Disclaimer: I do not in any way own anything in Inkheart. Even though I wish I did. I do however own the character Lorlai (pronounced Lor-lay) and the plot of this Fanfic.
And I promise, more chapters will be up soon!
Lorlai bent down once more to the bush of berries before her. It was her job to go out into the woods around Capricorns village to gather berries, mushrooms, and any other natural ingredients that could be used to make food for Capricorn and his men. She was always accompanied by a few of Capricorn's men, but today there was only one.
Lorlai glanced over at the man sitting on a fallen log sharpening his knife. Lorlai knew only that his name was Basta and that he was Capricorn's right hand man, so to speak. Lorlai briefly wondered what he had done that had caused Capricorn to charge him with the lowly task of keeping her from escaping while she gathered food. Had she been any ordinary maid, Capricorn probably wouldn't have cared if she escaped, but because of her special talents he never let her go anywhere alone.
"What're you looking at?" Basta growled, staring at her with those cold brown eyes of his. Sighing, she turned back to her work. Before long she began to hum, just to ease the awful silence that had settled over everything. Basta didn't complain as she continued her humming, no one ever complained when they heard her sing. After gathering all the ripe berries she moved on to the next bush. Looking to check on Basta, she saw that he had dozed off.
Now was her chance to escape! She had enough berries and mushrooms to keep her going for at least a day or two and if she traveled hard she could reach the next village by mid-morning tomorrow. Straightening, Lorlai turned and started west, but didn't get more than a few yards away before she came face to face with a mountain lion.
Lorlai froze. The cat, though not of great size, was big enough that Lorlai knew she wouldn't have much a chance if she had to fight it off, even less if she tried to run. Growling, the cat leaped. Lorlai shrieked in surprise as the cat, claws extended, pushed her to the forest floor, and landed on top of her. The mountain lions teeth were inches away from her face, but Lorlai knew it wasn't the cat's teeth that should be her main worry. No, it was its claws that would do the damage. Lorlai clamped her eyes shut and tried not to move, for fear the lion's claws would rip further into her shoulders than they already were.
She could feel the mountain lion's hot, rancid breath on her face; feel its claws slide their way deeper into her shoulders, and Lorlai knew this would be her fate, to be ripped to pieces by this hungry mountain lion. Just as Lorlai had begun to pray and ask forgiveness she heard the mountain lion growl again, felt it leap off of her. She cried out in pain as the claws that had dug so deep into her flesh were removed. She heard a yell followed by the lion's roar. Only, the roar sounded more as if it was a cry of pain, instead of a yell of conquest. It was followed by a loud thump and Lorlai opened her eyes. She tried to turn over, but the pain was too great. She heard footsteps cross over to her and soon saw Basta kneel beside her, a look of concern upon his face, worry in his eyes.
"Are you alright?" Basta asked gently as he inspected her wounds. His harsh tone was gone. Lorlai winced as he pulled back some of the torn, blood-soaked fabric to better inspect her wounds. Lorlai groaned and glanced at Basta.
"Do I look alright?" Basta didn't smile, and Lorlai shut her eyes once more, trying to stop the tears from escaping.
"We need to get you back to the village, so that we can sew up some of these wounds." Basta remarked as he tore of the sleeves of his long white shirt and wrapped the around the deeper gashes to help stop some of the bleeding. Basta picked her up as gently as he could, trying not to injure her any further. He then quickly made his way out of the woods, whispering soothing words to her as he went.