Aurora:
In a world where love had to be earned I would never be good enough. I was the black sheep in the family, the witch without magic.
But finally after an eternity of hell there was a slight chance I could join the special forces, my country's...
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I was breathing equally as heavy as the dog by now but without the smoke. My sister Maeve immediately came to my mind, not having thought about her for quite some time. Thinking about her now made it painfully obvious how tiny of a problem she really was.
While running I took a few seconds to rip a long branch from a birch tree. I broke it in two using my knee as leverage which cost me another second and almost my balance.
Even though I was somewhat armed now I didn't stop. Realistically a tree branch wouldn't do a lot against a monster of this size. At some point I even thought that I felt the warmth of its heavy breath on my arm but that only made me run faster. I had lost all sense of direction since escaping the monster was my priority now. Later I'd trouble myself with finding out how to return.
As my leg muscles started to cramp my thoughts grew desperate. I couldn't even properly decipher the dog underneath the foliage and the dark only heightened my fear of missing it.
Every part of this resembled a nightmare. The way I was being chased through the dark forest and running only got harder by the second. Inevitably I would loose all strength and soon I'd be crawling across the floor until I would remain motionless for the monster dog to eat.
Ro, calm down. Despite the increasing burn in my lungs I tried to clear my head from anxiety but it hardly worked. Okay, I was basically blind but the dog was as well. I'd seen the way it had breathed the air before directing its snout at me. Its eyes were almost white which surely made it impossible to see.
Also, there was a chance that I could significantly improve my situation. If only I could get my head out my ass and focus. On that thought I closed my eyes and while my fingers trembled around the piece of wood I channeled my thoughts.
Seeing was step one. I opened my eyes but the forest was still dark. Only contours were visible but a glow in my peripheral vision made my heart leap.
The dog's 'aura' was of a deep red color resembling flames. His body seemed to be on fire meanwhile its condition didn't seem impacted at all. Neither by its sickening aura nor by the extensive run.
Twigs broke underneath me but I didn't care. I couldn't count how often I'd stumbled on something and almost lost my balance on the ground that felt oddly squishy. But I didn't pay attention. Instead of envisioning my brain laying in pieces on the ground I locked my knees for each step.
I was scared that they'd suddenly give out underneath me before I was out of breath. I hoped that in the scenario that I would die it would be the other way around. Being forced to stay motionless while having a clear mind sounded horrible. But as long as I was focused I'd stay conscious. I already felt a burn deep in my throat that made the air taste like blood and bile but I couldn't stop. My legs were still running so I wouldn't give up.
Every ounce of effort I put into running would be worth it when I reached the edge of the forest.
But it didn't come. Instead I only saw more trees and foliage while the sun was still absent.
