Special

Chapter 4

Ella slowed to a stop, realizing that she was deep in the forest, and had no way of finding her way back. She was freezing and wet, with no food or water. She wouldn't survive by her own, not in these conditions. With people who could be chasing her, and freezing cold, she didn't know how she could manage. Starting to think of ways to get food, she started to pick up some fallen sticks. Maybe she could cook a squirrel? Or find some berries? Ella was capable of surviving in the forest, for that was where she lived when she was younger, and that's where was until she found the kingdom. She wasn't hungry yet, but she knew that soon her stomach would be begging for food.

After about an hour of walking around and searching for food, she decided to climb a tree and try to see the direction of the castle and the town. Putting one foot on a branch, and grabbing onto the bark, she made her way to the top. Glancing around the endless sea of leaves, she wasn't able to find any sign of a castle. It was dark and hard to see, so she decided to watch for any animals and wait for the sun to rise.

That's when the idea struck, she could find the castle by watching the way the sun rose. She had watched it a million times before, sitting on the fountain and looking at the orange hues. There was an angel on the fountain, and it always faced the way that the sun rose. The way that she went into the forest was the opposite of where the angel faced, so if she followed the sun rise, then she could make it back to the castle.

In a good mood, Ella started skipping back the the castle, humming a song. All of the sudden, the sounds of footsteps and angry voices came her way. Ella quickly hid behind a tree and watched.

"I could've sworn she went this way, see, there are footprints."

"Why are we looking for her anyway, there's a lot more people with a lot more money then her," replied the teenager, who seemed to be about Ella's age. "I mean, have you seen her? She's dirty and ragged, the poor thing."

"Don't be an idiot, Connor, she's got to be special," said the third man "I mean look at her, she's got antennae. Probably a witch, don't underestimate her."

Ella rolled her eyes, special, please, she thought. There was no way that she was special, there were thousands of other adenydds. The men started to walk further into the forest, and Ella started walking back to the castle when they were out of sight. She made her way back to the kingdom and to her home safely.

"Shut up, both of you, you're going to scare her away. Look, the footprints are leading over there to those trees." The first one grumbled, then started following the footprints.

Ella realized that they were coming her way, and quickly started to climb up a tree as fast and quiet as possible.

"Hey, good find Aeron." the other man said. They started walking towards the footprints, where, luckily for Ella, they disappeared into dense trees. The men were searching around for any sign of Ella, while she lurked in the canopy. They soon gave up, and headed back.

"I swear, Ethan, it's all your fault." said Aeron in an annoyed voice.

"How is it my fault, you were the one who pointed out that she went that way, and it probably scared her." Ethan shot back. They kept going back and forth arguing, while Connor was standing back, both nervous and annoyed. Ella suddenly felt bad for him, realizing that he probably didn't even want to be there. She watched Connor cautiously wandered on ahead with the other two, back to the village, and Ella quietly followed behind.