The Legacy's Return (#2)

Lies and Agony

Cold. That was all that I was feeling across my arms.

Fast winds were rushing past my face. My face felt heated, especially my cheeks. My eyes were tired. Something wet was flowing out of my eyes. I was crying but I didn't know why. My tears were flying away in the wind, my eyes not blurry. But why was I crying?

I looked around to see where I was heading and saw the castle that was once my home fading away slowly behind me. Lights were glimmering in some places – torches, maybe. People were searching around the castle.

I was breathing out with my mouth. Clouds came out whenever I did that. I looked up at the dark sky and saw the full bright moon and a few stars. It was late at night, maybe even very early in the morning.

I sitting on a saddle from the looks of it and riding through the dense forest. The horse neighed loudly as he jumped over a fallen tree. We had entered the forests. "Thomas?" I whispered, not knowing why I was doing so.

I did have a feeling that the reason we were going somewhere was important. The atmosphere was tense and I was hearing my heartbeat near my ear. I was fearing something. I was afraid. That was a better way of putting forward what it was that I was feeling. I was afraid of something. Or someone.

Why was it so unusually cold? Why was I running away from my home? Why was I afraid of this person? What time was it?

I had a lot of questions on my mind but Thomas and I had a major task at hand – getting out of the Telmarine land as soon as possible. It was absolutely necessary for me to get out of there. Something swished past my face and hit a nearby tree. An arrow. What was happening? I looked around and saw another familiar horse.

"Why is that horse following us?" 

In a normal scenario, I would've asked why he was coming behind us. But with the situation at hand, I knew that the horse was following us. He was running at a speed so that he could catch up with us.

Thomas kept shaking his head. "What is it?" I asked him.

He turned around only for a second and I was able to see why we were running away. It wasn't only the horse that was following us. Someone was riding him. And he was the reason I was running away. He was the reason I was afraid.

"Faster, Thomas!" I screamed, my heart beating faster. I had to get out of there. I had to change trails and run away.

There were several whooshes as I tried to change my course. That person was shooting at us. I had only one place in mind and I had to get there as soon as possible. "Sophie!" That person shouted for me behind us.

But his voice was different. The voice that was once deep like the great ocean, soft like cotton which filled me with a warmth that sunshine never could was now deeper, darker and filled with a wickedness that I could not explain.

I couldn't shake the feeling that I had deep feelings for that person. My heart was telling me to stop running and talk to the person, but my instincts were telling me otherwise. They wanted me out of there.

Every time that the person shouted my name, I was fearing more and more. It was a fear for my safety and for all Narnians. Maybe they were my people?

I was too confused and too distracted to think about why I was running. All that mattered was that I was out of there as soon as possible. I was in search of someone, someone who could help me and protect me.

"There's no point running, Sophie." His voice was taunting me.

That was the same voice that used to comfort me and talk to me without sleeping at night at the small tower that faced the main courtyard. Yet I was running from him, fearing for my safety.

"There's no point running, little princess." A different voice spoke in my head. This was voice was cold and was filled with cruelness.

"Get out of my head!" I screamed inside my head and that person's mocking laughter filled my ears.

I tried shaking it off and achieved it when Thomas stopped running. We had lost the rider and the horse at one point as we hid behind some thickets. Thomas dropped me on the floor gently and moved away from me. He turned around to give me just one look in the eyes. His tear-filled eyes spoke for him. "Run." They pleaded.

He brushed his face against mine and he neighed loudly as he ran away in the direction opposite to where we were intended to go before I could do anything or react and before I could think twice about his decision of saving me over himself.

I tried not to let the overwhelming feeling of losing my only friend at that time get to me as I concentrated on controlling my breathing. I needed to get out of the forests, and I had to do that without drawing attention to myself. The woods were silent and I was the only prey running through it. 

I hid behind a tree as I saw the other horse run behind my horse – my Thomas. There were loud neighs from both of them. I had to stifle a gasp as the weight in my chest increased. I couldn't cry, not after what Thomas did for me.

I turned around and was tackled by someone stronger than me. I was face to face with the rider. He had me in a lock that I couldn't get out of. His grip on my arms were too tight and it definitely started to bruise.

I tried fighting back. I really did. I tried kicking, screaming and hitting him against a tree with all the strength that I had in me. But he was too strong. Because he was on her side. "I told you that you couldn't run away." He said as he pushed me to the ground.

He had me pinned to the ground. I couldn't move. All I could do was look into his dark lifeless eyes as he pulled out a sword from his belt. I wanted to shout for help but my voice was stuck in my throat. He rose his sword up in the air and was about to push it with deep force into my chest when a roar filled the forest. He looked in front of him and something pounced on him, saving me.

"No!" I screamed. 

My face was filled with sweat. I held my forehead as I realized for the second time in a while that I was in my bed. I wasn't out in the forest at all. I breathed out in relief and closed my eyes with my dominant hand. "It was a nightmare."