She grew up in the clutches of poverty; He was raised in the lap of luxury.
She hated nobles; He couldn't be bothered with commoners.
Her heart hidden deep in thorny vines; His one burning in his sleeves.
She was the recently orphaned flower seller;...
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But when the noon waxed bright Her hair grew thin and grey; She dwindled, as the fair full moon doth turn To swift decay, and burn Her fire away.
- Christina Rossetti
Isolde's POV
Akira's hold on my hands tightens. It hurts but I don't care.
I tried to pry my much smaller hands from his grip quite a few times but he wouldn't budge. So I gave up.
The four of us wait; holding our breaths inside the shaded trunk of a gigantic tree. My heartbeat startles me from time to time in this deathly quite forest.
Once in a while, I hear a bird's startle caw.
Is it a bird? Or something else?
I don't know.
The trees stopped being familiar a while ago.
Now there was only giant trunks as far as my eyes could see.
Herds of Deer pass by sometimes.
They stop and stare at us. Curiously.
Then they go on their merry way.
Were they deer?
Their bodies look like deer.
Then why do their eyes don't?
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Our first mysterious pursuer had disappeared just as he showed midway through the chase.
However, before we could sigh in relief, we were attacked by more people dressed in shadows. These people unlike our first pursuer didn't throw knives.
Instead they shot poisonous arrows.
So we diverted the direction of our run to the right without thinking. And keep running; without stopping; without looking back.
Which leads us to our current predicament.
Hiding; hoping; praying that the unknown people don't hear my too loud heartbeat. That they leave us alone.
My heart beats faster than ever when I hear the sound of groans and labored breaths coming from the behind the tree we were in.
I look to my side to see Esme's eyes barely holding back the tears pooled in them. Naeem's face looks ashen. Next to me, holding my hand, Akira's jaw clenches and unclenches with each approaching footstep.
I spy Akira's free hand reach for the hilt of sword as the groans become louder and louder.
The footsteps, to our surprise, stop right next to the tree and the dull sound of something heavy falling to the ground reaches our ears.
Another groan.
This time accompanied by the sound of sharp intakes of breath. Next the sound of some kind of tinkering from glass bottles most likely reached our ears.
Akira's hand on my mouth stopped the scream I didn't even know was about to leave my throat as I see a little glass bottle come rolling to where we were hiding. In the dim moonlight, it's color remains a mystery.
It stops right in front of us. It's content, some kind of pungent liquid drips down drop by drop; staining the little puddle in front of us. The liquid spirals and soon paints the crystal water a dark veil.
Another groan.
Something breaks.
Glass.
More bottles role down.
Akira's hold on me tightens.
The familiar rusty smell of blood sends a shiver through my body.
Was our pursuer injured?
Akira's hand on my face vanishes as he puts it back on the hilt of his sword.
Under the soft moonlight, his hands start to look more and more claw like.
The hand that had caged mine in it starts to feel different.
It gets tighter, rougher.
I don't know why.
I don't understand.
What's happening to Akira?
Who's our pursuer?
Why were they pursuing us?
Where are we?
My mind feels jumbled.
My chest feels constricted.
The burn in my hand was back.
That thing was back.
I want to go back to the Academy.
To the dorm.
To my room with bubly Dhara and intimidating Eboni.
To Dayuu and Inayat.
I want to go back to my mother.
I shouldn't have come.
With Akira to the lower city.
With Inayat to the Academy.
But foolish me was tempted with simple promises of happiness.
And everybody knows when little girls get tempted by the forbidden fruits, the Goblins always get them.
And just like how the village midwife used to say accompanied by cold caress of her bony hands on my cheek, "When Goblins get girls, those who should've been brides, fall sick and die...just like your mother."
Just like my mother.
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Hello again. Sorry Idisappeared. I was going through some stressful times with exams and family issues. But here I am now. So I hope you would enjoy this chapter.
