Immortal Mortals

Growing Awareness

No sooner had Meili let her horse fly, than the men who had been watching her closely, sped towards her on their horses, closing the gap fast.  

It took her some time to realize they were bearing down on her, but when she did, she immediately swung to the right and gave her horse a sharp kick to it's side to bring up the speed as she raced to the edge and straight back out onto the path.  

No sooner had she emerged from the dense forest, than all 6 men emerged in front of her, completely surrounding her.  Before she could do anything, one had already taken hold of her horses reigns and with a smirk followed by laughter from his friends, they began to lead her back into the forest.

"Pretty little thing ain't ya?" one them grinned at her through his filthy stained teeth as he ran his fat fingers though her hair.

"Don't even think about screaming." another one sneered at her, as they all began to laugh again.

Suddenly the memories of her past and the reason why her brother had insisted she hid behind the mud he would plaster on her face to keep her features hidden from view, came back to her.  The days of fear that she had thought were finally behind her, suddenly came back with a vengeance as they led her off the main path and deeper into the forest.  Knowing that begging would only increase their laughter, and attempting to run would infuriate them, her eyes began to darken. 

And as they led her into the darkest part of the forest where no one would hear her, suddenly an inner fire began to ignite deep within her belly, a fire born from those long fearful miserable years that she no longer wanted to return to.  Without thought or warning, the pure hatred that the multitude of men from her past who had caused their miserable existence erupted from every pore of body as her raging fury began to overwhelm her.

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By the time Jie and Ai returned, they found Tai on the path at the bottom of the hill pacing furiously, his face dark with worry, the horses saddled and ready to leave.  

"She's been gone for almost 3 hours." he stormed, close to tears.  And having already prepared his horse to leave when they arrived, Jie and Ai, suddenly felt their blood run cold.  It wasn't like Meili to disappear for so long, not when she rarely left the house alone, and when she did, she always came back within an hour.  To be gone this long, had them all worried.

"There is only one place she could have gone, blackberries only grow in one part of the forest." Ai informed them, as Tai quickly mounted his horse, and Ai quickly mounted her own as Jie turned his around , and without another word, they sped towards the forest.

No sooner had they arrived, than Tai instantly jumped from his horse to scout the land.  Pointing down at the rough dirt, he drew their attention to the hoof prints, including the horse that Meili was riding, its hoof prints clearly discernible by the shoes that he himself had made for it.  "There's  6 of them." he said suddenly near tears, as he once again mounted his horse and immediately took off into the forest after them, ignoring Jies warning to pull back.

"Damn that boy." he muttered under his breath, as they both took off after him, and as he raced to get his horse ahead of him, Ai flew past the both of them.   

"Ai!" Jie roared after.  Kicking the side of his horse hard, giving his horse its head without a thought for his own safety as the trees flew past him at great speed, Jie reached out for her reins, but she swerved to avoid him, causing his anger to flare immediately.

But no sooner had the thought of dealing with her disobedience, than Meili suddenly came into view.  Pulling in the reins hard, his horse reared up as he came to an immediate halt, causing the dirt and dead leaves below him to fly about them as Ai and Tai arrived seconds later.