The Princess & The Lord

Part 2

She was falling.

Elena felt herself falling through the air. She was falling faster and faster. She could barely see through the slits in her mask and all she saw was the bright blue sky above her.

Elena began to panic. As she fell, she felt the fire before she smelt it. She was burning up. Falling so fast the fire around her changed from orange to blue. She was like a burning comet ripping through the sky on bright, sunny day.

Elena slammed into a large rock, hoping it would stop her trajectory, but she kept falling. She burned her way through the rock- no through the side of the mountain. She tried to use her hands to grab onto anything she could, but her reach was limited by the chains.

She hit the bottom of the mountain and she felt the air leave her lungs as the fire extinguished. She struggled for a few moments trying to regain her breath. She was covered in scratches and blood from the rock slicing into her skin.

She looked down to examine her clothing. Her once white clothes were covered in dirt and blood. Her pant legs had been burned in pieces almost to her knees. Her shirt was not much better. She couldn't remember the last time her clothes had been changed.

Elena rolled over to her stomach and took in her surroundings. She had landed where the mountain met the forest. There were trees as far as she could see. But this forest was not the Oakwald forest she had grown to call home.

She rose to her feet and began to take a few steps forward. It was unlikely that her arrival had gone unnoticed. She had fallen from the sky and burned straight through a mountain. The leaves crunched under her bare feet as she made her way into the forest.

The forest smelled of pine. There was an ache forming in her heart. It reminded her of home- of her father. She took a moment to let it envelope her. She closed her eyes. She breathed in deeply through her nose savoring the memory.

Elena opened her eyes at the sound of snarling. She scanned the forest and saw three sets of yellow eyes focused on her. The creatures slowly prowled closer to her. She would have called them wolves, but that would have been a lie. They were larger, uglier, and their claws and fangs were much more gruesome.

Elena slowly backed away. She bent her knees and tried to keep herself as small as she could as she took a few steps backwards. This only seemed to entice the creatures more- the thrill of the hunt.

Elena took off in a dead sprint. She ran as hard as she could jumping over fallen branches and weaving between the trees. One of the creatures was close, snapping at her heels.

Elena could see a clearing ahead and she ran towards it. Just as she was about to enter the clearing, Elena used whatever strength she had left to jump and grab onto a low lying branch. She heaved herself up onto the branch and the creatures continued running below.

The creatures skidded to a halt and turned towards her. She broke off one of the branches and began using it to fend off the creatures. They were jumping up and snapping at Elena. She managed to get in a few good hits with her makeshift weapon, but the branch she stood on began to splinter below her bare feet.

Four large shadows flew over head, but she couldn't take her eyes off the creatures below to examine them any further. The branch finally gave out and Elena fell to the forest floor. The tree branch landed on two of the wolves, pinning them to the ground. Elena got to her feet and began sprinting into the clearing. She made it 12 strides before the free creature jumped and tackled her to the ground.

The creature began circling her. She rose to her feet again and stayed in a crouched position. Past the wolf, she could barely make out the four beings who landed in the clearing. She kept her attention on the wolf. The creature bared it's teeth and she snarled back. It lunged for her again, except this time she was ready.