Disgrace [A Loki Fanfiction]

Chapter 2 - Fallen Star

I have travelled through the entire night, ignoring the sting in my eyes and the ache in my body, preservering through my dragging feet and hanging shoulders, carrying the massive bag I had brought with me.

I travelled through the thorny forest at the back of the castle of the royal family Amarthen, up the sloping road toward the Dark Mountains, where vicious creatures were said to live. I had resolved that, as long as I kept my head down and did not bother them, I would live. I would much rather live freely in a dangerous mountain range, than trapped in the clutches of the Lythmic King.

When finally I reached a usable shelter formed by an overhanging rock creating something akin to a shallow cave, I entered it and found it empty. I can see the castle from here, but people looking in this direction will pay me little heed. They would not look in this direction expecting a princess making camp; it is much more likely that they will think the glow to be that of a lost spirit, and the smoke that of a battle between male *Wyrran, vicious creatures that the people in the castle have only heard about in stories.

The moment I set my travel bag down, I collapse on the rocky surface underneath me and instantly fall asleep.

The sound of bells rouse me from my sleep after what seems like minutes, but as I quint against the light of the two suns, I see that it is well past midday. The bells are ringing from the direction of the castle - it would appear as though Father had told the city guard that I have gone missing. It would be best if I kept myself well out of sight.

But as the hours pass, my stomach start to rumble in protest. I have been denying it food in order to get some more sleep, but both attempts prove ineffective - I cannot find a place comfortable enough to sleep, and every time I do, my stomach would give a mighty roar.

I grow annoyed, mostly because of hunger, but also because of discomfort and also something I could only identify as lonliness. I have never been away from civilisation so long.

I decide to search for something to eat, taking with me my hunting knife and a small axe I had stolen from an ornament hanging on my bedroom wall. As I walk through the desolate mountainsite, I try my best to keep track of the turns I take. The further into the mountains I walk, the more greenery I see: first small shrubs, then patches of grass, and finally small trees with small red berries hanging off the branches.

I approach the berries cautiously, aware that they might be poisonous. Sure enough, as I squirt its juice on a nearby patch of grass, the plants start sizzling before my eyes. With an annoyed grunt, I head deeper into the mountains until I finally enter a crevice barely wide enough for me to enter. A new plant appears, one with green-brown fruits growing from it. I pull a face with disgust and squeeze it over a passing insect. The small black bug stopped running, wiggled for a few moments, and then started eating the fruit.

I take this as a good sign, pick a few of the fruits and turn around.

"Oh, Spirits," I breathe, seeing a mighty Wyrran in front of me at the mouth of the crevice, teen feet tall, muscles bulging in its legs and back, teeth as big as my fingers bared in a snarl.

Without hesitating, it strikes, lashing a mighty paw at my face. Its head gets stuck between the two rocks and its paw is caught in the vines near its head. Clutching the berries to my chest, I hurry forward and underneath its legs, running as fast as my legs could carry me. The beast's ear-splitting growl vibrates in my chest and I fear I would faint.

I run down the slope I had come from and head toward my cave, but soon I hear the Wyrran's growls following me. I know that it is bound to be much faster than I am, but adrenaline pumps through my veins, and I am sure it is more concentrated than my blood to enable me to run at this speed. Within minutes I am on the large patch of rock at the mouth of my new home. The Wyrran follows. It stops running when it sets eyes on me, growling at me through massive teeth. I have no idea where to run to now.