We have been hunting all morning and honestly, it was so boring partly because I never seemed to strike even a single prey and since I have been sitting on this horse all morning, my butt was seriously hurting and I don't think I could go on for another minute.
I slowly fell behind the others and alighted from my horse. "Let's take a quick rest, I bet you are also tired." I talked to the horse while stroking its nose.
I needed somewhere to rest my back. I sighted a very large tree to the side and pulled my horse towards it. "Stay put Snowflake," I commanded as I moved to lean on the tree but I was shocked as it gave way behind me and I fell backward. I heard my horse neigh in panic but the sound just felt fainter and fainter as I fell.
I tried to stretch my hand to grab onto something, but I only ended up grabbing weak stems that couldn't hold my body weight.
My fall was halted as something sharp got stuck in the sleeves of my hunting gear holding me suspended.
I looked down and I wasn't so far from the ground anymore.
I dug in my pocket using my left hand and retrieved the small knife Ava had tucked in earlier that day.
I slashed at my clothes creating a tear and I continued my fall to the ground making a hard impact.
Back above ground, the white horse galloped away and caught up with the rest, and headed straight to the King.
"Where is your ridder?" The king questioned the horse and it neighed in reply, as though the king understood he, maneuvered his horse and galloped backward the white horse leading the way.
The King came to a stop in front of the big tree and hopped off his horse.
He studied the horse's reaction to the big tree some steps away and walked towards the tree, he pressed on it and an entrance opened up.
He couldn't help but wonder how this managed to exist under his nose. He didn't waste another minute and jumped into the entrance.
There was a sound of someone behind me and I turned back to see the King land gracefully behind me. "Why is it you? I hissed before going back to examining the cave I had fallen into.
The cave looked very normal except for the magical circles on the wall and heavily around the raised platform in front.
There was a floating white ball on the raised platform that caught my attention and I walked purposely towards it.
"Don't touch anything." The king ordered from behind.
"Do I look like I'm going to touch anything?" I hissed, my fingers slowly jutting forward towards the ball.
The ball immediately turned red the moment my fingertips came in contact with it.
"See, nothing happened." I boasted as I turned to face the King only for me to be faced with a barrage of arrows flying my way.
I was at a loss for what to do and froze up, but I was immediately jerked towards the side by the tips of my hair.
"How dare you drag me by my hair!" I screamed immediately after I got my footing, anger roaring through my veins.
"You would be dead if I didn't." The king dismissed my comment and focused on getting us out of there as my touching that ball had set off some kind of trap.
The King managed to wade off the series of attacks but it didn't seem to be ending anytime soon, coupled with the fact that a clear liquid started to seep through the rocks and land below. When the first drop hit him he knew it was poisonous.
"When I give the signal, you make your way to that boulder." He ordered as he figured there had to be a smooth way into the cave.
"You shouldn't order me around…" I started to argue but my words were immediately cut short by the King's signal. I thought better of it and decided to run to the boulder as he had instructed.
On getting behind the boulder there indeed was an exit but it was divided by a very deep opening. I peeped over the edge but I could only see so far and the rest was filled with darkness, I couldn't see the bottom.
"What are you waiting for? Fly over." The King said as he walked over to join me.
"Stop bossing me around…" my words were once again cut short as I felt his arms wrap around me before elevating and flying over. My cheeks burned bright red, my hands stuck in the air not knowing where to place them.
"Let go of me! This ball is getting hotter." I cried out as I felt the ball I had pushed into my clothes start to heat up immediately after my feet touched the other side.
"You took the ball." The king stated deadpan as he took steps away from her.
I hurriedly dropped the ball as it started to sizzle. "I wonder what this is…" I wondered squatting low, I noticed some writing on it and tried to read it better by rolling it to the side but I was shocked as the ball melted and stuck to my upper arm.
"Arrrr!" I heard myself scream, pain racking through my veins where the ball had attached to me.
As suddenly as the pain came it disappeared. I looked down to notice it was now a shimmering blue tattoo.
"You do need to keep your fingers to yourself and stop touching things ." The King spoke up from where he stood observing everything that was going on without making a move.
The King ignored me and moved to walk past where I stood only for him to be taken aback by the hard jolt on his hair from behind, he went tumbling backward but grabbed onto my waist as he went down, surprising me.
"Don't ever tug on my hair, Mr King." I bit out angrily as I moved to stand up but I could only feel the grip on my waist tighten as the King stared into my eyes, no not eyes…my soul, and for the first time, I actually felt what fear was.
"You are in deep trouble." He bit out, his voice threatening as his eyes slowly turned blood red and his fangs elongated.
Never in his years would he expect a weak girl to tug at his hair.