Heavy winds swept the forest.
Trees fall, thunder strikes. The heavy rain kept getting heavier. Shadowy wind swept through the air, and the people shivered.
''Lady Lyra!! Where are you!! Lady Lyra!!''
They were soaking wet and cold. Their touches had gone out, leaving darkness to be their companion. The ride to Tenebrous Empire had been a smooth one, not until the day suddenly darkened and a dreaded flood swept right after.
''You think she is in the forest?'' Her mother panicked, clenching tight on her gown tight. ''Where is my baby!! She was supposed to be in the carriage!!''
''Calm down, my lady.'' One of the guards assured her. ''We will find the princess. Let's split up!!''
...
A little foot scrambled through the forest, clenching tight on her gown. Its green color circlet with a dark gemstone seemed to blend with the night. Her long silver hair damped. It was pitch dark. The vines, the trees, and grasses stood like a silent sentinel, guarding the forest's uneasiness. She tripped over her dress and came diving, bruising her knee. Tears escaped her eyes as her delicate skin came in contact with the earth. Her heart raced.
The structure and shape of the forest weren't helping, twisting like he was laughing at her misery. She forced herself up with much difficulty and looked around.
''Mother?'' She called.
The low growl of a beast who seemed as disturbed as she replied to her. Its growl rang through the forest bed.
She didn't wait to see what it looked like. She panicked and picked a race, running in an unknown direction. Anywhere was good at this time, anywhere not in the paw of the Luminaria Glade beasts, rumored to be a terror of mankind.
Panting and looking around, her ear picks up a sound, making her halt her step.
''Mother?'' She whimpered.
She could hear it. The sound despite the rain, thunder strike, and the darkness. She hears it
A crying sound.
She paid close attention to the sound to confirm, which she did. It was coming from a tree twisted strangely. It seems like the tree was professionally carved in like a small inn. Furthermore, it was almost fascinating if she wasn't in a dire situation.
She came closer to listen. The voice was louder this time.
'Maybe someone got trapped here like me...although, it seems naturally impossible.'
Slowly stepping, she moved closer to the direction of the sound. As she parted the leaves and cowered down to fit in, her eyes lit up in awe. It looked like a small cave on the outside, but getting inside, it was like a little garden. Flowers, each awe-inspiring than the last, with a ray of moonlight peeping through, being the only source of light present, yet the flowers bloom.
She squints her brow, moving and taking a closer look at where the sound is coming from
The voice was clearer.
''Stupid! Stupid rules!'' He cried, his face buried in his arm.
''Are... Who are you?'' She asked faintly. The cry continued, so she got no reply from the other end. She took a step closer.
He seems to be the same age. Long dark hair. She was able to confirm that much.
She took another step closer.
Likewise, she was instantly taken aback by the sight of the latter's wear. Her ocean blue eyes fluttered repeatedly.
'A noble robe? No, it's a royal robe.'
She bent down and raised her hand to touch the latter's shoulder, resulting in a jolt on both sides. He jolted in shock and screamed, making her do the same.
They stare at each other in silence afterward.
Lyra looked down at the lace around his neck. A royal lace.
She looked up , and their eye met, although she could see just one because of his long hair covering the other.
Just from the eye, a bizarre feeling clouded her. She feels a blood-curdling feeling as she stares at the red orb, yet it is strangely alluring.
Everything about his eye seems off
She raised her hand to his hair.
A fearful reaction was obvious from the other end. He cringes back in caution.
''You're from the royal family.'' Her tiny voice cut through the night. The rain subsided gradually if it tended to listen.
''What is your name?''
He frowned, battling his lashes repeatedly.
''I won't hurt you.'' She issued a smile.
''Leave me alone.'' The latter voice sounded, traces of tears still obvious. He pouted and looked away.
''But...'' She trailed off.
''Leave!!'' He resumed crying and buried his face in his palm.
Although she felt drawn to this strange Royal, her family's life report was still unknown in the flood. She stood up slowly, pulling her stained gown.
''Don't you feel afraid... Staying here alone...I mean. Come with me.'' She moved away, occasionally stealing glances at him.
''I don't want to. Leave me alone.''
'He's not listening. Did he run away? Maybe I'll report his whereabouts if I return.'
Her leg stepping out of the cave-like place, the rain increased with his tears. A pungent stench stung her tongue, shivering her skin. The stench of the beast she had roughly encountered a few moments ago but stronger. They came in hordes towards her direction, trampling the trees and everything in their path.
Her eyes widened drastically, taking in the horror, and before she could think of acting, they dashed past her like they were being hunted.
...
'That's weird.'
She felt weak to the bones, depriving her legs of another step.
'I survived that.'
Sounds of approaching footsteps snapped her back to the reality of her situation. She lowered herself and crawled behind a large tree. She listened, and their chants seemed to put her at ease.
''Prince Kaelin! Where are you, Prince Kaelin!''
'So he's a prince? ...Kaelin.... Kaelin? The prince I'm betrothed to? That crybaby?'
She peeped out, watching the ordeal of the guards bargaining over whom to enter the cave where his cry was still coming from.
Having gathered his breath, the captain steps forward and walks into the cave, returning almost immediately with the crying prince in his arms.
''Leave me alone! I don't want to go back! I hate the palace!''
She watches in silence as they make away, his cries growing distant, before crawling out of the back of the tree.
It soon became silent, giving her the feeling that the strange energy in the air grew.
'Huh?'
Her body hair shot up. Her throat ached from the massive energy of the strange, unknown occupying the forest.
She took a cursory glance around, clutching tight on her dress tight.
Wind blowing became a distant occurrence
She got lost in her own mind, in her own fears
The strange tap jolted her from her mind, and she found herself in the embrace of her mother.
''Lyra, are you alright?'' Her mother detached the hug, holding her cheek.
The cold air was suddenly hot.
She glanced around, at the guards, at her mother.
''Mo.....ther.''
''Why did you run off like that?''
Her sapphire blue eye darted up suddenly
Goosebumps crawled up her entire body, seeing the dark light descending from this sky, looking like a spell cast by a high-level mage.
''M....oth...er.''
Her perplexed expression drew the attention of her mother and the guards with her to the coming horror.
''Let's leave here before it lands!!!'' A guard announced, pulling up both mother and daughter. They pick a race running to this safer side in haste.
''Wait, the Royal guards are going that way!!'' She yelled.
''We can't go there!!'' The guard objected, pushing them to run faster.
They barely move far when the energy stuck the earth; it escalated rapidly, hitting all corners of the forest, clearing the forest's middle to a barren land
Her eyes reflect the light in shock as the wave blows them off to a different angle, eventually separating her from her house
She flew at a different angle and her head collided with a tree, causing a blackout.
...
Her eyes force themselves open.
''Urgh!'' The pain from her head coaxed through her. She sat up and looked around the melting trees. A truly terrifying sight.
''Mother?''
She coughed out the smoke filling her lungs and stared at her bleeding elbow.
'A queen should have no scar...urgh!'
As she thought on how worse her first day in tenebrous could get any worse, she wandered off into the night in search of everyone.
The walk only took a minute before she came to a halt at where the spell had hit.
Her lip trembled. She staggered back, staring into the ground, which was leveled. The stench of burning flesh filled her nose; without a doubt, the tenebrous residents had taken the hit head-on.
She looks around, her breathing inching as it settled on a black cloak person, standing right on the other side of the hole. He was unbelievably tall and had a masculine build; even with the dark, she could clearly see his burning gaze in the hole.
She staggered back, drawing his attention to her. She swallowed a lump in her throat, her gaze clouding with tears. A shifted step of his scent her sitting back and fidgeting uncontrollably.
He huffed, his face holding a smirk; in a blink, he was before her, bending down to her height.
His voice was hoarse and ragged. ''Legend says that wimp of a prince is the one to defeat me.'' He laughed, his tone filled with malicious energy as he pointed back at the buried hole.
She shifted her head to the hole and back into his dreadful eye.
''But he just died like that, isn't that right, Princess Lyra?''
Princess Lyra's mind raced faster than she could take, and that seemed to pull out air from her lungs. She gasps repeatedly as they gaze into each other's faces.
He straightened up, releasing the surrounding tension
''Didn't mean to startle you, princess, but you shouldn't wander around the luminaria glade.'' He tuts.
''You might as well end up as those roasted guards with him. He drags people to his destruction.''
''...Hu.....h?'' She finally voiced out, although her breath was worn out to the core.
''What am I saying?'' He repeated, hovering over her like a father scolding his daughter.
He doesn't die alone. I know that because I have killed him seven times already.
TBC....