What Lurks Behind The Trees

Melancholy

The mornings were getting colder, a crisp wind flew from the north, spreading throughout the kingdom. Winter was near, and with that came the long nights and the subtle hunger. Animals would hibernate so humans had limited access to meat, crops would grow slower than ever, winter was a time of melancholy and darkness.

They were finding it hard to sleep outside on the rough grass. The trees insulated the woods but it was nowhere near habitable. Celia shivered in her sleep, snuggling closer to her sister Laina. Ada sat up and sighed, she looked over to her family and smiled sadly. Why had their lives come to this?

That's when she noticed her unusually still mother, her lips were blue and her chest did not move. Ada crawled to her "Mother," she whispered and shook her mother. She did not wake up. "Mother, Mother!" she shook her harder.

Celia, Laina and Sam sat up quickly.

"What happened?" Sam asked, picking up his dagger, ready for any danger.

Ada's lips quivered "M-mother, she's not waking up,"

"What?!"

Celia sucked in a breath and covered her face with her hands, trying to calm herself down.

Sam checked his mother's pulse. He paused for a few seconds and then looked down. "She's gone." a single tear slipped down his face.

Ada held her mother's hand and sobbed.

"It's my fault, we bought danger upon her!-" Ada said, squeezing her hand tightly.

Sam slapped his hand over Ada's mouth quickly. His eyes widened as he strained his ears to hear the sounds of men approaching. "Someone is here, we have to leave," he whispered.

"Gran..." Celia held her grandmother's hands.

"Now, Celia!" Sam said.

"What about Gran?"

Sam carried Celia over his shoulder and ran away from the voices with Laina and Ada following behind. They crouched down behind some rocks and waited.

"Huh? There's someone here!" they heard someone say.

"What is a woman of her age doing in the woods?" another man said.

"She's dead,"

"That's strange,"

"Do you think she has anything to do with the grey-eyed girls?"

"Doubt it,"

"Let's take her back, we'll ask master Hayden,"

Ada covered her own mouth with her hand, trying to muffle her sobs.

-------------------------

"I need to find my family," Dyron said.

"I can send a search party," Venkalth said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"My son might be in Aigronyth,"

"I'll send a pigeon to Queen Ivedelia,"

Dyron, Cedric and Darren looked at Venkalth strangely.

"How do you know her?" Cedric asked.

"I use Zaveo to travel across the forest, I've only been there once, and I have been threatened not to go again."

"Why?"

"Because I am a human with a powerful weapon, Zaveo," Venkalth said.

"The rest of my family I predict are most likely still in Osledel, that's where Darren last saw them," Dyron said.