Long Ago

Chapter Thirteen

I ducked under a fallen tree and climbed over a few boulders in my way. It was now a straight shot to the man eating trolls...

I took in a deep breath and held it, I stared at the back of the troll closest to me and yelled, "Hello!"

The trolls turned around with grunts and growls as I continued to approach them. I could have sworn the one closest to me smiled at me... but maybe it was just a show of teeth. And it worked. I certainly got the gist of how many teeth they had. It was so crowded in their mouths I wondered how they could fit anything else in there.

The trolls must have figured out that I was not going to run away, so they charged for me. My knees buckled and I stopped my march towards them. As they got closer, they got bigger. They had to be ten feet tall! What was I doing? I couldn't kill something that big! I was going to die. I was going to be chomped on by those many teeth. My head will be smashed against their cave and I will be digested in their stomachs. I couldn't move. I couldn't think.

I managed to get my fingers to twitch, but other than that, I was frozen in place by fear. I was about to die. And Ray would be too late to save my from them.

The trolls barreled towards me faster than I had expected them to be able to run. They grunted and growled at me as they approached. The closer they got, the more the smell of them came up to grab my senses in a tight unbearable grasp. I swallowed hard, trying and failing to move, to run. They were five feet away now. My death was five feet away.

A bright light prepared itself in my chest, but before it was released, the tip of a sword was sent clean through the first trolls chest. This made the other two yell and holler, they turned on the new attacker with raised fists and angry eyes.

My savior began slashing and stabbing at the trolls. I took that as my opportunity to run. I made it only ten feet before someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me back by the collar of my shirt. I gasped then gagged as the collar of my red tunic pressed against my windpipe. I was sent falling onto my back. I began kicking and screaming, whoever it was would face my fury if they even touched me.

The person grabbed my flailing wrists and held them tight. A deep male voice then said, "Calm yourself fair maiden. I will not hurt you."

I looked up to find a beautiful man with stunning grey eyes above me. He smiled at me, the sight made me blink. He was about the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. "Wh-who are you?" I asked, my throat tight.

He stood up tall and offered a hand down to me. I grabbed it and he swept me to my feet in a quick easy motion. "Why, I am Prince Andrew."

The world froze. The Prince. There was no prince in this territory, only the king and his queen... unless. "But... I thought..." I began, only to be cut off by the man in front of me.

"I know, I know. 'There is no prince of these lands'." He smiled once more, "Yet, here I am."

I slowly shook my head, "How come no one has ever heard of you?"

He frowned, some emotion I could not read swimming in his eyes, "Yes you have." I could have sworn that as those words left his mouth, his eyes flared, but, it was gone in a second.

"No I..." But... that's right. Prince Andrew. "Oh." I said with a smile and a giggle. What was wrong with me? Of course we had a prince.

"Raven!" Someone called out from behind me. "There you are!"

I turned around and found Ray looking wide eyed and out of breath. I smiled at him, "This is Prince Andrew, he saved me from the trolls."

Ray looked around, "Raven, there is no one here but us."

I looked back to the Prince and found his smiling at Ray. I laughed at the face he was making, it looked so... grumpy. "He can't see you. How silly is that?"

The prince looked down at me and licked his lips, "Well that's because only you can see me, child."

I tilted my head, "Why?"

"Raven." Ray called out to me.

I spun on him, a scowl planted on my face, "Ray. Don't be rude. Let the Prince talk. It's not nice to interrupt."

I looked back to the prince and he continued, "Because, we wouldn't want them to save you. Would we? Now, please come with me without resisting."

I smiled, "Oh! No, of course not. I am yours for the taking your highness." I took his hand and began walking beside him. What a nice man.

"Raven." Ray called out once more. I ignored him, he was being rude. He was... he...

Everything went black.

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I awoke with a start. Where was I? And why did my head hurt so bad? I groaned as I sat up, then, as I took in my surroundings my breath hitched. I was in some sort of cottage, there was no one in sight... thank the gods for small mercies I suppose.

I was in a small white cage. A cage of bone. I identified some human bones and some from other creatures too.  Wonderful.

I sniffed. Something smelled like rotten flesh... I looked beside me to where the smell was emanating from. The three dead trolls were pilled up in the cage beside me. I scrambled to get farther away from the foul smelling beasts. I covered my mouth as I looked around at all the different creatures and beasts laying lifeless in the cottage. Some deer, bears, trolls, and... other humans, men and women. It was hard to decipher the difference though... their faces were ripped clean off their cold dead bodies. I refused to let my mind wonder to where exactly the owner of this cortege kept the faces of his victims, knowing that my face would soon be among them.

I heard stomping and hissing coming from down a hallway across from me. 

Someone was coming.