HOOD

PROLOGUE

    He was wet and tired, but he couldn't stop running.  The hounds kept barking as they  got closer and closer.  He pushed past some low hanging vines which gave little resistance. He leapt over a fallen tree and cut branches out of the way.  "When the hell did I get a sword", he said as he picked up the pace again.  He ducked under a low hanging branch as an arrow shot passed him and landed in a tree a few feet from him.  "Shit", he said. He pulled out the arrow from the tree, gripped his bow,  nocked, took a deep breathe and shot into the dark.  The scream of pain he heard made him smile.  He had hit someone.  He tripped on a fallen tree and went tumbling down a slope. He landed face down on something soft. It was grass. He jumped to his feet and looked around.  He was in an open field with nothing but an old mansion at the center. He looked back and the hill from whence he fell wasn't there.  He took a step toward the house when someone grabbed his shoulder and called his name.  He leapt back and he was back in his room.  Covered in his sweat.  It was just a dream.  The same dream he's been having every night for as long as he could remember.