The Sword of Blood and Roses

Chapter 7: The Norm Hereafter

Pira awoke to sound of a babbling stream and annoying little birds that were chirping in the distance. Pira sat up making sure her friend stayed asleep before slinking over to the creek and plunging her head right in. The water rushed over her neck and sent a shock through Pira's Body waking her up into a nightmare. But despite the new alertness, Pira sill kept her head underwater.

Many people don't know this, but if you stuck your head under water deep enough, you would come to a place where the water rarely moved or didn't feel it move. It was calm and serene and given a choice, Pira would have stayed down there forever more. But unfortunately for her, the dream was only something you felt at night, and the nightmare was the reality.

Pira pulled her head out gasping for breath. Her hair was soaked, but at least the thorns were out. She sat back and slicked her hair back. The sun was high in the sky once again, meaning that she and Karin had slept for nearly a day.

Wonderful.

Pira looked back to find Karin still peacefully asleep as if the horrors of the world had yet to affect her innocence. In some ways, Pira wished she could be like Karin.

One last time Pira dunked her head in the water in order to wipe away the last few remnants of sleep from her body. This time when she pulled her head out to breath, she could hear Karin's small yawn and the rustle of grass behind her.

"Have you been awake long," Karin asked rubbing her eyes.

"No," Pira said.

"Oh that's good, I would feel bad if you had been up for hours," Karin said. The girl stood up brushing off the leaves and grass that had attached to her skirt in the night. She walked over to Pira, sitting on the banks of the stream and dipping her feet in. "So do you happen to have a plan."

"Yep," Pira said. "We have to avoid my mother, so my best guess is to move around constantly. Never stay somewhere for more than a day or two. Follow the stream. And most importantly pray"

"Do you think it will work?"

Pira gave a shrug, "what choice do we honestly have?"

The silent answer that hung in both of their minds was no. There was no choice; there were no options. Anybody they asked for help would be put in the path of a violent storm. No royal family would risk harbouring two princesses on the run. Not when one was the daughter of a mad queen.

" We will be okay," Karin assured, even though the words flowed like lead from her tongue. "Will be okay."

Pira stared ahead. Her icy blue eyes, those so much like her mothers, unblinking, unmoving.

~

They stuck to their plan and began to follow the stream east, stopping every now an again to rest and drink some water. The farther east they went, the more cloudy the sky became and the more the wind whistled through the trees. Footfall could be heard from behind them, every step sounding like thunder to Karin. Pira grabbed her amulet turning it into a sword and holding it protectively in front of her.

Every crunch of leaves forced Pira to swing her sword to the origin of that noise only to find nothing. Eventually, Pira motioned for Karin to move off the path; the two ducked behind a bush.

"What's going on" Karin tried to ask only for Pira to shush her. The blue eyes girl then motioned to a few creatures coming from the woods and down the paths. The creatures were large and hulking a couple being as tall as a young tree. The creatures were midnight in colour and goopy in a sense, large pieces of a tar-like substance would drip from the beasts. They had no eyes, no ears, no facial features: just arms, a torso and legs.