Bury My Heart at Kunlun Mountain

CH 1: Escape

Prizzy's POV

All manner of man and beast feared the forbidden fog and what hid in its haze. No one had ever returned. Just standing near it too long could make one forget their own name. I wanted to forget though. I wanted to forget that they killed my father, that they hunted me like game. I wanted to forget Fog Hollow all together. As I ran like hell, nearing the edge of the cliff, I pulled out my father's stag skin wind glider that was hooked to my pack. With all my guts, I flung myself into the white abyss as the wails of the hounds faded behind me.

I do not know how many days or weeks I have walked or how many times I have awakened. All I know is that I am alive...

The herbs I choked down have raced my heart and quickened my feet-- but for how long? The haze in my head was strong but at least I'm able to fight it off from consuming me fully. As long as I keep my feet and ration the heartstring, I should have a chance... I hope...

Chimes, creaks, and echoes grew in the distance and then vanished all together. My heart pounded in my ears, and pools of sweat filled my brow day after day. I felt my mind was slipping away.

How long can I carry on...

My legs and feet stumbled along as I made my way around the dense forest within the haze. My outreached arms were exhausted as I stumbled into what felt like a large stone and rested upon it. Blinking through the haze, a gleam of yellow through the mist, collected in the corner of my sight. Breathing deeply, I stood on shivering legs and made my way over to it.

Every step I took got warmer and dryer. Every breath I took cleared my mind of the falseness that clouded it. More and more color came into view as green bushes and salmon earth lined my pathway. Stepping through hanging foliage into a clearing, my breath shook, my eyes prickled, and I dropped to my knees.

Delicate yellow rays shined down on a magnificent site. No fog dared cover over this land hidden within it. The ground was covered in pink petals and pale grass. Life zoomed in every direction from small haired critters to buzzing bugs. The smell of sweet fruit and intoxicating blooms filled my nose as I let myself warm in the sunlight.

Fluffy pink foliage of a great tree hung like hair and blew in the gentle breeze, glistening under the sun. The petals looked like folded stars that were dusted in rose colored powder. Looking closer, high up hidden in the petals were fruits in the same sherbet coloring. Bunches of these plump fruits hung in the shadows of the smokey colored trunk and branches.

Where I was from, everything was grey and dark. Nothing beautiful ever grew and nothing unexpected ever happened.

I gulped hard the dryness in my throat from only taking in dew from leaves these past weeks. I stood on shaky legs and felt my feet began to trot and then before I knew it, I was running towards the blushing shadow of the tree's haven. I got to the trunk and stopped for a moment.

"Um... Hello, Great Tree. I-If y-you do not mind... May I... climb you.... please?"

I laid a hand on its smokey trunk and followed it up with my eyes. The bark looked as though it were carved in filigree wisps on wooden stone. The heavy sweet scent filled my head and relaxed me. For a moment, I forgot about the fog, about my hardships. I thought only of the haven beneath the tree.

I mapped out where I would find my footholds and began my ascension. As I climbed, soft petals fell into my curls and dew landed on my cheeks and dripped backward to the tips of my ears before falling. My weary body shivered in anticipation. The alluring smell of rich intoxicating sweetness teased my senses and flooded my mind with bliss.

For the first time in years, I'm not in torment or darkness of the grey hollow where I lived. For the first time... I am fully and incandescently happy.

As I plopped my rump on a wide branch and saw a bundle of the blushing fruit above my head. I reached in my satchel and grabbed my dagger. Lifting up slightly I cut the thick vine and the bundle landed in my lap.

What in the spirits could you be?

The skin of the fruit was like velvet, fuzzy and soft, similar to a newly hatched chick. It filled my hand twice over it was so large. I couldn't hold back my gleam as the corner of my cheeks turned up. My eyes closed as I brought the velvet fruit to my lips and bit down. Heaps of thick nectar spilled over as my mouth filled and my eyes grew wide. It was the most beautiful essence I had ever tasted. 

I took another bite, and another. My head leaned against the trunk wearily as I chewed. Now that I was sitting, an exhaustion saturated me whole, and I could barely keep chewing the marvelous fruit. I was at ease. I could feel the dryness in my throat vanish as the acidic nectar caressed it. My mind started to wander as my body eased more. I set the fruit down and lifted the bells that hung from my neck. I thought back to the black bushy brows and sweet eyes of my Pappa.

Oh how I wish I could share this with you...

Tears began to fall down my cheeks and drip to the branch beneath me. I swallowed down a tight lump in my throat and gripped the handle of the blade tightly. 

This clearing, the fruit... It is a bittersweet treasure indeed. I will either stay here alone, in this beautiful empty fortress forever, or go back into the fog to likely never return.

 My eyes followed downward to the dagger in my hand.

I suppose you will be a last resort...

I sighed heavily as more tears trailed down and dropped. I felt my eyes begin to heavy, and my breathing slow. As I sat still and felt myself drift, a creaking and snapping sound filled my ears and I felt myself tumble backward into the sudden opening in the trunk of the tree. A breathless scream escaped my lips as blackness covered me for only a moment before opening back up into the light of familiar pink flowers again. I squeezed my eyes shut to brace from my fall.

I crashed into something hard yet warm. My neck whipped backward and sent my senses spinning. I felt weak, sick and severely dizzied. I was limp and stunned for a moment before the world slightly righted itself.

 My wet eyes slowly opened as I looked into the crescent shaped eyes of a stranger. He didn't look like any man I had ever seen before. His skin was lightly bronzed, his hair was like silk hanging over his shoulder, as black as coal. He had a lethal, cunning ambience to him. His dark eyes sent fear shaking through my belly.

They have found me.

I gripped harder to the dagger still in my damp palm and shoved the blade as hard as I could into the neck of the man who caught me. He didn't flinch or try to stop me. He didn't even try to block. He only looked at me intensely through something almost hidden behind his eyes.

Curiosity ....