Progress is flying with this story! Here is another snippet, let me know what you think! (:
The village seemed empty. All the buildings were dark and there was no movement in the road. My heart started to race.
"Romere, it's like a ghost town…"
"You're right," he cautiously drew his sword. "Stay behind me, and stay alert."
As we walked down the dirt road, I looked through the windows of shops and houses for any sign of light or life. Nothing caught my eye. There was a tavern at the end of the road with tables out in front. Dishes were set for a meal, and produce stands still had items, though some rotted on the shelves. It was as if the town had up and left.
"I don't like this," I whispered. "Can we just keep going?"
Romere didn't answer. He stopped short and I bumped into him.
"Why'd you stop?" I looked over his shoulder and in front of us was a stone statue of a man sitting on a throne. The look in his eyes was that of a wicked ruler, a smirk on his lips.
"We need to leave," Romere said. "Now!"
He grabbed my arm and we started running past the statue and out of the village toward the line of trees ahead of us.
"Who was that statue of?" I asked. "Why do we-"
A loud shriek rang in my ears and Romere and I fell to the ground.
"Quickly, get up!" Romere took my arm and pulled me up as I rubbed my head. "And don't look back!"
I wanted to, but kept my gaze straight ahead. Another piercing shriek sounded as we reached the trees. It was hard to run with all the branches and roots on the ground. Movies make it look so easy.
After a moment, a clap of thunder sounded. The shrieking had stopped and it started to downpour. We came to a small clearing and I knelt down on the ground to catch my breath.
"We must keep moving," Romere urged.
"I need...a moment…"
Romere looked past me and sighed. "I think we're safe for now, but be quick. I don't want to be near this place for too long."
"What was that? And the statue?"
"We should keep moving," he held out his hand. "I'll explain once we're farther away."
I took his hand and stood. My throat hurt from the intake of air.
"I should have paid more attention in gym," I coughed.
"Gym?"
"It's a class I had to take in school," I said as we started walking again.
“I see,” he said.
We remained quiet while treading through the woods, or at least as quiet as we could be. A lot of fallen branches and long limbs had been knocked down from the trees. Most were bare from leaves, which did nothing to help with the rain. The trees started to thin, and we found ourselves in a field scattered with tall trees that had all their leaves. A large formation of rocks was straight ahead. The top boulder created an overhang long enough for us to seek shelter under.
At this point Romere and I were soaked. He quickly started a fire while I rooted around in my bag for blankets.
“We can wait out the rain here,” he said, “though we need to be alert.”
“Now will you tell me what all of that was?” I wrapped myself in my blanket and sat close to the fire.