Chapter 2 #2
Low fog trailed around the towering trees, thickening the air.
She ran her fingers over the trees’ warped bark as she passed, checking that everything was real.
The air smelled clean and rich. A sweet aroma lingered over the fallen leaves that covered the moist soil.
This was an old forest—ancient, perhaps.
Birdsong echoed against the mountain. The forest seemed aware of her presence as shadows shifted between the trees, sending a shiver across her skin.
The woodland seemed endless. She limped past hundreds of small blue flowers that lined the forest floor like a blanket as she searched for a way out.
Was this a hidden valley? No, it couldn’t be. Someone would have mapped it. Someone would have written about it.
Her eyes widened at an enormous red flower in bloom. Its expansive petals covered the tree’s roots, while hundreds of small teeth-like structures ringed a gaping hole at its centre. The damp earth soiled her trousers as she knelt before it, picked up a nearby twig and prodded at the petals.
The forest fell into an eerie, suffocating silence. There was a presence that she couldn’t explain.
A violent rush of leaves broke the silence. She had no time to react as a monstrous figure crashed towards her through the trees.
Ignoring the stabbing pain in her leg, she bolted, dodging trees and leaping over the gnarled roots. The creature followed, shrieking in frustration.
Her breaths came hard and fast, burning her throat. She’d escaped the pit of the mountain only to be killed by this creature.
The trees ahead thinned. Beyond them, there would be nowhere to hide from the creature. She could not outrun it.
Sunlight dazzled her as she cleared the trees, and an arrow came whistling past her ear.
She dropped and rolled through the meadow, the soft grass cushioning her fall.
When she looked back, the arrow had pierced the creature’s flesh.
She gaped at its emaciated limbs as it turned and ran back into the forest with a bloodcurdling shriek.
What was that? It couldn’t be real. Surely it was her imagination.
It was tall like an enormous bear but much thinner, with elongated arms that ended in sharp, curling claws. Its face was skeletal, goat-like, with horns that curled and twisted away from its head.
“What in the name of the gods was that?” she gasped.
Amelia glanced up towards her saviour, squinting in the sunlight. A group of men towered above her—or what she first thought were men. Their unnatural eyes were shades of lilac and ice blue that shifted in the light. Their ears were longer than hers and tapered to a point.
They stared back at her, mirroring her own confusion. She couldn’t tear her eyes away. She hadn’t seen men like that before.
This was all wrong.
This wasn’t her world, but it had to be.
One of them grabbed her arm, dragging her to her feet. He spoke to her in a language that she couldn’t understand, although parts of it sounded similar to her own.
“What was that?” She gestured wildly towards the forest. “Where am I? Who are you?” The questions tumbled out of her.
The man holding her tilted his head, considering.
“You speak the old tongue.”
Amelia’s brow furrowed. “What? What do you mean, the old tongue?”
There’d been no mention in the records of any tribes living near the mountains.
Not for hundreds of years. Their kingdom’s nearest neighbours were far from the mountains.
What foreign land had she accidentally discovered?
Why did they refer to her language as ‘the old tongue’, and why didn’t she already know about it?
She would have known. This wasn’t right.
The group of men began speaking rapidly among themselves. The archer led them away. Apparently, they had decided she was coming too; the others dragged her along as she trembled in their grasp.
“Where are you taking me?” she demanded as her initial shock began to recede.
They ignored her, continuing to talk among themselves. She twisted free from the man’s grip and ran with no thought of where she was going. Anywhere was better than the forest. The tall grass rustled as it tangled around her legs and slowed her, but they were faster.
She slammed into the earth. A man’s weight pinned her down, stealing her breath. They were taller than normal men; their strength was obvious from their broad shoulders and heavily muscled arms. She struggled against his weight, trying to push herself up as she kicked wildly.
Hands seized her shoulders. Two of the men lifted her as though she weighed nothing and carried her away, holding her tightly enough that she couldn’t wriggle free.
They hadn’t tried to hurt her yet. Maybe they were helping her. There was obviously a language barrier. She should stay calm. Think.
They marched through the tall grass where the forest had ended, leaving the mountain’s shadow behind.
The land looked so familiar, yet she couldn’t place it. She would have remembered this place.