A Quest Of Flame And Chaos

Chapter 1

~<>~Aria~<>~

She could feel it's piercing stare on her back.
  But no matter how far she ran through the streets of Montreal, even though the tightest of them and the darkest alleys, it was always there.

  She didn't know how she had started running like a mad woman, but the feeling of terror that swept into her at the slightest flash of bloody red eyes urged her to run even faster.  She had long gone abandoned her backpack in a now faraway street hopping it would distract...that monster long enough so she could get away.  Her long brown hair was in a frenzy around her head, disrelished due to the chase.

  Suddenly she ran directly to a dead end.  It was a miracle she hadn't encountered one beforehand, but it didn't make finding a way out any easier.  The alley was dark, with only the dim light of the crescent moon to illuminate multiple trash bags, a oddly gleaming puddle and a ladder, a ladder, and it was under a window. If she could get to it and if the window was unlocked she would be able to get help. It was a lot of ifs, but she could already feel the empty cold of the thing's presence. Without wasting an other moment she dashed forward towards the ladder.

But as soon as her foot touched the water of the puddle, she felt a sinking sensation through her whole body. When she tried to wrench her foot out to continue running, she couldn't.

Her foot was stuck, stuck in that shallow looking puddle. It's water was shining, even in the dim light, it captivated her. But it was no time to be staring at a puddle, she heard the thing's claws scratching against the ground as it rounded the corner, and there it was.

A beast with fur as black as night, silver claws that gleamed in the moonlight, eyes as red as blood. It was scary, it was terrifying. But, it wasn't a wearwolf, it was something worse, something that, she felt, could rip souls apart with one slash of its silver claws, silver, no, definitely not a wearwolf.

Her blood ran cold in her veins, her left foot slowly sinking into......whatever the puddle was.
If the thing decided to attack she would be vulnerable, unable to move. The puddle was sucking her in like quick sand, she was now in to almost her knee. The beast was standing near the street, unmoving, just staring at her.

And then, the tip of her other shoe touched the puddle and was sucked in much faster than her other leg.Both were now in mid thigh. The magic puddle, what she decided to call it, was sucking her in like quicksand, every time she tried to get out with her hands she would get sucked in more.

The beast seemed to be debating between attacking her or leaving her to her fate.

She was sinking into the magic puddle much faster, and was now in all the way to her stomach. She couldn't feel the entire lower part of her body. Panic was slowly starting to sink in, her breaths became shorter and faster.

And then the beast spoke.

"Calm down child." It said. Its voice was calm and soft. While one could argue that 15 was an age were you would not be called 'child', the creature particularly would be called timeless.  Now that she had a chance to look at it closely, it had black smoke curling out of its jet black fur.
It had silver claws shining in the darkness, but it was its blood red eyes that really stood out, they were literally glowing in the darkness tainting fur around them red. He looked like a beast straight out of a horror movie. But when her yellow-green eyes met it's red ones, she understood how truly majestic the beast was. And when he spoke again she was calm.

Though Aria was now in the magic puddle to her chest she felt no panic rising, the creature,  whatever it was, had a soothing effect on her.   It's aura had somewhat changed, from the race, to the past few moments in the alley, it seemed more peaceful and less likely to rip her to shreds.  Only When she was in the puddle to her neck did it start talking again. And when it did it's voice was smooth yet ancient. " Be careful out there "
What did it mean ' out there '?  " I know it is not easy to be thrown into an unknown world"
Unknown world? Things were getting more confusing by the minute. "But I must tell you this "
And as her head was going under it said " do not trust the people of the darkness!"

🗡🗝🗡

The first thing Aria  saw when she woke up was snow. How could she not? She was covered with it!  The second thing she saw was that she was in a clearing. All around her were massive  pine trees. Her light kaki green coat, jeans and small autumn boots did almost nothing to warm her up.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of horses galloping and people talking nearby.
"Help" Her voice came out hoarse, as if she had been lying there for a while. She doubted anyone heard her. But still, they were coming her way! The voices and gallops were getting louder. She reached for a stick sticking out of the snow. But at the same time as she was pulling it out she herd a growl and slithering. She slowly turned around to face what had made the sound. And she didn't like it.

The thing looked like one of those Japanese dragons, It was long, snake like, and had whiskers floating around its head. But instead of being coloured it was transparent white, and instead of being material it was smokey. At least, it looked like it, and it was what she would have believed if not for the multiple arrows sticking out of its body. The ones that had missed the colossal being, were either sticking out of the snow or the trees.

Without warning another arrow struck the snow besides the monster, and then another struck his side. If Aria read the scene right, who ever the people on the horses were, they were hunting down the monster. And apparently they didn't know of her presence.

She scrambled to get out of the projectiles way, lucky the monster wasn't sparing her much thought. She was but a little bug to it, not dangerous in the slightest. She used that fact to her advantage, so she ran. Or, tried to run, as quickly as she got up she fell back again. There was ice under the snow, not dirt like she expected.

The monster behind her let out a roar, it surprised her. When she looked back, she could see an armoured figure wielding a spear and a shield. A few others entered the clearing. The riders were all wearing mid eval armour like ones she saw in historical movies, all, except the one who was fighting the monster. His armour's metal was shinier, finer, that the others. It looked light and warm, perfect for the weather.

The silver knight ( what Aria had decided to call him ) finished the beast off with his spear through its head. As the silver knight removed his weapon from the carcass, the monster disappeared in a flash of white light.

And right before everything went black, she heard the silver knight ask: " Who are you? "

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Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this!
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Word count: 1306 words