The Riders of Emari
Chapter 1
With the arrival of a warmer season came the soft and tranquil murmers of night life, a kind of lulling trance set over the vast fields. Only, such serenity wasn't meant to last.
From a clearing, now reduced to a mere path; came the sounds of frantic panting. All that could be seen was a flash of white, speeding at a suprising rate. It was a girl, a look of horror on her face as she ran, silvery hair whipping behind her. She looked back over her shoulder almost every second, as if something trailed her in hot pursuit.
Have to keep going...
She managed through the approaching dark, never knowing what lie ahead. She only knew that she had to get far, far away from the place she'd come. Her surroundings changed noticably, the harvested fields of villagers now a stretch of land before the sea. It sloped down to an area of seaside, no apparant signs of fellow life.
So this was the end. The end of life at the village, of their complaining that she made life all the worse for them. She walked down onto the cool sand, gazing out over the water. Was this how it should end? Was it really what she wanted?
A few steps closer brought her into the shallows, and yet she still questioned her actions. It seemed two forces pulled her in different directions of thought, yet she went further still. It came up to her chest now, the cold water of the sea.
Maybe the end didn't have to be now, maybe it was meant for another time. All she had to do though was go in a little further though..it was up to her neck now...
Just tilt your head back, it'll all be over soon.
The thought relaxed her, and in a mind that wasn't her own, she obliged. Her pale face was the only thing above the water.
For a minute there was peace. No one was around to witness her attempted drowning, to make her see sense and stand her straight before the waves came. But all the same, that changed without thought.
The girl's head broke the surface, and with a long gasp of air, she looked around in wild confusion. Somehow she ended back on the shore, coughing up brackish water and trying to remember what had happened.
She'd went west after sucessfully getting out of bed, and ran for her life when her disappearance had been noted at last minute. The fields had led her to the edge of the water, but she hadn't planned on anything else.
Whatever the circumstances, she was now chilled to the bone, curled up in the sand. She shivered even though the water hadn't been too icy, inviting even-
Don't think like that
Now her mind was back, telling her to think positive like it always did, keeping her safe. She had to think now, what next?
Her eyelids drooped heavily, a feeling of drowiness deciding that such thinking best be left 'til morning.
From a clearing, now reduced to a mere path; came the sounds of frantic panting. All that could be seen was a flash of white, speeding at a suprising rate. It was a girl, a look of horror on her face as she ran, silvery hair whipping behind her. She looked back over her shoulder almost every second, as if something trailed her in hot pursuit.
Have to keep going...
She managed through the approaching dark, never knowing what lie ahead. She only knew that she had to get far, far away from the place she'd come. Her surroundings changed noticably, the harvested fields of villagers now a stretch of land before the sea. It sloped down to an area of seaside, no apparant signs of fellow life.
So this was the end. The end of life at the village, of their complaining that she made life all the worse for them. She walked down onto the cool sand, gazing out over the water. Was this how it should end? Was it really what she wanted?
A few steps closer brought her into the shallows, and yet she still questioned her actions. It seemed two forces pulled her in different directions of thought, yet she went further still. It came up to her chest now, the cold water of the sea.
Maybe the end didn't have to be now, maybe it was meant for another time. All she had to do though was go in a little further though..it was up to her neck now...
Just tilt your head back, it'll all be over soon.
The thought relaxed her, and in a mind that wasn't her own, she obliged. Her pale face was the only thing above the water.
For a minute there was peace. No one was around to witness her attempted drowning, to make her see sense and stand her straight before the waves came. But all the same, that changed without thought.
The girl's head broke the surface, and with a long gasp of air, she looked around in wild confusion. Somehow she ended back on the shore, coughing up brackish water and trying to remember what had happened.
She'd went west after sucessfully getting out of bed, and ran for her life when her disappearance had been noted at last minute. The fields had led her to the edge of the water, but she hadn't planned on anything else.
Whatever the circumstances, she was now chilled to the bone, curled up in the sand. She shivered even though the water hadn't been too icy, inviting even-
Don't think like that
Now her mind was back, telling her to think positive like it always did, keeping her safe. She had to think now, what next?
Her eyelids drooped heavily, a feeling of drowiness deciding that such thinking best be left 'til morning.