Summary
He failed….
How could he had failed.
The Worm festers in his remains.
It grows and grow, power it stolen from the dethroned King destroying the balance he spent so long trying to maintain… It was over….
No!
He mustn't give up, betray the sacrifices of his friends, his kin…his mate.
It shan't be for not, he will rise again one day, and take back his throne even stronger than he was before.
For now, he'll allow The Worm to grow in what little time it had on his planet.
For none can escape his fury forever.
The very earth itself seemed to snarl at her continued existence. Strike after strike rained down from the skies, followed by a furious animalistic growl as if it was disappointed each time, she managed to dodge the pale-yellow bolts that came so close to ending her miserably short existence.
What she couldn't dodge was the cruelly blunt arrows aimed at her by her adversaries, slowing her desperate but fruitless attempt at freedom. She didn't know how long they chased her, how long the hot breaths of the long-legged beasts they rode were at her back, puffing away at the commands of their masters. Whining every time thunder rolled but never straying from the path she made.
Even as the skies turned a malicious grey. None of the men upon the beast cared about rain beating down onto their backs, they kept on her. Arrows jolted around widely from the strenuous winds, but most hit their target. Any and all non-fatal points on her person that weren't already filled with wooden objects tipped with stone.
They wouldn't kill her quickly, they wanted to watch her collapse and bleed out on the filthy upturned forest floor, her last breaths, how her heart would pump more and more blood out her small body to try desperately to keep her alive but would only lead to her demise.
They slowed their breasts whenever she wobbled to always keep behind her. Laughing joyously at her misery.
They were toying with her, they all knew it, getting a few kicks out of a worthless slave till they put it down like a lame dog. Toying with her till she bleeds out, not allowing a quick death.
She's crying. Hot streams of tears added salt to the water drenching her face.
She cries for her freedom, what was stripped away from her only a few long gruelling months. She wanted to get away from these monsters that only showed her pain. She knows there is no escape from her fate. She tried, nevertheless.
So, she ran, she ran and prayed. What else could she do. She was neither faster than the great beasts they rode nor stronger than the men who wished to harm her. She ran and prayed, praying to the gods outlaw from her former home that her malnourished legs didn't give out.
Her home, how she missed the way it used to be. A small village located in a clearing, tucked away by the mighty trees that surround them bring shelter and protection from elements outside, well they used to.
Waking up to her mother's kind smile and words. Wiping the sleep from her eyes she was sent off to the kitchen where her father sat in an old rickety chair, he'd never be rid of, despite her mother's complaints. He'd laugh it off, with a gruff voice "If it works, it works," he would cheer. Greeting her with a good morning every time with a broad grin splitting his face as he waits for her to join him at the table.
She missed him.
After breakfast work came next helping her dear mother around the house. Till the sun met its peak, lunch was finished and everyone gathered in the square for the feast. Adults at one side talking amongst themselves, while their children shovelled the food into their mouths so they could be let off to play.
Once the sun shifted from its throne in the middle of the sky, off they went. Their bellies filled with a hearty lunch through the forest to the falls nearby. It wasn't too far, a respectable distance from their home that if any trouble they could make it back in no time but still where they didn't have to worry about being quiet.
They'd played each day, the boys climbing the rocky cliff. Jumping from the falls towards the lake below, the older girls cheered them on as they slashed into the pristine waters below.
They'd play, swim, and eat as many wild berries they could cramp into their already full stomachs. Chase each other around the banks till the cool blue waters of the lake turn a fiery orange signalling it was time to go back home. Each day everyday now till forever. That's what she thought.
She woke to an axe embedded into her father's skull; his bright eyes that held so much love for his family dulled instantly rolling to the back of his skull. His body convulsed as his nerves fired. Warm, bright red blood splattered everywhere filling the home with the strong scent of iron. A rough belly laughter erupted as his body dropped to the floor with a sicken thud, blood continuing to pool around him. The towering, bearded man gives her father a strong kick, sending his body tumbling in her direction. Brain matter flew to her feet.
Their eyes locked.
Her mother screamed helplessly for her to flee; arms outstretched towards her as other dirty men tore her clothes to shreds. The blonde woman was thrown to the floor, her sobs replaced with the sounds of choking.
The wood of her house creaked, sending her attention to her father's killer. Cruel grey eyes hazed with a hunger she has never seen before stalked towards her; his furred pants dropped to the ground.
She never spoke after that, for she couldn't at all, not without her tongue. Those who weren't outright killed had their tongues removed.
So it went, horned monsters hiding in the skins of men took over. All males, boys and babies included were killed leaving the mother, daughters, and wives behind to suffer harsh slavery.
She herself was put to work, feeding the pigs, that was it, easy right? Not for a girl whose heart was too pure.
Mistakes were made on her part. She just felt bad for the creatures caged in the pens, for she knew what it was like. But for the pigs had no sense of freedom, not even a taste from birth. She wanted to give it to them.
She made a mistake.
She knew this now, but no one held out their hand for a naïve little girl. She wasn't longed for this world.
Now she is running, blood oozed out of her jagged wounds profusely she staggered along. Her cheeks seemed to grow wetter as she tired. Sweat and rainwater plastered her hair over her eyes. Arrows embedded in her shoulders prevented her from removing it. She had no time anyways.
It hurt, she just wanted to know why? Why her? Why parents? Why her people?
WHY DID ANY OF THEM DESERVED THIS?
Her neck snapped back; jaws open rainwater slid down her parched throat. She tried to let out a frustrated scream, but only sorrowful croaking sounds came from her tongueless maw, but she screamed all the while. Trying to project her voice to be heard over the rolling thunder and the cruel laughter behind her.
As if to answer her call or just shut her up, nature's accuracy suddenly increased. White hot pain flash through her very core spread from her back to the rest of her being sent her tumbling a few yards, hair, raggedy clothing, and body singed from the blast. The beasts and the creature they rode upon cried out for only a millisecond as long as the flash dispersed into the night.
It was quiet now, only the sounds of her own laboured breaths could be heard no other. They were dead, all of them, she didn't dare look at the charred corpses. She just wanted to curl into herself, in her bed, surrounded by her mother and father. Telling her sweet bedtime stories of her prince charming, to soothe her woes away once more. For a moment she wished it was her to be struck head on with the bolt of fury. She sees them again, her parents, her friends, is that what she wanted?
No. She didn't want to die here. She couldn't.
A dangerous uncharted world lies ahead. A world that has granted her so many mercies she hasn't seen in her people for so long. Now she wishes it to grant her freedom. She couldn't just give up.
If she wished for death she would have just stopped and allowed the beasts to finish her, slowly but surely. She pressed hands into the soaked ground before her, she rose slowly, whimpering at every movement she made free burns and bleeding wounds cry out in protest for her to stop, her brain scrambling to stop her from any further movements, but she must endure.
Not even clearing her hair from her eyes she sets off.
Trying to flinch every time she heard the roars of the earth around her, she stood and carried on.
She ran, destination unknown.
Lightning struck in the distance, followed by its faithful companion, bellowing its presence.
She ran.
The trees around her flicked ablaze, illuminating the area with orange so like that of lake of her memories.
She ran.
The earth roared once more.
She roared back; Little voice filled with rage and pain few others could relate to.
She has seen death itself she was no longer afraid, now she wishes to see her true freedom.
The earth shook with spine chilling rage and roared louder, echoing throughout the land.
She roared back.
It roared.
She roared.
Again.
Again.
Again.
She roared back once more with all the might she could, her tiny core shaking with might.
Head pointed to the darken sky, her blue eyes fuelled with determination.
She wanted to live.
She slipped.
She tumbled.
She fell.
She fell.
Ș̷̤̰̲̜̤̞̊͜h̸̢̼̰͚͕͂̂̀e̶̲̙̫̘̙̜̣̻̦̤̋̌́ ̵̧̨̛̝͔͎̱̺͎͖́̍̑͊̎f̵̹̖̪̹͓̜̏̊̐ẽ̷̛̻͍̰̬͍̑l̴̢̘̣̩̻͚̖̈́͊͠ͅl̸̩̩͆̔͂̂̉͝͝͠.̸̧̭̱̩̳̐̐̆̈́̔͂͝ͅ
The planet stilled; a breeze seemed to purr a message over the scarred treetops.
"2000 years from now to you, from one king to another."
"Ereh?"