I hid that way for about an hour, the forest around me became restless, the sound of animals scuttering, climbing, hunting. I dragged myself out of bush and scurried into the hut, I was so tired. Dry cuts from the bush adorned my skin - that stupid bush had thorns - and my feet were bruising. Enough walking and running for today, I threw twigs and sticks into the fire pit in the middle of the room, and clampered into the corner. Wolfy woke up, and he came to lay down with me. The horse was already asleep against the wall opposite the door, soft neighing sounds following her deep slumberest breaths. With Wolfy in my arms, and the cloak drapped over us, we finally allowed ourselves to rest. A deep resting place...
"Daddy! Daddy! Tell me a story!", I crawled onto the bed, snuggling into my bed. Around me were my favourite plushies. My mother made them for me when I was a baby. My father was standing infront of the bookcase we had hastily made together one summer day. He held his chin with his right hand, staring at the books and deciding. He turned around, and sat down on the foot of my bed.
"Today, I'm going to tell you a story of my own. It's about a great warrior who overcame all the evil in this world". He ruffled my hair as I gazed admiringly. My father was a big man, but kind. I never saw him yell at anyone but the soldiers. His, and my, warriors. Protectors. It's funny how I never realised we were important enough to need protection.
"Once upon a time, during great peril-"
"Daddy, what's peril mean?", I grabbed my lion plushie - Rawr - and sucked my thumb.
"It means a really bad time, like when you broke the vase and got in alot of trouble. It's like that, but even worse".
"Oooo.. Did someone break mummy's vases as well?"
"No, darling. Just listen, okay?... Once upon a time, during great peril, a prince was born. Someone who was unique. He had a mark, a mark of power and magic and destiny. He didn't know of course, and neither did anyone else. He wasn't even a prince in everyone's eyes. He was an unknown orphan who had been left in a church", my father got up and walked over to the window, gazing at something far away.
"During his childhood, havack was wrought. His parents, and many other parents and children were killed. Demons from a void in the sky filled the world. Producing more demon spawn after sleeping with women, they began to take over our world", I was shaking and scared. My father told these stories alot but this was so surreal. He noticed my fear, and smiling, he came and kissed me on the forehead.
"That's all I'll tell you tonight, okay? Sorry for scaring you", he went to the candle and blew it out, as he was leaving the room, I gained my courage and asked.
"Daddy?"
"Hm?"
"What happened to the little boy?"
"... He became a great man, and fell in love, he killed the demons and chased them back to their void. He passed away not long after his first child was born".
"Child? Who was he?"
"He was-"
NO! I bolted out of the corner, flinging Wolfy onto the wooden floor. Sweat was sliding off my face, my body shaking irratically. I thought I put that story behind me. It was only a folklore.. wasn't it? But those things I saw.. No no! It's just a dream. I walked over to Wolfy and shushed him. He looked scared to me, he thought something bad was happening. I rocked him until he gave a little wolf yawn and rolled into my chest. I sat back in the corner, too shocked to sleep. Always awake. Always waiting. Cautious. Prepared. Ready.
Morning came. The birds outside were ecstatic, fluttering around and singing their own songs. Wolfy was chasing dandylions around when the seeds flew off the stem. Our horse, which we decided to call Jaz for the jasmine she loved to smell, was relaxing in a shady spot under an oak tree. We'd have to leave here soon, it was too dangerous to be in the same place too long. That night I dreamed off running through a forest, the trees all the same. Something hunted me, searched for me. I kept running, and then I couldn't anymore. Someone or something grabbed my ankle, and pulled me into the darkness. I woke up in sweat and panting again. We had to keep running. We had to.
We travelled like that for weeks. We kept moving, if anything weird happened we ran to another place. My dreams of death and blood and darkness continued. Wolfy got bigger from all the food we hunted, he mustn't have had alot of food in his pack, and began to be a guard dog for us. Whenever we ran, I was scared I'd never find him again. We kept getting further apart. We've gone through the mountains and we're close to the sea now. We can see it from the ridge of trees we've been staying near. It's so blue, feels almost magical. I haven't heard from anyone in a long time, I wonder if my parents are okay, or the soldiers or the servants. I hope the animals in the barn aren't hurt. It's near dark now. We don't go out alot during the day. We picked some fruit and caught two fish from the stream, cooking it on an open flame was risky, but we only did it at night anyway. It tasted good to have warm, cooked food. Wolfy loved it. Jaz only ate the apples we found, but she looked happy too. After we had torn the last meat from the bones and gnawed to the last core of the apples we lay against eachother and pulled my cloak over us. I stayed awake a little longer, but my eyes were slowly sinking. Darkness enveloped me. Screams and arrows soared around behind my eyelids...
Swords clashed. Flames were rising into the thick clouds, it looked like a bad storm, if only that were all. I could see alot of bloodied bodies, but I didn't know who they were. I searched for people I knew. Searched for my parents, my warriors, my helpers, my ladies, my friends. I couldn't tell one mutilated body from the other, they all looked so bloody and broken. Faces smashed in, chest wounds, limbs cut off, heads missing. I pushed through the shrubs and saw them, my parents at ends with a giant black creature. My mother saw me and called for me, my father's eyes only shifted, never moving from the monster before him. I felt pressure on my arm, and spun around. He was there. He told me to come with him. I quickly looked back at my parents, they nodded as if they already knew what I was about to do. Tears stained my face. We ran, he held my hand tighter as he pulled me past bodies and trees to our spot. A lake. He pulled me toward the bridge along the thinner section of the lake, checking before he pushed me further. I heard something. Something big. Wings. I looked up, and saw it. Giant black spiked wings dominated it's body. The thump of it's wings flapping was so deafening I needed to look at him to realise he was talking. I couldn't hear him, he was rushing, he was telling me something about demons. He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled from it a locket - silver with blue and green gems cascading around it's front. That's when I heard him.
"These things are evil, they... gotta get you away... promised to me that he'd help us... you.. r.."
"What?", I had to struggle to hear him. I couldn't hear his last words.
"I sai... you... now.."
"What?". He pulled me into his grasp as the winged-demon landed on the other side of the bridge. He rested his mouth next to my ear, and whispered.
"I love you... run", he pushed me away, I almost fell down when he did but I stood my ground. I kept asking him why, I tried pulling out the hilt of my father's sword, but it was so heavy. That's when he turned around. His face had a gash that I never noticed, it curved around from his left lip up beneath his hairline. There was blood slowly caressing his face. His eyes were the bluest I've ever seen them, he was crying. I've only ever seen him cry when his parents died and when I ran away from home when I was 9 because they wouldn't let me read one of the warrior's books. He mouthed something, I couldn't hear. I was about to ask what he said when more demons rose from near the castle and flew towards us. That's when he screamed. He screamed to run. And everything went black.
And I screamed when I woke up. Wolfy jumped up and trotted over to path incase it was time to run, he was a very good guard for us. I shook my head, though, and gestured for him to come back over to Jaz and I. That's when I heard a branch crack - not like when an animal breaks it or one loses it's strength and snaps off a tree - but like a human. I jumped up, pulled the hood of my cloak over my face and grabbed the hilt of the sword. I couldn't pull it out yet, it was too big and heavy, but they wouldn't know that. It would give me an advantage. I bumped Jaz behind a group of trees, Wolfy stood beside me, we were guarding Jaz because she had no offensive skill. Another snapping of a branch, a few footsteps not far from us. I widened my stand, spreading my legs to give me more space and balance. Another crack. I spun to my left, and charged into the open space. I could see the shadow of someone, he looked unarmed. I rammed into his body, or I thought I did. When I looked up, he had his arm blocking his chest and he had grabbed my hood and pulled it back. My hair flowwed out of my hood. Really hate my hair sometimes. I swung my leg up to kick him, but he spun around and blocked my kick with his right arm. I took my chance to hit him while his guard was down. I pulled the sword from my waist, cover and all, and jarred it into his back. He crumpled forward on his knees. I begun to lift a dagger from my waist, my hands shaking, my breath was lost. But then I looked at him. He wasn't in armor, he had no weapon, he was fit though. He had a slight bulge to his shirt sleeves, and shaggy silver-black hair. It was a weird colour. How old must he be? Shuffling back, I bumped into the oaks and bushes of thorns. I felt a sharp stab in my thigh, my leg was bleeding from a thorn, but I kept moving back. Wolfy stayed in front of me until I motioned Jaz to come over, and lifted Wolfy onto her back, they both seemed restless amongst the company of the stranger. I hastily threw myself on the horse, pulled my hair back under the hood and kicked at Jaz's ribs lightly.
"Wait! Miss!". That voice. I heard that before somewhere. I led Jaz back around to his side, he had stood up while I was preparing to leave. He was tall, now that I looked at him, he was up to my shoulders even when I was astride a horse. He had green eyes, they sparkled in the moonlight like tiny twinkling emeralds. So pretty, I wish I could create gems like that. I'd make them into swords and necklaces and bracelets and I'd even make them into stars. Now wouldn't that be nice? He had strong shoulders, I think. They were very... - big. I didn't realise as he fell to his knees how big and strong he must really be. Did I really hurt him that bad? Or was he pretending so I didn't continue my assault on him? I felt small now, smaller than I've felt since this all began. How could I keep running, if I couldn't knock a guy to the ground even when his guard was down so much?
"Miss? I'm sorry for scaring you", he looked like he meant that, he was standing very awkwardly and kept looking at the ground. He seemed nervous, but why?
"Mhmm. Just who are you?". He looked abit shocked that I asked him so soon into us meeting, I guess he didn't expect me to be so far from a 'Miss'.
"My name is irrelevent, you stole my horse", I jumped at that. He knew I had taken it, obviously, but that couldn't have been the only reason surely.
"So what? I left money, it could hardly be more expensive than what I gave you, sir!".
"The money is not the issue here, that was my horse. I thought I was fairly nice to you. I rescued you from the forest floor and took you into my home. Tell me, what did I do to deserve such actions?".
"You rescued me? I wasn't some damsel in distress. I only FELL because you were chasing me and I thought you were a-..."
"A what? A big bad monster coming to gobble you up? You must be joking! What else could I have been but a human. I only chased you, as you claim, because I saw you and you looked frightened", he huffed grumpily, crossing his arms across his chest. He looked like a child throwing a tantrum. Something hit me then, why had I heard branches snapping in the opposite direction to him? Why did he seem to be moving like normal, when a moment ago there was something moving without footsteps.
"Get down!". I shoved him into the floor, nailing his face to the mossy carpet that spread around us. He struggled to get up, but soon he resisted it and stayed still. Perhaps he had heard it too, or perhaps he had come to the same conclusion as I had. Something was out there. Watching us, most probably.
Wolfy growled at something in amongst the darkness. I whistled to Jaz and her, we needed cover and the trees were safest. If we could just get ourselves up into the branches and leaping or on Jaz and zigzagging we might lose whatever or whoever was tracking us. I felt him tense and I took example of it. I was scared. I hadn't ever really battled anything, maybe an animal or ruffian human but never something beyond this world. Nothing demonic ever arose here. The feeling of terror was utterly suffocating. I choked on air, my lungs were on fire. My muscles all sore from tensing up so long, my bangs fell into my face numerous times - bloody hell, I hated my hair at that moment, why did I fight so hard not to have it cut so long ago? That's when we heard it. A slight breath, a shudder from our right, it was closer. I slipped my daggers out, one in each hand and crawled up on my knees. He followed suit. Wolfy was defiant next to my side, a deep rumble vibrating from his chest. The man stepped in front of me, all galiant-like, gripping a sword at his belt that I hadn't noticed before. He hid it under his shirt, good idea. Subtle. If I made it through this alive, if we both did, I would try to get to know him. I swore on my own blood. On his. On Wolfy's. On my people's blood.
He charged forward before I even realised it, rushing recklessly into the bush with his sword risen made me want to do the same - so I did. Wolfy followed, with Jaz staying a bit behind us, we were almost on top of the location where the shudder came from. Both of us stopped when we reach a small clearing, back to back we started to turn ourselves around and around, scanning the area. We were making too much noise, whatever was there wouldn't need to track or hunt or look for us. I stopped, crouched low, and crossed my swords against my chest. I don't know if he did the same, because when I got low, I heard something above us. Something was flying above us. I stared up at the black figure, it looked smaller than the thing I saw before, almost the size of Jaz. But human.
"Stay low and let's creep out of here, okay?", I whispered to him, not that I thought he could hear, it was just a hope that he would. He nudged me with his elbow and nodded towards our campsite, I must have grinned because he chuckled and we crawled away. It didn't seem to be attacking us, it just hovered in midair, was it tracking us? Or... oh no it wasn't tracking us - it was locating us, he was staying there so his friends would see him and us. We only had one choice now. Run.
