HUNTED SOULS

~ Chapter 4 ~

Saph woke up slowly, her head throbbing intensely. She sensed the early morning sun behind closed eyelids, and the fresh breeze that came with the beginnings of spring.

She was lying on her back, body aching like she'd been run over by a carriage. Her fingers, expecting to feel dirt and sand, were tangled in soft blades of grass beneath her.

Grass?

Her eyes fluttered open, and she sat up quicker than she should've considering her headache. Looking around, Saph found herself shaded beneath the soft branches of a willow tree. The delicate leaves swayed gently, and through them she saw a field of cabbage that stretched down to a cottage in the distance. She was nowhere near the river, but rather on the outskirts of the forest.

How did she get here?

What happened last night?

Looking down at the grass she sat in, a little kree was fluttering just above the ground. She watched it bat it's pretty insect wings, still white in its infancy. They were attracted to blood, and there were spots of it in the grass. Was it hers?

The kree made its way over to her and landed on her left hand with a tickle. Saph's eyes widened as she saw her bloodied flesh and white bones peeking underneath, then the black lines of corrupted magic running up her arm. The memory of swimming down the ice-cold river, and then plunging that rock into her hand flashed across her mind. She tried again to feel where the others were, but she no longer could.

The stone really was gone. And after that...

But the moment she tried to recall anything else, her skull felt like it was being cleaved in two. She could almost hear voices, but her memories escaped just out of her reach like a stray feather in the wind. All she knew was that she had been running from them, and that she needed to press on. They could be tracking her that very moment.

Clenching her fists as the kree sat above her wound, she felt unsettled. Something unpleasant sat heavily in her gut, an immovable stone that she couldn't quite decipher. Her body only ached like this after she'd shifted. Her brow wrinkled together, and for some reason she felt like she didn't deserve the soft shelter the peaceful willow tree offered. Why couldn't she remember anything?

She needed to go.

Forcing her aching body up, Saph pushed the fronds of the willow aside and peeked around. Nothing seemed amiss, but the growing morning light irked her. It'd be more difficult to move unseen during the day, but she had no choice. Her headache subsiding, she stepped out from under the tree, the pretty kree still accompanying her on her hand. It likely wouldn't leave until it had had its fill, but no matter - they often had healing properties when left alone.

Saph decided to make her way towards the cottage in the distance first, perhaps there'd be something useful there. She walked along the edge of the forest as far as she could until the fields were the only way forward. As she stopped for a moment, the kree fluttered wings that had changed from white to black and flitted off her hand. The ugly black vines on her arm remained, but the wound itself wasn't so angry anymore. Now there was just a clean but jagged scar where the stone had been. She watched the black kree fly away, thankful, and turned her attention to the cottage in the distance.

Breathing in sharply she broke into a sprint, speeding briskly through the rows of cabbage like a fox on the hunt. The cottage was only a few stones away, but that was still a long enough distance for her weakened legs and lungs to be burning by the time she reached it. Slowing down, she saw the front door pop open.

Jolting right, she ducked behind a water trough, panting. She didn't want any innocents to sight her. They'd only be in danger when they came looking for her.

Moving out of the person's sight around the outside walls of the cottage, Saph realized she could see the outskirts of a city. The district of Samora had more farming villages than cities, but the capital city in the distance was the best place to hide - among others.

She heard the front door close again. Spying a basket of vegetables and eggs on workbench nearby, her mouth watered. Reaching into it, Saph pinched a few leaves and popped a few roots into her mouth, nothing noticeable. It would have to do until she foraged something else, so she quieted her hunger as she'd needed to so many times before.

Her boots pressed into the dirt of the fields once more as she pressed onwards in a direction not visible from the front windows of the cottage. Her movement kept her warm until the day brightened, and she continued her trek...unaware of the dangers ahead.