Prologue: Lapse

The clouds parted as the moon once again appeared from behind her thin silk mask, giving a dim light to the darkened forest.

Thick trees branches intertwined, making a canopy to shield the rain and hide the lights, making the forest seems almost unapproachable. An owl wooed, twisting its neck in that inhuman way to catch a glance of the movements on the ground behind. It took flight as the feathered wings flapped, its claws digging into the skin of that wild mouse on its night hunt for grains.

Tiara winced as she examined her broken leg, bending in a strange position away from her body. The blood drenched her clothes, leaking into her boot, though it didn't bothered her, all she could feel was pain from her right leg, nothing more.

She made several attempts to rise a short while ago, and decided that it did nothing expect for making the pain worse and putting her in more uncomfortable positions than she was in before her attempts.

Tiara swallowed the blood dripping her the corner of her mouth, the wiped the rest away with the back of her free hand while the other clutched the around her waist. There was a wound on the left side of her waist, but from the pressure of her right hand for the past half an hour, the bleeding slowed.

Choking down a sob that threatened to escape, the young guardian throws her head back in exhaustion, feeling the growing dew of the night brushing against her hair.

This was a mistake. She thought bitterly to herself. A complete mistake.

The pain on her side dulled while the sharp stabs from her leg turned slowly to an ache with time. Tiara felt tired, more drained than anytime she could remember, but she had a guess that if she closed her eyes, the long sleep would come and she would never wake again. Blinking away the tears that swelled in her eyes, her breathes quickened.

"Why?" Tiara whispered as the lights dimmed around her.

Sleep came easily.