*zzzzzZT—kkkrrrzzch—*
A glitch was breaking through the kingdom. A pulse, a tearing seam in the world that no one else seemed to notice.
"The tale is unraveling," the mechanical voice hissed faintly again. Almost beneath the wheels, beneath the wind, like something desperate to exist, but not yet permitted to be heard.
At the same time rustling was heard where the road bend as the carriage slowed down. Soft at first, it could pass like the wind brushing through leaves. But no, this wasn't the kind of rustling that belonged in a romantic and quite night scene. It was too sharp, perfectly timed and deliberate. It came from the trees. Right from the wrong side of the road.
Talia also tensed, instantly sensing the shift in the air, her entire body going still and alert. Her eyes narrowed, trained toward the tree line like she'd just heard death itself shift behind the bushes.
"What? Why? It's just—"
"Shh." she hushed ."Do you hear that too, Princess?" she whispered, tilting slightly toward me, her voice barely audible.
I opened my mouth to answer, but everything shattered at once. My body jerked to the left, violently thrown by the force of impact.
CRACK!
Something beneath the carriage gave away, a loud, splintering crunch was heard. The left wheel jerked broke, shrieking in protest as the entire carriage tilted violently to the left. Fortunately, its frame held on, sturdy enough not to shatter completely despite the impact, although the windows exploded into shards.
As I was pulling myself up from the tilted carriage which was still moving, clutching the edge with shaking fingers, my mind scrambled to make sense of what just happened. The entire carriage was leaning at a precarious angle, and I realized I was on the knees, sitting, not on the seat, but somewhere entirely unintended; God knows where. Both Talia and I were struggling to steady ourselves after the impact, trying to find balance in the tilted, groaning vehicle. Dust burned in my throat, and everything felt too loud and too fast to comprehend.
That's when I saw it. Movement in the bushes, moving alongside with our slowed down convoy. A figure emerged from the tree canopy, half-shadowed, dressed in black, crouched low like a phantom peeled from the trees.
He wasn't panicked, he was waiting and moving patiently in the tree-line along the road. And now he was moving, along with more behind him, riding their horses with our pace, like wolves breaking from their cover.
My heart lurched, seeing the scene unfold before me.
This wasn't a story event. This wasn't supposed to happen. I thought, with my heart thudding loudly and panic clawing at my chest like static beneath my skin.
And then again, without any warning—
CRACK!
The second wheel hit something, a sharp, metallic spike hidden beneath the dirt.
The entire carriage lurched sideways with a sickening jolt. This time again I crashed into the opposite wall, my head spinning from the impact now.
"Trap!" a guard roared. "Protect the Princess!"
"Shields up!" another shouted as steel clashed.
Steel clashing sound emerged from everywhere. Hooves screamed and arrows sliced through the air. From all around us, enemy erupted. Shouts and screams tore through the air. Metal on metal filled my ear.
The carriage shuddered from the impact of loosing it's both wheels, eventually stopping altogether, its body groaning under the sudden weight shift.
I caught myself just before I fell again, hands braced on the paneling, heart hammering like it was trying to beat its way out of my ribs.
I looked out of the broken window in the front and my stomach dropped. The carriage guard was no longer in his saddle. He lay sprawled several feet away on the dirt road, unmoving. His helmet rolled into the bushes like a toy.
The reins of the horses had snapped, trailing uselessly from the harness. One of the steeds had bolted in panic, the other bucked and screamed in place, eyes wild.
I stared, stunned and still in haze. My ears were ringing, my mind scrambling for logic. My elbows ached from where I'd slammed into the carriage wall.
Finally, my voice cracked, dry and shaking:
"This... this ....what's happ—"
Just then suddenly, I flinched, as an arrow ripped through the air, slicing past the carriage window and went past too close to me. It stung my cheek and buried itself in the seat cushion beside me.
Talia didn't wait for me to finish. She grabbed my wrist with a strength I didn't know she had.
"R-run, Princess, run!"
Her voice sliced through the panic, and suddenly we were moving, abandoning the dilapidated carriage without a second thought.
She dragged me out through the shattered carriage door in a haze, our skirts got caught up on splintered wood and teared from the impact as we ran.
My feet stumbling to keep up at first. I winced as pain shot through my hip, but she didn't stop and neither could I.
Behind us, our guards whoever could were following us, while the remaining guards clashed steel with the attackers. Horses screamed alongside. And another carriage was overturned in the chaos.
"This way!" Talia yelled, veering off the road into the brush.
Branches scraped our arms as we pushed through the treelined trying to hide in them. The scent of blood and dust clung to the wind. Talia led me forward, with our hands bound together and her grip was firm on me even as the world collapsed behind us. I looked back, just once. The enemies were everywhere.
Panic surged within me. My legs suddenly locked in place, halting us. My hands shook from delayed terror. This wasn't fiction anymore.
"No," I breathed. "No, no, no—"
"Princess, move!" Talia barked, yanking me forward again.
I don't know how long we ran into the forest. I was too stunned to keep track of anything. We weren't following any direction, just crashing through roots and shadows, desperate to escape. But the enemies weren't giving up either. I had no idea how many there were, or how long we could possibly hold out. And above all, the heavy dress weighed me down like chains, slowing my every step. Thank god the fabric was already torn and tattered, its weight lessened just enough for me to keep moving.
After what felt like hours of running, we finally slowed down, on cue of the soldiers we ducked behind one of the towering giant tree. Its trunk was broad enough to hide all of us from sight: Talia, me, a handful of soldiers, and a few terrified maids. We crouched low in the shadows, gasping for breath. The soldiers pressed their backs against us, forming a protective circle, guarding against the unexpected, their weapons still drawn, while the rest of us struggled to steady our shaking breaths.
That was when I noticed our surroundings.
As terror crawled up my spine at the sight of enormous trees, something else pushed forward too; recognition. We were running between the Varellan groves—forests of blackwood trees, tall and straight, their trunks dark as ink. They weren't native to this region; blackwoods were smuggled, *imported* for a better term and cultivated here for their dense, valuable timber, prized in shipbuilding and trade.
And what was so special about these trees? Well, I'd read this world. I'd studied every inch of it. I knew the blind corners and fallback points.
Only a particular region had been chosen for these trees; they were an invasive species. So the kingdom kept them far away from normal vegetation and in scientific eyes.
I think I know what to do, not because I was brave, but because I was a fan. A nerd, a lunatic who had charted THIS WORLD'S maps in her head because romance novels sometimes had war in them too.
Come on, brain, this is what you're good at.
Grabbing the nearest soldier's sleeve, the one who had been quietly discussing their next move with another, I caught his attention.
"Haah--haa.....G-go bring Callisto," I ordered between breaths, still panting from the sudden run.
The soldier blinked at me, startled.
"But—Your Highness—!"
Everyone's attention now turned toward me.
"Does anyone here know where the Mirral Lake is in these Varellan groves?" I demanded.
One of the soldiers froze, shocked by my detail. These woods were top secret planted as a maze and riddled with ghost stories to deter any trespassers and limit commercial interest. Only a few were allowed inside and had the knowledge to navigate it. Since we were moving deeper, not circling blindly, I realized some of the soldiers must be well aware of the surroundings.
The shocked expression on one's face gave me my clue. I grabbed his hand firmly.
"How does the princess know?" he asked in disbelief.
"Don't argue," I snapped at him. "Tell me where the lake is."
He hesitated, then said, "Two hundred meters to the right from here."
I sighed in relief. It was nearer than I had expected.