Letters In Red

Chapter 0

The smell of the forest was all around her as she ran. The damp earth smudged under her boots. The men's shouts sounded out behind her as she darted under a low hanging tree branch, breath ragged to her own ears.

She laughed, flying past the green bushes and tall trees. The exhilaration of being chased pumped through her veins like an addiction. An unhealthy addiction. She sped up as she heard the pounding of hooves getting closer. The recent rain kept the trails well slicked in the lush forest. She lost her footing and went crashing to the ground. She nose dived and barely saved her face from a feature crushing landing.

She scrambled to her feet as the hooves thudded around her. She looked out of her hood to see three men on large animals.
"Heya fellas." She waved a hand in greeting before awkwardly scratching the back of her head. Oh, if glares could kill.

"Pipsqueak." One of the ugliest growled at her. He led his horse closer to her as he sneered down from a top his steed.

"You've caused us a lot of trouble." Ugly one had a twin. How nice.

"Huh. I don't seem to recall that." She smiled at the boys from beneath her hood. Her smile quickly faded as her blade stuck to the ground not a foot in front of her.

"Remember that?" Ugly number one smirked as he gestured to the dagger. Stuck to the dagger was a paw, a very detached paw. She grimaced as she looked at it, remembering the trouble she went through to get that paw.

"Okay, listen here bub." She chucked away her naive attitude as she scolded the men in front of her. "You have no idea what you're dealing with." The boys burst into laughter.

"No idea? No idea! Ha!" The two ugliest were cracking up their own jokes as she glared daggers at them. 

Goon number three finally decided to make his presence more known. "And what would that be? Little ole you?" He mocked her as he brought his horse closer to her. "If you're so powerful,  why were you running like a scared little girl not five minutes ago?"

She heaved a long, loud sigh as she looked at him. He hadn't realized. He really hadn't realized yet? Did she really look that butch?

"Oh, you have no idea." She stated unveiling her face to the men. The smirks on the uglies faces grew in width. One tapped two and raked his eyes over her features, a lustful look entering his face. She gagged. She actually gagged in front of them.

The final goon laughed at that, getting a whack to the back of the head by ugly one.  She quirked an eyebrow at them. She shook her head as she saw a shadow pass over head.

"About damn time." She muttered. Hayes had been on a hunt for three days already. She was getting sick of sticking to the inn in town. The boys all stopped bickering when they saw her smile. 

"You have no reason to be happy." Three told her. "Do you know what we're gonna do to you little girl?" He sneered at her. She felt queasy all over again. She reigned in her nausea.
"Oh I'm not worried...for me that is." She stepped forward and grabbed her dagger as the men advanced.

"Why you little whore!" Ugly spit at her. His horse pulled to a two legged stop as its eyes widened in fear. A jarring roar brought a smile to her lips. The men all looked upwards towards the landing beast. Stepping back on their panicking horses as loose dust flew around their face.

"And that's my ride. Maybe we'll catch up some time?" She smirked as she used a jutting scale to hoist herself onto the dragons back. It took off into the air as the men below stared at the disappearing animal.

She laughed as she got comfortable against the scales in front of the saddle horn. Hayes looked at her with disapproval. He shook his head as they flew higher.

"What?" She finally spit out as they flew. His stare was becoming uncomfortable even to her. "What did I do wrong?" He scoffed at her question. 

"I can't leave for five minutes without you getting yourself into some kind of trouble, can I?" His harsh tone cause her to raise her eyebrows.

"Five minutes? Five. Minutes? Try again sweetcheaks, you've left me in that shitty two bit town for three days. Three days of drunken men and stale air. I couldn't stay inside any longer!" She spat at him. 

"I got that, okay? I get it. But did you have to start trouble Alex?" The rumble of the beast beneath her and Hayes' chuckle let her know they were conversing, most likely about her. She grumbled under her breathe. 

"I didn't mean to get into trouble it just kinda finds me." She took the paw off of the blade and picked at some of the fur.

"More like you find trouble." He looked down at the girl in front of him. She wrapped the paw, why she had it he had no idea, and avoided looking up at him. He sighed and relaxed into the saddle. They had had a long way to go today.

***
Rukahva let out a puff of breath as he cracked open one large eye at a time. He blinked as he adjusted to the dark cavern around him. He slowly stretched his limbs, making his way outside. Standing up to his full height in the afternoon sun, he gazed across the trees.

He looked around the forest before starting to ascend into the sky. He knew something must be happening if he was up so early into the fall. He flew lazily until his internal compass corrected his flight trajectory.

He was a solitary creature, by choice at first, but by now no one wanted to he near him. His extensive life had led him to lonesome habits of living, hunting and surviving by himself. Why he was up now and leaving the comfort of his territory baffled him. He preferred the forest to other creatures, especially humans. He had an uncomfortable gut feeling this had something to do with them. He grumbled his disapproval to the empty sky. This had better be important, he thought to himself.