Call Me Slayer

Chapter Seven

I hear the sound of Marcy pounding some berries as I dry another plate. We've been at this for hours. Before, I had been the one mashing berries, but Marcy said that I wasn't doing it correctly. She had then taken the bowl from me and pointed me towards four sinks; all were filled with dishes.

All of the sudden, a thought pops into my head. "Marcy, do you have a last name?" Realizing how stupid that sounds, I open my mouth to apologize, but Marcy beats me.

"Of course I have a last name! My full name is Marcy Anika Richotte." She says as I finish cleaning the last dish. She walks over to a cabinet and puts the berry juice in a jar while I hang up the dish rag and put away a stack of wooden bowls.

"I think it's time for both of us of go to bed, you'll probably want to head out tomorrow." Marcy says as we walk out of the kitchen.

"You want me to leave?" I'm surprised, I thought she enjoyed my company. But on the other hand, I have a mission to attend to. I need to find that dragon!

"No, it's not that. You know why you need to go." I skip into the room that I have been staying in. "Goodnight." She says.

"Goodnight."

Sighing, I wash my body using the the cloth in the basin that has been set up in the room. I comb my fingers through my hair and pull on a pale purple nightgown. With a quick motion of my head, I am looking at myself in the mirror. My cheeks are burnt red because of the amount of time that we spent in the sun. My shoulders have acquired freckles and my hair has grown longer, now at waist length.

Giving myself a bright smile in the mirror, I turn away and head over to bed. I love this, I really really do. I've never been this happy, being with only one other person in the woods. I'm dreading taking my leave tomorrow. Every good thing has to come to an end, though.

And with that, I fall asleep.
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I find myself in front of an eerie mountain range. The mountains themselves are a weathered blue and are capped with snow. Behind me, there is a thick forest full of thorns and bushes.

Without warning, I start to choke. Leaning over, I try to breathe as my lungs close up. As soon as the feeling started, it comes to a stop. Standing up, I begin to wonder what happened. Taking seat on a nearby rock, I come to a conclusion. I probably just took in too much air. Yup, that's it.

A loud roar pierces through the air. Jolting up, I look around for what could have caused the sound. My palms begin to sweat when I can't find anything.

My neck feels suddenly warm. My eyes open wide as I realize what is behind me. Heading into the mountains, I run from the dragon behind me. it begins to spit fire everywhere and the fire singes my heels. I need a place to hide in.

I sprint into a cave in the mountain, and soon after I realize that the dragon can get in. It hovers over me and begins to open its jaws. I close my eyes, awaiting my death when...
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"Haven! Haven, wake up!" Marcy whisper yells. She's shaking me urgently, with a fearful look in her eye.

"What is it?" I groan.

"They're here, the guards are here! You need to leave!" She grabs my arm and yanks me out of the bed. Impossible, how could they have found me here? We're in the midst of the woods, there's nothing but trees for miles!

Marcy grabs my brown bag and stuffs something in there. She then hands it to me and rips the mattress off the bed. "We don't have much time, crawl under the bed frame and move the rug. There should be a hole under the rug that you can escape through. Hurry now!"

"What about you?" I ask. I can't just leave her here!

"I'll be fine. I haven't served my purpose yet, I can't die until then. Now go!" She rushes out of the room, closing the door behind her. Zipping my mouth shut, I silently head under the bed and look for the edge of the rug.

I hear the front door creak open and I start to search quicker.

"Hello there Ma'am. We request that we can search your house, we are looking for a fugitive." I hear a deep voice say. Beginning to panic, my breathing comes out in shorter, harsher breaths.

"Of course! But please, do not open the drawers in my room. I have some very private things in there." Marcy replies.

"No problem, Miss." Footsteps echo in the house as a few men enter. The steps get louder and louder while I continue my search for the edge of the rug. Finally, I find it and I peel the corner back. Slipping into the hole beneath me, I let go of the carpet.

In the slightly dark space under the house, there is one unlit lantern and a blazing torch. Grabbing the torch, I light the lantern and put the glass lid on top of it. I place the torch back onto the wall and rush down the passageway.

By the light of the lantern, I rush past the ancient dirt walls and small pebbles. This passage must be really old, I don't think that a new dirt wall would be crumbling like this. I squint my eyes as I try to see the end of the passage, but I have no such luck. I have a feeling that i'm going to be running for a while.
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What is time? What is life? How was I created? Pausing mid-step, I shake my head as an answer for my last question. I do NOT want to know about that. Taking a breath, I continue onwards.

I have been questioning everything for the past, hmm, maybe five hours. You see, I have no way of telling time down here. It's kind of hard to put a time on something if you don't know what time it is, or what time you woke up, or how long you have been staying with a crazy witch.

Pausing to catch my breath yet again, I turn around to see if there's anything behind me. It shocks me when I see that I can't even see the beginning of the tunnel. I give a silent sigh and turn back around. I can't see the end either. This is just an endless tunnel! For all I know, those guards could be down here with me!

Gulping in fear, I continue my trot through the tunnel.

A few minutes later, I see a sliver of light that's not coming from my lantern. My eyes light up and I run even faster. Within ten minutes, I am at the end of the tunnel.

I keel over, in happiness and in tiredness. I'm out of breath, dirty, thirsty, hungry, and oh so angry with the world, but I made it. I thought that I would be in there forever!

Standing up, I observe my surroundings. I'm right in front of lots of lush, green hills. Off to my right, there is a bunch of trees. On my left, well, it's the same thing as the right. About a fourth of a mile in front of me, there is a large body of rushing water. Through the woods, over the river...

Now realizing what Marcy put in my bag, I reach into the bag and pull it out. Setting the heavy book on the ground, I wonder how I'm going to get it open.

All of the sudden, the book flips open and turns to the page with the map. My route is drawn on the paper. Wow, did Marcy do this?

Through the woods, over the river, past the volcanoes and into the mountains.

Grinning at the book, I snap it shut and continue on my journey.
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This chapter reminds me of the Underground Railroad. I hope you enjoyed the chappie!
Banner from: stelliferous- Thanks a bunch!
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QOTC: How was your day?
AOTC: It was pretty great, my sister had to take care of a robot baby and we had a group of people from Uganda at church today.