August was incredibly good at two things: Keeping her secrets to herself and managing to both exist in a forest yet make no sound.
She ran skillfully, each foot dodging the obstacles, softly landing one after the other. Yet they both stopped when a second scream ripped through the forest. August had a bad feeling that this wasn't just an altercation between forest dwellers, something much more sinister was here. Thunder loudly made it's appearance. The dark clouds were beginning to seep into the sky above her.
Only one clan brought with it the power to control the weather, or anything else that is, the Rhyles. In fact to call them a clan was being very generous. They were savages. Cold blooded killers who used the powers they were given to wield terror upon anyone who they deemed worthy. She was far too familiar with their tactics and tricks. August knew that she didn't have very long before they made their appearance.
Rhyles depended on stealth to attack their prey. It was no secret that the arrows crafted by the Rhyles were accompanied with something extra. They would wait in the shadows, their poisoned dipped arrows were lethal for anyone unfortunate to meet the end of one. Calling it poison was a bit of an understatement, considering it was unknown how the Rhyles actually created the toxin. If entered into the blood stream, the body would begin to kill itself from the inside, massacring all muscles and tissues until there was nothing left but a necrotic corpse.
The scariest part of the arrows surprisingly wasn't their lethal tips, but it was the unknown. A Rhyles arrow never missed it's mark. No matter where or when, they hit what they meant to hit. Rumors had spread through the colonies of a mysterious murderous clan wandering the forest But most believed in what they could see, so the supernatural aspects were considered tall tales at most. But August knew the truth. That if a Rhyle wanted you dead, nothing on this land could stop them.
As August made her way to the edge of the path she saw the scene come before her. She crouched between the bases of the woodland pines, they would cover her enough for now. Three carriages stood with armed men searching for whatever was attacking them. Little did they know the Rhyles wouldn't dare to show their faces to anyone, alive that is. She watched as more arrows hit there marks. The men were beginning to fall. Whatever this ambush was, was far too much for one girl to handle and August knew it. It wasn't worth dying over. These men were marked, there was nothing she could do.
She turned away from the scene, beginning to plot out her escape route when the the carriage fell. It shook the ground hard and August heard the faint yelp of someone trapped inside. One of the horses had gotten the ugly end of an arrow and had brought the entire cart down with it. She watched as it's eyes went dark and the door of the carriage swing open.
Out fell a girl. Nearly the same age as August. Her sun bleached hair drug through the dirt as the girl pushed herself up to her feet. A soft brown bow was in her hand. The thunder that was once so loud had fully ceased.
Time was up.
The Rhyles were making there charge.
"Izzy!" A man's voice rose through the carnage. August watched as an armored man stumbled around the wreckage towards the girl. He almost made it. Neither of them saw the arrow coming, but August knew what the silence meant. So when it pierced his chest, she was not surprised.
August saw the mystery girl fall to her knees over her now deceased lover, her efforts at pulling out the arrow had been know match for the fast acting poison they contained. The darkness had fallen within him before he touched the ground.
But the feeling suddenly came that that something was very wrong. It looked as if hundreds of arrows had been shot, but not a single one hit the girl. For some reason the Rhyles were were saving her. Or they wanted her for something even more sinister.
The girls body rose and fell with her sobs, they were beginning to fill the emptiness around her. Panic filled August's chest. She had to leave, now, or face a fate much worse than the one laid out before her. But something held her back.
She couldn't leave the girl to die. She had no idea what the Rhyles could possibly want with her but it wasn't worth sticking around to find out.
August mumbled an expletive under her breath and tightened her grip on her dagger. If she was going to do this, it was going to have to happen now. Her legs tore into the pathway towards the girl. She grabbed her hand and pulled.
