Decay of the Raven

Chapter Two

My life flashed before my eyes as I recognized the potential crisis. The man was dressed in black, only his eyes peered through his masked face. Though he stood far from me there was no doubt he saw me, the flash of confusion through his eyes which instantaneously turned almost smirkingly. His grin flashed at me as if he already caught me. 

Running. Excruciating running that pained each limb as adrenaline pumped through my blood along with a nauseating feeling that sank to the bottom of my stomach. His footsteps glided as he sprinted towards me, the gap closed within a minute. I pushed myself harder than I have in years, navigating the trees and roots that begged to trip me. 

I felt a tug on my shirt that pulled me backwards but I continued to run. The grasp on my shirt ricocheted me back as I fell onto my butt. 

"Caught you. You sure know how to make a job easy, I didn't even have to sneak in. Terrible guards too." 

The voice was rather high-pitched for a man clearly in dire need of humbling. In the silence that he offered me time to beg for my life, I realized that this was it. Life or death. He reached for his blade that gleamed from presumably the guard's blood. 

No wonder it was so easy to sneak out, stupid! 

More footsteps echoed behind him, presumably back up. He stepped forward towards me as if he wanted to kill me before the other men could, perhaps to get the reward for putting down the sickly daughter. 

Within the blink of a second, I hold my hands out to block the attack barreling towards me. Deciding I would rather die from power drainage than this man's smiling eyes, power bursts from my hands. 

A blinding darkness rippled through my body and latched onto his and the men behind him as if the moon deserted the world. The tranquility of death calmed my adrenaline as all of the men lay dead. They lay with rotted eyes and sunken faces, an overpowering smell beckoned from their bodies. An indescribable smell that stuck to my nose, unable to release its latch like a hungry leech. 

The reality of the situation reverberated through my veins, a darkness etched into my soul. The scene burned into my mind as nightmare fuel for a later day. 

I'm alive. 

The thought surprised me and pulled me from the funk beginning to spread as if trying to make me feel guilty for protecting myself. More importantly, what the fuck just happened? The scene replayed in my mind as a mist of black ripped through my hands like a poisonous gas. How can a healer kill someone? 

Panic and adrenaline continued to pulse through my veins causing my head to snap up when I heard branches crackle in front of me. The two guards wore silver and light blue, staring at me in disbelief. They glanced at the bodies, then back towards me with shock pouring through their eyes. I mirrored the same look as I glanced back at my hands and then toward the withered bodies. 

The minute of noiselessness for them felt like an eternity for me as I sat and attempted to put together the puzzle before me. Maybe the death I've healed and prevented was released onto them? The guards looked almost as puzzled as I was as if they were afraid to talk to me. 

"Princess Rosalie?" Uttered the shorter guard with blue eyes matching his compulsatory attire. 

"I think so," I said jokingly, looking down at my hands and back towards them. 

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I would say I am sure." My humourous attitude quickly died after they questioned my identity again as if they seriously doubted who I was. They must've never seen me before or heard that I was powerless. It's completely reasonable that they are unsure of my identity.