...Huh..what's this?...a dream? I looked down toward myself as I attempted to raise my arms...But there was nothing there. Yes, this must be a dream. Or a nightmare.
I looked up again to see a toddler holding hands, standing between a young girl and a young mother. Another young boy danced around them, energetically bouncing on the balls of his feet, racing across the windy grass plains, his arms outstretched, a piece of string trailing behind him in the wind. A small maroon fox followed the boy, making excited snapping sounds at empty air, his lithe body skimming across the ground as if he was weightless. As the two of them started running in wider circles, the little girl pulled the scarf tighter around her neck and shouted "Jacky, come here!" 1* The boy started running back over and the little fox realising this, decided to race the little boy. It could be seen that these antics were nothing new to the group though, by how calmly they continued their leisurely walk. The young boy and young girl who had many similar features were actually twins.
The toddler suddenly started tugging on the two palms she was holding onto. The young girl bent her back until her face was level with the toddler, while the young mother crouched and grasped the tiny hand in both her palms. "What's wrong Rachel?" The voice, filled with motherly affection, warmed me up even though I knew I was a mere spirit right now existing in a memory of the past. How I longed to hear that voice again, for her to call me and caress my soul and very being. While the two of them started grooming the toddler's clothes and hair, showering her with care, she continued to stare behind them.
She removed her hands from their grasp as she tugged on their arms again. "Sister, mummy, why are their trees falling from the sky?" Her cute voice tugged on the ropes of my heart. Yes, she was my baby sister who had just turned 3 years old this year and everything about her was cute. Her puffy red cheeks, blushed red normally, her soft skin which felt smooth like the skin of a newborn ewe and big eyes that seemed to be filled with innocent curiosity.
"Huh, there's no such thing. It's not good to ask random questions Rachel, or the Shadow Soul group may kidnap you." The young mother replied to the child with the common threat for naughty children. She admonished her though not because she disliked her daughter, but out of the love and kindness of her heart, because she wanted her child to grow up into a fine young lady.
However this young mother didn't know the toddler as well as her sister who had spent nearly every living moment awake so far next to her. She knew that Rachel would never make anything up. She simply didn't have the mental capacity or aptitude to do so at her age.
So without questioning the legitimacy of this highly improbable and insane question, she dutifully raised her head up high, inclined toward the direction the toddler was looking at. And what she saw shocked her. Her mouth hung wide open, wide enough to swallow a whole egg and she turned mute. Seeing her startled expression the young mother and boy quickly turned around only to adopt similar expressions of stupidity. The mother, quickly realising the severity of the problem, steeled herself, though her pale face still showed her horror.
"Jacky. JACKY! Look at me...Hahhhh...I know you haven't had your ceremony for adulthood yet, but consider this done right now. I want you to protect your sisters. Run! Just run to the village from Daddy's stories. And trust nobody! Mummy will come find you guys with him later. And Vixen, look after the two of them, make sure he doesn't do anything rash. Rachel, be a good little girl, listen to your siblings. Little fox, watch after them ok?" 2*
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I didn't notice it at the time, but my mother left with a crying and resolute face. Maybe she was crying due to leaving us, or maybe she was crying for Dad. I felt a tinge of regret as I saw my past self. Perhaps, if I had done things differently, convinced her to come with us, or if perhaps I hadn't stood in mute shock and instead took action, things would have been different. Inaction relies on fate, and destiny can be cruel.
As I watched the group of children leave, blurred voices and sounds echoed and hummed in my ear. Each child with their own thought. Maybe it was our naivety that led us to believe that if we did as we were told, Mum and Papa would come find us and everything would be alright. Maybe we were in jubilation of being considered adults thereafter, or maybe it was just our cowardice, and that we realised the problem was bigger then us and anything we could handle. Suddenly, the mother said something I don't remember hearing in the past.
"I love you. Take care."
...
"...V....VA..EN.....VAXEN!....VAXEN!!........VAXEEEEEENNNN!!!!!"
!!
I woke up lying on the cold hard ground. Two unfamiliar faces were staring down at me. No, one was Shiara.
"Thank goodness you're back! You really scared me when you fell down! Luckily you landed on the guys you knocked out before, so they absorbed the impact. One died from the dropped rock and I think you may have killed the other when you fell on him. Anyways you had a few fractures and internal bleeding, but nothing that couldn't be healed, although you might feel slightly tired because of the magic I used. Oh right, this is the princess here, I managed to find the key for her chains after I healed you, but I wasn't sure how long it would take you to wake up again. We were just about to carry-"
"How long have I been out?" I decided to interrupt her as her worry had turned her into a nonstop chatterbox.
"-uh...a while."
"You've been out for about 15 minutes." The supplemented information came from the other girl standing there, the princess. Her voice had a rough edge to it, and somehow, she had reshaped her hair from the disheveled mob it was into a ponytail. Too bad I didn't know how long 15 minutes was. Either way, this had taken too long, and the fire ball must have alerted everything nearby.
"Anyways, we have to go! NOW! There is another bandit nearby!"
!!!
I got up, grabbed the dagger quickly from the dead body I had been using as a head rest, and started bolting across the river towards the trees on the other side. The other two also raced after me. Or so I thought, but I only heard one set of splashes. I turned back around to see the princess untether a horse before leaping onto its back and come galloping at us. Right! Just because we didn't know how to ride horses, doesn't mean she doesn't. But what sort of naive idiot would try galloping a horse in the middle of the night through a forest?! ....A reckless princess I guess...
Refocusing my thoughts, I realised that having a horse with us would be helpful. The reason I was so anxious was because there was still one of them out there who had been hunting. Previously the princess had made the delicate decision of grabbing supplies, rather than saving time. Although she had taken a bit of extra time, she had mostly caught up as she passed Shiara and levelled with me.
Suddenly, I felt something amiss. My brain was still somewhat foggy from my sudden awakening, but something still felt amiss. Then it hit me. Killing intent. Anger, rage and the subtle currents of mana in the air. Someone else was here. I turned around to look, but only the trees stared back. I couldn't identify the location where the mana was gathering, but someone, somewhere, was definitely gathering it.
"We're nearly there, so wait up!" Shiara was hollering at the back, oblivious to the imminent danger. Suddenly I spotted a white glow from between a pair of trees. Time seemed to slow down as I realised it was a projectile of some sorts. The question was, who was it aiming for? Me? Shiara? The princess? The most reliable way to stop us would be to shoot the princess, so I made a split second decision to pull her off her horse.
Fwoosh!
The horse’s head suddenly disappeared upwards as the neck was cleanly cut in half. I spotted the arrow with its trailing white glow for a moment, before the princess and I tumbled into the nearby bush and smashed into a stunted trunk. I quickly got up helping the slightly dazed princess. Shiara caught up to us, so I decided I should leave this to her, and go buy us some time....then I spotted where the arrow from before had landed....through the whole of two thick tree trunks and stuck in the bough of a third. On second thoughts, we should all just run.
Shiara came along, grabbing the princess on the other side, the two of them quickly ran and limped into the forest silently. I took one last glance back-SHIT! I ducked back in when I sensed the arrow and a moment later the feathered arrow flew by. The humanoid figure was on the cliff on the other side, so we had a bit of a head start, but our odds were not optimistic, considering the speed and accuracy of those shots. I quickly ran after the two.