~. thorns and roses .~

3

•______________•
No time for rest,
No pillow for my head
No where to run from this,
No way to forget
•_______________•

     Bright sun rays beat down upon the Earth, heating up anything it touched. The light seeped through my closed eyes, consciousness flooding into my mind.

     At first, the water still surrounding me didn't seem odd in the slightest, as I had not fully registered what it was quite yet. However as my mind and body started to adjust, memories of the previous night began to flood back.

     It had seemed like such a normal night at first, even with the dragon near. It wasn't uncommon for the malicious creature to soar up ahead. Just stay quiet, and stay safe. That's what Nymph used to say. Nonetheless, it seemed that the beast the previous night was out for blood, and burnt down my hut in it's fiery rage.

     Not only the hut, but everything inside. The journal I kept, gone. Clothing, gone. Everything must be reduced to ashes by now.

     . . .

     Something isn't right.

     The egg! I shot up hastily, now noticing the weight that has been lifted off my chest. Prying open my tired eyes I splashed through the water furiously, searching left and right for the egg. The glistening obsidian surface was no where to be seen.

     "Looking for this?" An unfamiliar voice cut through the air like a knife, as I froze. Someone was here. Someone was watching me. And someone had my egg.

     I slowly turned my head towards the direction of the voice, and I could make out the shape of a person, holding the egg in the shadows of the trees. It seemed thankfully, the fire didn't reach this far.

     "Who are you?" I rasped, my voice harsher than I had originally meant. The figure took slow steps out of the shadow, a shit-eating grin on their face.

     "Oh, no one special. I just saw you here, with this egg.." They started, staring at the currently glowing egg in fascination. "Blood had been surrounding you, so I assumed you could not take care of it any more. Was I wrong?" The person started, looking down into the river to meet my gaze.

     "Yes!" I spoke without thinking, struggling to try and scramble up the steep riverbed. "Give it back, now!"

The figure, which I could now make out to be male, chuckled. "Well if you would calm down, I can toss it down to you." His words rang through the air, and I wasn't quite sure whether I should trust this man.

It was worth a shot, at the very least, I suppose. Trying to calm my nerves, I stopped trying to scale the riverbed, and instead fell silent, and still. The water lapped at my calves, as I glowered up at the man.

Getting down onto his knees, the man as gently as possible tossed the egg down. My heart lurched in fear, as I held my arms out to catch it, and thankfully, I did. "Take good care of that," He added, "It may save your life one day." And with that, he started to stride off out of my line of sight.

"Wait!" I called up to the male, "What's your name?" The question sprung forth out of utter curiosity, and gratitude.

With a slight pause, he turned, with that same grin that he first had. "Torrance." The answer came. The man, whom I now knew to be named Torrance, continued his walk forwards, until he left my sight completely.

Silence fell upon the river, excluding the harsh sounds of water beating against rock. I ran over the man's words in my head, to make sure I didn't miss some sort of trick. However his words all deemed to be genuine. Though he had said something about blood.. was I bleeding?

My gaze drifted to the water surface, where I could see blood staining the rocks where I had been sleeping soundly. What could that be from?

It was at that moment that the sharp pains in my back became noticeable. I hadn't felt it fully before, as my mind had been focused on other things. But now, as I stare at my own blood that taints the rocks, throbbing pains emit from my back, and my legs in a few places.

The rocks must have punctured through the thin garments I wore. No matter, I still had to keep going, even if I was in pain.

With heavy steps, I managed to trudge through a shallow part of the river to the other side. I my arms wrapped firmly around the egg, and I constantly glanced down at it, praying to Odin it was not harmed.

     For now, all I could do was hope, and keep moving. The forest on the other side of the forest was more thinner than the other side. Thankfully.

     After what seemed like hours of walking, though it was probably only around 45 minutes. I could see lights up ahead, which I could only hope to be a house or town of some sort.

Upon approaching the source of light, I came to realize it was only a lantern, resting upon a log. However, the log stood beside a rugged path, leading to god knows where.

A path, could be a good thing, though. Usually paths lead to places with people, and that is exactly what I need. Starting to trudge forth on the path, I could feel mud seeping through the fabric of my boots. It was not a good feeling, that was for sure.

This area seemed to be recently rained on. Perhaps the night before? It would make the most sense, anyways.

The mud started to decrease as I got further up the path, and my feet felt disgustingly wet and soggy. As I had been walking my shoes had finally started to dry, and now they were horrid feeling once more.

As the mud turned to dirt, the forest also started to thin out, less trees blocking my way. The path was starting to thin out, and so was my patience.

     I had been walking for quite a while now, and the egg was starting to get heavy. It wasn't terribly big or anything, but after what seemed like forever of carrying it, it can definitely get heavy.

     It had now been a few hours since I had started my journey to find some sort of place to stay, or at least find someone that would be willing to help, even if it was just a bit. I could see the outskirts of a town up ahead, and hope was starting to blossom within my mind.

     Perhaps I could get a bit of shelter here. I was able to just walked straight into the town, and almost immediately I got a few fearful looks, as people glanced down at the shimmering black egg in my arms.

     Ignoring the odd looks, I continued to tread forward, my eyes darting around for some sort of Inn or shack. Anything, really. I could faintly hear footsteps approaching from behind, though I assumed it was just someone walking past. That is, until someone tapped my shoulder harshly.

     Surprised by the action, I spun around and looked at the person, who was dressed in regular everyday attire that you'd expect to see someone wearing in a town like this.

     I thought nothing of the female who stood before me, until I acknowledged the stern, and fierce expression on her face. "Follow me." She hissed, her voice lowered.

     And with only a moment's worth of hesitance, I followed her.