1 Misty Hollow

Two toddlers hand in hand, walking at a slow pace as they were out of breath. They kept their small legs moving despite the mist covering their path, they just advanced, no aim, just what seemed like an endless walk.

One of them looked around in the hope that she could identify anything, but soon after realizing nothing can be seen through the mist, she moved her free hand up and down, as if hoping the fog was smoke and it would move. She sighed, then looked at the other girl and asked almost teared up "Do you think we will find a way to somewhere?"

The other girl just walked silently as if the movement was mechanized. At the sight of this, she panicked and shook her while shouting. "Helena! Don't give up yet! I know..." in an instant Helena snapped her fingers "Miriam be quiet! We are in the middle of nowhere" she whispered as the spell took effect making both of their voices fade away in the distance, hoping it will echo back.

They stood still for a high five minutes, and even the cold started to get to them as they were dressed just in nightgowns. Helena tightened the grip on Miriam's hand, while her stare was pinned at Miriam. They both nodded and continued their wobbled walk, into nothingness.

Walking throughout the whole day, the bodies of the two frail girls were at its ends, which made Miriam fall on her knees. Soon after fainted while trying to hug Helena to warm herself up. Helena caught Miriam's body, then tried to carry her, but she was too weak hence she just dragged Miriam.

The temperature kept going down as if it froze even the air. After another day of dragging Miriam through the snow, Helena fell on the snow and closed her eyes. It was a soft fall as she couldn't feel anything anymore.

There they lay for two more days, during these two days the mist was pushed away by a snow blizzard, covering the two girls under the snow.

It was clear, the sun's radiance was reflecting through the snow, the trees with their icicle adornments slowly parted from each other as if they showed a path. From the distance chatter and armour, clanking could be heard as the sounds advanced deeper into the forest. One of the men tapped the shoulders of the spearmen and pointed towards their left. Showing them the herd of deer, they instantly threw their spears at the pack. Some even threw rocks, just so the more they could hunt and bring home the better.

One of the spears hit Helena's upper shoulder; it awoke her suddenly. She groaned in pain, but as soon as she realized that she had made a sound, she held back from making any further noise. The huntsmen immediately heard the groan as the spears were landing, so different from the ones the deer made that they went to check what it was.

The lead huntsman spoke to one of the men, Helena couldn't make a word out of it, as if they spoke another language. As instructed, the novice huntsman grabbed the spear and tried to pull, but it didn't nudge. While all of this just made the wound widen making Helena grit her teeth as hard as she could not to make a sound, hoping they would give up on getting the spear back. The lead huntsman quietly analyzed the novice's decisions and soon realized that the spear was stuck in the prey's body, he sighed as he spoke to the novice "Please move and pay attention" he strictly addressed him, keeping all the men on their toes. The leader moved the spear to the side, which made Helena's body rise from the snow. All huntsmen where in shook by their discovery, even making the novice fall by such a surprise, but he landed on Miriam's body, which made her scream in agony. The leader shouted at the novice "Move! You'll kill her!" he stumbled and panicked under the gaze of his superior, then decided to dig Miriam out of the snow. All men were astonished by Miriam's beauty, despite being a child, her silver hair, pale skin; it was as if the snow gave birth to a myth. In comparison to her shine, Helena was a wounded beast panting heavily and groaning while she was glaring at the novice when he touched Miriam.

The leader once again shouted at the newbie "Don't touch her! We don't know what they are. Everyone hold your positions! " after ordering his men, he looked at Helena and asked promptly " Identify yourself and your reason for being here. " Helena tried to move her hand to snap her fingers to cancel the spell she hand in effect, which did not allow them to speak. The leader as soon as he saw her hand moving, stepped on it to avoid any potential fights then he spoke again louder, his voice resonating in the silent forest "Are you deaf? Mute? Do you not understand? "

In reply Miriam snapped her fingers, cancelling the spell, then she broke into tears. Crying loud and trying to speak at the same time. Making it very hard for the men to comprehend her train of thought, she made no sense.

Helena spoke as if ordering "Take your hand off of mine and cut the spear that's not in my flesh" the men were taken by surprise by the tone Helena spoke to them. The huntsmen looked at each other confused, but their leader did as was told, took off his feet, freeing her hand. Afterwards kneeled next to Helena and unscrewed the wooden part out of the metal part that was stuck in the shoulder.

"We will need that back after you get it out" he requested of her as he stood up.

Helena slowly stood up, took a few steps towards Miriam, then remembered the huntsman's questions "I am Helena Tepes, and she is my friend Miriam Drima. We have no reason to be here. We are just lost." by the time she finished talking, she reached Miriam, grabbed her hand, which somewhat calmed her down. At the same time, Helena was ready to confront the leader if need be.

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