01-31-2023, 07:11 PM
The stench of fear was poignant around her. The scent acrid and bitter, unsettling and unnerving. It became paired with the growing rate of her heartbeat, fast and thundering as it hammered against her ribcage. Her lungs heaved with each shallow breath and her legs burned with each pointed thrust. Delilah ran and she did not stop.
Her eyes were wide and bloodshot. Her body merely running off the fumes of her own adrenaline. Exhaustion was the devil in disguise. It whispered sweet lullabies in her ear, primed her for sleep and implored her to rest her eyes—but even wildly uncertain of the path before her, Delilah knew she could not give in. Not yet. Not until she was safe.
In all her years, she had never heard of someone escaping the clutches of the Guild. Others had whispered it was impossible. And yet here she was. Alive and perhaps even free. The reality of the situation, however, was not lost on her. She would not fool herself to think that her freedom would last long. Surely someone would come after her. Certainly, she would be punished for her transgressions. It was obvious that this would only be a fraction of what true freedom could one day feel like.
But Delilah vowed to try, to at least give herself a fighting chance.
Snow crunched beneath her feet as she ran; frantic and careless against the the winter cold. The forest around her towered with its white tipped hands and howling wind—it looked just as eager to enact its vengeance against her, as she believed the ones who tracked her would.
Tears bloomed in her eyes as she pushed forward. Yet, within a few short moments, a hidden pile of roots, a deceptively icy stretch of earth, and a pile of snow would be her undoing. The woman tripped, legs buckling and twisting beneath her—and her body soared against what she would later recognize as a pile of frozen snow and a large tree.
Delilah heard nothing but a loud thunk and the blood rushing through her ears as her body disintegrated into the ground; melting into a place beneath a towering pine. Dots of darkness blotted her vision and with no more energy left within her to fight, she succumbed to the steady shadows of unconsciousness.
Her eyes were wide and bloodshot. Her body merely running off the fumes of her own adrenaline. Exhaustion was the devil in disguise. It whispered sweet lullabies in her ear, primed her for sleep and implored her to rest her eyes—but even wildly uncertain of the path before her, Delilah knew she could not give in. Not yet. Not until she was safe.
In all her years, she had never heard of someone escaping the clutches of the Guild. Others had whispered it was impossible. And yet here she was. Alive and perhaps even free. The reality of the situation, however, was not lost on her. She would not fool herself to think that her freedom would last long. Surely someone would come after her. Certainly, she would be punished for her transgressions. It was obvious that this would only be a fraction of what true freedom could one day feel like.
But Delilah vowed to try, to at least give herself a fighting chance.
Snow crunched beneath her feet as she ran; frantic and careless against the the winter cold. The forest around her towered with its white tipped hands and howling wind—it looked just as eager to enact its vengeance against her, as she believed the ones who tracked her would.
Tears bloomed in her eyes as she pushed forward. Yet, within a few short moments, a hidden pile of roots, a deceptively icy stretch of earth, and a pile of snow would be her undoing. The woman tripped, legs buckling and twisting beneath her—and her body soared against what she would later recognize as a pile of frozen snow and a large tree.
Delilah heard nothing but a loud thunk and the blood rushing through her ears as her body disintegrated into the ground; melting into a place beneath a towering pine. Dots of darkness blotted her vision and with no more energy left within her to fight, she succumbed to the steady shadows of unconsciousness.