Though our existence is limited by our scarce lifespan

We shall not allow our dreams to be bound by those shackles

Our purpose is not to live forever after all

The winds that carry our wings now

Will carry our message beyond time

Because the way we live is what makes us real...

~

I always struggled to keep up with him.

"Come on Sig, wait!"

"If you're gonna dawdle like this, we're never gonna make it back before sunset, and you know far too well what my dad's gonna do to us then!" he stopped urging me for a second to hop over a tree root poking out of the ground on the path meandering in front of us. How could he still run so fast and confident when his messy hair was probably constantly obscuring the view of the path? I was constantly scared to slip on the fallen leaves covering it, shining golden in the last sun rays that had no trouble getting to the bottom of the forest through the almost bald tree crowns.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"But it was your idea to go and find the herd, so you should get the most of it!" I tried to shift the danger of being put over the knee onto him as I mimicked his little jump.

"And who was it that kept chirping about 'the beautiful deer she saw in the morning'?!"

I stuck my tongue out at him, not caring that he had his back to me and didn't see it.

But then...

There was a noise, a rustle too unnatural and too contrasting against the sounds of the forest to be simply caused by the wind playing with the branches. Sig immediately stopped, causing a small cloud of dust and sand to raise from the path, so I did too. The shadows almost fooled me, but the slender tree trunks didn't manage to completely conceal the silhouettes of men. Armed men.

"Sigrian!" I didn't like the panic that shook my voice. Not in the slightest.

One glance around was enough to realize that we were surrounded from at least three sides. The only way out was to retreat the way we came. Sig must have realized that too, because he turned around, grabbed my wrist and ran for it. I managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar crest adorning one of the men's tunic though...

My mind was racing just as quickly as my legs. Why were there royal guards after us? Uncle always said they were the king's soldiers, heroes that protected us and the rest of Earlindon...

We didn't even manage to make it back to that stupid tree root. I heard some strange noise behind our backs and suddenly my breath got stuck in my chest. The last thing I heard in the darkness that started to wrap around me was Sigrian's voice:

"Elithia... please run..."

I never thought he would one day get out of my reach completely...