Of course, the location and some of the characters belong to Tamora
Pierce.
Stella sighed; it had been a long morning full of thinking. None of her thoughts had been pleasant. She kept remembering things. She remembered things the shadow man had told her the night before. She thought of her restlessness before setting off with Pinecone, how desperate she had been to leave then. She thought of how easy it had been to escape from the bandit camp, too easy, as though some force was helping her, pushing her onwards.
There were old Heather's words as well. "I'm altering things, helping you. In your case that's against the rules for me, but I'm doing it anyway" she had said. Stella still hadn't the foggiest idea what was going on, but she didn't like feeling manipulated. Somehow, she didn't think old Heather was manipulating her, just assisting her through some difficulties she would have to face anyway. There were several forces at work here and she seemed to be in the middle of all of them.
She couldn't seem to lose the sense that she was being followed either. Every time she looked back there was no one there but Lucas, but she still felt as though someone, or something, were following her. Stella knew there was a shadow creature, or something like one behind her.
They emerged slowly from the woods and continued on the road through a fielded area. Just as the reach the point of the road closest to a dead tree, lightning came out of nowhere and struck it. Mouse reared and dumped Lord Lucas, who promptly began whining about "idiot ponies" and "if my father knew". The tree ignited and began burning. Stella thought she heard cruel, hacking laughter but she wasn't sure where it came from. Stella reached out her thoughts and caught Mouse, pulling her back with images of comfort and security. She realized suddenly that her Wild Magic had been gradually increasing in power. She hadn't seen it growing but it most certainly had been. She helped Lord Lucas remount and they continued onwards.
It began to grow dark by just after noon and Stella still felt watched by unseen eyes. Lucas seemed edgy and he too was looking behind him repeatedly. Stella hadn't told him about the night before, she hadn't wanted to terrify him and she didn't think his knowing about it would change anything.
Stella swallowed, her mouth was dry and her hands shaking with the knowledge that something was wrong, terribly wrong. Her magic sensed the presence of something that should never have come to be, something that opposed her progress and wanted her to turn around more than she herself wanted to turn around. Lightning flashed again, this at least did not seem supernatural, or if it was supernatural it was accompanied by natural thunder and the sudden onset of violent hail.
"We're not camping out tonight are we," Lord Lucas whined fifteen minutes later. Stella was about to tell him that yes they were camping out, or did he want to keep riding in this weather when she looked ahead and saw lights in the far distance. They didn't look evil, only lonely. She had plenty of money, Old Heather's coins kept replacing themselves.
"No," she called back, raising her voice against the wind, "We'll stay in that village up ahead." WILL YOU? A voice thundered in her mind, ONLY IF YOU CAN MAKE IT IN TIME; WE ARE JUST BEHIND YOU.
"Let's hurry," she yelled as Pinecone burst into a gallop.
Quote: "Does the path chose the walker or the walker the path?" The Book of the Dead, from Sabriel by Garth Nix.
By the way, Abhorsen is out, or should be soon!
Thank you for reading and reviewing. Reviews quite literally make my day, or even my week.
Stella sighed; it had been a long morning full of thinking. None of her thoughts had been pleasant. She kept remembering things. She remembered things the shadow man had told her the night before. She thought of her restlessness before setting off with Pinecone, how desperate she had been to leave then. She thought of how easy it had been to escape from the bandit camp, too easy, as though some force was helping her, pushing her onwards.
There were old Heather's words as well. "I'm altering things, helping you. In your case that's against the rules for me, but I'm doing it anyway" she had said. Stella still hadn't the foggiest idea what was going on, but she didn't like feeling manipulated. Somehow, she didn't think old Heather was manipulating her, just assisting her through some difficulties she would have to face anyway. There were several forces at work here and she seemed to be in the middle of all of them.
She couldn't seem to lose the sense that she was being followed either. Every time she looked back there was no one there but Lucas, but she still felt as though someone, or something, were following her. Stella knew there was a shadow creature, or something like one behind her.
They emerged slowly from the woods and continued on the road through a fielded area. Just as the reach the point of the road closest to a dead tree, lightning came out of nowhere and struck it. Mouse reared and dumped Lord Lucas, who promptly began whining about "idiot ponies" and "if my father knew". The tree ignited and began burning. Stella thought she heard cruel, hacking laughter but she wasn't sure where it came from. Stella reached out her thoughts and caught Mouse, pulling her back with images of comfort and security. She realized suddenly that her Wild Magic had been gradually increasing in power. She hadn't seen it growing but it most certainly had been. She helped Lord Lucas remount and they continued onwards.
It began to grow dark by just after noon and Stella still felt watched by unseen eyes. Lucas seemed edgy and he too was looking behind him repeatedly. Stella hadn't told him about the night before, she hadn't wanted to terrify him and she didn't think his knowing about it would change anything.
Stella swallowed, her mouth was dry and her hands shaking with the knowledge that something was wrong, terribly wrong. Her magic sensed the presence of something that should never have come to be, something that opposed her progress and wanted her to turn around more than she herself wanted to turn around. Lightning flashed again, this at least did not seem supernatural, or if it was supernatural it was accompanied by natural thunder and the sudden onset of violent hail.
"We're not camping out tonight are we," Lord Lucas whined fifteen minutes later. Stella was about to tell him that yes they were camping out, or did he want to keep riding in this weather when she looked ahead and saw lights in the far distance. They didn't look evil, only lonely. She had plenty of money, Old Heather's coins kept replacing themselves.
"No," she called back, raising her voice against the wind, "We'll stay in that village up ahead." WILL YOU? A voice thundered in her mind, ONLY IF YOU CAN MAKE IT IN TIME; WE ARE JUST BEHIND YOU.
"Let's hurry," she yelled as Pinecone burst into a gallop.
Quote: "Does the path chose the walker or the walker the path?" The Book of the Dead, from Sabriel by Garth Nix.
By the way, Abhorsen is out, or should be soon!
Thank you for reading and reviewing. Reviews quite literally make my day, or even my week.