Forest -2

Loreille stirred awake due to the chirping sound of birds and her eyelids fluttered open, taking a look at her environment that appeared slightly murky in her eyes.

She could see a lake shimmering nearby, the remnants of a burnt-out fire smoldering faintly. A horse was tied to a tree.

Thirst clawed at her throat, and she tried to move towards a gourd strapped to the horse's saddle—only to be jerked back by something tight around her wrists and ankles. A sharp pain shot through her skin.

She was tied to a tree.

Panic flared in her chest. She wriggled against the restraints, but the rope only bit deeper into her flesh.

"Who tied me up?" she muttered, her pulse quickening.

Then, a memory struck like lightning.

A shadow. A hand over her mouth. A struggle.

Loreille gasped, her breath hitching. Someone had attacked her.

She instantly scanned the area again, trying to find anything she could use to cut herself free -- or find traces of a living person around but her gaze locked onto something far more worse. 

A lion! 

Its golden eyes burned into her, hunger for blood and pieces of her flesh, glinting behind them.

A surge of fear rose up her lungs when it bared its teeth, a deep growl rumbling from its throat.

Oh my God. Oh my God." Her mind screamed, her body trembling violently. She thrashed against the ropes, ignoring the sting, her desperation growing with every second the beast inched closer.

"HELP! SOMEBODY, PLEASE!" She bellowed, her lungs burning from the effort as if the air was being stripped away from her lungs.

"Please, please, anyone please help me! I don't want to die so young!!!" She cried out, her voice trembling hysterically as the lion let out a deafening roar, its muscles recoiling.

"If I had known today was going to be my last day on earth, I would have spent it back at the tower, with Hannah as I watched her bake and read my novels." Terror choked her voice as her breath grew ragged, envisioning how her last moments could have been.

Feeling paralyzed by the terror coursing her veins, she squeezed her teary eyes shut, waiting patiently for the lion to pounce on her as she braced for the pain. 

Minutes passed with her eyes closed as she awaited for her limbs to be torn apart and her flesh out of her body but none of these feelings came. 

A long breathless moment passed.

Then —

'ROAR', 

'THAWCK'

She heard the groaning noise of the lion as if it was in an excruciating pain followed by the sound of something heavy collapsing. 

Sniffling, she cracked one eye open in a hesitant squint thinking that the lion wanted to play mind games with her but she instantly drew in a sharp breath when her eyes landed on the lion unmoving in front of her with two arrows jutted on its body, blood pooling massively out of its stomach.

She finally opened her eyes fully, heaving out in relief that today wasn't her last day on earth. 

''Oh my! What a relief! I had thought for a second I wasn't going to make it. Thank goodness, I'm so grateful!!" 

"Your life is still in danger, young miss," A deep, grunty voice cut through the air, seizing her attention from the lion as her head quickly snapped towards the sound of the voice.

A man who stood several paces away, was clad in black l attire from head to toe -- an attire suit for a guard. His slightly grey hair tousled to the back leaving a few unruly strands to graze his thick eyebrows. His eyes black as a ravens feathers were staring coldly at her, devoid of no emotions but if she had looked closely, she would have noticed hate brewing underneath those cold eyes of his.

Loreille's stomach twisted.

"Who are you?" She demanded in a sharp tone, refusing to let her guard down because with the way he looked, she believed he could kill her and bury her six feet underneath the ground and no one would ever notice.

The man cocked an eyebrow at her bravery, "what were you doing in the forest in the dead of the night?"His tone was authoritative and frosty.

She glared at him, "That's not your business, mister. And untie me right now. I assume you're the one who tied me to this tree in a gruesome manner." She rolled her eyes at him, eyeing him in a rude manner.

He let out a humorless chuckle. "Careful, lady. I didn't save you just for you to run your mouth carelessly," he threw a sharp glance at her. His dark eyes roving round her body as if she were his next prey.

Loreille gulped nervously, her lips trembling as she asked, "W-why are you staring at me like that? It's not n-nice staring at a lady's body like that."

Ignoring her question, the man approached Loreille, pulling a dagger from his belt.

"W-what are you trying to do? I promise you, if you kill me, you will be haunted down and your body will be given to lions and tigers to feast on. S-step away from me. I'm warning you now!!"

"Aahh," she screamed, shutting her eyes when the man raised the dagger thinking he was going to kill her until she felt a cooling sensation on her cheeks that instantly jerked her eyes open.

"You messed up my plan last night. How do you plan on compensating me?" He asked and continued without waiting for her response.

"You have two options - your life or your tongue." His lips curved into an evil smirk. 

"W-WHAT!" Loreille was stunned by his question that her mouth was wide agape and eyes widening to twice their size. 

"I can't possibly let you go free after what you saw last night and also my alerted those guards to me. Tell me are you in cahoots with them? Anger flashed across his face before it was replaced by his evil smirk. 

"I-I don't even know what you are talking about. I didn't see anything last night and I will never be in cahoots with those guards. I'm just trying to save myself!!!" She screamed the last sentence with trembling lips. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes as she struggled to stand firm despite her body shaking vigorously.

"Why are you running away then?" 

"Because.... Because - I-I... My fa-"

"Enough!" His single words instantly made Loreille to zip her lips, "I don't want to hear any of it. Next time I see you around me, I wouldn't care whether you appeared by mistake or not and wouldn't hesitate to end your life and feed your bones to the wild animals to consume." His voice dripped with venom as his dark, and chilly tone sent scary sensations pooling at the pit of her stomach. 

He is so scary and evil. I can't wait to flee far away from him. 

Without hesitation she nodded without him asking for it and the man began untying her ropes. 

Finally out of the ropes, she tried walking away from the tree only to feel her ankles give out beneath her. She stumbled forward, bracing for the impact when she felt a firm arm round her waist and her body became pressed to his chest. 

A faint crispy scent of spice, cinnamon and amber instantly wafted into her nostrils as her body was pressed to the man's chest. It was a unique and exotic smell that made her want to snuggle into his chest to inhale more of him.

Loreille knew better than to continue staying in the arms of someone who just threatened to kill her the next time he came across her and instantly jerked away from him.

"T-Thank you," she stammered under her breath with fear nagging her heart. She was about to walk again when she felt a sharp pain in her left ankle that made them give out for the second time. 

He caught her again. 

"Do you no longer wish for your head and want it fed to hungry tigers and lions?!" 

"Loreille felt extremely embarrassed and scared for having to fall twice on the shoulders of the man who wants her dead. She bit down on her lower lips in hesitation before her lips parted to say a word but he beat her to it.

"Sit," he commanded and as usual without waiting for her to obey or refuse he guided her down. He bent down beside her, taking one of her feet in his hands.

Loreille who wasn't expecting such action from him tried recoiling her foot from his hold just for him to grip it back tighter than before.

"What are you doing? Release my foot!" 

Ignoring her request, he lifted her dress slightly, just enough to examine her swollen ankle, and without prior warning he twisted her ankle back to its position. 

A sharp jolting pain shot through her legs as her ankle was snapped back into place.

Loreille let out a strangled gasp, clutching the grass beneath her. The pain dulled after a moment, replaced by an odd sense of relief.

He stood, stepping away from her and before she could thank him, he had already climbed his horse.

"Wait—!"

But he was already riding off.

Loreille exhaled shakily, trying to process what had just happened.

"I can see some smoke over there! She must be close," Loreille's heart stuttered when she heard the voice of a man almost close to where she was.

"We better hurry up before we lose her."

"What!! They are still chasing after me?!" Her eyes widened in horror upon the realization.

Loreille was lost in her thoughts until she heard the sound of boots enclosing her.

She stood up abruptly from the floor, her ankles were much better now but weren't fully healed.

"See her! His Majesty will be so happy?!" The men began running towards her and when Loreille wanted to flee, more men appeared in front of her. She turned towards her side but more emerged blocking her every part. 

She walked backwards until she was circled by the guards. She bent down and picked some sand from the floor throwing it at the men as she started fleeing away when the men were rubbing their eyes.

Unfortunately her steps weren't up to ten until she felt a large arm encircle her wrist.

"Where are you going, miss. You can't escape now!" The guard laughed, which earned the laughter of the other guards.

"I wonder what the king wants with such a pretty girl like this. Why don't we have a taste first before we take her back to the palace," A guard suggested as the others laughed darkly, cheering him on.

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"We can't possibly give this lady to the king without having a taste." A guard licked his lips, eyeing her body with contempt.

"Come on boys, hold her down while I fill her up," The guard laughed.

Bile rushed up to Loreille's throat when she heard the disgusting words from the guards.

"Let me go!" She screamed at the guards even hitting them with her arms but they were too burly for her small frame.

Her face contorted in anguish as heavy tears left her eyes, overflowing down her cheeks.

The guards were so heartless that two pinned her to the floor while the rest watched and laughed as they began tearing away her dress.

With little efforts, Loreille tried to save her dress and it seemed to be working until a guard held her arms above her head, restricting her from stopping them from having their way with her body.

She writhed and squirmed but it made zero effort and when her dress was torn around her thigh area she let out a loud scream.

The guards were laughing and chortling hysterically, as they enjoyed her squirming and crying for help. They loved how she begged for them to release her.

"Just wait a little, miss. You will be with His Majesty soon." The guard whom didn't know why the king wanted her and who she was, assumed he wanted her for some pleasure.

"Please!!" She choked on her words when she saw the guard reaching to tear the dress at her chest area.

'Thud'

The guard who was tearing away her dress instantly fell to the ground with an arrow stuck to his chest.

The guards stopped in their actions and looked to see who dared to kill one of their own and was shocked when they saw more of their own falling to their death by arrows shot by a man riding a horse. 

They quickly unsheathed their sword, and ran to the man to kill him, leaving Loreille to weep bitterly on the floor as she held her dress close to her chest.

Having small effort in her body, she rose from the ground to a seating position, turning to see who had come to save her because she knew she didn't have anyone to rescue her.

Her vision blurred with tears as she watched him cut through the guards. When her eyes recognized the familiar shade of grey air, her breath got caught in her throat. 

The man from earlier. 

He came back.

He saved me... again.