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The moon crawledbehind the gathering clouds, plunging the open field into a murky darkness. I’d jumped out of the wagon a while back and crossed the woods in haste. Only a few stars freckled the black sky. I pushed one leg in front of the other, despite my ragged breaths and aching muscles. I’d been on the run for the past day.
Never stop.
A quick glance over my shoulder, and a shiver clawed up my spine. No silhouette shifted through the forest at my back. The sky remained silent, peaceful. No movement. Didn’t mean shit. He always came for me, found me, beat me. I gasped at the thought and sprinted faster. I had to put distance between me and him.
Gripping the straps of my backpack, I raced toward the lights amid the lofty trees ahead. They sparkled like fireflies. Wakefield, the village in this godforsaken Tritonia realm, was my destination. Sweat beaded across my upper lip, and I wiped it away, hating the humidity and the insects trying to chew off my eyelids. Most of all, I loathed running for my life. But this was my chance to break free from my prison, to never be locked up again or be forgotten. Desperation crept through me.
A growl screeched through the hot, stifling air behind me.
I flinched around, my breaths caught in my chest, and my hand fell to the dagger on my belt. The unforgiving place lay silent, swallowed by the night, and my earlier reassurance ebbed away.
Never stop! This time, if the gargoyle catches you, he’ll shatter more than your bones.
“Yes, you’re right,” I mumbled under my voice, thankful she was speaking to me. I felt less alone.
I trembled and kept running.
Salvation is near. Yes, you can do this.
Flamed torches lined the street in the distance, and I closed in on them. A briny, salty scent found me. The ocean lay close—the place where pirates plundered, witches ruled, and mermaids lured you to your death if you dared enter their watery realm. But I’d risk that and more to gain liberty. To stop the insanity eating away at my mind.
Desperation pressed on my heaving lungs. My captor was somewhere on my heels.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
“Enough!” I’d had it all planned out.
Evade the guardian.
Collect the spell to eradicate him.
And put an end to my incarcerated life.
Shifting the heavy bag across my back, my hair too long and cumbersome to not keep contained, I trampled the grass and foliage, hurrying closer to the village. I emerged from the forest. Huts riddled the tiny village, their windows dark, as if unoccupied.
A dozen homes flanked the wide dirt track. No fences, just shrubs and flowers. By daytime, the place might have resembled a quaint town, but now, I might have stepped into a nightmare. I couldn’t stop shivering from the feeling of being watched.
Just get this done quick. Move fast.
Bones tied to a rope dangled from the front porch of one house, and beneath the sudden gust of air, they clattered, announcing my arrival to the homeowner. Enormous oaks with branches fanning out wide stood like a wall behind the houses. They rustled and seemed to whisper on the warm breeze that whirled around me.
Hurrying onward, I ignored the three cats prowling across another lawn watching me with their lamp-like eyes. Their brown-black fur fluttered in the wind. They weren’t skinny, so someone fed them well.
The silence stroked my skin like a cold wind filled with jagged edges. I breathed heavily, scanning the makeshift road. The witch had given me instructions and I’d followed them to a T. Travel the thick woods of Tritonia. Check. Overhead, the glorious silvery orb hung full. Check. Creepy town where witches lived. Check. Yep, this was the place. Now to find the house with a single burning candle sitting in the windowsill.
Stop overthinking everything. Keep moving.
I rolled my eyes and marched past a double-story building covered in tiny bones… wait, no! I squinted for a better look. Shriveled vines, barren of leaves.
The wind swept against me, bones rattling, the felines yowling. Creepy-ass naked dolls were scattered on a lawn, and I ran past. “Please don’t come to life.”
I strangled the bag straps over my shoulders and approached the last home on the road. A single candle sat on the front windowsill. This was it.
My flesh rippled into goosebumps, and I glanced behind me. The street lay abandoned. No shadow following me.
Do this fast.
