Mythology AU: Part 1.16
Khonts pants, her small hands clutching at the protruding stones. This part of the slope is harder to climb for someone her size, unlike for her companion, who stands at the very top with the child on her back and at least twice the weight the duende carries. She lets out a sigh and hoists herself up. Time is running short and surely the centaurs are not far behind…
Come dawn and their tracks will be visible no matter what kind of terrain they chose to travel on. If they are lucky, maybe the centaurs, filled with rage and grief, might just fall for the little distractions left by the master of stealth. If they are not, an ambush will await them ahead, constructed by able handed hunters.
A white hand reaches down, hovering just above Khont’s head. She looks up in the darkness, only the stars shining down upon them all.
“Hold my hand, Khonts.” Nise’s voice is low and calm, no longer the sobbing mess at the food-laden table. “I’ll pull you up.”
Khonts glares at the bare skin for another moment, before she reaches up to hold it. A slight shudder passes through her body as the centaur grips her hand tightly and pulls her up with incredible strength.
“Is it too dark?” Nise asks, shifting uncomfortably at the knowledge that they are on open ground, and obviously misunderstanding the other’s hesitation.
“I can see well in the dark…” Khonts murmurs, looking anywhere but her companion. How long did they know each other? Yet the other goes completely ignorant of a certain fear the duende has. Or maybe the duende herself puts up with it? To a certain few, such things would surely bring thoughts that are better left unnamed for the time being…
The duende’s eyesight shifts from the thick ropes that fasten her bag to her small body back to the stuff strapped clumsily in haste onto her friend’s horse half. Almost as if checking them, but clearly lost in thoughts. The bags and pouches build up to something like a seat that is a less than comfortable place for the human boy to occupy. She stares at the boy himself for a moment: he seems to be sound asleep, a drugged sleep, she surely knows, for he made too much noise for them all to scurry away harmlessly.
..If that is possible.
“We should go… I think I can see fire light among the trees.” Khonts looks back and nods, an action the centaur can barely see.
Without more words they start off again, further into the thickets and closer to higher grounds. Soon enough they will reach the cliffs, ones that go down endlessly to bottoms that mortals such as themselves would never see. The paths there are hard to follow and hard to travel on, maybe then they will lose their pursuers. But maybe then, they will lose more than just their pursuers and end up at the bottom… A risk by all means, a risk that the two have agreed to take back when they sneaked out from among the tents… They couldn’t exchange more words, and the duende surely could tell that her companion is anything but alright. She sighs, leading the way, her eyes piercing through the veil of darkness.
Soon even the stars are blocked from view, the two reaching the darker side of the forest. Nise offered to light a torch, a boon the other had to deny from them both. The centaurs, though a creature of the wild and well adapted, was far less blessed with traits to survive in such forests compared to the duendes. Small in size, but quick on their feet, Khonts could scurry ahead and could have easily mapped the ground for the best paths for them both. But her ears picked up sounds that made her uneasy. And so, they continued onward together, as close as possible.
“Something is wrong…” Nise finally says in hushed tones as she barely manages to fit through between the closely grown trees in the dark.
“There are no sounds,” Khonts states, her voice tense. Possibilities surely speeding through her mind: from the larger predators of the forest lurking around close to them, scaring away and silencing the smaller inhabitants, to the possibility of being ambushed in any moment by angry centaurs… and maybe even further into the lanes of the supernatural.
Silently, they move on, letting fear and worry creep up. The duende walks at a faster pace, almost running, bending smaller twigs of bushes for her to pass through; ignoring the fact that she might leave traces the centaurs pursuers can track. Her companion has picked up her speed as well, sometimes breaking branches. Still, her bulky body restrains her from keeping up. Before they notice, the duende disappears between the bushes, leaving Nise blundering forward alone, with Enni on her back. Something is wrong as the darkness thickens, the sounds lose their timbre, Nise’s muffled voice hardly reaching Khonts.
Khonts stumbles into a small clearing, where the bright moonlight permeates the thick leaves. Stopping in her tracks and turning back to see how her friend is faring, she realizes that Nise lagged behind and quickly plunges back from whence she came. She calls out, and listens for an answer, fearing the worst. Nothing. Calling out again, this time much louder, Nise’s voice answers to her relief. Following the sound, Khonts parts a larger bush to reveal the slightly trembling shadow of her companion and, her face contorts into a frightened grimace, something more. Before the centaur could collect herself, the duende screams something inaudible and reaches out to her friend. Nise turns her head around, looking deep into the shadows she could barely distinguish.
Unearthly darkness looms over them and Nise’s scream pierces the silence. Khonts herself shouts something and twigs and branches break in rapid succession. But in the darkness, nothing can be seen, nothing can be understood…
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