Wren of Sherwood

Prologue

My feet pounded on the hard forest ground, my lungs burning, tears filling my eyes. Behind us I could hear the sounds of the soldiers, shouting and crashing through the trees. Darkness engulfed us, the pale moonlight that filtered through the canopy of leaves barely illuminating our path.

We're going to die.

My foot caught on a rock and I stumbled. Only my grip on my brother's hand kept me upright.

"We're almost there," Robin said, not slowing his pace.

I couldn't speak or nod. My body was too exhausted. Instead, I kept running.

A little farther. A little farther.

I crashed into Robin, gripping onto his shirt to stay upright. A breeze rustled through the trees, making me shiver as I panted for breath.

The guards were close. I could hear them, see their lights as they combed the forest. Searching for us.

Robin stood still, studying a small clearing ahead. It was ringed with flowers and faintly luminescent mushrooms. A fairy circle.

Robin pulled a thin metal rod the size of a ruler from the pack on his back. Then he picked me up.

I hugged his neck as the noises of soldiers grew close. I was far too tired to question my brother or complain that he was treating me like a child, rather than the grown-up ten year old I was.

"Whatever happens, don't make a move or a sound," Robin said, his voice low.

I nodded, my eyes growing heavy as exhaustion took over.

Robin stepped forward, into the fairy circle.

My heart lurched as a sense of weightlessness settled over me, like I was endlessly falling. I squeezed my eyes shut, tensing for impact.

Suddenly the sensation vanished.

I opened my eyes, blinking as I tried to adjust to the sudden presence of sunlight. Through the trees I could just make out the glowing orange sun rising in the distance.

Robin stepped out of the fairy circle we stood in, a different one than we were in before.

"We're safe now," he said. "We're home."

We didn't die.

I closed my eyes, letting the exhaustion pull me into the darkness of sleep.