King of Hearts

29.

Val hasn't moved much since the Queen of Sighting's appearance. Everything seems so surreal now. There is still some spark of energy left in her body. Val was told that she needs to gather the Sacred Gemstones, and she has already collected one. Combined with Prince Ulio's they have already four of them. But how will she find her own Gemstone? These are thoughts for later. First of all, she needs to get out of here. She urgently needs to tell Garan about her encounter.

"There she is!" a manly voice yells from behind her. Val immediately recognizes the giant bodyguards of Satyn. But why isn't she with them? And why are they running towards her?

Oh god.

Instinctively, Val starts to run as well. She doesn't understand what's happening, what they want from her, or if they are coming for her but it's better to be safe than sorry. But why is everyone chasing her? 

These giants have long and quick legs, so they are going to catch her soon. Val can't think straight and the medieval knight that is coming from the other direction is not improving the situation. It looks like the one Val has knocked over if it's not the same one. Now Val is being chased by three maniacs. This is not going to end well. 

Fear is falling like a dark cloth in front of her eyes. Oh no, is she going to faint? Really? No, she can't fail like this. Val tries her best to speed up, but she can feel her strength fading. She tries once more to confuse her chasers, turning corner after corner, hoping not to find a dead end.

Like on command, a dead end. And no angel statue in sight. Val looks around trying to think straight and breathe evenly. But she has no time.
An idea appears out of nowhere. She doesn't know whether this is allowed, but at this point, she only cares about surviving. Hectically, she starts climbing up the hedge. She thinks to hear a faint but intimidating bark from afar. It would be a joke if that dog-bear-thing would start coming for her as well.

Val keeps climbing and slipping, and climbing further, not giving up. Her skin is stinging from the sharp branches of the hedges that are scratching her skin. She's probably bleeding, but that's nothing compared to what's after her.

And she's made it to the top. Finally, for the first time after probably an hour, she feels free. Not long enough though, she can see now her chasers approaching. Val starts sprinting and jumping over hedges. She can also make out the heads of some players and even that barking beast. Thank god, she spots the exit. It's still a long way, but she can do it.

 She runs and runs, not stopping, not looking back, and trying her best not to lose her balance or slip. She even jumps over Satyn's guards' heads, leaving them behind. Val is reaching the exit, she's almost made it. That's most likely cheating but at least she will survive this madness. Only a few hedges and she has made it. Is that Satyn over there?

Right when her hopes are at their highest, she gets distracted and something thick hits her knee making her fall off. The pain is almost unbearable, and her view is even worse. That medieval knight is standing only a few feet away from her swinging a wooden stick. Fear is banging behind her eyes, she feels like her face is about to explode. Val's head is hurting and her body even more, but her fear takes the most out of her.

Val tries to control her thoughts, not letting fear, the worst enemy, overcome her. This can't be real, it's part of the game. Dánica even told her, that actors will try to scare her away, but they won't hurt the players, right? 

Val is trembling, both out of fear and exhaustion. If she survives this, she will sleep at least three days straight. Her whole body is in pain from her teeth to her toenails.

The knight is approaching and raising his stick every step he takes. And he swings it aiming at Val. If she wouldn't have rolled to the side, he would've definitely hit her in the face. What the hell? This is not fake at all! This psychopath wants to kill her!