Shinera sighed into the fresh air of the foreign woods. She were so confident about getting along well on her own, as she left her hometown, that she wouldn’t need any help on her journey, even though she never traveled alone before. But she was grown up, wasn’t she? Knowledgeable and educated, how difficult could such a journey be for her?
And now there she was, with a map in the one hand and a compass in the other, yet she had more and more the feeling of getting lost in those woods. It was embarrassing. Well, if only there were someone to be ashamed. The compass was even
magical, making it easier in use and defining directions. Shinera just … would never ever tell someone about all this.
Putting the compass back into her pocket, she lifted her head, looking across the way in front of her. At least, one could recognize a path. Two parallel lines trampled flat, revealing, that sometimes carriages or carts had to pass, but at the moment, they were almost completely covered with dead, brownish leafs. The path would surely lead out of the forest sooner or later, right?
The way the sun broke through the tree canopy, like curtains of light, waving slow in the soft breeze and across the floor, while denser parts of the forest submerged in darkness, this contrast, it gave the appearance something mystical. The leaves above the treetops rustled loudly, quieter down here and falling silent in the dense depths of the forest.
Only the sound of her own feet stepping through the dead leaves could be heard in the immediate vicinity. But something behind the wall of logs caught her attention. Something that didn't quite fit into the overall picture and soundscape of a peaceful forest.
Shinera slowed down and listened more closely, opening her flow of sound. She noticed water gurgling somewhere near, another sound sometimes cutted sharp through the air, but she couldn’t classify what it were. In a distance something rushed through the woods. Her first thought and fear were wild boars, hopefully no
monsters or worse, but she also recognized some
voices. People? Here? In the nowhere of some lost forest? She quickly scurried off the road and between bushes, ducking behind a tree. Not sure how dangerous the what- and whoever was, that seemed to moving right into her direction.
She leaned forward to catch a glimpse but not recognizing much between darker green and brighter green, she activated the flow of vision, being able to see farther into distance. She recognized a female figure, not far behind were other ones, but they seemed more crude. Shinera couldn't make out much more here, after all, bushes and trees blocked her view.
The female shape seemed to flee from the others. Normally, running-away-people had a good reason to do so. For example, because they had done something wrong or criminal. However, considering the mob running behind the person, Shinera sympathized with her, because she had the feeling that the woman was actually more off a victim. Shinera bent over, touching the ground beneath and the tree bark beside her. Letting her magic flow in and through it, waiting, till the chasing horde were near enough and within her sphere, then she pushed tendrils out of the ground, whipping up some dirt and earth, that grabbed and held onto those hunters. Some stumbled and fell, one ran through it.
Too slow, Shinera thought. The one that came through stopped. He looked around and his gaze turned into her direction. As their eyes met, Shinera paled. Past him, at the edge of her vision, she saw the men free themselves from the roots and chopping them. One of them didn’t even need do use a sharp
weapon, only strength to pull those roots away.
Fuck.
The moment of realization of her situation, in which she stared motionless and frightened like a deer, lasted just as long as the confusion on the face of her counterpart, probably because she popped up out of nowhere and wasn’t what they chased after. But just as she snapped out of her stupor and jumped off, the man sprinted off too – probably seeing her as a sidekick of the fleeing now.
Shinera simultaneously activated the channel of strength and endurance. Pushing muscle strength and stamina, but in the panic and face of danger, she probably pushed it more than actually needed. It allowed her to sprint quickly and keep the men at a distance. Where had that one woman run off to?? Shinera was desperately looking for her and as soon as she caught sight of her, she ran after her.
“Hey!”, Shinera shouted in the hope of getting attention and maybe help. After all, she had also helped her slow down the men. Whereby she was not sure whether the woman had noticed anything at all. Hopefully she didn't thought Shinera would now hunt her too …
“Hey, you!”, she shouted again. Shinera suddenly realized that she was running off the path into the middle of the forest. Oh, hopefully she would find the way back to the path … but right know, she had other problems.
Selina Altas