Zara could feel her heart hammering against her chest, hair snagging on tree branches as she ran. Her legs felt as if they were about to give way, the girl unused to covering such far distances...not on land at least...at the pace she was going. She thought she could still hear the angry voices following behind her, the howling of dogs right on her heels.
She knew she would have to stop eventually, her breath was beginning to feel like knives in her chest every time she dragged in a bit of air.
Just a little bit further....Zara thought to herself. She knew it might not be the fallen tree trunk on the path ahead where she would stop. Or even the next. With the amount of fear coursing through her, she knew she was lying to herself about halting her sprint. Zara wouldn't be stopping until her lungs and legs completely gave out on her.
However, fate had other plans for her.
Her leg suddenly caught in a thick, sticky mud of the swamp that sucked her foot until she was knee deep in the stuff. That was all fine and well, except at the speed she had been going this sudden grasp made her flick head-over-heels into the soil in front of her. She landed with a hard
thud, knocking any minuscule amount of air she had been able to breath right back out of her.
She rolled over with a wheeze, using the sleeve of her now torn and raggedy dress to wipe at her mouth, not shocked to see the red blotch of blood that stained the cloth. It wasn't hers, she knew. It was leftovers that coated her lips from her last meal. A meal which had which had been interrupted by the villagers now chasing her.
The hunger pangs that had plagued her before were only just beginning to subside. Even the small mouthfuls she had gulped down before needing to run had been enough. Zara had just been so hungry...she hadn't even wanted to wait to cook the chicken she had stolen and killed from the farmer. The same farmer whose dogs were tracking her trail as she lay there gasping for breath.
Sirens could eat any meat at all, whether it was raw or burnt or from strange exotci creatures. As long as it was fresh, the state of it didn't matter. It was still a large portion of their diet and after not eating for four days Zara had been desperate. She knew now though that her desperation had made her stupid and she had allowed herself to be caught. All it had taken was one look at her neck and the farmer had known what she was. Her gills, although closed when not in water, were plain to see.
"
You watery witch, I'll have you hanging from the rafters before you can even open your mouth!" He had screamed at her, hands like claws grasping for her all to late. She had been up and running from the moment she had seen the look in his eyes.
Zara pulled her foot out with a loud sucking noise from the mud, forcing herself to keep running when the sound of the dogs closing in made her heart pump hard once more. She looked back as she ran, trying to see how close they were...only to run straight into a breastplate of armor. She bounced, falling straight back to the ground. Only this time, her head was reeling so much she didn't think she could get up as quickly.
"
Ouch..." She muttered, closing her eyes to try and stop the colours which were swarming in her vision.