Fate of Mist

(78) Rustles

   "Miss, you need to leave. You can't continue with us back. Miss Li has brought a group of at least fifteen hired killers with us. They were told to stop a few ways ahead from here, and Miss Li had planned on killing you and the soldiers that are sending us back to Jingcheng. Miss, you need to leave using a different route than what was originally planned," Xiao Lan's voice was shaking. "Seek another route that will branch you away from Jingcheng. I will try to gain you as much time as possible, but, Miss, run. Run right now."

   Xiao Lan grabbed my wrist and pushed me deeper towards the darkness of the forest. Lightning flashed once, brightening the twisted and marred forest path. I looked back at Xiao Lan once, her expression grave.

And then I ran.

I don't know if it's because of my internal instinct telling me that something was indeed off, or I retained my trust for Xiao Lan. I trusted her when she said that she followed Miss Li here for me, thus I will trust her now when she said that Miss Li intended to kill me.

I ignored the urge of turning around and looking at Xiao Lan again, the urge of hesitating.

This is not the first time I've ran in the woods, but this is the first time I have to run on behalf of my life.

The snaps of twigs under my feet matched the heartbeat inside my chest, echoed by the rolls of thunder overhead.

Snap, thud, thunder.

Snap, thud, thunder.

Snap, thud, thunder.

Snap, thud...

The ground gave way beneath my feet, and in the spiral of darkness, my hands met with the forest floor in an attempt to catch my fall. A burning sensation scratched my palm, and I retrieved my hand as I sat up, trying to examine my palm. The moonlight is half covered by the forest top and underneath the dancing shadows, I dimly see a few scratches and dirt on my palm. I felt around my hand, and feeling that, besides the scraped skin, I wasn't bleeding.

I climbed back up and patted the dirt and dry leaves off my outer robe and pants and looked to the forest in front of me. The darkness of the forest possessed a threat that it didn't had when it was day, and every rustle of the leaf and snap of the twig offered a separate sense of danger, leading me to imagine the variety of hazards available around me. The night was not quiet. Leaves danced and creatures stirred. The faint rustling of leaves pounded my instincts to warn me of danger.

I can't stop here. Even if Miss Li's hired killers don't come for me yet, the soldiers from the military camp will come for me, as they are following the Great General's order.

I willed my legs to continue its monotonous routine of swinging back and forth, covering land as fast as I could possibly go. A cramp is starting on my sides, and my legs are burning in soreness.

Giving in to my body's limit, I slowed a bit to catch my breath. I gulped in air like a hungry man and put my hands on my knee, leaning my doubling over body more on my unharmed palm.

I can't. I physically can't keep on. I need to rest for a little while. Just for a minute, or I will collapse before I run another hundred feet. Aiming for the tight cluster of trees, I dragged my tense legs over to the thick trunks to find support. The trees shifted in its different forms, safe thick trunks and smiling dark branches.

I leaned a shoulder on the trunk and breathed heavily as I closed my eyes. Forget about the trees. My imaginative perils versus threats from reality, reality wins.

I haven't figured out the outcome of Landon's problem, yet. I can't die. Although, I won't really die, as Old Man promised, but, again, I did not want to test the promise just yet. I need to stay alive by myself for as long as possible. Though I've have a whole day to think about my matter with Landon, my brain still isn't processing a sufficient plan. I only have so many brain cells to burn before they all die out, and I become, well, I don't exactly know what will become of me. But it's definitely not something good.