Chapter Four – Hunted
Elinor limped towards an ancient tree and cowered behind which momentarily provided relief from the ruthless pursuit of the hooded rider. A quivering hand cupped the side of her head in an attempt to relief the increased pressure in her skull, she closed her eyes briefly as a wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm her.
The sound of heavy footsteps disturbed the ground as he approached closer, his malevolent presence caused another wave of nausea to strike and she trembled, pushing herself further against the rough surface of the tree. Elinor used her hands to silence the sound of her loud breathing and listened to his heavy breathing and menacing footsteps as he attempted to track her clumsy footsteps, he inspected the freshly disturbed earth and trampled grass, his prey had stumbled several times through the unfamiliar area, he picked up a handful of disturbed earth and inhaled before standing upright and inhaled deeply on the air, he smiled at the sight of the giant oak tree.
He unsheathed his sword and advanced towards the tree with confidence and purpose. The heavy blade glinted in the light and was swung with such force propelled behind the weapon that it struck and was left deeply embedded in the tree.
Elinor felt the impact and fearfully pushed herself away from the tree now she was completely exposed, she frantically searched the surrounding ground for a makeshift weapon. She grabbed a weakened piece of wood which she improvised as a bat and turned to face the tree where she had been hiding.
The hooded figure caught the lingering scent of her perfume on the faint breeze and observed curiously the clearly distressed queen as he made his presents known from behind the tree.
"Stay...stay back!" she stammered
He took a step forward and watched as she scurried backwards in order to maintain a healthy distance between them. The hood still remained, concealing his identity but his well defined and muscular arms were bare and exposed numerous scars that he had acquired over the decades though battles and invasions, all of which he had survived. A gloved hand reached over his broad shoulder and revealed another sword; he pointed the weapon towards Elinor and advanced towards her.
Elinor swung her poorly improvised weapon which collided with the metal of his sword and annihilated the rotten wood into nothing more than splinters while the rest of the wood disintegrated leaving her defenseless.
"A thousand apologies...we can do this the easy way or..." he finally spoke to reveal a calm, husky voice.
Her knees trembled in fear as she turned and ran clumsily into the forest and further into the awaiting darkness. He sighed impatiently as he watched her disappear between the trees however he knew that tracking her would be too easy. He whistled for his horse and then rode with determination after her.
The heavy vibrations of the impending horse and rider sounded more fearsome than ever. Elinor could not bring herself to glance behind her for the fear that he would be closer than she imagined.
Suddenly, her escape was halted abruptly as she crashed into the ground. The pain in her chest was excruciating as Elinor struggled to breath, her body desperately demanded oxygen. Elinor groaned as her legs refused to obey her commands, the survival instinct adamant that she needed to keep running, to escape.
"And now...my queen, it is time." Growled the familiar husky voice as he roughly removed the bola from her legs
Elinor lay motionless on the ground, she was beyond exhausted, physically as she sustained injuries caused by her horse running into a low branch and then falling off said horse, an unrelenting chase, a frightful confrontation and then injured further when she collided with the ground again when his bola weapon caught her legs and bound together. A long overdue tear escaped and trickled down her cheek, she thought about her husband and secretly hoped that he would come to her rescue but the continued eerie silence of the forest cemented that they were utterly alone, she would be taken away from her husband, family and kingdom and in all likelihood never seen them again.
"You are indeed a formidable woman." Murmured the voice which belonged to the hooded rider as he roughly picked Elinor from the ground and threw her, less than dignified over his broad shoulder.