My Sorcerer

Chapter One

Branches scraped against her legs, tearing into her clothes and skin. Avoiding them was useless, as not even the moonlight could breach the forest ceiling. She pressed forward, as shouts and the crashing of footsteps came from behind. She knew some were being made to distract her from the location of others. Her breath was heavy, and her heart pounded hard against her chest as she neared the edge of the forest. What lay beyond the forest walls? She did not know, but she was soon to find out.

With one step outside the forest walls, she stood in a vast open field. Then fear started to rip its way through her body. There was no cover, and they could fight both at long and short range. She was dead. She quickly scanned the field, hoping to find some refuge, but it was all futile until she saw a river. Since she was young, she feared water, but it was either face the fear or die at their hands in a matter of minutes. She pushes the lump in her throat back down and takes off toward the river. As she neared it, she began to make out buildings and lights from a town on the other side. Hope blossomed for a moment in her chest, only to be crushed when she heard their pounding footsteps and voices echoing toward her. She took a final deep breath before leaping vertically as far as she could over the river. She managed to push herself just over halfway across the river before her body was submerged in the water. She popped back up and began to swim fervently.

Fear was in every stroke, fear of them and the water. Soon she reached the other side and was crawling quickly from the water. She turned for a moment to see that they were beginning to cross as well, slower than she had, but they were crossing. She turned away and pushed herself toward the town. The smell was repulsive, but it would work to her advantage. She raced onto the property and nearly dove headfirst into the manure. How she was going to regret this later, how she hoped she would live to regret it. She flattened out onto the ground. She didn't have to wait long before their shouts echoed nearby.

"This way, men!" a deep voice bellowed. Her footprints! She panicked. She had forgotten to cover her own tracks, but if she were to move now, they would surely see her. She held her breath and prayed that they would pass by. That they would think her hiding in manure was ridiculous, and she would never do it, no matter how desperate.

Then it happened, they raced past her, and they didn't stop. "Her footprints stop here," the last man said. Her heart nearly halted when she heard him.

"Yes, but her kind would never be able to withstand the smell to hide here long enough for us to pass her by." Normally, yes, he was right, people would not normally jump so willingly into manure, but for her, she was not normal, and that must be why they were hunting her, well, one of many reasons.

"Let's move on! The longer we linger, the farther she will get." The leader bellowed, and the straggler relented and followed the rest.

She waited a few more moments before she would allow herself to breathe normally. Then, a few more moments before she would even move. Now she could regret the smell. It was horrendous, and she wanted to vomit from it. But she didn't have time to clean up or regret it for too long. She quickly jumped to her feet and took off in the opposite direction the men had gone.

Before she knew it, she stood by the river once again. She only had a few options. She could swim back across or run to the small wooded area just a little way down the riverbed. She weighed her options. If she went back, there was no one back there for her now. However, if she tries the woods, she may find refuge for even a short time before needing to move on again. She chose the latter and raced off to the woods. Just as she reached the edge, something clamped down on her foot, and before she could howl out in pain, she clamped her hands over her mouth. Tears escaped her eyes as she slowly looked down to see what had caught her. Her eyes went wide as she saw a bear trap wrapped around her leg. She bent down slowly and gingerly placed her hands on either side of the trap. She took a deep breath and then pulled with all her might.

A few moments later, she had opened the trap and removed her leg. She fell onto her side, placing pressure on her wound and trying not to let the sound of pain escape her lips. She looked around, trying to find something useful. She saw a thick, short branch a few feet away and slowly pulled herself toward it. She grabbed it and then tore at her shirt and pants. She made rows of fabric and then wrapped the wound, placing pressure on it. Then she strapped the branch to her leg before hoisting herself up into a standing position. Pain surged through her body, almost knocking her back down again. Fear grabbed her hard as she looked at the woods, wondering if there were more traps to be found, but before she could decide whether or not to continue, she heard the click of a shotgun.

She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Hands up and turn around slowly!" a steady male voice commanded her from behind. She complied and turned around with her hands above her head. "What are you doing trespassing on my property?" the man asked, agitated.

"Funny story." She tried to smile.

"Better be a short one, too," he said, narrowing his gaze and taking aim.

"I can make it short." She paused, thinking of the best way to explain why she was there. "I'm being chased by some bad men. I just got away from them and thought that I would be safer hiding among the trees than in the open." He looked her up and down, finally noticing her appearance and probably her smell as well.

He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "And the smell?"

"Manure... was trying to hide from them," she said lightly as though a shotgun was not pointed at her.

He slowly lowered his gun. "I don't believe you completely, but I'm not going to shoot you," he said finally.

She brightened up a little. "Thank you! Now, I will be out of your hair in a flash," she started to turn away.

"I didn't say I was letting you go, though." She turned back to him in shock, "Like I said, I don't believe you. So, you're coming with me."

"Where to?" she asked, preparing her body to dash away if what he said next was not going to help her.

"To my home, about ten yards behind me." He motioned over his shoulder.

"Why would I follow you?"

"You can come with me or I'll shoot you now, which will more than likely alert whoever is trying to catch you to come over here," he said nonchalantly.

"Fine," she caved and started to limp toward him. He waited patiently for her to reach him, and then he had her walk in front of him as he guided her toward his home. She sighed internally, so close and yet so far away.