On the run
Hannah
The forest flew past me as I ran. Back on Earth, I was a personal trainer living in Vienna, freshly in my thirties.
I loved my city and my job, enjoying working with clients and working out myself.
On that fateful day when the aliens attacked, I was working with an elderly client I had trained for about two years.
It had all happened so fast after that. Sometimes I wondered what had happened to her, whether she had been captured like me or whether she had been killed during the attack.
But none of that mattered right now. I needed to run faster.
I had definitely lost some muscle mass during the long time on that spaceship, and my body ached from the lack of movement. If my situation hadn’t been as grave as it was now, I would have been delighted to move my body again. But now was not the time for joy. Now was the time for survival.
I didn’t know how fast my ‘new owner’ would be. Had he already found out I was missing? How fast was he? Would I even be okay alone in the woods on an alien planet? I had been a scout during my school years, but what good would that do now?
It didn’t matter. All I wanted was to put some distance between myself and the landing site.
So I ran, ignoring my bare feet being scraped open by the harsh forest floor.
The thin cotton shift they had put me in before I was flown out here did little to protect me from the cold wind blowing through the trees, but I hardly noticed it.
Moisture built on my forehead, and for now it didn’t matter.
Weaving my way through the trees, running up and down small hills, I suddenly came to a stop when a cliff opened up before me. Below it, the forest continued, but looking to my left and right, the cliff stretched on for kilometres.
I didn’t have time to waste.
Rocks were jutting out of the cliffside.
It was risky, but what did I have to lose?
So, ignoring my common sense, I jumped down onto the first rock.
From there onto the next, and the next. Steadying myself on protruding roots, I made my way down the cliff until I jumped onto the last rock sticking out from the stone.
I had made it a good way down, but now there was quite a gap between the rock I was standing on and the forest floor below. Sucking in a breath, I readied myself and jumped.
Pain shot up from the soles of my feet and into my legs. Cursing under my breath, I rubbed my legs and checked myself for injuries. Luckily, nothing was hurt or broken. That would have been the end of my little adventure.
Shakily, I laughed, relieved that this insane manoeuvre had worked out.
Looking up the cliff, my blood suddenly went cold as I saw a tall creature standing at the top, staring down at me. The sight of him sent cold shivers up and down my spine.
He had found me.
Every nerve in my body screamed at me to run. I spun on my heels and ran into the forest, away from the cliff and away from whatever that huge thing was.
Drokahr
Anger coursed through my veins as I ran through the forest. That brat. That disobedient pet. She would pay.
Every once in a while, I had to stop to track her footsteps. While I wasn’t as skilled a scout as Halvar, I still knew how to orient myself and look for footprints or other signs of another presence.
She was fast, I had to give her that. Her footsteps were at a continuous pace, never slowing down. She had stamina. If I hadn’t been so angry, I might have been impressed by her, even looking forward to a pet who was seemingly quite well trained. A useful skill for a servant.
But right now, it annoyed me more than anything.
I wanted to get back to camp and show her off. My prize for all my hard work. So I continued to chase after her.
She can’t get much farther, I thought. The cliff would surely put an end to this pointless charade. Maybe I would make her sleep outside tonight as punishment, I thought, grinning wickedly to myself.
Her footsteps led directly to the cliff. I slowed my pace to a light jog and looked left and right. In front of me, the forest opened up. I expected to see her tracks continue in one direction or the other, but what I didn’t expect was for them to lead straight towards the cliff and then stop.
Fear seized me. Had she jumped? Was she that desperate?
No, I thought. You can’t. My prize. My pet.
I leaned over the edge, frantically searching for her body below. To my surprise, I saw her. Not lying dead at the bottom of the cliff, but very much alive, standing on a protruding rock and looking down.
And then she jumped.
‘No,’ I croaked, my heart pounding wildly, my breath stuck in my throat.
She disappeared from my view as she fell, only to reappear a few seconds later, seemingly checking herself for injuries. From the way she moved, nothing seemed amiss, and I started breathing again. Relief flooded through me.
Then time seemed to slow as she looked up the cliff and noticed me watching her. For a moment, we simply stood there, silently staring at each other. I wanted to look away but couldn’t. She was far below me, and yet I could feel her gaze fixed directly on me.
Then she spun around and ran into the forest, disappearing from view once more.
A new sense of vigour surged through my body and mind. I was determined to catch her. Her running and my pursuit stirred something primal inside me. I was the predator hunting my prey, and once I caught her, victory would be all the sweeter.
Grinning from ear to ear, showing my fangs, I began to descend the rocks myself.