The forest rippled as the breeze blew through it on that cold night. The blast from a horn was carried on the wind and echoed menacingly amongst the trees.
Mallion the hunter sprung up from his seat and kicked out the small fire on the dusty floor.
"Move, quickly!" He quietly urged the two women with him. "Go now. Run!" He whispered, pointing into the black shadows of the deeper forest.
Elisset grabbed her aunt's hand and pulled her forward, running barefoot between the trees.
"Mallion..." her aunt rasped out as she looked over her shoulder, seeing the hunter hadn't followed them on their flight.
"Quiet!" Elisset silenced her as they ran forward. The sound of horses surrounded them, another blast from a horn, this one much louder than the first.
The sound of her breathing filled Elisset's head as the shadows loomed over them, her feet feeling the pricks and needles of the forest floor as she blindly sprinted over roots and fallen branches.
Her aunt's hand slipped from her grip in a moment, but still she kept running, hoping her white coat would show in the low light and be a guide in the darkness.
The thudding of hooves alongside her was swamped by the sudden creaking of wood and swishing of leaves. A withering horn blast filled the air. A cry. A scream.
Silence.
She dared not look back as the icy grip of fear held her heart firm.
"Keep pressing forward, keep pressing forward, keep pressing forward." The words her mother had told to her in another life came back to her, and she repeated them in her mind, urging her onward into the deep, dark forest.
YOU ARE READING
Elisset The Gold
FantasyQueen Elisset has been forced from her home of Keritor by her brother, who is under the control of the King of Keriadan, neighbouring kingdom and age old adversary of Keritor. On the run from those who seek her, she only has her aunt and a hunter t...
