The Songbird and the Wolf

[ XI ] Lighting the Way

Immediately, the trio of Fae put as much distance between themselves and the carcass of the carriage. Overhead, only a new moon lights their way through the thick of the forests. No longer any idea of direction in their minds.

Only the need to find somewhere safe - whatever that might mean.

The three of them are quite the state.

The soldier turned Queen, blood staining the tatters of her dark dress. She struggles to stay on her own feet, but manages to continue forward under the weight of her still bleeding friend.

Between them, Sam tries to support his own weight, but every few footsteps his knees buckle, nearly dragging the three of them down together. His blood stains the forest earth in their wake, his breaths coming in increasingly short pants the further they go.

On the far side, Fairfax, who fairs the best of the three but that is no high bar to pass.

And no matter how they push themselves, to the point of collapse, they do not make the distance they need.

Soon the sound of shouting returns to the night air, distant for the time being. But the further they go, the more the jaws seem to close around them.

Elodie pauses long enough to turn, peer back in the direction they've come from. She can see silhouettes through the trees, weaving in and out of the foliage.

They've not yet been spotted, but its only a matter of time.

Time she can feel getting shorter with every passing beat.

The Warrior in her hammers at her chest, desperate to stop, to turn and fight. But one look at her friends, and if she's honest one look at her own frame, and she knows they are in no state to try it.

She would only be leading her friends closer to death.

Instead she goes for the option that, had she been by herself, she would have never considered.

"We need to find cover," the words come from her lips as a hiss. Her own breaths come in ever shorter pants, a light sheen of sweat across pale skin, stinging her eyes.

The Gods are graceful, for it doesn't take much more of a journey to find a ancient tree. They slip beneath the roots, slipping into the small cavern beneath with a tumble of bodies.

They hesitate, their silence a terrified thing as they wait. Listening to the world around them, the night outside a quiet that is almost as terrifying as any sound she could think of.

Adrenaline courses through her veins, ready for an enemy to appear at the opening of the roots. Ready to go down fighting for her friends.

But for now, no one appears.

Sam collapses on the far side of their makeshift den, his features growing paler by the moment. Blood has already stained through the impromptu bandage she had given him, the white of his shirt not visible but for the crimson.

Elodie drags herself forward, dirt caking to her dress as she comes to stop by his abdomen.

She pulls up his shirt, revealing the flat panes of the younger man's abdomen. She rips free another strand of  her dress, replacing the blood caked one around his waist.

But that too quickly becomes heavy with her friends blood.

"We need to get him help," Elodie's voice comes out more strangled than she wants it to.

Fairfax has settled herself closest to the entrance, ready for whatever might come next.

The younger fae is no soldier, but that doesn't deter her.