"Go, go, go!"
Lysandra kicked Shadow's side and held onto the reins. Shadow sprinted off. "Faster Shadow! ! Faster! Please boy!" She pleaded. Keeping her eyes on the road. She hairs at the back of her neck rose. The creatures were catching up.
Shadow suddenly stopped and reared. Lysandra almost fell off his back. A soaking wet white wolf stood right in front of her, it was covered in blood and what could only be described as black goop. It was the same wolf that had attacked the canine before. The wolf howled and several other howls quickly followed. It rushed past her and Shadow. Running towards the creatures in the dark behind her.
"Oh—" Lysandra's voice was shaking, kicking the side of her horse once more. "Let's go! Shadow!" Not wasting time she rode. Maybe the wolf and the creature fought for territory within the forest. As she rode on the road slowly started to be lit up by fireflies again. She could hear the creatures fighting. The sounds slowly died out.
It was snowing heavier as she rode on. A fresh layer of snow started covering any tracks she might have hoped to follow. Lysandra hoped her maid would be ok. Daisy knew how to ride, her wound was– All Lysandra could remember was blood.
Daisy's arm looked terrible, her coat ripped and covered in the strange black goop. It was the same goop that had been leaking from the canine's mouth. Just thinking about it made Lysandra's stomach turn. She realised something else, she hadn't eaten anything since– lunch. Lunchtime felt like days ago. She had gulped one handful of water from the stream. It made her wonder how long she could hold on.
Lysandra could barely feel her fingers, the thin gloves she wore were not keeping her hand warm at all. She just needed to follow the road, follow the road and stay awake. How much time had passed? This night seemed to never end. Lysandra really hoped that this night would end soon, but fate had determined otherwise. She found herself at a crossroad.
Left a road that led to nothing, with no ending in sight.
Right a road that led to nothing, with no ending in sight.
No sign, no indication of which road would lead her to the duke's estate. Both roads seemed equally dangerous, but one of them had fireflies illuminating its sides. Lysandra let out a soft cry. "Shadow, what do you think? Shall we follow the fireflies?" The horse took a moment and eyed both roads and started its journey down the right path, illuminated by the fireflies.
"The fireflies it is then," Lysandra whispered to herself.
After some time the moonlight slowly faded as Lysandra looked up seeing sun rays. Morning had arrived, the clouds were grey and snow kept falling. The only thing that fueled her shivering body was adrenaline, her will to make it out of this forest. The Duke had sentenced her to death, sending a mere escort of just two chaperones into a forest that was clearly cursed. It had to be an intended death sentence.
The canines she had seen looked more dead than alive.The fireflies were the only good part about this forest. The bugs were slowly fading as daylight peeked through the trees. Lyandra was actually able to see the road clearly now, not that it mattered. The road looked the same as it did the day before. Trees, snow and more snow—and more trees.
Lysandra's stomach was growling for food. All she could do was pray that Daisy had taken another path. Hopefully they had made it out of the forest by now. Shadow started to slow down, the horse was pushing his limits. Lysandra's teeth had been clattering for the past hour.
The only thing keeping her from giving up was allowing herself to get lost in her own thoughts. Lysandra didn't know how much time had passed when she finally looked at the road again. The sun was reflecting off the fresh snow, hurting her eyes. The reflection of white fresh powdered snow almost blinded her. In front of her the trees opened up. The sun shone down on her and Shadow. Blinded by the lack of shade from the trees Lysandra took a moment to let her eyes adjust. The trees were behind her now. She stood at the end of the forest. Pulling Shadow's reins, she made him come to a halt.
Before her a grand dark grey building stood facing the forest. Its blue tiled roofs covered in snow. If anything, the building looked more like a fortress. It was rough and looked nothing like what one would consider an estate back in the capital.
It was three to four stories high depending on which tower was used for measure. How Lysandra had not seen this building from the other end of the forest was a mystery to her. It took up a large chunk of her field of sight. Behind the building there were snowy mountains. The forest surrounding every border as far as the eye could see.
On the right side of the complex, more buildings resided that looked like they were part of it. Lysandra could see training fields, so the outer buildings had to be barracks. On the far left side Lysandra spotted townhouses stretching far back. There had to be a village connected to that building.
She made it–she was in the North.
"Milady!" A voice called to her, Lysandra turned her head, spotting a group of four guards running up towards her "Milady how– Where are the others?" A man asked as Lysandra looked back over her shoulder. She had no clue. "How did you get here so fast, we did not expect you until later in the afternoon" another guard stated.
"The– the Duke." Lysandra's voice was cold, her teeth clattering as she fisted her hands on Shadow's reins.
"Where is he!?" anger fueled her voice. The guards visibly shuddered at Lysandra's reaction.
"He is in his office, Milady" a guard squeaked.
Lysandra kicked Shadow's side. "Come on boy, we're almost there." she whispered to him. Shadow picked up pace. The closer she got to, what she assumed to be, the estate the more her anger brewed inside. This fucking worthless creature of a man tried to have her killed. Gods know where Daisy was right now. The Duke's own two guards were probably dead, lying next to her belongings.
The gates were already opened as Lysandra charged inside. She rode to the large entrance she saw from the gates. Asking Shadow to come to a halt before the entrance, Lysandra got off. The second her feet hit the ground she could feel her legs tremble. A group of guards who had stood at the gates rushed over looking confused. Daisy, she could still be out there alive. Lysandra needed to make sure that her maid would be rescued. The group of guards had their hands on their hilts as one of the guards from earlier had rushed after her. "Milady! Duke Sep—" The man jumped off of his own horse.
"Tell me where that so-called Duke is!" Lysandra shouted angrily. A man opened up the main door stepping outside, the door itself was an easy two-and-a-half metres tall. Unnecessary tall if you'd ask her. Was everything in the North so unnecessary? Why did everything seem so grand? There was no time.
"What the hell is all this commotion?" The figure stepping out ordered, turning his attention in Lysandra's direction.
The man stood out like a sore thumb. The few men she had come across, their skins were as pale as the snow itself. Clearly sunlight wasn't something that was seen much in the North. Yet the man in front of Lysandra had a tan, darker than she would normally see in the capital. He might as well have been kissed by the sun. His hair was dark and braided on the left side of his head. His hair reached all the way down to his elbows.
A man with long hair? He would have been the capital's laughingstock. If any man even dared to grow their hair longer than that of a woman they'd be shamed.
Nonetheless the man in front of her was more masculine than half of the lords in the capital with their scrawny little bodies. This man stood at least as tall as Lysandra, taller even, with broad shoulders. He clearly had been to the battle more than once.
"I'm here to see the so-called Duke of the North! I demand to speak with him." Lysandra voiced glaring at the man.
"And who might you be?" The man had an eerie grin on his face as if he already knew the answer to his question.
"Lysandra Atar." Lysandra stated as the men around her started to whisper "That's her–" "Why is she here alone?" "Weren't Brion and Hannic suppose to pick her up—"
Lysandra walked up to the man in front of her who stood at the door. "Now– Let me speak with him!" she demanded. The man's smirk only whidend. "Do follow me, Milady," the tanned man said.
Stepping inside of the building, Lysandra was surprised to feel a wave of warmth wash over her.
The inside of the building matched the outside aesthetic. It was cold. There were lots of dark blue walls with elaborate prints. Black pillars lined the hallways. Where in the Empire the family portraits would hang, there were weapons in its place here. Weapons lining the walls as far as Lysandra could see, with shields, swords. Nothing in this building was welcoming.
Focusing back on the tanned man in front of her, who luckily was walking quite fast. They made it up several stairs and walked down a long hallway. The man pushed open a heavy door. "Your Grace, someone is here to see you," he stated. Lysandra, however, had more than enough of this so-called polite behaviour as she walked past the man into the room. Ignoring anything around her, she had one focus only. The man behind the desk didn't even look up from his paperwork as she got closer. His hair was jet black, not that it mattered.
Slamming both her hands on the man's desk. She took a deep breath. "ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?!" Lysandra shouted at the man. The man put down his pen as he looked up to face her. "TWO GUARDS AND FOREST FULL OF MONSTERS!" She shouted pointing her finger towards the window where the forest could be seen from.
"You could have just rejected the damn proposal instead of leading me and my maid into a death trap!" The man just stared at her, his deep blue eyes matched the colour of the wall paper Lysandra saw earlier. "My maid is out there in the fucking forest! Your guards, the ones that you sent to die, are probably rotting together with my carriage and you are siting here doing fucking paper work! Weren't you supposed to be the demon of the North!" She slammed her hands back down on his desk once more.
Did Lysandra slam her hands too hard? Why was she seeing double? The man, the so-called duke, was getting up from his seat and she looked up following his gaze as he stood. Huge, the man was massive. He was towering above her from behind the desk. He was a head taller than her at least, wait was he growing?
"You! My maid– I need you to–-"
The whole room was spinning as Lysandra stepped back, only for her vision to go black.