"Ladies, I said—NOW!" Brion was getting impatient and his voice sounded almost panicked.
Daisy opened the carriage door and got out first, Lysandra quickly followed. The maid shielded her lady with her own body. To their confusion Hannic had released the horses from the carriage. Lysandra looked around, there was nothing to be seen. Yet Shadow was clearly unsettled by something, the horse kept backing away and nickered.
Hannic tilted his head to the side looking at them. "Ladies, please we are—"
A screeching roar rumbled through the forest. "SHIT!" Brion cursed "Get on the horses— now! And RUN! Follow the road. You hear me!" He shouted at them.
"What– Why?! What was that?!" Lysandra questioned but Hannic reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Get on your horse! NOW!" He ordered in a panic.
Lysandra looked at her maid, seeing the mirror image of her own fear in Daisy. Another screeching roar filled the air, making Daisy yelp. There was no time for questions, Lysandra moved past her maid taking her hand. "Daisy, you know how to ride right?!"
"Yes ma'am!" Daisy squeaked as she got on the horse. Simulationaly Hannic patted the horse whispering something in its ear. "Hold on tight and follow the road." Hannic said before turning away.
Lysandra got on top of Shadow patting his side. "— " she wanted to say something as a growling sound caught her attention. She looked in the direction of the growl. A canine stood in the middle of the road in front of them. Its skin, or whatever was left of it, looked like it was hanging on by a thread. With rotting flesh the beast stood on all fours. Revealing its organs and bones on the places where the skin had fallen off.
How was it even alive? It stood there breathing, like a freak of nature. Its front teeth were larger than any normal dog's teeth. Eyes red, bloodshot, they had to get away from this thing and fast.
"Yaa—!" Hannic shouted at them and slapped the back of Daisy's horse.
Lysandra turned to Brion and Hannic once more before grabbing the rains and taking off.
Daisy's horse bolted straight towards the canine, yet the canine didn't seem to move. Its eyes were focused on Lysandra. The beast started running towards her. Daisy screamed in panic, seeing the thing get closer. A gust of wind passed Lysandra's right side and as she turned an arrow had struck the beast right between its eyes. Its lower jaw slacked and moments later the beast dropped to the ground.
"Hurry!" Brion shouted. Lysandra looked over her shoulder seeing the man with a bow and arrow in his hands. Hannic cleaved his way through another beast's neck with his sword.
Lysandra passed the canine's corpse catching up with Daisy. A strange stench reeked from the corpse, a smell that had never hit her before. The stench of death. Leaving Brion and Hannic behind on the road with only one remaining horse. Lysandra could only pray for their safety as more beasts seemed to approach the two men.
Eerily screeches echoed throughout the forest. Indicating that there were more creatures, another sound followed, resembling howls coming from any and every direction. They were surrounded. Lysandra held onto Shadow's reins tightly. Her horse had caught up with Daisy. "Milady! What are we to do–?!" Daisy sounded panicked.
Lysandra hesitated for a moment before answering. Following the road was the only instruction Brion had given them. The sun was starting to set. How could they follow the road when they had no light? It was supposed to be at least another day's ride until they'd reach the estate. Turning around made no sense. They were almost at the mid way point of the journey. "We keep going! We follow the road!" Lysandra decided.
"But, Milady—" Daisy gave Lysandra a worried look.
"No buts! We just follow the road and hope we make it out— Alive" Lysandra called, muttering the last part.
Daisy quietly nodded, the howling haunting them. The last rays of sunlight were fading quickly. Darkness shrouded the road. Struggling to see anything, Lysandra knew they had to push on. Crows were cawing as they passed the trees, silence slowly followed. As they made their way deeper into the forest everything started to muddle together in the dark.
No more howls or screeches, just the sound of the hooves clicking on the snowy road. They slowed down a while later. Estimating that it had been almost two hours since they left Brion and Hannic behind. Had they left the guards to die? Probably, they only had one horse to escape with.
Looking up, Lysandra could see the moon rise between the pine trees, shedding a shred of light in the darkness. Lysandra could hear Daisy sniffing, the maid must have been scared. Looking down to see the road, suddenly a soft spark of light came up ahead, several of them actually. "Fireflies—" Lysandra whispered as one of them landed on top of her horse's head.
Little by little the road started to light up. How did the fireflies even survive in this temperature? Insects like this shouldn't be able to live here, Lysandra never read about any of this. A firefly came up to Lysandra and buzzed in front of her before landing on her hand. The creature looked different from any firefly in the capital. It was three times the size of any firefly she had ever seen. The capital was the perfect place for fireflies, with its warm climate. She had seen them many times there. Looking ahead Lysandra noticed how the insects stuck to the sides of the road unintentionally making it clear for them where to go.
"Are we being guided?" Lysandra whispered. The two kept moving forward. The temperature was dropping fast. It had to be around midnight. It wasn't long before they could hear the sound of running water. "Flowing water– there must be a stream nearby!" Lysandra exclaimed and looked at Daisy who nodded. Lysandra remembered Brion's words. Short stops, don't linger. Quickly getting off their horses, the girls walked up to the stream.
"Milady drink, please–" Daisy pleaded even though her own hands had been shaking for hours. Lysandra cupped her hands and scooped up some water. She then turned to Daisy, offering the water instead. "Here, it's cold but we need to stay hydrated." Daisy looked up to Lysandra with pleading eyes. "I wanna go home."
"I know– But we can't turn back now. Please Daisy, drink." Lysandra insisted as the girl drank from her hands.
Lysandra scooped another handful of water, quenching her own thirst. Both horses were drinking on their own. Clearly they were thirsty too. The forest had an odd sense of beauty, with the fireflies lighting up the path as well as the soft beams of moonlight shining through the trees.
Looking over to the other end of the stream Lysandra blinked, the fireflies were dimming themselves. Were they hiding? Something had to be wrong. Why were they dimming their lights?
"AAAH!!!" A scream erupted from Daisy to Lysandra's right.
Lysandra turned her head to see another one of the canines. Its jaw was locked onto Daisy's arm. Daisy continued to scream, blood started dripping down her arm. Lysandra looked around, spotting a stick. Without thinking as if out of instinct she threw it right at the canine's head "LET GO!" Lysandra called as the canine tore up Daisy's skin.
The canine let go of Daisy's arm and turned to face Lysandra, blood dripping from its jaw. The creature was staring her down as it growled at her. "Shit—" Lysandra stepped back. The canine walked right at her "D– Da- DAISY! GE– GET UP an–and GO!" Lysandra called.
The beast charged at Lysandra. She braced herself, covering her face with her arms. Suddenly a blur of fur passed her. The new creature caught the canine in mid air. Both creatures landed in the stream. Lysandra saw that a great white wolf had intercepted the creature. Lysandra's hands were still shaking. She saw the animals fight, their horses were– "SHADOW!" She called and whistled, the horses had run off in all the commotion and she hadn't even noticed it. "DAISY!" She shouted again as the maid finally snapped out of her shock. "GO! NOW!" Lysandra whistled again for the horses. The canine and the wolf were still fighting in the stream, she wasn't going to wait for their confrontation to finish.
Lysandra rushed over to help Daisy up off the ground. The two of them ran back towards the road. Lysandra kept whistling for Shadow. The sound of hooves rushing up behind them startled them. Turning around they were faced with Hannic's horse. The animal had come back to them. The horse was well trained, that much was clear. "Get on!" Lysandra called at her maid.
"But, Milady we can't—" Daisy uttered
"I said get on!" Lysandra shouted, helping Daisy with her bleeding arm get on the horse. "Keep pressure on your wound and go!" Lysandra knew it meant that she would be staying behind.
"What?! No, Milady I can't just—" A roar came from behind, the soaking wet canine stood in the middle of the road. Its leg was injured, but no sign of the wolf that had saved them earlier, it must have lost the battle.
Lysandra knew that the horse wouldn't be able to outrun it with the two of them, she was done for anyway. Marrying the demon of the North was going to be the death of her, one way or the other. If her maid would survive this, then at least she could return to the capital. Slapping the horse's rear, the horse took off. "Milady!!" Daisy called back, the horse wasn't stopping.
This was it—
What would Lysandra's official death certificate say?: Death by canine, ripped to shreds. A saddened chuckle escaped her. Lysandra didn't let her gaze waver from the canine. Her sister Ambra would have struck the creature down in an instant. Run! You fool! She could hear her sister yell. Run!
Lysandra turned around and made a run for it. She could hear the canine chasing after her. Even with the creature's leg injured. She wasn't going to outrun it. She would try. Every step she took made a small amount of fireflies light up. As if they created a small echo for her to follow. Only illuminating her path a few steps ahead. Lysandra kept running.
The sound of the canine was getting closer. A loud thump sounded as Lysandra dared to look over her shoulder. Behind her she saw the canine with the contents of its crushed skull spilled out on the ground. It was Shadow. The horse's hoof plunged down on the canine's head for good measure. "You— Fuck! Shadow, you are the best."
Lysandra jumped on Shadow's back the moment the horse stepped off the canine's remains. "Thank you." she whispered.
A high pitched screech sounded behind her once more. Her curiosity winning, she looked over her shoulder and was faced with several sets of red glowing eyes staring at her. "SHIT!" she cursed
"Go, go, go!" Lysandra kicked Shadow's side and held onto the reins. Shadow sprinted off. "Faster Shadow! ! Faster! Please boy!" She pleaded. Keeping her eyes on the road. She hairs at the back of her neck rose. The creatures were catching up.