The True Queen- Book Two

Chapter Six: Fallon

Fallon reaches the forest at the end of the vast flatlands the night after her escape. Having run nonstop for all of that time. Her legs throb and ache. Even with the Lupine speed and endurance, it has taken a lot out of her. She is also still completely covered in blood which dried during the heat of the sun. Still, the sky is dark red. Not quite as noticeable in the dark, but in the day it illuminates everything in a deep red glow. Knowing she can't stop yet, Fallon starts to run again. Wincing in pain as she fights through her exhaustion. Not only physical but mental. Emotionally, she is a wreck. Ray's death still plays in her mind over and over. Her legs shake as she forces them to move again. She should not have stopped briefly. Her muscles are already starting to seize up. She grits her teeth and winces as she runs with an awkward limp. A sob leaves her mouth and she falls against a tree. Gripping onto the rough trunk with her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she pushes herself away from it and starts to walk. Luckily, it is night time so no one is out to see her. She must look like a monster. Covered almost completely in blood. It coats her hair and her face. Splatters from her fight in the flatlands. It's on her hands and skin. Her dress also. She is still wearing the same dress she wore to the arena for her father's speech. It is muddy and torn to shreds. Fallon shakes her head, thinking back to the arena. Why, Ray? Why did you have to speak up?

Fallon continues walking until she finds a river. Now she had stopped running, she is beginning to get cold. She shivers and clutches at her arms tightly. Still, the water could not be ignored. The thought of bathing is horrifying in her state, almost bringing more tears to her eyes. But the blood still on her is beginning to burn on her skin. So, she takes off the backpack and drops it onto the floor beside the river. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she slowly steps into the water. The freezing temperatures against her already cold skin burns and a cry leaves her mouth. She raises a shaky hand to her mouth as fresh tears begin to fall down her cheeks. Still, she continues. Walking further and further into the water until it is up to her waist. Her body shakes violently and it isn't long before Fallon is losing feeling in her fingers and toes.

The red moon provides enough light for her Lupine eyes to adjust to see. She brings her hands up to her face and gazes at Rayana's blood. Now mixed with the blood of the Red Guard who pursued her. Quickly, she snaps them back into the water. Her fingernails scratch roughly against her skin, trying to clean it off. She lets out a grunt of pain as she scratches away at her own skin. Faster and faster she scrubs as a strange panic rises in her body. Panic and desperation. She needs to get it off. All of it. The blood almost feels like a blanket, covering her skin. One getting tighter and tighter until she can't breathe. She gasps for breaths and scrubs harder before throwing her whole body into the icy water. Beneath the surface, she scratches desperately at her scalp and face. Not caring about the cold or the fact she needs to breathe. Bubbles of air escape around her as she lets out a scream. Fallon lifts her head and gasps desperately for air between her sobs. Her hands make her way to the dress and she tears it away in harsh, desperate movements. Needing it off her. To stop suffocating her. When it is off, she continues to scrub her skin. Not noticing the stiffness in her fingers from the cold water or the fact that her body is shaking uncontrollably. She falls to her knees and back beneath the water.

She stops scrubbing and pauses. Floating as a strange calmness falls across her. Beneath the surface is a strange, calming silence. Her body feels weightless and free of any aches or pains. Even her lungs have stopped burning and a strange sleepiness falls over her. Quickly, Fallon lifts her head out of the water and gasps for air. The cold already biting her skin again as she drags herself to the side and drags herself out. Mud sticks to her wet skin and she lies on the ground, shivering. It takes all her effort to get to the backpack where she prays Emlyn packed her some clothes and a blanket. Her fingers struggle to move items out of the way to search. Eventually, she finds a blanket though and quickly wraps it around her frozen, burning body. Her skin covered in red lines and scratch marks from where she had scrubbed herself off. She then finds the clothes and quickly pulls them on. Trousers, boots, a long-sleeved top and right at the bottom, a thick coat. She almost cries with relief when she wraps it around herself.