Blackguard

Chapter 1

"Amalia! Where are you!?"
"Please come back!"
"Amalia I am sorry!"
"Lia please, I am begging you!!!!!"

I hear a frightened young women calling out to me just before being awaken by a sudden loud roar of thunder. Amalia? Is that me? I open my eyes and look up, all that I can see above me is a smooth stone. Feeling panicked and in a daze I quickly look around myself and notice that I am alone in a small cave. The only memories that I have are that of the dream I was just having. I was running through a forrest of tall pine trees with someone crying out to me. I have no idea who the woman that was yelling is though... Why am I here in the middle of no where?

I should probably get up and see what is going on. As I sat up and looked around I noticed that there is a small area that looks as though there was a fire burning at some point, a small pile of wood sitting next to it with some dry grass and stones. My head is spinning and my body is sore, almost like I had been running for days on end. I am sitting on a small fleece blanket that is just solid red in color. Looking down at myself I notice that I am definatly not dressed to be sleeping outside. I am not wearing any shoes and there doesnt seem to be any in the cave at all. I am wearing a Black tank top with black high waisted shorts and fishnet stockings with a pair of black no show socks. On the other side of the cave is a rather large flannel shirt that is black and white.

I stood up fairly quickly causing a rush of presure to my head, I reach for the wall of the cave to keep myself from falling. I stand there for a minute waiting for the dizziness to fade. I reach my hands out above my head and strech out as much as I can before walking over to the oversized shirt and putting it on without buttoning it.

I can hear the wind blowing through the trees mercilessly and the rain pouring on the gound with an occasional flash of lightning followed by roaring thunder. Dragging one hand on the soft stone wall I slowly make my way to the enterace of the cave where I stop and just stand to admire the beauty of nature. I am unable to determine the time of day due to the feirce dark clouds blocking the sun from shining through. I feel as though if I move too quickly that I will collapse. I then reach out infront of me to feel the rain. Am I really here or is this a dream?

I decided to see if I can get a fire started to hopefully warm up the cave even just a little bit. I stack some of the wood that is sitting next to the spot were it looked as though a fire had already burned out at. I put some of the dry grass under the stack of wood then grab the stones to see if i can make a spark. After a few unsuccessful attempts I was finally successful in starting a small fire. My mind is blank as I try to remember how I ended up in this cave. Its almost as if I didnt exist prior to waking up here. I decide to lie back down on the fleece banket and just stare up at the stone cieling, after a couple of deep breaths I found myself falling back to sleep.

Waking up in the cave again after what felt like a blink of an eye, I look to the fire to see that it was now just some red hot coals with no flames. I add some wood and gently blow into the the fire to fuel it. Before I knew it the flames start to pick up radiating heat. I look to the enterance of the cave to see that the storm has finally calmed. maybe I should go look around. The sun is shining brightly through the trees now. I can hear the birds around chirping and what sounds like a small stream near by. I walked outside the cave to look around at my surroundings. Taking in the warmth of the sun and listening to the soft wind blowing though the trees, I decide that I should probably try to find something to eat and or drink.

I started to walk out of the cave and just head straight. If I continue in one direction, I am bount to find something or someone.
I feel as though I am in a strange land. I dont know where I came from or how I got here but it certainly does not feel familiar at all. After walking for what felt like hours I finaly found the stream that I could hear from the cave. I splash water on my face and rub my face as to clean it up a little. The water feels so nice and cool. Maybe if I follow the water, I can find people. I take some water in my hands and sip some to see if it tastes okay. It tastes so refreshing that I drink a few more handfulls before getting up and walking along the steam.

It is starting to get darker outside. It seems that the sun is starting to set. Should I head back to the cave or keep going?
I am going to keep going. I think.

After walking all day in the bright sun, the cooling night sky was relaxing. I wonder if anyone is missing me. If there is anyone that knows who I am or if anyone is looking for me. Still trying to figure out who I am and how I got here, in these woods. I just keep walking and walking until the gound suddenly goes from grass to gravel. The gravel is rough and not easy to walk on without shoes. It apears to be a road though. I have to be close to somone now! I started to get excited. I start to follow the gravel path looking for any signs of life other than my own. Still the only things that I can see around me is trees.

My stomach has been gowling for hours and no matter how much of the steam water I drink it doesnt go away. I start to look down hardly paying attention to whats infront of me, still just following the gravel path before me when I notice some berries on the ground. Are these edable!? I decided to search the area for a bush growing these berries, with no luck. I started picking them up off of the gound and brushing them off on my shirt before eating them. They were not the greatest tasting but in the moment I was just thankful to be eating anything at all. After eating enough to feel satisfied, I gathered an extra handful and put them in the pocket in my flannel shirt and continued to follow the path ahead.

It has been about ten minutes since I ate the berries and I am starting to not feel very well. I feel as though my body is freezing but I can also feel the sweet drippping from my skin. Feeling dizzy and nausiated I feel myself also starting to lose balance. I sit on the ground and wrap the oversized flannel around my legs as i hug them close to my body to try and stay warm. The only light shining from the moon and the stars is fairly dim becuase of all of the trees. Looking up at the beautiful night sky made me feel calm. I used some near by rocks to form an arrow on the gravel path so that when morning comes I can continue in the same direction. Would suck to end up backtracking and going the other way. I then took the flannel shirt off and used it to cover myself and laid in the soft grass to go to sleep. Hopefully come morning I will feel a lot better. It didnt take long before I was sound asleep.

"Amalia! Where are you!?"
"Please come back!"
"Amalia I am sorry!"
"Lia please, I am begging you!!!!!"
Is all I can hear as I am running through the forrest. My body aches as though I was hit by a train.
"Amalia, why are you doing this to us!"
"why cant you just behave?"
The women continues to cry out as her voice fades into silence. I can smell a storm coming, it is also evident in the sky that there will be a storm. I better look for shelter... No, I need to get as far away from here as possible. I cannot live like this anymore. I continue to run as fast as I can...
My eyes suddenly open and I am lying in the soft grass near the gravel road. Did that actually happen or is it just a dream? Why am i out here, who or what was I running from.... Why cant I remember anything? Feeling panicked once again. I roll onto my back and look up at the sky. The sun has not fully come out yet. It must be pretty early in the morning. I think i should probably make my way to the stream to wash my face to help me wake up more and get a drink. I feel as though today is going to be another long day of traveling through the woods.

I am glad that the stream is so close to the road so I dont accidently lose my way. Would be nice to eat something other than these berries. After washing my face and drinking a few handfulls of the fresh water, I made my way back to the road while munching on some of the berries from yesterday. I found my arrow from the night before and continued in the same direction as yesterday. My pace is a lot slower than yesterday as my body is still sore and seemingly getting worse with every step. I felt a sudden rush of dizziness before I fell to the ground unconcience.