Hunter of Midnight

Ch.4 Dragon Eyes

I must be dead.

There's warmth on my skin and light on my eyes, a chiming in my ears. With this sort of bliss, I must be dead. I don't feel anything, not hot nor cold. It's like I'm floating. When I open my eyes, I know for sure I'm not in Kavia, or anywhere near it for that matter.

All around me are dark wooded, ice laced willow trees. Their trunks reach high up into the sky, right up to the silvery clouds above. Snow is falling—dancing in a way—right down to where I am on the ground. To my right and left there are no rotted leaves, it's all snow with a few boulders and roots poking up here and there. This looks like something out of a dream, or a painting.

When I go to sit up, there's an ache in my back that tells me it'll look black and blue if I take off my shirt. Upon sitting up, the cold bites into me once again. It goes straight for my ears, spreading down from there. I move my arms to fight back the shiver, but I find them just as sore and achy as my back. Looking around, I find my bow, sword, and quiver are all still on me. It's a struggle to get my numb fingers to latch onto the bark of the willows, and it's even more of a struggle to get back onto my numbed legs.

Where am I, is this all some sort of dream?

"Ari, duck! Now!"

Ducking when the voice says, I narrowly avoid another whistling arrow. The arrow striking a tree is followed by a familiar voice. "I fuckin' missed again! C'mon, we can't keep wastin' time!"

Of course they followed me. Just my damn luck. This is a fucking nightmare, and if I'm not already dead then I will be soon enough.

My whole body screams in protest as I force myself in the opposite direction of where the arrow landed. Everything burns, my lungs and each one of my limbs. Every time I feel I'm losing speed, I force myself to speed back up again. Each time I do, the burns in my body grow worse. Dodging root after root, boulder after boulder, and tree after tree, I start to feel like I'm going in circles.

Skidding to a stop in the snow, I look around and find myself in the thick of the willow tree forest. Everything looks the same, and it's snowing so hard now that I can't even find where my tracks are. The world seems to tilt, and my stomach aches.

"Ari, move," the voice demands, but it's too late. I don't have the energy anymore.

A weight slams into me, lifting me off of my feet and sending me flying back. If I wasn't gonna be bruised before, I definitely will be now. I get carried back so far, I'm sliding down a smaller slope right into an icy pool of mud. Only when I stop do I realize what they threw. It's a weighted net, they trapped me like some stupid animal. At first, I try to push back against the weight of the net, but my limbs burn too much and my fingers are too frozen.

I'm stuck. I'm going to die, and I have no option but to just lay here and watch it happen.

There's a crunch in the snow. My eyes land right on the leader as he approaches me. "Gods," he groans, "you've been a fucking pain in my ass. Wasting my time and my resources."

He drones on, no doubt with more words to berate and belittle me in my final moments, but I can't hear any of them. It's all just a harsh ringing. He's getting mad, I can tell. A heavy weight lands on my chest, my scream being the thing that breaks through the ringing.

"Now you're just being fucking annoying," he snarls, pulling a bloody axe from off of his back. "I'm going to enjoy taking my time with you."

Tears sting my eyes, rasping whimpers escaping from my throat. He raises his axe high above his head, and I shut my eyes.

God, please let me go quickly. I don't wanna feel the pain anymore.

There's a split second of silence before screaming breaks out, a heavy thud by my feet and a splash of warmth on my body.