Aithne

~ 𝓒𝐇α𝕡丅𝑒𝔯 ❻ ~

                         My legs ached and burned as I reached the back of the church, gasping for air my eyes flicked from one side to the other. They weren't here, I whipped my head around to the sound of guards yelling at townsfolk.

              " Have you seen a girl with long red hair, two different coloured eyes, about 5"3?" My head peeked out from behind the snow white church. ' how did they get here so fast' My thoughts ran wild as the disgusting human pig that I saved Arabella from, pointed in my direction. I ducked back behind the holy building as I pondered my plan. I gazed at the forest I spent most night dreaming about, that was my escape. Praying that the guards were not as fast as me, I sprinted out behind the church and towards the forest, I quickly glanced back as I saw 4 guards barreling towards me. My breath hitched as I willed my body to run faster, my breathing became short and shallow, my lungs felt like they were going to explode. The mallet was wearing down my speed as I felt a metal hand grasp my hair. Without thinking my arms brought the weapon up and crashed it down onto the man's arms, the sound of bones breaking filled my panicked mind. He crashed to the ground as the other three gained ground, swords unsheathed ready to cut me down. My eyes widened as I saw how they gleamed in the sunlight, they were made of iron, that encouraged me to run faster than I could, fear powered my legs. My head whipped forward to get an idea for how close I was to the forest, to my surprise I was extremely close, but something caught the light, it was surrounding the forest... IT WAS A BARRIER!! I willed my legs to stop, but they wouldn't, they were set on me slamming against the invisible wall. I slammed my eyes shut and braced for impact, it didn't arrive, not from the barrier. My body slammed against a giant oak tree, pain washed over my whole being. My body fell backwards as my back landed harshly on the grass. I tilted my head towards the barrier to see the three guards smash into it, their bodies exploding into a mess of blood, higanbana flowers and chrysanthemums. Painting the dying grass in crimson and decorating it in flowers. My eyes widened knowing that could've been me.

                 Chirping of birds, snapping of sticks, and crunching of leaves was all I could hear. The sun was already setting, casting the sky in a vibrant awry of oranges, reds, and pinks. If I wasn't so focused on finding shelter I would've stopped to admire it. My red tangles became entangled in a thorn plant, I tugged in frustration and ended up yanking out the plate shard to saw off my long hair. A beautiful mixture of orange and red strands softly fell to the lime green grass in gorgeous contrast. I sighed as I reached for my now shoulder length hair, hopefully it would grow back, I sat the mallet down near my hair and once again began to walk aimlessly. Cold began to seep through my tattered dress as I realized the moon had risen, casting the forest in an eerie yet magnificent glow. As goosebumps began to form on my arms I saw an outline of a rather larger cave, I strutted over and glanced around to see if anything lived there, but I didn't see a thing. I quietly crept inside and laid down by the entrance, slowly letting my sleepiness get the better of me as my eyelids slid closed.