Twelve Realms

Chapter 8

Aerid

I don't move. I can't. I hear the footsteps of soldiers running, pounding around the pit of leaves I've fallen into. I expect one of them to stop and realize I'm no longer in front of them, or to accidentally make the same fall into this pit that I did, but miraculously, they all keep running, swiftly enough that barely a minute has passed before I can no longer hear them. 

Cautiously, I shift the leaves in front of my face to verify that they're gone. They are. 

As quietly as I can, I stand up and wade my way out of the leaf pit. I'm alone. 

I'm alone. I realize now that I'm not just alone in that the soldiers aren't chasing me anymore. I'm completely alone. I can't go back to the Cursed Village. And I doubt I'll be able to seek refuge in another village either. As soon as those soldiers get word back to the palace, which realistically could be any minute now, I'll be added to the long list of people the king is specifically hunting. So, until I finish my segment here and move on to the next realm, I am alone. 

Which sucks. Forty years is a long time to go without company. Not the way I imagined I'd be finishing my first segment. 

I shake my head, trying to focus. I can't stand in the middle of the forest and stare off into the distance as I think. I probably don't have long until the soldiers realize their trail has gone cold and return to try and find me. I shouldn't be out in the open like this.

I tiptoe away from the pit, trying not to leave footprints, towards the closest easily climbable tree I can find. It's not like the soldiers can't climb trees-- they live in the Realm of the Forest, after all-- but they almost definitely haven't had as much practice as I have, and their armor and equipment will slow them down. Besides, it's much harder to track someone in the treetops than on the ground. So long as I'm careful not to break any branches, I should be alright.

Once I reach the treetops, I try to put as much distance as possible between me and the Cursed Village. The village is near the eastern border, so I head southwest. There aren't many people who live in that area of the Realm- the climate isn't very good for farming. Fewer people to rat me out. 

I quickly notice how tired I've become. The adrenaline of the chase has worn off and left me with a deep exhaustion. I don't think I can afford to stop moving, but I do slow down. I can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched, or headed into a trap, even though I'm pretty sure I'm not. 

I hear footsteps and stop moving. I pull myself close to the trunk of the tree and wrap my legs around it as far as they'll go so they'll be harder to notice from below. I think I'm hidden from view- I can barely see the ground- but I'm probably silhouetted against a blue sky, and I'm covered in dirt. My main hope is that whoever it is doesn't look up. Then again, it might not even be soldiers. 

"Keep looking. He can't have gone far."

So much for that.

The voice sounds angry and tough. A second, higher, slightly nasally voice pipes in.

"The palace printers are already working on the wanted posters, sir. They should be ready by tomorrow morning."

Wanted posters? They're making wanted posters? Either the king needs a scapegoat right now or I'm in deeper than I thought. 

I shake my head. Either way there isn't anything I can do about it at this point. 

"Good. Keep looking. These country rats have a way of slipping out of our grasp, and we are not taking a loss on this one." 

The footsteps fade, as do they voices, as they move away, luckily in the opposite direction of the way I'm headed. Still, I remain there, clinging to the tree, trying to process what I've just heard.

The king is making sure that I can't start a new life anywhere in the Realm. Not that I expected him to let me to, but this confirms it. I really only have one option here, and that is to find somewhere quiet, lie low, and wait until this blows over. The king is bound to hunt someone else sometime soon, and once the focus is on them instead of me, I can change my appearance and my name and move to a village as far away from the castle and the Cursed Village as possible. 

The sunlight filters through the leaves and gets in my eyes. The sun is beginning to set. I'm going to need food and water before nightfall, as well as someplace to stay. Luckily, I find a small pond. I drink as much as I can hold, then try, and fail, to catch some fish. I instead settle for eating some of the plants growing on the bank of the pond. They're rubbery and tasteless but they're food. I pull a few more from where they grow and tuck them into my pocket. I wish I had left more prepared. Brought a flask for water, a bag, anything. But I didn't, and now I have to deal with it.

Next, I tackle the issue of finding where to sleep. Sleeping in the trees would be both uncomfortable and dangerous, so I cross off that option. I also don't want to sleep somewhere that looks like someplace a person would sleep. The soldiers are bound to still be looking for me, and we both know that their best chance of capturing me is while I'm asleep. 

As I walk, I find a bush that grows against a tree. While looking for berries among its branches, I notice that, while the outside of the bush is sturdy, inside it has grown a cavity large enough for me to fit in if I curl up. 

I cover the ground inside with dead leaves and gingerly edge my way inside. I block the gap where I came in with more dead leaves. I curl up with my back to the tree. The bush doesn't block all of the night wind, but it definitely filters out most of it. My only hope is that I'm not more visible through the branches than I think I am.