His Purple Eyes

Chapter 25

I was slowing down and they were getting faster. My lungs were burning and the ache in my chest was almost unbearable. The warm liquid poured down my back.

I was going to stop soon. I mean, stopping meant death. But I could face it. It was the smart thing do. I hardly noticed the tears streaming down my face. I had kept these tears in. I had to, I had to be strong. But the reality was that I was not strong. For gods sake, I was even considering giving up!

But I couldn't. I couldn't be the same as my parents. When I was younger, they were everything I would have ever wanted. But now, they were the weak ones who didn't fight. I didn't want anyone back home to think of me as a memory. I have to pretend to be strong. I can do that, I have most of my life. But could I push my self further?

I was in the forrest now. I could feel the soft dirt under my shoes. The sent of pine was refreshing. I had to dodge tree branches and rocks and fallen logs. I stopped and when I did, my body nearly collapsed.

Turning my head, I searched for movement. I didn't see the guards but I heard them in the distance. I couldn't run anymore, so I did the next best thing.

There was a large pine tree right ahead. Walking over to it, I had to tip my head back to see the top. The branches stretched out and called for me. I stood in front of it, just staring. If they saw me, or found me, I would be dead. But this was the only chance I had.

I pushed aside the branches and ducked my head under. As soon as my eyes had adjusted to the dark shade of the pine needles, I gasped. There was deep marks in the trees. Sticky sap poured out of the marks. It oddly reminded me of blood pouring out of a new cut. But what was even more odd, was that the marks reminded me of claws that have been raked down the tree.

Shrugging it off, I tipped my head back to look at the branches above. I used one arm to haul myself up each branch. My feet did the pushing. It was much harder this way, but I had to. There was a paralyzing pain in the other arm, I couldn't figure out why though. I ended up only climbing up halfway. But it was as far as I could go and I could hardly see out, so I guessed that they couldn't see it.

The branch I was on was conjoined with another by years of sap. I sat on it, with my legs stretched out in front of me. It wasn't comfortable in the least but somehow my eyes were slowly tugging down and my mind became foggy.

. . . .

"Find her! How hard can those directions be?"

My head shot up at the sound of voices. I could see between the pine needles that the sun was already setting. The mere thought of staying here over night terrified me.

My body shook from the chill in the air. I supposed since the large body of water was near by, that the air was colder than back home. As my mind and body woke up, I began to comprehend what was going on. There was glowing lights on near the ground and voices all around. Not to mention the growing pain in my shoulder.

"She has been out here for two hours! She's probably far off, near the city by now. How hard is it to find her?" A familiar husky voice had said. Pierce. My back went rigid. He must be yelling at some guards.

They were going to find me. There was no doubt in my mind. If not now, then at dawn when I try to get away. There would be guards everywhere.

"Maybe not sir. After all, there was open fire at her. She could have gotten shot."

Shot? No way. I mean, a person would know if they were shot or not. The voices were coming closer to my tree.

"She better not have gotten shot. Who ever did shoot her will be executed tomorrow if she is injured. I need her preserved. But more importantly, she will not last the night in the forrest. She'll be torn to pieces."