Pandora's Box

Chapter 6: III

At the bottom of a hill, Pandora rushed for a stallion of the deepest ebony. The horse was tied loosely to a tall pewter gas light that stood watch over a crossroad's nexus. A man fumbling with the front of his trousers emerged from behind a nearby tree just as Pandora flung herself up into the saddle.

"Stop! Thief!" The man shouted.

Pandora fixed the man with an icy glare.

"By the gods! Apologies, princess. I'd no idea it was you I didn't."

Pandora's eyes filled with indigo fury and she sliced the air with a sharp gesture. The man instantly clutched at his throat. His eyes bulged wider, quickly filling with streaks of bloodshot vessels. Pandora sneered as dust trickled from the corners of the doomed man's mouth.

"Pandora! Stop! That's enough!"

Pandora's head snapped around, streaks of purple energy burning the air around her eyes. Donovan scrambled down the hill and fell to his knees beside the choking man, draping an arm over his shoulders. "I said that's enough."

Donovan's command came steady, full of confidence as Drake's voice used to. The heart wrenching sound drove a rail through Pandora's chest. She let go of the flashing hatred she'd conjured and the energy faded from her eyes. Tears quickly filled the empty spaces. Pandora wheeled the horse toward a well-traveled path branching from the main road, started the stallion, and bolted.

The stallion pounded the dirt path, kicking up a long trail of dust as it sped across the open countryside. Within a beat or two, Donovan vanished behind a wall of honey-colored dust. Pandora's crimson locks spilled free of their intricate braids and rippled behind the nape of the fleeing princess's neck. A fierce breeze whipped past, swiping the shimmering veil from beneath her eyes. For a split second, the pain flittered away on the wind rushing by her face.

For a split second, she was free.

Then, the eerie melody—the music box—floated back to the edge of Pandora's ability to hear.

Pandora strained for the haunting tune, feeling it deep within the blood pounding in her temples. She turned over her shoulders, hoping for a glance at some distant merchant's wagon or cooking fire that may have been the origin of the song.

Nothing...

As though sensing the princess's desire, the stallion leaned left for a thinner, less-worn trail, cutting through tall grass the color of sunlight. With her darkest hour set firmly at her back, Pandora allowed the borrowed mount to spirit her to the edge of a murky copse of tall petrified trees. The horse neighed once then rooted the grass in the shadows of the ossified palisade.

Pandora dismounted and stood in awe. Funny. I don't remember this being here. The princess reached for the closest tree. A snap of magical energy, cold like a January frost, crackled around her fingertips, surging up her arm as she pushed farther in. Reason found its way back into her thoughts, and Pandora abruptly jerked free. She stared at her limb's pale skin, slowly rotating her wrist and flexing her fingers. Despite the sudden freezing cold, her skin remained unharmed. A few errant notes from the phantom music box played once more. This time Pandora found the source easily.

She took a breath and stepped into the shadows.