Arising Fate

VII

The wind howled in her ears, singing to her, echoing around her with the muted sounds of wild howls and cackles. She knew they were coming for her. Lily could visualize the monstrous wolves with thick fur as black as night, red eyes burning into her with the wickedness of demons, saliva spilling down their rough chins.

These beasts were only the dogs, not even the creatures that commanded them. Lily felt as if the army of the dead, as if her fate, had finally decided to give chase and catch up with her. Had it decided to come slaughter her for who she was? For the power she possessed? She knew there was something wicked buried deep inside her, demanding her to feed, to possess, to kill.

For a second, an addicting thrill ran through her veins and the voices began whispering, begging, craving – it was always about desire. They had been growing stronger, more possessive and commanding since her time in the alley, since her brief time in this world. Without the powder, she felt her resolve weakening.

She was weakening.

Everything that had led to this point, to her running for her life once more, was tiring her down. Darkness has the ability to consume people; to drown them. Lily understood this fact more than most individuals. For her, it acted almost like a blanket, encasing every inch of her mind and body it its calming warmth, making her feel like she could just curl up and disappear into the depths of her mind away from the world and let the voices win, let them overpower her. It could be a freedom.

But then she remembered the bodies, of the man in the alley, of the creature in her bathtub, of those that lay in her memory, and her thoughts stilled with her resolve. She would not hide in the shadows of her pain, her regrets, and let them win – she would fight them. She wouldn't be a monster.

"Run faster," a voice snarled to her right, waking her out of her morbid thoughts. Whipping her head towards the voice, Ash came into view, looking like a fallen angel returning to the Heavens for revenge. He flew beside her, guiding her through the webs of branches and trees that grew before them. His dark hair whipping around his face in thick curls, rep lips parted, face determined and fierce.

Every so often, he would slip behind her, his presence disappearing from her side. Then she would hear the snapping and moaning of trees as they bent to his will, warping themselves into green walls to slow down the predators behind them. She could almost feel the power that hummed off his olive skin.

"How do we escape them?" She yelled eventually, panting heavily as sweat dripped from her brow.

"You don't escape the Wilde Jagd."

"What do you mean you don't escape?" Lily hissed, grabbing his arm and yanking Ash to a stop. He looked at her fiercely, his fae attributes shinning. His eyes glowed as green as the forest after it rained. That colour that appeared when spring had finally arrived, the buds opening under the warmth of the sun. The green that pushed past the heaps of snow in the winter, promising an end to the harsh cold. The colour of spiraling oceans in flux. He was so beautiful, it terrified her. The scowl on his beautiful face didn't help.

If looks could kill, Lily thought, gulping down her fear. Quickly he let out a large sigh, pacing around her in frustration before finally opening his mouth.

"No one escapes the hunt normally once it begins. There are two types of hunters in the woods today. There is the Queen, and then there are Woden's followers. Both will slaughter you but only one will have you running even in death. Woden's followers ravage both the Tir na nÓg and the mortal world, abducting people and dragging them down into the underworld and the faery kingdom. Sometimes pulling their spirits from their bodies while mortals, like you, sleep to join the cavalcade. These hunters are called Ghost Riders because they will become perpetually attached to the hunt, never leaving, always prowling the earth until their spirit eventually fades and they truly turn to ash, feeding the lands of the Fair Folk," Ash responded, allowing a haunting secretive smile play on his lips as he watched Lily's horrified expression.