Light of the Unexpected Adventure

Chapter 15 Run

Gabriella's POV

The shock of her instant demise within my embrace hit me like a hard wall. I frantically shake my head, pushing my hands through the ash as if I am searching for something within it. It is hard to see with my tear-filled orbs, but I have to confirm that this is not a trick, and she is gone. I keep searching with this feeling that she will appear next to me, but she never emerges from the darkness. When this realization finally hits, I cry hysterically as I rock myself, trying to calm the terror and sadness within my heart.

I never expected this when coming in here, and I definitely never expected something like this to hit my heart so incredibly hard. I never knew this woman, and yet I feel as if I have known her for my entire life. I feel as if I have lost a close friend or family. Maybe that is because of her confidence and gift that is within me. Maybe it's because I tried to help her and failed.. I'm not sure, but all I know is that this hurts so much.

I gasp out in shock and terror, wiping away the tears that won't seem to stop, not knowing what to do at this moment. I feel the weakness within me, causing me to want to completely collapse as I cry. I keep gently touching the ash, feeling incomplete and vulnerable, as if that could be me as well if I am not careful. I shake my head while letting out a deep breath, wanting to calm down, but that is much harder after something as traumatic as that. I feel another wave of emotions hitting me and making me want to bundle into the fetal position until I can calm down.

That is the plan until my attention is instantly grabbed. Further into the darkness of the trees, I can hear even more noises. They are deep and angry sounding grunts that are coming this way and quickly by the sounds of things. But because of recent experiences, I know for a fact what that sound is, and I don't want to have anything to do with those beasts again. I reluctantly pick myself up, making sure the stone is secure in the pocket of my tunic. But it easily moves within the pocket, and I don't trust that I won't be losing it out of the pocket, especially since I need to run. So I quickly put it between the cups of my brassiere, so it will be secured with the top of my corset and somewhere that people won't see.

Once that is quickly secured, I turn and run away from the sound, just hoping this is the right way out. All I know is that I am not running towards the horrid sounds, only away to hopefully get away with my life and limbs intact. That is my only plan at this rate. My legs take me far, but I don't feel any closer to the edge of the forest. I pant in exhaustion while running as fast as I can, using what strength I do have to motivate myself to keep jumping over the rocks that I can see, while ducking under the branches that are hanging down and close to getting me caught within them.

These actions are hard for me to keep constantly going while the exhaustion is hitting me harder than I could have ever comprehended. I duck, dodge and jump so many times that I get swiped by branches and loose roots from not doing it fast enough. My hair is grabbed sporadically, jerking my head back, but it is not enough to stop me in this fear for my life. The momentum in my run is breaking the bits of branches and leaves that were unlucky enough to get caught up in my strands of hair. But I do my best to try to avoid as much as I can of the wilderness around me while trying to find my way out.

The problem is that I have been turned around in this place many times already and have heard many stories about when you go into this forest you won't ever get out. So, the fear of being stuck in this place forever is entirely too real for my liking when it is my reality at this point. But I won't let those negative thoughts stop me. I feel something deep within me telling me that I will get out of this, as long as I keep trying. Maybe it's that woman's unexpected confidence in me, or maybe I have gained a confidence within myself that has lit a fire under me, getting me as far from these creatures as I can. I am not sure, but all I know is that I need to run and get out of this place before I take my last breath in here just like she did.

I continue to jump and avoid the obstacles, still hearing the grunting behind me. I look back not seeing anything within the deep and dark abyss of the forestry, but knowing they are there and getting closer because the grunting is getting louder as the moments rain on. I try to pick up the pace, looking back as I can, but I don't know where I am going, and I think they know it. I gasp for air between the squeals of desperation that fills me up inside before trickling out every time my feet hit the ground.

The overwhelming exhaustion of running constantly, knowing that I need to slow down and take a break is too incredibly hard to fight off, making me feel like the exhaustion itself is going to take over whether I want to or not. But I know that if I do just that, it could end in my demise. So, I keep going, still looking back, wondering if I will ever see anything, but I never do. So, for my safety, I know that I need to try to keep my eyes off of the beasts behind me. Especially since they are a big distraction when I have plenty to think about in front of me. I can just continue to listen to their grunts, confirming for me that they are still there.

As I quickly look forward, I see a protruding tree root that I never expected, catching my foot instantly as my body flings forward in the air, while I fall to the ground. I yelled out, hitting the ground pretty hard, dragging across the bumpy, rocky dirt. I feel as if I was just used to slap the ground to clear it off, just like I have done for the broom and rags at the hut. I cry out not comprehending what has happened before loudly groaning out as I push myself back up slowly, but I know I need to get to my feet. I look up seeing a stream of light poking through the thick trees. That's all the motivation that I needed to see to get myself back up.

I get to my feet and start running again, but this time feeling my heart is beating so rapidly within my chest that it might be running as fast in my rib cage as I am out here. I see the little bit of light getting bigger and bigger the closer I get, which jump-starts my body as I pick up the pace with the desperation to get out of this darkness completely fueling me in this trek. An instant relief hits me when I see the blinding light of the sunset shining into my eyes. I squint, lifting my hand to block my eyes. I get out of the forest, stumbling out as I fall to my knees in the soft dirt this time around.

I am panting but looking around, seeing the village wall to the side of me. So I get up again and turned towards the village, waving my arms and screaming, just hoping this will be enough to get me some much-needed help. But the main issue is that I don't know if they will open the gates for anyone to come out, let alone let me come in. But I know I have to try. I keep yelling seeing one man standing on top of the wall, off to the side. He looks at me before running to the side yelling something at someone else. So hopefully this will be the help I need.

My head pans around, looking for anything that could help me as I instantly notice that the sun is going down, which means I have been in there for a very long time when I felt like I was only in there for a little bit. The whole situation just flew by too quickly for my liking, but apparently that wasn't the case for the world outside of the forest. That's baffling to me, causing me to slow down to a stop as I think about what that means. But I feel a sigh of relief running through me as I begin walking towards the wall, knowing that I am safe now because I was always told that ogres can't come into the light, and even with the sunset out it should be enough light to keep them at bay.. Right?

I caught some of my breath, looking back for a moment, only until I looked back at the gates. But the man that I did see is no where to be found so I nervously look around trying to see if there is anyone else I can try to talk to. That is until I hear loud grunting but this time it's much closer than when I was running. I look back to see a hoard of ogres bursting out from the trees, like water rapidly flowing down a river. They follow me towards the wall not looking at anything but me which is terrifying. Surprised, I screamed out for help, seeing the ogres getting closer to me with the light not phasing them whatsoever.

My exhausted body easily trips on my clothing. I stumbled forward but got my balance back before I hit the dirt again. So I instantly reach down and grip the bottom of my clothes, lifting them up only a little bit to hopefully help my feet keep to running as fast as they can. But sadly, I am not fast enough to stay away from the wall of ogres. They get to my heels and stay on them, causing me to stumble as I look back to see that the ogres are now directly behind me. One swipes at me as I avoid his hit, but instantly another that is at its side, swipes at me as well. It hits my back, causing me to stumble forward until an arrow flies past me and into the ogre trying to stop me.

This stops him of course, but not the many others behind me and inching closer. I look up to see that the guards at the village wall actually come out to help me. They have heard my screams and are trying to help me.. Thankfully. I keep running for the wall before the men jump down and pull their weapons out to help defend me or maybe just defend the city, but either way, I am grateful. My leg is grabbed as I fall to the ground, slamming my torso against it. Before I can even make a sound, I am pulled into a hoard of ogres, swiping an hitting me, while pulling at all of my limbs.

I am being pulled in so many directions that I feel like they are trying to dismember me for their feast to come. The pain is overwhelming as I scream out, hitting and kicking as much as I can until I feel a surge of energy quickly building up before shooting through me. It hits the ogres that are surrounding me and turning them to into ash like the woman in the forest did. I scream out in shock and horror of what I just did, even if it did just save my life, it doesn't make it any less horrifying. I don't like to hurt nor kill anything, so to know I killed many beings without even knowing it, is terrifying to say the least.

I look back and the men who came out to help me look just as horrified as I feel at this moment. I scoot back towards them but they just back away from me, as if they are scared that I will do the same to them. But I swear I never would, but I can't exactly promise that since I never knew I would do this to the ogres either. I look back to see that most of the ogres are gone, but not all of them. I keep scooting back until the ogres grab for me again, but this time my arms shoot up and I somehow create that bubble she made around us before. I don't know how to break it or move it but all I know is that somehow I feel safe, even with the ogres getting closer. I look back, and the men look even more terrified than before.

The terror is amplified when they see an ogre touch the bubble, then instantly turning to ash. The other ogres do the same as I somehow took out the last little bit of them because they couldn't resist coming after me, even after seeing the others implode by a simple touch. I look back behind me to see that most of the guards are running away from me now, but I shake my head trying to get their attention. "Please don't leave me.. I won't hurt you.. or I wouldn't mean to.. But I never meant to hurt the ogres either." I say as they continue to run away, leaving me out here, not wanting to listen to a word I have to say.