The New Hero

IV • Lilac petals

A few minutes later, Cordelia couldn't run anymore. She had slowed down her pace, now walking, short of breath. Her body couldn't keep up with what her mind wanted her to do, and the fact irritated her.
Cordelia felt like she had a fever. Her instinct, that unknown force that had guided her into the woods and to the gallery, just kept getting stronger and stronger. She had never felt like that before. She almost did not recognize herself: she had never let a vague feeling guide her before. But here she was, chasing after something without knowing what it was or why it was calling to her.
Somehow, she knew that what she was doing was right, she was meant to be there.
The gallery kept twisting and turning, but there was no sign of its end. No faint light, no sounds; just the trees and the flowers and the wind.
Cordelia marveled again at the eerie perfection of the gallery. She would have liked to stop and look between the tree trunks, just to see what was outiside of them. But her instinct, again, prevented her from doing so. Her mind was burning just like the pendant on her chest.

Cordelia lost track of time. More than once she had the feeling of walking in a circle, and the gallery was starting to creep her out.
No sounds came from the branches besides the leaves being rustled by the wind. The only movement was that of the flowers detatching themselves from the trees and falling on the path.
Cordelia observed them and caught one in her hand. She had never seen flowers like that before, and she had been in the woods plenty of times.
Just as she brought the flower closer to her face to examine it, she felt her skin sting.
Immediately, she let the small flower fall to the ground with a small gasp of pain. Stunned, she looked at her hand. Where the petals had touched her, the skin was red and itchy, almost as if she had touched a stinging nettle.
Blowing cold air over her irritated skin, she picked up her pace again, now even more eager to get out of the gallery.
The path turned sharply to the left: Cordelia didn't think too much of it, however.
Her eyes widened when she turned the corner, and she wiped her forehead with her sleeve.
Before her stood the end of the gallery.

The two trees that marked the end of the path were different from all the others: their branches were more like vines, and they didn't form a vault, but curved downwards and reached the ground like a weeping willow's.
The vines were covered in the lilac flowers; from behind them, Cordelia could see the light of the sun.
She sighed, glancing at her hand. The stinging hadn't gone away yet; if anything, it seemed to be increasing.
"Why am I doing all of this, again?" She thought.
But the invisible force still seemed to pull her forwards, as if someone kept tugging at her necklace. But the pendant stood still on her chest, almost burning her through her clothes, solid proof that she wasn't losing her mind.
She was still a bit hesitant to cross the vines blocking the exit though. If a single flower could make her hand hurt like that, she didn't want to find out what crossing a thick curtain of those flowers would do to her.
"But would I forgive myself if I backed down now?" a voice in the back of her head asked her.
"Would I even find this gallery again?" Her curiosity ony strengthened the force pulling her forwards.
Pulling the sleeves of her sweatshirt over her hands and covering her face with her arms, she took a deep breath and ran.

She didn't feel anything at first, and for an instant she thought her plan had worked. But soon enough she realised the vines were tangled together, and she couldn't go on nor go back.
One of her sleeves uncovered her left hand, and immediately a vine full of flowers brushed against it.
Cordelia jerked her arm away, leaving her face unprotected. The movement caused another vine to brush against her cheek and the side of her neck, and Cordelia muffled a scream when she felt the sharp pain. Cursing the vines, the gallery, the whole forest and herself for being so foolish, she tried to stay calm. Gritting her teeth, she slowly brought her arms to cover her face again, trying to ignore the pain. With her leg, protected by the heavy jeans, she pushed the vines in front of her until they gave way. She ducked and sprinted out of the vine web, tumbling on soft grass.

Panting, she rolled onto her back, trying to fight back tears. Her hands hurt badly, and she discovered they were full of small, red bubbles. She cried out when her hair brushed against her neck, and groaned at the new wave of pain as she brushed her cheek with her fingers.
She was starting to doubt her instinct, thinking that maybe, maybe she should have gone back after all.
Trees couldn't just disappear, and sooner or later she would have found the gallery again.
She was so busy scolding herself that she didn't notice right away were she had ended up.
The same trees with the purple flowers created a round clearing. Above her, Cordelia saw the sky, all bright blue and soft clouds. And in the middle of the circle that was the clearing, was a white marble fountain.

Sorry it took so long! I had a bit of writer's block 🙁 Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! If you did, please vote and comment! ❤️ (That way I'll update sooner because I feel motivated :D)
Have a lovely day!
~Emma