Chapter 2 - Flight

I reached the castle gardens, nearly slipping on a loose tile as i skid to a halt to turn the corner. ( I need to make it as far as possible before sunset. Mothers allergy to sunlight will prevent her from following until then.) I look around frantically for a moment forgetting which direction i am headed. (AH) Spotting the draped branches of my willow. I pick up my pace and run toward the trunk of it as if i have become an angry bull with no fear of smashing into it head on, for i know what lay beneath the branches.

I had discovered this place on my tenth birthday and nearly every day i return to it. Whether it is to escape palace life for a short while or just to relax without being bothered by royal duties or chores. However this time i return is a matter of utmost importance, I know this is the only way I can leave the castle with no-one noticing my leaving or my absence. At least until I have gotten far enough away to not be followed, far enough to find someplace to hide and not be discovered.

Turning my attention back to the task at had I take swift action and jump, tucking my body to fit through the hole, naturally formed into the wood, coming out on the other side of the castle wall. I tumble to the ground nearly falling into the thin stream at the base of the old tree. Brushing off the dirt from my now torn dress I leap across the shallow water and continue my sprint into the maze before me.

The stalks slap my sides, my arms and my legs, stinging and cutting as i charge through the dense growth. I feel I can not get far enough from the horrors i have just witnessed. ( Why is this happening? I will not forgive her. Why Stella?....mother...what is she.)

Lost in thought i failed to keep my footing, tripping, my momentum sends me sliding a few feet away. I shreak as something sharp drives itsself into my thigh, breathing heavily, i cry out in pain as tears run down my face. I look down and see it, an old, rusty hatchet has embedded into my leg, the pain is almost too much to bare, i need help but i know i must keep moving.

Thinking quickly, I grab a corn stalk and place it between my teeth. Tearing a section from my velvet dress, I prepare myself for what i have to do. I place my hand on the hilt and bite down on the stalk, a gurgled shreak echoing the field as i free the rusty object from my thigh causing the blood to flow freely, soaking the ground beneath me.

i freeze for a period of time, lost somewhere between pain and anguish and not knowing how much time has passed. The horrific events once again play through my head, my leg throbbing as it freely bleeds into the ground around me. A vision of my mothers face contorted into something terrifying flashing across my mind, eyes red, fangs dripping, fingers long and blackend, hanging from the rafters by her feet.

A shockwave goes through me as the realization hits me that i need to move. I shake my head trying to clear my fuzzy thoughts, (I need to move, I need to find help, I need to hide.) I am running out of time to be able to put any distance between myself and my kingdom. (Pray she does not catch me.)

At this point it has become hard to see, the pain and blood loss nearly blinding me. I tightly tie the velvet I have been gripping for some time around the deep gash in my leg. Forcing myself to my knees, i feel around the ground, grabbing an old hoe to keep myself from falling and force myself to stand. I painfully take a few unstable steps and continue toward the large, face shaped hill before me.

The sun has begun to set as i reach the odd hill. Painfully I drive myself up the incline and collapse as I reach the dense canopy above me. I sit up and prop myself against the nearest tree and scan the area around me, seeing the trail of my own blood i have left in my wake.

Suddenly the earth beneath me quakes and starts to shift. I hold fast to the tree I was leaning against as I rise higher into the air.( The hill is rising? No. its not a hill.) Terror hits me, sending me into a state of shock as I realize I have woken something very large and likely even more ancient.

Without realizing, I had let go of the only thing keeping me safe in this situation and find myself being thrown, as if I had become a cloth doll, from tree to tree. Unable to scream, incapable of making a sound, helpless and certain i would die i begin to lose consciousness.

My eyes clouded, my mind becoming dark, I feel my body become cradled by someone softly. I just barely can make out the silhouette of a man, Though i can not see him clearly, however, when he turns his face to me I can see his eyes, bright, piercing, silvery blue, but with a look of sorrow that makes my heart sink. I wish to speak to him, to know who he is but am no longer able to keep my eyes open as my body seems to plunge into to darkness around me. I feel a sense of security as my body goes limp and allow my eyes to finally close as i succumb to the gentle sway of his movements through the treeline. I hear him tenderly step from branch to branch, tree to tree, drifting into a deep slumber, body and mind fully drained of any energy within them from the events that took place on this day.