THIRTEEN

Being clueless on what to do next, Lozen took off running in the opposite direction; she knew that having no plan was a form of planning itself, so she chose to flee. The winds were whirling and twirling behind her, touching her still tired body. But contrary to her beliefs, the sound of the horse didn’t stop, it only became nearer and closer. Soon she didn’t just hear the sound, she could see the horse itself, with a girl riding atop it.

The chase made her fear grappling and exhausting, but as it ensued a miracle happened, the horse in pursuit tripped abruptly, sending the rider towards the ground. Lozen watches this from a distance and nothing could wipe the fear the rider, as she staggers to her feet in distress, the girl looked up and glances towards Lozen who stood beneath the darkness of the night, before running towards the direction Lozen was catching her breath in.

Lozen was a warrior, and warriors don’t cower in fear, they face their problems head on. So she braced up, ready for an ultimate attack against the assailant, the night made it Impossible to see the riders’ face, but suddenly the rider runs past Lozen, instead of attacking her, making the escapee to resort to bafflement and confusion.

There was a horrified look upon the face of the rider, which added to the frightening chills her voice gave, as she spoke. “It’s coming!” croaked the rider. “We have to run! . . . Are you listening to me? You have to run or it will kill you. It killed everyone . . . Run now, run!”

“You’re not making any sense. Who’s out to kill us? Who the fucks are you supposed to be?” asked Lozen, her face frozen with terror, she held the rider by the arms.

“The Lamia.¬¬ they’re vicious monsters—they killed everyone. We have to run or we’ll definitely die.” said the rider, in between gasps of breath.

Lozen was still perplexed, bewildered by the sudden escalation of her present scenario, “I don't understand what is going on.” said Lozen. The rider was looking over her shoulder, with an urgent haste in her bodily expressions, like she expecting the worst thing in the realm to sprout from the shadows. “Shit! I'm fucking talking to you—don’t you dare look away. Who are you?! Who wants to kill us?! You're not making sense at all,”

The rider groaned in frustration. “Fine . . . My name is Ersa. I’m an operative of the City of Minerva secret forces, sent to uhmm—convey a message to the Regent Nakano of Minerva, from the Regent Joanne of Juventas. But on my way back to the city’s capital I was attacked by some deadly creature,” she spoke with a rapidness.

“Okay? . . . You’re not making any sense. What creature are you rambling about?”

“You’re wasting valuable time. The Lamia is coming, they are vicious creatures that—”

“You keep saying that word. Like I fucking know what that means,”

“Stop interrupting me and you'll find out.” snapped Ersa. “A Lamia is a sort of serpentine creature. I didn't get a good look at them; they’ve killed the whole entourage. I’m the only one that survived their deadly ambush,”

“So what you're saying is that . . . this deadly murderous creature followed you here,” asked Lozen cautiously.

“Yes, it did, but—”

“Then all I need is to get very far away from you. I don't know about you, but I am not at all thrilled on dying tonight.”

“We have to get out of here quickly—” suggested Ersa.

“Correction!—there’s no such thing as a ‘we’ here. Right now there’s only me.” said Lozen, inside of her she thought, she wasn’t a hero, she had to save herself, she had loved ones to get back to, the affairs of the city was none of her business.

“We have a better chance of defending ourselves together than apart,” explained Ersa.

“Shut up! What was that?” asked Lozen, there was a faint sound she overheard, a rattling of some kind.

“Whatever do you mean?” whispered Ersa.

“Keep quiet. Don’t you hear something moving in the shadows.” whispered Lozen.

Then it came again, the soft quiet sound, in the dried leaves scattered on the ground. Then a figure appeared from the shadows, a hideous sight it was, there before them was a naked woman from the waist upwards, and below its waist attached, was a sickening serpentine features, it's serpentine features was exactly like that of a snake, which slithered restless on the ground, on this creatures head was a flaxen hair that flowed downwards towards it's shoulder. The creature had snake eyes, and out of its mouth were frightening teeth, claw like, long and blade sharp. The creature spoke with a viciousness that chills the very air; its fingernails were elongated and sharpened, reflecting light in the night. “Ah! There you are little mouse *hisssss* you can run, but you can't hide. *hisssss* I can't let you live.” said the Lamia.

“Shit! What in Hera's name is that?!” exclaimed Lozen, while stepping backwards.

“That is one of the Lamias. I told you we had to run; now it’s here. It’s going to kill us both.” whispered Ersa, she trembled as she spoke.

The Lamia wasn’t hesitant to attack, it lunched itself directly at Ersa, and in a blink of an eye the creature was encircling her with its half-serpentine part, trying to strangle Ersa.

Ersa couldn’t scream, she was choking on the spot, her skin turned purple, and her breath shortened as she struggled relentlessly to inhale air, but she was become more unsuccessful by the moment.