Hello everybody! :D Sorry for that last "chapter"; I wanted to be able to say, "Hey, I actually did something!" Read and review, favorite and follow! And enjoty the ride!
The sky was slit open amid the choking grey clouds. A darkness that had long settled over a plain, a mountain and woods was pierced with pure white light shining on the outskirts of a great woodland realm. The clouds opened like a mouth that whispered wisdom and breathed life. Opened, and from it, a shaft of light, too swift to really be noticed, too faint to be discernible, came dust. Dust, that when it touched the earth, the light faded away.
The dust was then no longer dust. They were bodies, formed into slim shapes on the ground that was cool and crisp. Its season felt wrong to the shapes.
They awoke one by one, drowsily, as if from a heavy sleep. Coherence was swiftly returned to them, and upon looking about, they sensed danger. For a moment, all stood still. The place -the very air they breathed!- was unfamiliar and alien. A shadow of howling monsters appeared on the horizon. As the sounds of the things traveled over the plain, the girls began to be afraid.
"What the fuck is that?" One person exclaimed. She reached for her sister, who was transfixed in terror but who swatted the hand away. Chyann scowled and grabbed Chardonnay by her long russet hair. "Come on!" She yanked.
Chardonnay cried out in pain, and Chyann grasped her hand tightly.
"Who cares?!" Another replied. She grasped a small girl. "And those would be 'ares'!
The air was still and heavy on any ears that were human. Adrenaline fueled fleeing was the only thing on their minds. Dry grass crunched under four pairs of panicked feet as the small group of girls ran together. Clouds of dust and detritus followed in their wake.
With nothing but flat beige land and a cloudless blue sky around them, they were such an easy target to their pursuers (whatever they might be), that it was laughable.
The cries in the distance were not human, and the beasts they rode were neither horses nor wolves, but their stench reached the girls, carried from a great distance on an almost cold breeze that contradicted their last memory of the season. Wildly, they would turn about, checking constantly to see what is was that chased them. Distance was a fickle friend that was best mated with speed, and so thus both abandoned the girls to their fate.
"Hold up..." Chardonnay was wheezing and slowing to a puttering jog, "Chyann, give me a second..." Her sister paused anxiously, and looked at Chardonnay's jean pockets. Her inhaler was gone.
Alyx spoke up, "No, sweetie, we can't; you gotta keep going!"
Megan, who had been looking ahead, suddenly shouted, "Woods!" She jumped forward, dragging Alyx behind her. The two took off, leaving the sisters to follow.
Chyann looked after them with hope. "Alright, c'mon, Cici, almost there. We'll hide!"
Chardonnay nodded heavily, looking to her sister freckled face tiredly. "Let's get lost."
"Hurry up," Alyx chanted, as much to herself as the others. She was sweating as they jogged along. They could no longer sprint now. Hurried glances over her shoulder told her that the... whatevers that stalked them were gaining. Fast. "Shit."
Steadily, the broad forest loomed. Thin trees began springing up around them, growing closer and taller and darker the farther they went, but still, they were not yet out of sight. Megan screeched to a halt and shook Alyx by the arm. She said, "Okay, fuck this, I am climbing the next tree!"
"We stay together!" Alyx emphasized as Chyann and Chardonnay arrived behind them. "Wait.-" She gazed off to the depths of the forest.
"You want us to wait?! You're crazy!" Megan exclaimed, scoping out the nearest trees.
"SCATTER!" Alyx screamed and pushed Megan up the closest tree. "They're here!"
Chyann and Chardonnay whirled about wildly, and an oak that seemed perfect for climbing to the far left of them when an arrow landed right by their feet. Pounding into the forest came the monsters. Their skin was putrid and theirs cloths were animal hide and armor that was rusted and scraped terribly as the swung their sharp weapons. Right at Chyann and Chardonnay. "Duck!" A voice called. Chyann dragged her big sister to the ground as a thick whistling was heard. A branch of beech sent the ugly rider tumbling to the ground to the ground with a gurgle. Its beast belted off in another direction.
"Ruuuuun!" It was Megan, and she and Alyx leapt down from the tree armed with tough wood. They swung back and knocked aside the weapons of the riders that converged about them chaotically. Chardonnay lurched to her feet, pulling Chyann with her.
"Give me that," Chyann called, and Megan sent the branch into her hands. Two seasons of softball suddenly came in handy, and with a shout, she swung low enough to break a charging mutt's leg. Alyx swung down and bludgeoned its rider's head as it attempted to rise. The two girls, on numb impulse, high-fived.
Chardonnay climbed a tree shakily, her terror and shame resonating within her greatly enough to make her tremble. However, she couldn't breath. How could she fight? Suddenly, an arrow flew by her, and she almost screamed. The arrow was pale and its fletching white, from what little Chardonnay saw. Then more arrows flew one after another, flying back from the ugly things, obviously fighting each other. Very quickly pale arrows began winning. Chardonnay could not see where they came from. It scared her just as much as the ugly monsters who chased them. The beasts and riders alike fell, but never did they threaten to hit the other three teenagers.
"Jump!" Chyann hollered up Chardonnay, who clung to the tree fiercely, smacking another creature down by its face. "You'll be shot!" As if to prove this point, a stout, ugly arrow lodged itself right by Chardonnay. She screamed and scuttled a bit, when suddenly a strong hand shoved her right off the branch and sent her to the ground.
Chyann had no idea that Megan was near them until she somehow managed to end up beneath Chradonnay. "Fuck," Megan grunted in pain. Alyx ran up and helped Chyann heft them up. An unseen voice suddenly called to them, "Get deeper into the woods. Hurry!" The voice was kind and urgent, and so very odd and like
a bronze bell. Firm hands pulled the them to their feet with such strong grips that the girls gasped. Alyx dropped her branch as the four were frog marched by strange and beautiful people who seemed to erupt from the trees themselves.
They were sent running again, a figure just ahead of them showing the way through increasingly twisted trees. For the first time, Megan was aware of the twang of arrows. For a moment, she stared at the beings who looked like they were shining with light from within, but it passed. She blinked, believing that it was the sunlight, which seemed to be like it was autumn. She frowned. But it's June...?
Alyx gripped the back of Chyann's shirt tightly as she kept Megan close, and saw that the people were dressed very oddly. They were armed with bows and arrows, and all had their hair tightly pulled away from their faces. Something was odd about their jawlines, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. They passed too quickly by her to be examined.
Their knees collapsed and they slid to the ground collectively, and the sounds of the dying monsters and thrum of arrows faded. They breathed heavily and leaned upon each other, feeling their heartbeats racing in their chests and the cool autumn air.
Finally, a crowd began to trickle back and stand around them. In the deep shade of the small clearing, the eyes within the shadows seemed to glow. In their hands were their bows, and some silhouettes showed them to be notched. As the girl's eyesight adjusted, Chyann rose, and Alyx with her, cautiously.
"Thank you," Chyann began, pushing her curly hair behind her ear, "for getting us away from all that." Beside her, Alyx nodded while flickering her gaze to the people around them.
Finally after a beat of silence, a slender male figure stepped forward. Above him, a patch of sunlight finally peeked through the thick branches, illuminating the person's pale skin, blue eyes and pointed ears.
Alyx gasped and recoiled, and while Chyann looked to her, the male spoke. "Stand still!"
Firm hands grasped her and Megan, pulling them back to their feet roughly. Chardonnay cried out loudly and Megan was protesting obscenely. Thick cloth was tied around their heads, blindfolding them. With their sight now gone, the girls' wrists were tied together in front of their bodies with thin rope, tightly enough to chafe, but not unnecessarily painful.
"Fuck you!" Chyann yelled, her red hair flying all about the place. She threw out her leg, a thick thing that was surprisingly well-trained. She heard a shout, and suddenly she was forced to the ground by the back of her neck. Her voice was muffled against the cool grass. "Get the fuck off of me!"
"Chyann!" Chardonnay called out. She tried to wriggle away, but the grips around her arms were tough as old tree roots. Megan began cussing twice as loudly.
"Everyone-stop!"
Chyann lay on the ground panting, Alyx's voice still ringing in her ears. "Now is not the time," she plead them, and her words seemed to sooth the children. "Lead on...?" She spoke to their captors, who none of the girls could guess if these new enemies were the lesser of the two evils or not.
Review! Let me know what you think; this is my first solo story, so I'm very eager for any advice, constructive criticism and opinions short of flames. :D
