Strangers of the Forsaken.

Chapter One: Part Three.

Chapter One: Part Three.

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Frantically, Laylah quickly and helplessly began to look all around her for something, anything that she could potentially use as a weapon. She had to think fast of course, she needed something worthy of defending herself with. After all, the man standing before Laylah looked as if he could simply lash out and strike her at any given moment. As the gap between this man and young Laylah began to rapidly grow shorter, she began to feel her panicked breathing quicken. Taking another shaking step backward into the wet grass, the terrified girl then suddenly felt something solid beneath her frozen feet. Risking a rather quick look down to satisfy her curiosity, her frightened eyes were then met with nothing more than the mere sight of a fallen tree branch. Luckily for Laylah, the branch looked to be just about the right thickness to cause some significant damage, if swung hard enough at another person's head. Warily and while taking great caution, Laylah then bent down slowly to grasp and pick up the branch, all the while keeping her eyes well and truly locked on those of the stranger. The man soon enough took such a moment as a golden opportunity to quicken his pace, raising his abnormally large hands in a threatening strangling motion. Running straight towards the exact spot where the girl had been standing, he was damn near almost able to grab her. She was just about able to move herself out of the way in time, before taking a daring leap upwards and bringing the tree branch straight down hard onto the man's head. Laylah watched in a state of the most joyous delight, as her stalker then fell to the ground in screeching pain. A deep, thankful sigh of relief escaped her lips, at the immensely satisfying sound of the man's head hitting the ground with a thud. The Princess of course wasted no time at all in hightailing it as far away from the scene as her already fatigued legs could carry her. She most certainly did not wish to be there at all, when the man would finally awaken from his well-deserved slumber. The very thought of what he could possibly do to her, caused her to shudder tremendously. The most uncomfortable of shivers were sent coursing throughout her entire body.

After what had felt to Laylah like approximately eight to ten minutes of non-stop running, she finally came to a slow and gradual stop. In an attempt to regain her breath, she rested both her hands on her knees where she stood. In itself, her breathing was still extremely labored and her pained throat was hoarse. In her most desperate bid to finally make her escape from the castle she once lived in, the Princess had completely and utterly forgotten to ensure that she brought along any water. Come to think of it, her whole entire escape in itself had been very slap-dash, meaning she had not packed any worthwhile survival supplies at all. In spite of this rather inconvenient setback however, Laylah was most certainly still filled with the burning spark of motivation to push herself forward. She wanted nothing more than to go on and finally, once and for all, to uncover the many hidden secrets behind the numerous dark and sinister fairytales. She couldn't deny that she was frightened though, every few seconds the apprehensive young girl would turn sharply, taking a moment to look behind herself as she walked tentatively.

No matter just how many times she repeatedly told herself that the creatures she'd been hearing about weren't real, there was still that little something, deep inside of her that would loudly scream the opposite. Throughout all of her life, she had been told endless stories of dark, evil monsters with multiple heads and bright, gleaming eyes with the dazzling power to completely take over whoever they so pleased. Any poor soul so unfortunate to stare directly into such irresistible eyes, would have their very heart and mind totally and utterly placed under the very control of these merciless creatures. Many a person before Laylah had also gone missing from her very homelands without a trace, never to be seen again. Those who truly believed in the creatures of evil, had always been claiming that these monsters had been purposefully kidnapping human beings and putting them through the most horrific of tortures. Even after a great number of years spent searching in some cases, no lead of any kind could be found that could indicate these people's whereabouts.