'Run, don't stop. Run.' The voice is like a sweet butterscotch; a siren's song. It is her voice. A voice I used to cherish, but now is a dire warning. I oblige her request and run faster. Rain pelts against my face and blurs the world around me into mixtures of browns and greens. The surrounding forest quakes visibly just as an ear-piercing screech echoes by me. My body crouches in reaction to the sound, ducking, just in case something comes down at me. Blood trickles down my ears and along my neck, but I refuse to give into the pain.
Behind me, it follows, if it hasn't caught up already. My eyes search the tree canopies where a flash of gray passes by them. It is a beast of a creature known as a demon. Its bat-like wings flap powerfully, sending gushes of leaves and debris flaying past me and pelting my back. It is an ugly creature with gnarled teeth that looks like long needles with dripping yellow saliva that sizzles when it touches anything. Red eyes with no pupils, bald skin and an ashy gray color. Its legs bend backwards when it walks with three talons for each foot and black claws for hands. The worst part of it is that it can shape-shift into a human.
Just hours ago, I was walking down the streets of a nearby town in search of a new location to escape to, especially after my mother's death. When I saw a young man ahead of me, watching me with a wicked smile and black, glistening eyes. I knew right then; I was being stalked by a demon.
Humans don't see their cold black eyes or smell the sulfur that radiates off of them. They can't sense the immediate danger. They, however, can get pulled in by the temptation demons give off. While we get repulsed. With a blink of my eyes, this man tore from his human flesh and into the monster of old. Red eyes gleamed at me from seven feet. The very sight twisted my insides, and I leapt into action.
Now here I am, running for my dear life, the demon's wings tearing at the tops of the tightly knitted trees. Screeching louder as it gets angrier. One would think I am safe, but I know if I stop, he'd shape-shift into his human self once again, just to enter the forest.
Luckily, my speed is faster than the average humans. I bolt around this tree and that boulder. Up ahead I see the gray sky and its long beckoning horizon. The sound of waves crashing against rock barely reaches my ears between the demon's screams. My legs have never ached so much in my entire life. This isn't normal for me. Running isn't my thing. My mother and I would have had this beast killed by now, but now that she is gone, so are all our weapons. I was left alone, without protection, in a world full of monsters and humans. With me caught in-between.
We were meant to kill monsters. Coming from a long lineage that dates back to the Greek Gods, back when Artemis, the Goddess of the hunt, granted my family with particular abilities. Back when my ancestors left and ventured around the world to gain more abilities from the other strong female tribes, such as the amazons and Valkyries. This was back when demons, vampires, werewolves and more ran from us instead of chasing me.
They want me, like they wanted my mother. They want me all because my father was…
The world ends below me. A clash of salty air stings my cheeks and I am tumbling down towards the black water that cascades against the cliffs walls. Landing in the water is like hitting a brick wall. Everything tingles painfully. The current is strong, tumbling me here and there like a rag doll; all around is darkness. No light. The air quickly leaves my lungs, the more I am battered.
At my sides, my arms wail in random directions. I don't know which way is up and which way is down. Golden brown locks tangle up in my face, and I claw to release my sight from my hair. But I am thrown back. Something hard smacks into my head and a crack echoes in my ears. My body becomes stiff and unmoving, even against the current.
The edges of my vision blur. Standing before me, amongst the darkness of the depths of water, I see my mother and father. My mother's green eyes and my father's a celestial blue. He smiles as bright as the sun the last time I saw him was when I was six-before he was killed.
'I'm sorry,' is all I can think, 'I failed you.'
My father reaches for me; a welcoming hand open and upright as if beckoning for me to grab. He's always been strong, toned and sun kissed. With little energy, I reach for his hand, and as I do, another current smashes me against the cliff's wall. My head slams against the rock once again, but this time, my vision goes black.
'I'm sorry, Furiae.' They whisper…