·・✩₊˚.⋆☾ ⋆⁺₊✧・·
The sun set, slowly on the horizon. The roaring forest—alive with the sound of cries, howls, and hoots—wound down as the wildlife settled in for a cold night ahead. Small creatures scampered to their nests, rustling the leaves beneath their feet.
The sky darkened slightly, and a symphony of colors filled the atmosphere. As time passed, pale blues and pinks turned to dark rich purple hues, with a hint of red and gold seeping through, bathing the forest in an ethereal glow.
The moon rose, its pale and almost translucent appearance grew stronger with every second that the sky became darker. As the final beams from the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, everything faded to black.
The stars appeared, glistening and twinkling from far, far away. Streaks of moonlight fluttered through the trees and foliage, illuminating its path. The silence was deafening. The world finally came to a standstill.
Suddenly, rustling whipped through the air, causing fear to overcome the quiet lull of the night as birds flew away in flocks. Rabbits and other animals scurried away, sensing danger.
A young girl tore through the forest, seemingly running away from something. Her footsteps thudded loudly against the forest floor—with desperation. Her bare feet rustled and crunched the sticks and fallen leaves that covered the ground, the snapping noise echoing throughout the previously silent night.
With a heaving chest, she pushed through the pain surging through her body from her aching muscles. Pants escaped her mouth, gasping and desperate for a full, deep breath. Never in her life had she run this fast, but she had no choice.
Terrifying flashes of the night's events threatened to consume her mind, to overwhelm her and force her to stop running, to force her to succumb in defeat to the darkness.
Stray branches and vines lashed out at her skin as she brushed past them. Her dress snagged and tore, the once carefully handcrafted garment shredded by nature. The sheer, dainty flowers that were woven in clusters around her hips and shoulders fell to the floor. They intermingled with the dirt and leaves. To the unknowing eye, it would look as though flowers had bloomed at night.
With no time to stop, she barely felt a sting as her skin tore open, blood seeped out of the wounds and trickled slowly down her arms.
She knew she didn't have long before they caught up to her.
Instinctively, the girl tightened her grip on the dagger resting in her palm. It was relatively small, and adorned with silver roses at the hilt. It gave her a tiny sense of safety and protection, even though such a small thing wouldn't do much damage against a trained fighter. The once cool metal had grown warm in her grip, collecting sweat under her fingertips.
She recalled the moment she received the dagger as a gift from her parents earlier that evening.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Her parents.
The invisible wall in her mind crumbled as the memories flooded in. The girl had been left to fend for herself as countless loyal guardians sacrificed their lives for her safety. Shouting had filled the room as it descended into chaos. The sickening screams, and the bloodshed haunted her. Trapped in that moment, she remembered feeling as though the walls were closing in, the suffocating and inescapable.
But now—alone in the forest—she had to push those thoughts aside, the weight of the world resting on her shoulders was too heavy to bear. A sob escaped her lips. She didn't even know if she would make it out of the forest alive.
"Follow the Elendil star south!" A voice in her head rung out. She was reminded of final words spoken to her. Looking up at the pitch black sky, her eyes darted around, frantically trying to find the correct star out of a sea of glimmering dots.
Slightly bigger than the rest, with a tinge of blue she located it. Now all she had to do was follow th-
The girl's foot caught on a stray vine and she went flying through the air, making a resounding thud as she hit the forest floor. With barely enough time to use her hands to break her fall, her temple cracked into the leaf covered floor. Her vision blurred for a moment, and it seemed as though the world wouldn't ever stop spinning.
The girl sat up, and took a split second to look down at herself. She was covered in blood. An icy chill trickled down her spine as realization set in. She was unsure whether all of this blood was hers or theirs.
Panic set in and danced with the adrenaline that fired up and roared through her veins. The pain went away as numbness overtook, she told herself that none of this was happening right now. That this had to be a dream.
With a deep breath the girl picked herself up with shaking limbs and started to run again. Her pace was slow, the effects of the fall threatened to topple her over at any moment. Her emotions were a combination of tired and numbness, part of her wanted to give up—but deep down another part was fighting to hold on.
With gritted teeth she pushed on, increasing her pace to a sprint. The girl told herself that if she could make it to refuge, she had might survive.
As she continued running, the girl's heart started to pump so fast it made her feel dizzy. Did she even go the right way? The darkness swallowed the trees surrounding her, and the deeper she went into the abyss, the moonlight that was luminating the forest got dimmer and dimmer.
She gazed up at the Elendil star, her compass in the sky. She kept her focus on the beacon of light, shutting out the loud thumping of her heart, her heavy and ragged breathing, her throat feeling like sandpaper. She pushed aside the thoughts of confusion about which way to go. Follow the stars. Seek refuge. Figure out the next plan of action.
The sound of footsteps grew louder. This time, they weren't her own. The girl's throat tightened as the realization that she was not alone set in. Her life of being cooped up within the safety of the castle walls hadn't prepared her for a situation like this. She was taught from an early age that girls didn't fight—they were seen as tools for negotiation, to unite families together and to nurture those relationships and future generations. An anchor but not a weapon.
She felt weak and helpless.
Something inside the girl burned with desire to fight back, to fight for her life. If she ever got out of this alive, she swore she would never be helpless again.
The footsteps got louder, the sound of galloping became clear. It became faster and louder, until it sounded like they were directly behind her.
They had locked in their target and were ready to pounce.
The shadows were calling, and the girl had run out of time.
·・✩₊˚.⋆☾ ⋆⁺₊✧・·