Seven Devils and a Rose

The Magic of the Aurora Light - Chapter 5

I left the bathhouse and ran toward the woods on the other side, my bare feet on the cold, hard earth.

I didn’t know how long I ran, but I kept at it like the devil was chasing after me. I sprinted until I felt the cuts against my skin. Holding back groans of pain, I kept racing until my heart ached and my sides were sore. It was only then that I slowed down because I frantically needed to catch my breath.

Behind me, I could still hear the voices of men shouting chaotically, getting ever closer.

Are they chasing after me? But why? How do they even know I’m here in the first place? I had just gotten out of the bathhouse, and I was sure no one had seen me.

“Over there!” I heard one shout.

I freaked out and started running again. Suddenly, in my panicky state, I missed a step and tripped, and I found myself tumbling down the side of a steep hill, my body rolling like a log until I hit the bottom with a thud.

The world around me spun as I felt pain coursing throughout my body. I was out of breath as I lay there, my eyes closed. Suddenly, I wanted to cry, wondering what the hell was going on around me. And what about Mom and Dad? Are they safe back at the house?

I didn’t know, but I willed myself to get up as the sounds of angry men were coming closer.

I took slow, deep breaths to master my courage, and then I pushed myself up. Once on my feet, I felt dizzy, and I found myself leaning against a tree to steady myself. When I felt a little better, I started off again, silently sneaking my way to find a hiding place in the dimness of the moonlight.

“There he is!” a male shouted, his voice echoing through the woods.

I gasped in fright, and urged by fear, I started running again, even though I felt so heavy and weak and my legs and bare feet were hurting.

I was racing this way and that to avoid being captured by the shadows of men I didn’t know flitting between tall trees in the dark.

I heard and felt stomping sounds on the earth, and it was getting closer. I darted my gaze around my surroundings, searching. Then I saw it, a dark, mighty four-legged creature racing toward me.

I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. I was that petrified.

I found myself rushing backward, my heart racing and my mind numb with fear. Suddenly, I tripped and fell back.

Afraid that I’d be either captured or run over, I turned on my hands and knees and then pushed myself up again. With unsteady legs, I started running off toward the other side. It wasn’t long until I sighted another dark, mighty four-legged creature coming my way from a different direction.

Two? Oh f**k!

Biting my lower lip and with tears brewing in my eyes, I switched direction again to my left and headed that way.

I was running as I had never run before. I ran until I was once again breathless and the pain in my heart became excruciating.

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I collapsed on the ground, exhausted and heaving for air. Beneath me, I felt the cold grass and dead leaves, and I wondered if I was going to die here with these two demon-like men coming after me.

Shit! How is that possible? Only about ten minutes ago, I was at St. James Manor and having a fine time bathing in Dad’s newly renovated bathhouse. And now? I was in some weird place with angry mobs of men chasing after me.

This is beyond f****d up! What kind of a realm was this? It wasn’t even civilized, with men chasing after you with an intention to kill the moment you stepped foot into their world. Their tourism business wasn’t going to survive if they kept up this sort of appalling behavior. Their economy was undoubtedly going to fail.

I was still trying to catch my breath when the sound of stomping on the ground came to a stop, and I knew…

Oh God, I knew those two men were coming right for me.

Shit! What were they going to do when they got me? Kill me right away? Because that was what barbaric men did in Dad’s fantasy novels, so it must be the same here.

Suddenly, I wanted to cry, so frightened I was. Either way, the outcome would be horrible. I'd either be made into a mess or left lying like a corpse by the end of the night.

I shut my eyes for a second, praying I was somehow back at home, back at St. James Manor with Mom and Dad. I wanted all this to go away. I wanted all this to be merely a dream. But the sound of men walking toward me caused me to flutter my eyes open in dread.

I reacted by lurching up. Then, with the determination to survive, I tried to escape by staggering backward, my body moving this way and that to avoid being captured.

There were two of them, the dark shadows of demon-like men with their tall, hulking bodies that scared me shitless.

Why are they so big? I had never seen men that immense before. Not to mention there were more men, though not as massive as these two, behind them. They surrounded me, trapping me where I was.

Why are they surrounding me?

“Leave me alone!” I shouted, tears in my eyes.

I took the opportunity and tried another chance at escaping. I ran, but I didn’t get far because one was right after me. I could feel his colossal presence behind me, chasing after me relentlessly, the tiny, helpless prey that I was to him.

The wolf-like brute roughly caught me, and I screamed and struggled with all my might in his arms. Somehow—and I truly had no idea how—I managed to fight him off and slipped away from his grasp. Then I blindly ran toward what I thought was a clear exit, my escape. Only another giant of a tall, lean body in dark clothing appeared in front of me, blocking my path.

I gasped in fright and found I couldn’t move anymore, as exhausted as I was. He caught my arm and pulled me to him. I whimpered and said softly, “Please let me go.”

He cupped my chin and tilted my face up. From where I was, I couldn’t make out what he looked like. Even though there was moon and aurora light behind him, he was shrouded in the shadow. I didn’t miss the glinting of a sort of hard material on his face, however. 

Is it a mask? But it looked as though it only covered the top half and lower left side of his face, revealing the lines of his aquiline nose, firm mouth, and hard jawline. I also saw a hint of a smirk on those lips as he stared at me, which unsurprisingly, gave me an overwhelming urge to smack him.

I felt not only scared and uncomfortable in front of this barbaric man who was obviously scrutinizing me in such an open way, but I was also pissed off.

I struggled in his grasp and demanded he let me go. Miraculous as it may seem under the circumstances, he did let me go, and I found myself stumbling back. I was relieved, thinking that I was free, but then…

Then I felt a hard, masculine body behind me. A pair of strong arms wrapped around my middle, and I was lifted like a sack of potatoes.

I kicked and screamed. “Let me go! Let me go! What are you doing? This isn’t a joke, treating and scaring me like this.” Tears were brewing in my eyes and rolling down my cheeks.

I found myself being turned upright and dumped on one of the enormous creatures that had been chasing after me. A loud growl came out of the animal’s mouth, and I froze. It sounded like a lion!

My heart racing, I stared wide-eyed in both awe and fright. There, staring right back at me with its head turned, were a pair of dark eyes, a large snout, and a growling mouth with fangs. 

Oh my Lord! I am sitting on a lion.