Silver and Gold ✿ Neytirix

Prologue

"You were so horrified when I crawled right out even though I had passed away."

(Your POV)

As I ran through the trees, I heard the shouts coming closer behind me. They were all chanting and shouting so loud. I couldn't even understand what they were chanting. I don't imagine they were yelling anything kind, as they were chasing me out of my home.

I had lived in Arden with my mother for as long as I could remember. It was a very quaint and quiet village, but we managed. I would gather and hunt food and my mother would cook it for both of us. We provided for each other, and made enough coin to support us by selling vegetables in the market.

It was a good life, it was quiet and everything me and my mother needed, until worry broke out.

A boy in the village had gone missing, causing wide spread panic to ensue. They suspected an old woman to have killed and ate him. I never kept up with the news, but I heard rumors she was dabbling in black magic, but they were only rumors. Until the child went missing.

Everyone pointed fingers at her. One day in the market place, where I was working for the day, they threatened to spear her heart if she didn't confess.

I heard it all, I heard her say that she had taken the kid for experimenting. Then they drowned her in the river anyways. It was awful. I thought it would all stop and we could go on with our lives.

But the village grew anxious. Some villagers took it into their own hands, and searched others homes against their will. They looked for any signs of witchcraft or black magic. This is where I grew worried. I did not want some random man barging into my home and searching through me and my mothers belongings.

I couldn't stop them, and they searched my house anyways. But I was foolish, I tried to threaten them to leave, I tried to protect my mother. Those villagers were so close minded and fearful, they thought I had something to hide. I tried to ward them off with a hunting knife to the best of my abilities. When I shut and locked the door on them, they persisted, even more convinced I was a witch.

I panicked as they banged on my door, unsure of what to do. My mother grabbed my shoulder, and handed me a satchel. She pushed me to the back of our house that lead to the woods. I understood what she meant, but it pained me that it had come to this.

I took the bag and slung it over my shoulder, and grabbed my cloak that was hanging on a rack. My mother was trying to hold the door shut as the villagers outside were trying to ram into the door. I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her. We both leaned against the cracking door and held each other. She then shoved me towards the window and whispered, "Go." I followed her instructions and ran to the window. I silently opened it, and climbed out. Cautious to not make a noise. I felt how soft the ground was through my boots, as I took off.

Which brings us to the present.

I pushed myself to run faster, my legs going so fast they felt like they were floating. I didn't dare to stop, thinking of the old woman they had drowned and beaten. I noticed snow had started falling, I assumed I was heading closer to the mountains. I noted how the ground had been going subtly uphill.

I looked up through the trees and saw the mountains up ahead. The snow started to get thicker and coat the floor as I ran. I swore under my breath, knowing I couldn't climb the mountains when I had a crowd chasing me. I scanned the area ahead of me, trying to think of a plan.

As I got closer to the mountains, I scanned the rocky walls, and spotted a small crack in the wall. There, I would hide there. I slowed to a stop and dropped to my knees and tried to squeeze myself through. The voices still seemed distant, I estimated they would be in my view in about 5 minutes, so I had to hide quickly.

I took my bag and cloak off and then tried to crawl through, that seemed to work as I crawled into the cave. I grabbed my bag and cloak through the crack. The ceiling seemed to be much higher than the crack, so I could stand up. I looked around. I looked for something to block the crack in the wall, using the light shining through it as a light source.

I spotted some large rocks and thought that could work. I stopped. I realised I should create a source of light for myself before I submerged myself into darkness. I opened my bag and searched, praying my mother put something I could light. I found a box of matches a small lantern. I breathed a sigh of relief and lit the lantern with a match and put the box of matches back. I put the lantern down and quickly rolled the rocks to the small cave entrance and closed myself in.

I seemed to be safe for now. But I had to progress further into the cave in case they find the entrance. So I took a deep breath, and started walking forward into the dark cave.

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Word Count: 938