The Obsidian Arrow

The Obsidian Arrow: Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

[Starlyn POV]

            The misty morning was unsettling for Starlyn as she held onto her tiger. She had been making relentless progress but she didn’t think it was fast enough. Often she thought back to Searon and the rest, hoping that they were getting along fine without her. She never intended to leave without explanation, but she also never expected this to happen.

            The memory of Searon’s face before she left still haunted her. He didn’t love her, or at least not in a romantic way, but he did care for her as a brother would. She knew that he’d help her with anything she ever needed. She smiled at the thought which brought warmth through her veins.  That’s when she realized how cold she was. It wasn’t often that an elf felt cold and she knew something wasn’t right. She held tighter onto her tiger friend letting the white fur warm her cold flesh.

            It had been days since she had even seen another person, let alone a draeyk or worse. She only hoped she could keep it that way. The less distractions that would cross her path the easier it would make her journey. She wasn’t even sure if her decision of where to go was the right one. All that she knew was that she had to get somewhere.

            At least she wasn’t alone in the wilderness. She clung tight to her friend the white Bengal tiger. Her tiger’s name was snowflake and had been with her for quite some time. She hadn’t seen her in a while now, but will never forget the first time she met the precious tiger. She was alone and hurt and the tiger had saved her when nobody else could find her.

            She blinked her sparkling blue eyes trying to see through the blinding light that shone through the trees. It was blinding trying to see anymore and she decided to have faith in her tiger companion to lead the way. She felt exhausted anyway and let in to a relaxing rest. While she was too scared to sleep during the day, a quick shut eye would do no harm. Besides she trusted the tiger with her life.

            After what only seemed like a moment of shut eye she opened her eyes to see a deserted town. Her friend, snowflake, wasn’t moving but just stood in place looking at the lonely streets. She quietly got off of her horse and looked at the surroundings. There were merchant stands deserted and burnt and stone homes that looked like they had been thrashed. The plain beige and black town brought sorrow to her eyes. She walked forward noticing a crow picking at a charcoaled mess. Another step and she backed off with a gasp.

            She knew where she was now. Her hopes of never coming to this town again were now diminished. She stood in Augealia. This was the town that she met the Nacropis. A shiver ran down her spine at the memory. It was the most formidable foe that she had ever faced and she didn’t wish to stay here. She looked to the sun that was setting behind the trees now and sighed. It seemed that she would have to spend the night. At least she had snowflake here with her.

            She decided to travel around looking for the most comfortable place to stay but everything seemed to have eeriness to it. Finally she settled on a broken stone home that seemed to be the most intact. Inside she was thankful to that there blankets which she coiled herself up with. She lay down on a bed and only hoped for the night to quickly finish so she could continue on her travels.

            Nightmares flashed into her mind as she lost consciences. She felt the warmth of Searon’s flesh as he held her close. They stared at the Nacropis coming at them and she screamed. Shivers ran down her spine as she tried to run as fast as she could, but it was to no avail as another Nacropis came at her and grabbed her with its pincers.

            She could hear Andron’s voice, “Starlyn, my lady, please save me.”

            She looked down to see his carcass lying at the Nacropis’ feet. Another scream filled the silent air as the Nacropis now brought her to its mouth opening wide. Tears streamed down Starlyn’s face as she realized how she failed. She failed Andron. He had come because he was worried about them, and she couldn’t even save him. Now all she had awaiting her was the large scorpion’s mouth.