§ FALLEN FEATHERS IS OFFICIALLY COMPLETED §
• This is the EDITED version of Fallen Feathers. Please feel free to read it (I suggest you do). Enjoy! •
I stumbled blindly in the woods, lost. I was tired and so unsure of where I was, or where I was going. It had been days since I fled our village, burned to the ground. I remembered it well. Villagers were running and screaming frantically, fleeing as they were slaughtered from the front and behind. The looks of fear and surprise as the bodies fell to the ground... I watched from a distance, but still felt lost in the chaos. The raiders rushing about on horseback, or on foot, and the wolves they had tamed! Houses burning, children screaming, corpses littering the ground ...
I wouldn't remember. I couldn't remember.
My parents, in our cabin, made of wood... Burning, trapped inside ... Ashes falling and smoke everywhere. I urged myself to run away, to look away, but I couldn't. I stood helplessly and watched my parents burning, my mother screaming frantically. There was one raider, the raider mounted on horseback, who had the howling wolf tattoo on his arm, just as the rest of the Raiders. He watched as my parents burned, cackling to himself. I wanted to run and fight, but I couldn't. It was no use, they were already dead.
I touched my mother's silver dragon necklace. I took it from her, after she died. Struggling to fight back tears, I tripped over a tree root, and fell to the ground. I was lost, and hopelessly so.
"Who's out there?" One of the men yelled.
Of course only silence met them. I remained quiet and waited for the group to start moving again.
"Maybe it was just an animal." Someone whispered.
The person, who I assumed was the captain of the small squad, signaled for them to walk again.
They clearly showed fear as they kept going; brandishing their weapons to guard themselves with.
"Two are holding lanterns. I'll tell you when you're too close to them." I heard my friend whisper in my ear.
I followed the men as I picked up another branch and waited for the right time to break it. They continued to walk through the forest, turning their heads in every direction as if an animal might lunge at them and rip their throats out.
I guess in a way I was going to do that.
"Go back a few feet." My friend whispered.
I carefully distanced myself from the group and waited.
"Where is she?"
I quickly snapped the stick as soon as he finished asking the question.
They stopped and two soldiers raised their lanterns to shine its light in the darkness.
I quickly hid behind a tree before both of them turned where I was.
A low frustrated growl came from one of the men, "The girl's playing with us. She's out here following our every move."
How paranoia can cloud the mind.
At nine years old, Silver decided to leave her village for the forest. Since then, she's been hunted; everyday is a fight for her life, every breath she takes could be her last, but she's determined to stay alive. Her life isn't the kind anyone would want to live but she's managed to survive this long so, what's a few more years?