil in that place which bred and stank, so that the odour corrupted all around it. The soft mist which swirled beyond its borders reeked of the smell. An almost tangible life to that mist indeed; a place she dare not tread.
Stumbling again, and making more noise than she would have liked, Carrie got on her hands and knees, her lower centre of gravity now giving her the confidence to slide over the edge of the wing and onto the green grass several feet below. Upon hitting the solid ground, she paused again, her heartbeat rising once more. She had left the relative safety behind; she was in uncharted territory now.
More out of panic than bravery, her gaze shot in all directions, the fear of imminent danger controlling the motion of her head. She could not allow herself to slip now, she had to be aware, she had to know what was going on around her. She saw nothing. The rolling field, continued on for miles around, the edges of her vision marked with the shadows of undergrowth, the odd marking of ruined stone wall, trees and shrubbery transforming an otherwise desolate landscape into something she could relate to.
Other than the forest, which loomed behind her, there was a peaceful familiarity about the prairie, a suggestion of home, of civilisation.
Still in a low crouch, she stepped from beneath the wing, her body turning back towards the evil forest. She still found herself amazed at the startling contrast between the two worlds. There was no doubt in her mind that whatever lived within those trees was pure malevolence of a kind that she could not ever hope to comprehend. Yet behind her, there were lush fields, a world not unlike the farming colonies of her father's kingdom, a natural living world; an echo of peace.
Her transport was a Star Class Prestige escort model, the latest, quickest and most reliable means of travel between the kingdoms of Erred and Lindon. The journey had been completed thousands of times, soldiers, diplomats, nobility. Even the civilian model had made several important trial runs. No report of any losses had ever been recorded in history, at least while she had been alive, and she was now in her twentieth year. But in this time, at this very location, the conflict of two worlds, evil and good, her transport had decided to malfunction. Her life had been placed in jeopardy. The pilot had been the best, her royal guard, and no he was dead, everyone was dead. Now she was here alone, left to contemplate this new world. At least there were no signs of life.
Her mind raced with questions, too many to satisfy with simple answers. Foremost on her mind was her current predicament and thoughts for her safety. She was after all an important person, someone who would be missed. Civilisation could not abandon her completely. No doubt they would be searching for her now. The distress beacon had been irreplaceably destroyed in the crash, but that did not mean they couldn't find her, it would just take longer. Just take longer? How could she be so casual? The stories of this place had haunted her. The Gap was not a place to be taken lightly. The fear arose again in the pit of her stomach, and she found herself stepping backward towards the fuselage of the transport without even realising it.
She considered the subtle markings on the landscape, the fences and posts, the ruined stone walls, the matted grasslands that seemed almost organised, cattle grazed. These were signs of civilisation, things which were present in each of the surrounding kingdom, but surely which could not exist in The Gap. No intelligent life lived here, it never had. It was a wild place which allowed fascination, but no study. It was forbidden; it was too dangerous.
She cast her gaze back to Shadowfort, in the direction of the early evening sun. She imagined the distance, too far on foot on course, hours by flight. Just looking upon the holy mountain gave her peace and hope, feelings that she desperately needed at this time. "Carrie," she said aloud.
There was a fresh wind in the air, enough to blow Carrie's brown curls across her face, despite the head scarf that she wore in a bun at the back of her head. The wind gave rise to the evil mist that radiated around the forest not far away. The mist swirled slowly and ominously, as if the trees themselves were breathing, their thick trunks and branches exhausted by decades of growth and jostling for space amongst each other.
Carrie pulled her scarf tighter and straightened her knee length lime dress, now filthy from her recent exertions. Feeling safer in vicinity of the aircraft, she sat on the grass and crossed her legs, her mind in deep thought. She dare not close her eyes just yet, but her mediation continued nevertheless. She needed to calm down; the inevitable traumatic stress would her finding her soon. After a few moments, she had slowed her breathing and she started to feel a little better.
The echo of the forest found her slowly. Her meditating mind was suddenly dragged towards it, as a magnet would pull metal. Her dreams wandered, disappearing into the orb of darkness that was suddenly taking over her mind. All she saw was the thickness of the undergrowth, the darkness between the trunks and branches, the space between the leaves, the creature within all calling to her, a choir of evil.
Carrie's eyes closed, her thoughts drifted again, until she fell into a deep, foreboding sleep. Lost in a world she did not fully understand, a world she feared, a young girl lay asleep outside a forest in the endless plains of The Gap.
Beyond the trees of the forest, in the dark pit, the foreboding entity which smeared it's corruption out onto the world, looked on…