Crunch! Crunch!
The trees loomed closer.
Their feet hammered across the frost-covered ground, heads occasionally whipping back...
The wind struck in waves, pushing and stumbling steps, as their breathing came harrowingly.
"Haa....." "...haaa"
'What does he want from me?!'
The thought ran through Saphira's mind.
Was it a vendetta against the crown?
Reputation?
Her mind travelled back to the day of the ceremony:
'...To orchestra an attack, harm no-one, and kidnap me...'
Her chest tightened.
'Could they know what I carry?'
WOOOOOOH!
The closer they got, the harder the wind fell.
WOOOOOOOH!
As if warning....warning them of their decision.
Crunch! Crunch!
The threat of death hung close, biting into Riven as body shivered whilst galloping...
It may have been the cold...but it was clear.
Beside him, Saphira's breaths came quick, her hands cutting through air, as her footing staggered.
Cough! Cough!
A rugged echo filled the misted air as his vision waned slightly...
'...If we stop--'
Fear had reached its apex in his mind...
The gradual seed of before?
It had sprouted, looming high....just like the trees in front of them.
WOOOOOOOOH!
Step by step.
At first, it was only snow and breath and the pounding in their ears.
THUMP! THUMP!
Then the white darkened...
Not all at once, but in slow streaking stains, as though each step dragged them towards a place the world itself refused to acknowledge...
A dead zone.
Crunch! Crunch!
The trees swallowed the light from the gloomy grey sky. Their trunks weren't shelters, but pillars; black and endless.
"Haa...."
A feeling of dread floated through Saphira...
Staring at the scene...
Her eyes twitched, as a cold breath met her.
"Hkk--"
They didn't wait to stop and observe...
They just ran through, steps powering through the mix of trees...
There was nothing on their minds but escape.
'...Mother.'
A quiet calling whispered in Saphira's mind.
Crunch! Crunch!
As they ran, the ground continued to mix and shade...
A detail the pair had yet to notice...
Their steps blurred together one after the next, as the shade of trees fell down.
Riven's eyes darted behind.
Was he still following?
His teeth grit as he turned back.
Saphira pressed close as the trees swallowed the light, her shoulders hunched as if the branches themselves might reach for her.
WOOOOH!
The rasp of wind slithered, causing Saphira to stiffen.
They galloped as their breaths ran loud.
The crunches of snow, eternal...
That was until it wasn't.
With adrenaline soaring high, just like the trees surrounding them, the pair had yet to notice the underlying changes they'd stepped into...
Splosh!
Wet.
His boots sank deeper than they should have.
...The ground was no longer snow, it was darker, thicker.
Riven glanced down mid-stride...a breath snagged in his throat.
Red.
The white had given way to streaks of red, smeared and soaking upward.
Liquid.
Strange...
Splosh! Splosh!
But he didn't stop.
He couldn't.
Splosh!
He forced his legs to move, dragging himself onward until a looming trunk rose before him.
Splosh--Thud!
His palm slapped against the bark. Rough, splintered, freezing---
Warm.
"Haa....haaa.....haa!"
His breath ragged from his chest.
"Haa...."
His veins thumped with exhaustion, sending him signals all throughout his body.
A slickness spread across his skin.
He pulled his hand back.
Crimson welled from his palm, but the bark too was streaked, as if the tree itself bled.
"...Let's rest here," he muttered, voice cracked.
There was no answer.
Had it been too low?
He turned as his chest heaved.
Shhhhhrrhhhh! Shhhhhrrhhhh!
The wind dragged itself between the trees, warped and rasping.
Too close.
Too human.
She was gone.
Riven's chest heaved with more than fatigue, as his gaze darted around.
It was quiet....but that wasn't all.
Darkness pressed in, thicker here, smothering; as if the sky above had been erased.
The trees rose higher like endless pillars, their crowns invisible to the ground.
Splosh!
His boots sank.
This wasn't snow...
Not anymore.
'What the....'
Unease gnawed.
His eyes narrowed, scanning through the trees.
"...Saphira?"
Nothing
The forest stood silent, its trunks and shadows deeper than they had the right to be.
She wasn't there.
Shhhhhrrhhhh!Shhhhhrrhhhh!
"...Saphira?" His voice cut sharper this time.
No answer.
His hand slid to Mael's Fang, the smooth hilt grounding him, even as his chest heaved.
Thump!
Dark.
Gloomy.
Blood all around?
'...What is this place?'
'A trick?'
'...His trick?'
'...Did that bastard drive us here?!'
His mind raced as the world seemed to pause.
Splosh!
Wet ground in a place like this?
Was this real?
His grip on Mael's Fang tightened, knuckles blanching. 'It had to be him. It had to. Every step, every turn.'
Drenn's hand dragging them here?
The thought dug in like claws, an image he clung to.
Shhhhhrrhhhh!Shhhhhrrhhhh!
The hiss of wind crept through. It scraped against his ears, worming into his skull like a whisper.
His grip stayed locked, his breath shallow.
It was watching...
Waiting...
All around...
Bleeding.