Spirit of Shadows

| Chapter Ten |

Fear held Em together in a vice-like grip. It was the only thing that kept her moving, kept her sane.

The sun was setting quickly now and Em could tell by the growing shadows around her. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest as she spun around to survey the surroundings. There was nothing but trees here. Trees with tangled and knotted roots, trees with sharp branches and thorns, and others with moss or some type of nest upon them. However, there was no sign of Matthias, Jonah, or even Svana.

She was beginning to panic now.

Did they run off into the tree line? Em asked herself, her dagger's aura was the only visible light. She saw the crude shadows it carved into the trees, making them appear to have screaming faces without eyes or noses.

She glanced away and continued to stare straight ahead, hoping for some sort of sign.

Em didn't want to be alone again, not yet.

"Matthias!" She screamed, her hands cupped around her mouth to amplify the sound of her voice. She heard it echo throughout the swamp around her. "Jonah! Svana!" She yelled again.

No answer.

Em wiped away the bad thoughts and continued forward, stepping over the tangled roots beneath her.

Within minutes, she was now completely surrounded by trees. She felt uncomfortable as if she was being watched...

"...Em!"

Em spun around to the right, her dagger stretched out to defend herself if needed. It was Matthias' voice.

"Matthias? I'm over here! Where are you guys?" She yelled.

Again, there was no answer.

What the hell?

"...run!" This time Em was sure that Matthias had spoken, somewhere off to the right. But he sounded...winded. Almost as if he was being choked.

But Em didn't register his command on time, she was too overcome with joy that he was alive somewhere out there, and she didn't see what was coming.

A branch, pointed like an arrow tip whizzed right at her. It cut into the fabric of her cloak, her hip taking the impact of it, as it tore into her flesh. She screamed and quickly yanked it out, her mouth set in a straight line so she wouldn't cry.

At first, she thought the hit may have come from Jonah, considering he had, had a bow and arrow when they first met. But when she glanced up from her blossoming red wound, she saw that it wasn't Jonah. Not even close.

Without noticing, the trees around her had grown together, their branches mending and twisting in exquisite patterns to lock her inside. Once they had finished, Em was trapped in a large dome of bark.

"Welcome to Wyvernwick, dear, Spirit of Shadows."

An ominous voice, somewhere out of her line of vision said. She shivered and winced as she took a step back, her arrow wound screaming in protest. Quickly, she placed a hand onto the opening, her fingers stained with red.

Is my vision spotting? She asked herself, feeling a headache coming on.

"W-what do you want?" Em asked, stumbling a bit. "And how do you know who I am?"