Ella and the Beast

Chapter 1-1

Chapter 1

Ella sucked in a deep breath as she ran through the forest. She ducked under a fallen log and hurriedly straightened again. Her heart pounded with fear, making it difficult to catch her breath. The Others were in the forest. The sound of one of their metal machines could be heard in the distance. Jayden, her best friend and fellow hunter, ran beside her. Ella knew the other girl was just as frightened as she was, but she didn’t let it show.

They turned to the left and ran down a narrow animal trail. Ella moved ahead of Jayden when it became too difficult to run side by side. They bounded over another log, and a desperate cry escaped them both when the ground suddenly gave way from under their feet and they tumbled into a deep pit. Pain exploded in Ella’s ankle when Jayden fell on top of it, twisting it at an odd angle.

Ella groaned, holding her body still and focusing on her breathing until the pain receded enough for her to notice her surroundings. She lifted her head up off the soft ground and glanced at Jayden. The young girl was pacing and glancing wildly around the pit.

“Ella, we’re trapped!” Jayden exclaimed in a horrified whisper. “The Others! They will catch us. We have to get out of here.”

Ella gritted her teeth and reached for her lance. She pulled herself up using both the lance and the tree roots exposed in the dirt walls of the hole. She paled when she tried to put pressure on her foot. Something was broken. She could actually feel the bone moving.

“I’ll help you get out,” Ella said in a strained voice. “You can go for help.”

Jayden turned and looked at Ella with a frown. “If I can get out, I can pull you out,” she said.

Ella shook her head, fighting back the nausea threatening to overwhelm her. Her ankle was already beginning to swell and turn black and blue. She wouldn’t have much time before it would be too difficult to help Jayden escape.

“My ankle is broken,” Ella replied, fighting back tears. “You’ll have to go alone.”

“But… What if the Others come back?” Jayden whispered in horror.

“Then I will die,” Ella replied in a quiet voice filled with resignation. “Come, you must escape. Hopefully, they will not come to check the trap soon. There is a storm coming. Perhaps it will keep them from venturing out. There aren’t enough thick roots for you to climb out from here, but I’ll brace myself against the side, and you can get up onto my shoulders. It should be enough to get you out of here.”

Jayden bit her lip and nodded, glancing up at the edge of the pit. Ella leaned her back against the wall, gripping the lance in one hand and several roots in the other. While Ella braced herself as stiffly as she could, Jayden placed one foot on the upper thigh of Ella’s good leg, then climbed up until she was standing on Ella’s shoulders.

Ella trembled, gritting her teeth until her jaw hurt in an effort not to cry out from the pain while she straightened up as much as she could. Panting with the exertion, she extended one arm so Jayden could use her hand as a step. Ella stared at the dark dirt floor until the pressure of Jayden’s weight was removed.

Ella blinked her eyes to clear them, then used the lance to maneuver herself far enough from the wall that she could turn to look up at Jayden. A soft, sad smile curved Ella’s lips at the look of sorrow in her friend’s eyes. She drew in a deep breath, then slowly released it.

“Go, Jayden,” Ella whispered. “If I’m not here when you get back, know I’ve gone on to the next life and we will meet again one day.”

“I’ll hurry, Ella,” Jayden swore. “Don’t give up.”

“I won’t, little sister,” Ella said.

Jayden gave her one last smile before she disappeared. With the help of the lance, Ella slowly lowered herself until she was sitting on the ground, crying out when she jarred her injured foot against the dirt floor. Thunder echoed through the thick forest and a soft, steady rain began to fall. Ella carefully laid down and stared up at the canopy of trees that acted like an umbrella, protecting her from most of the rain. A shiver ran through her and she sniffed.

There were many names for the ones that ruled the world outside of the forest that was her home: the Others, the Shifters, the Beasts. For centuries, her people had avoided them. As time passed, the survival of Ella’s people had become more myth than sure fact to the rest of the world. But remaining completely unseen had become more difficult with each generation as the Others continued to expand further into the forested areas.

Ella and Jayden were part of a small clan. They were humans, beings with a single, constant form. The Others were the beast-people, beings who could shift into many different forms. A long, long time ago, humans and the Others had fought. The Others had won, almost wiping out the humans. Only a few humans had survived throughout the world.

Over time, humans had disappeared altogether, or so the Others thought. In truth, the humans had created a haven for themselves deep in the forests, the mountains, and the frozen areas of the world, existing unnoticed by the Others.

Unlike her father and the other elders, Ella had never met any humans from other clans. Those kind of meetings were from before her time. For all she knew, her dying clan could be the last one, the last of her species, and without fresh blood and a permanent living area, their chances of surviving another generation were growing slimmer.

Ella closed her eyes, and her hot tears mixed with the cold rain. She thought of what the Others would do if they found her before her people could rescue her.

If she was lucky, they would kill her quickly. It was more likely, however, that they would want to take their time to cut her up, make her talk about the location of her clan, and study her before killing her. No – if she were found by the Others, there would be a quick death. There was no other way.

“Please, if Jayden does not return in time, please have mercy and let me die swiftly,” she whispered to the forest.