Enchantingly Different

Chapter 4

"Your highness!" I hear a panicked voice from close by, which rouses me from my light slumber.

"What is it?" I sit up and look at the young soldier, who is leaning in through the flap in the tent. He opens his mouth to respond, but he's stopped short by a loud and ferocious roar that sends tremors through the earth. The soldier's face drains of blood and he disappears from the tent in a blink of an eye with the look of pure horror on his face.

I don't wait another second. I rip the blanket off my legs, mighty glad that I stayed fully clothed with my sword still strapped to my side. "Always be prepared for anything," my father had told me when I was growing up and it's certainly something I have kept close to heart.

As I exit the tent, chaos surrounds me as soldiers scream, running from an unseen identity. I spin on the spot, sword unsheathed, looking for the source of the panic, but see nothing out of place. One of the men pushes past me and I seize him by his upper arm, pulling him toward me despite his struggles. He appears to be not much older than myself.

"What is it?" I shake his arm, pulling him to his senses, if only for a moment.

He says nothing, but raises his arm instead, pointing a trembling finger behind me and up to the canopy. I release his arm and turn on the spot, hearing him scurry away with a whimper. The trees sway in the swirling mist and I hear another deafening roar from the area in which he pointed.

My breathing stops as I see a large tree branch fall to the ground, crushing a man and killing him instantly. The metallic smell of blood rises in the air, causing more havoc and panic. From the clearing in the trees, out steps a vile being as tall as a tower. It stumbles in towards our camp, dragging a large club which looks more like a tree trunk.

Its mouth spreads in a wicked grin, revealing a row of large, yellow, pointed teeth. Its eyes are bright red and they sweep across the floor looking for more victims. They settle on me and I can feel his penetrative stare, assessing me and perhaps planning what he wants to do with me.

Almost without warning, he swings his club and launches it over to me. I see it coming almost in slow motion and I make a split second decision to jump into a small ditch beside me to avoid being flattened. It seems that I land on the ground just in time and, as I lay in the grass, I hear the club crash above me and miss my head by mere inches, sending shockwaves through the ground and leaving a ringing behind in my ears.

Someone grabs at my arm, trying to pull me from the ground, but I pull against them, trying to flee the opposite direction.

"Sir, come this way," I hear from behind me. The ringing in my ears makes it sound like he's yelling at me from far away. I look through the twinkling stars in my vision and see another young man with a ferocious looking face, yet he looks calm in the attack.

He pulls me from the ground and I hear the creature following close behind us as we run for cover of the trees. The monster roars in frustration when he can't follow us as quickly and once we reach denser foliage, the sound softens and falls further behind us before being swallowed by the night again.

I lean against a trunk covered in moss and slide down onto the damp ground, my chest heaving from the exertion of running. I'm a little out of shape it seems.

"What the hell was that?" I ask the man, who leans against his own tree, doubled over and panting.

"An ogre I think," he says, standing up and placing a finger over his lips to quieten me. "They hunt by sound and I'm guessing us men were being a little too rowdy," he whispers to me.

"An ogre? I didn't realize they would be so big," I say honestly.

"We're a long way from the confines of your castle now, your highness."