Walk Into The Shadow: [Book 1]

Unexpected Acquaintances

Elysia ran until she reached a small grove of trees and was out of breath. She stopped and leaned against one of the trees, panting. She could feel the sweat dripping down her forehead as she looked around, taking in the peacefulness of the grove. She felt a sense of calm wash over her. But she knew the tricks of the Enchanted Forest all too well. She quickly remembered why she was running and started to run again, this time even faster. She had to get away before it was too late. She could hear the sound of hooves thudding on the ground behind her, getting louder and closer. She knew the beast was closing in. She had to find a way out of this forest, now.Somewhere deep within the raven, a boy watched her. He was a thief, eyeballing her every move.

The sight of her sword and satchel caught his attention. "What a strange sword", he thought to himself. He had never seen one like it. Swords of that quality were old and obviously valuable.Warriors and knights use hard stuff, designed to withstand compression. He was fascinated by its mystery. It was no use to him unless he could get a few pieces of gold or silver out of it

He played his plan over and over in his head. He figured that if he used the trees and snuck up behind her, he could escape faster. He climbed out of the raven and up the nearest oak tree. " She is fast for her age", he thought. She looked no older than 16 but ran like a trained gladiator. He hopped from branch to branch until she met a road with two paths. " Choose that path,choose the left path." He watched as she took the left path, and then quickly hopped down from the tree and ran after her. He was quickly gaining ground, and he was sure he'd catch up to her soon.

But his luck was short and he fell into one of the traps. Elysia looked back to see a boy dangling from a tree in a net trap. He looked funny up there in the tree and she would have laughed at him if she had the chance. She quickly ran over to help him get out, but the net was too tight. She searched for something to cut the ropes, but there was nothing around. She had to think of something fast before the boy got hurt. " Your sword, hand it to me and I'll cut myself loose." Did he think she was a fool? He must have thought she would hand over the sword that easily. She smiled and said, "I'm afraid you'll have to find some other way to get down from the tree. I'll help you, but I'm not giving you my sword."He looked at her incredulously, but she just smiled in response. He sighed and began to look for something else to cut the ropes with. After a few minutes, he found a sharp rock and was able to cut himself free.

"What a sense of humor she has," he thought. But before he could snatch the sword from her hand and make a run for it, a stone whizzed through the air and hit her smacking her in the head. The last thing Elysia saw was the forest floor closing in as everything became black.