The First Princess of Averlyon

Chapter 2- Out of The Forest

Despite the tumultuous roar of thunder, Tiana's resolve to rescue her wrongly arrested father remained unshaken. She stepped forward, still in tears, while she made her way through the muddy field and the heavy rain.

A grip tightened around her wrist, halting her from moving forward. Confused and anguished, with furrowed brows, she swiftly turned her head and fixed an intense gaze upon the individual standing before her.

"Let me go, Issac."

"I can't do that. Your father told me to protect you, no matter what."

"And I need to go and protect him!" She yelled.
Issac's grip tightened. No matter how hard Tiana tried to push his arms off her, she couldn't. She was too weak compared to him.

"Issac! It hurts..."

Her tears ran down her cheeks even faster.
Issac gave up, her tears melting his heart, and he released her.

"Tia... I'm sorry... I'm just as lost as you are... Your dad texted me to come here. I happened to be in the area because I finished work late tonight so I came here as soon as possible. On the way here, I saw a car. Burning. It seemed like an accident. You don't know how scared I was!"

The brown-haired man embraced Tiana into his arms. He held her tight enough that the anxiousness within her had gradually calmed down. Her tears soaked his shirt along with her wet hair from the rain.

She felt at ease. She felt secure in his arms. If he was with her, nothing bad could happen to her. She knew it. He always protected her.

Either it was now, from the police, or when she first went to work, when that spoiled girl made her lose her job because she touched a simple dress.

However, those memories didn't last long until the flashbacks where her father was being taken away by the police came to her mind.

She pulled herself back away from his embrace.
Issac had loosened up his grip around her waist by then, making it easy for her to get away from him.

"Issac, I gotta go. My dad needs me. I can't just let him be taken away without any proper explanation from those policemen! I'm sure there's a huge misunderstanding."

Issac, again, held her hand, stopping her from making another step.

"Issac!"

"Tia! What are you even gonna do? You can't do anything, ok? You need to make a plan first. And for that, we need to know who is behind all these. They seem very powerful too." he explained, hoping she would understand despite her stubbornness.

"Fine," she agreed, leaving the brown-haired man shocked while she walked against a tree, crossing her arms.

"I'm listening. Spill your plan."

"I... I don't have any for now. But we need to move from here as soon as possible in case those policemen are still looking for you."

The shadows gradually became darker, blending into one as the night turned darker. An owl could be heard in the distance as the full moon was barely visible between the foliage of the oak trees.

In the meantime, the rain had ceased. The surrounding trees and the formerly parched ground were left glistening with moisture. The cessation of rainfall had drenched the vegetation and turned the previously dry landscape into a moist, muddy mess.

"Stay here," Issac pointed at a dry log that wasn't excessively affected by the rain because of the shadow of a large oak tree.

Issac examined the location to make sure that the police had left. "It's late and I need to make some fire. Hopefully, I can find some wood dry enough to start a fire. We need to be careful, we are probably being watched. Do you have anything dry that I can place beneath to put under the woods?"