"Tsk." The word 'foolish' had been used to describe me many times by my mother and sister, and at that moment, I agreed with them wholeheartedly. I am a fool. A complete and utter fool. I had all but made certain of that the moment I thought I could escape. I mean, just because the ones who caught me were incompetent did not mean I was safe. And like a fool, I traipsed into the worst place a runaway like me could be. Perhaps starvation was finally catching up to me.
"There he is! Catch him alive! The healers will take care of the rest!!!" Screams tore through the air as they came after me in a maddened frenzy. Ugh. All hunters can just go die in a trench. Everyone should mind their own business!
They somehow zeroed in on me and left all the other prisoners alone, even the ones standing still in dazed confusion! I may have trained ever since I could walk, but the hunters had more experience under their belt. They were old enough to be my father for goodness' sake, and to further add insult to injury, none of them had pleasant faces!
They were chasing me, a boy more than half their age, as I grumbled to myself and cursed my luck. I pushed myself to run even faster. If anyone was to chase me around with this much vigor, it should be pretty ladies! Instead, I am stuck with men full of greed and bloodlust!
As I ran, I finally realized something. Even if I somehow managed to outrun the men hot on my trail, there was no way I could shake off the wolves beside them. They would find me sooner or later, and right now, I feel like it will be sooner. After all, it would have been a neigh impossible feat even when I was at a hundred percent.
Asking a man, a cuffed man at that, to do it was nothing short of bullying. Besides, what lay in the direction in which I ran was nothing but a wasteland and an enchanted forest. It would be only a matter of time till they found me. That is, if I even managed to outrun them. I tried to calmly figure out a way out of this predicament while running as fast as my malnourished body would carry me.
After a while, a new thought came to me. I hadn't even thought of it.
It was totally unfair! All the prisoners escaped before me, and yet the all the hunters were only fixated on me! Some of them were even the pretty girls who would have fetched high prices in the slave market! Yet they were undeterred, doggedly following me rather than capture the many prisoners running around in a panic. Why still remained a mystery. None of them should know the amount put on my head, but they all the same stuck to me as if they did.
The hunters shoved the other prisoners aside, eyes set on the lone boy running away. I veered off to the right, deciding to take my chances with Slyveria. Soon, I spotted the forest, and I almost grinned. While the chances of getting lost in them were high, it was much better than being captured. And hey, a forest was bound to have something to eat, finally ending my long days of near starvation. All the magic in the air was bound to confuse the wolves, granted they were ordinary wolves. For now, I don't even care its enchanted. It's the best chance I have!
Perhaps the hunters realized their chances would decrease the moment I entered the enchanted forest, for in all but a moment, they became desperate. An arrow whizzed past me, grazing my thigh and drawing blood. Either the marksman was crazy good, or he had crazy good luck. I'm willing to bet the latter. Mine is pretty rotten after all. I ignored the burning sensation as I glanced backward. My eyes widened.
Several men had bows, and though they were running with the same speed, it was obvious they had energy to spare. They calmly drew back their bowstrings, and not even a second later, I was showered with arrows! I turn my eyes back to the front, and just in time to leap over a fallen log. The arrows sank into the bark behind me with loud thumps, and that alone made me shiver. It was a feat in itself to maintain accuracy when running this fast, especially with a bow. It had enough power behind it to tear through my body and keep going. Apprehension started settling in. Could it be...? Nah, I'm just imagining it, right...? Fae among humans hunters? The lowliest of the low together with Fae? That possibility is so small it might as well be nonexistent. Still... if that's the reason they are chasing me...
YOU ARE READING
An Empress' Crown
Fantasy[Ps: Temp Cover. If you like this book, please consider adding it to library. Thanks in advance!] _ I have rules I set for myself. And while it may be heartless depending on who was viewing it, I don't care. These were the rules that kept me...
