Falling Shadows (The Ellocea chronicles) [#Wattys2016]

Twenty-five

Flashes of images and snippets of sound soared through Akillah's brain occasionally pausing for long enough for her to work out what she was looking at. It felt as if her head was being torn apart with an angry mist blowing through the images tearing and twisting them into ugly contorted scenes of pain and horror. Kind eyes smiling then being changed, moulded by a whistling wind of darkness and shadows until hungry yellow eyes stared back at her. She tried screaming but felt trapped when no sound would escape her and the gruesome teeth would appear, seemingly dripping with saliva. Another screeching transition and the clear liquid grew thick and dark, blood now covered its mouth as it grew ever closer preparing itself. She tried to run, her feet were tied. Fear gripped her chest and another wasted attempt at screaming left her throat raw as the beast pounced. Swirling black clouds swallowed the primal beast and another image began to form, growing lighter and clearer but just as it was about to come into focus it vanished in another swirl of darkness.

A deadly rumbling, a promise of pain, echoed around the space and Akhilla twisted and turned trying to find its source but before she could it faded into silence. Everything began to fade for a while as the screaming darkness dulled and the remaining light was swallowed into nothingness.

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Akillah squinted ahead of her as a small speck of light appeared in the darkness. She watched entranced as it began to grow. Soon she was squinting and had raised a hand to try and shield her eyes from the almost unbearable brightness and yet she welcomed it after so much of the darkness. As the light continued to grow cracks began to appear through it growing thinner as they rose, as their edges became more sharp Akillah realised that they were not cracks, but were in fact trees and that she was in a forest.

Confusion clouded her brain as she noticed they were bare, indicating that it was winter and yet the last she remembered it was only just nearing the ends of the warmest months. All thoughts of seasons were chased from her brain when she heard the distant sound of footfalls breaking twigs. There also seemed to be another set slightly quieter and muffled as if they were had an echo. She rose to her feet and stumbled over to a tree, her toes getting nipped by the cold as she looked down and noticed they were bare. She paused as she also noticed that she was simply wearing a pale under shirt with much finer stitching than she had ever seen before let alone worn.

A chill inducing scream split the silence and she gasped as tears pricked her eyes in fear and she rushed to cover her ears from the sound. When it stopped she uncovered her ears and froze as she listened. Firstly small panting breaths reached her ears and she span around as she tried to locate them. Another twig snapped beside her, not wanting to be seen but needing to know what was there, Akillah rushed over to another nearby tree that stood on the top of a ridge. She looked down and frowned not seeing anything. Then suddenly she gasped as she caught movement in the darkening woods, a stunning woman was sprinting through the forest below her, golden hair getting tugged by branches and mud covering her feet and lower legs. Her shaky breaths came shallow and quick showing that she'd been running for a while and as her head whipped round to look behind her Akillah noticed that tears stained her dirty face.

Akillah had been so focused looking at the woman she hadn't even noticed what she was running from until a terrifying animalistic cry shook the night sky. There behind the woman was the most terrifying beast she had ever seen. Ragged dark fur covered its rippling body which stretched and pulled as it sprinted through the twilight forest with unbelievable agility giving its impalpable height. Akillah let out a strangled cry as she caught sight of its teeth which looked like rows of daggers glinting in the moonlight and its claws as long as her feet protruding from its beastly paws.

As if watching a sick play her eyes flicked between the two; the terrified girl and the horrifying beast that was gaining on her. With her heart in her mouth Akillah shot up and started running towards the woman as quickly as she could, not sure what she was going to do if she reached her but just needing to try and help. Another sob reached Akillah's ears as she saw the woman realising that she would soon be within touching distance of the beast. She did not relent though and this seemed to anger the beast as it let out a terrible growl and began to snap at her with its teeth.

"No! Stop!" Akillah cried, tears now blurring her vision and causing her to stumble on a root. Neither reacted to her cry, and she suddenly felt helpless as if she were watching from behind a glass wall. Desperation clawed at her as the saw that she wouldn't reach them in time. She pushed herself further, her legs burning and her lungs struggling to keep up, she could barely watch but her eyes seemed glued on them. They were now directly in front of Akillah and just as she felt a glimmer of hope, a hair raising scream pierced her heart. Bile rose in her throat as the woman's body collapsed to the ground, the beast's ghastly jaws encircling her leg as she cried out in pain. Again Akillah shouted for it to stop but again they didn't react. Tears now streamed down her face as the wolf-like beast stood over the bloodied woman, as if it were talking to her boasting about his win. She stumbled again as she continued to try and reach them despite the hopelessness rising in her chest. She was going to watch the woman die and she couldn't do anything. Another sob burst out of her chest as her foot got caught in a hole and she tripped, smacking her head on a piece of wood as she fell.

The scene swam in front of her eyes as she tried to call out again but no sound came, she felt a tear crawl down her cheek as she willed herself to move but felt frozen. She looked up again to the dreadful scene ahead of her only to see the beasts trembling body and hear the distant screams growing ever quieter as blood soaked into the forest's floor. Her stomach lurched at the putrid stench of blood that reached her nose as her head rocked forward staring at the damp dirt floor as the the darkness returned and she was swallowed in shadowed silence.