The Voice

A large group of Nightwalkers burst out of nowhere, running out from every direction. Aaliyah turned her head left and right, seeing as they were all coming forward and she quickly held on to the tree with her eyes squeezed shut.

They all growled, and she peeked one eye open just in time to see them all charging toward the undead Giant. The sight was almost unreal to watch, as both creatures were battling it out.

While some of the crawlers had climbed on the Skeleton, many others were trying to trip it off its feet. It was so weird to see something as rare as this because the undead were the natural enemies of the Nightwalkers.

While Nightwalkers sought what had life to take away, the undead are already lifeless, and cannot be killed. And unless there was another way to kill them, the undead do not possess any Valyrian they can use against the Nightwalkers.

So, this fight was basically useless and would just go on for as long as they could all keep up. Or till one of them is overpowered and escapes. And as much as Aaliyah would have loved to watch as the undead had begun tossing them away like trash into various parts of the forest and they kept trying to rip out one of its limbs, she was more concerned about herself and how to get the hell out of there.

Taking advantage of the distraction, she ran away from them as far as possible. She limped as she went, her ears still leaking blood and her heart in her throat. The rush of adrenaline that filled her pushed her even further, and she was able to forget about her injuries until she had covered a very long distance from the battle.

She moved and moved for hours, delving further into the night. She could see that it was only getting darker and darker as she went, but that didn't stop her. Even if she was going the wrong way, at least she felt safe for now.

She wasn't dead. She had survived for the third time, and her senses had become even sharper. It was exciting and frightening at the same time.

When she finally came to a halt, her back hit the bark of a tree and she slipped to the ground while heaving heavy breaths and sighs. Her foot ached from the very long walk, and with the leaves she had improvised as shoes gone, her feet were now a bleeding mess.

When she thought about it, she told herself it's always been a bleeding mess. She's always been a mess.

Luckily, the cold wasn't as much as before but that didn't mean she wasn't still shivering. And she was afraid to start a fire and risk signaling to any creature where her location was. Aaliyah could only rub her hands together, using the heat from there to warm up her shoulders and face.

Once again, her eyes began to flutter close.

"Well, well, well. Consider that a great feat no one has ever conquered before,"

And her eyes shot open again. What was it this time?

"You're still so weak... uninviting,"

It was the voice that whispered into the wind. The one from before.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here. Would you like to leave this forest?"

Hope flared in Aaliyah's eyes.

The voice cackled, "I wouldn't be too happy if I were you. After all, your final opponent...is me,"

Huh? "Please, I need to get out of here."

"I never said you can't get out. But you'll have to pass through me first,"

Aaliyah gulped, "Do I have to fight you too?"

"Fight me?" It chuckled devilishly, "Let's make it a little...harder,"

She shouldn't have asked, "Am I ever gonna get out of here?" She murmured to herself.

The voice heard, "No one has ever gotten past the Nightwalkers before. When I say no one, I mean...not any creature that ever walked in here since this forest stood. Probably because they didn't have any Valyrian on them...or because they were not... like you,"

"Like me?"

"Pity."

"Sorry?"

"Three riddles, Aaliyah," The Voice boomed, more wind hitting her face, "If you can answer three of my riddles correctly, I'll reveal the path out of this forest. What do you say?"

Aaliyah rubbed her temple, praying her next question wouldn't kill her, "What...is a riddle?"

The voice sighed, "Twisted Questions that require correct answers or splat goes the girl sitting the tree,"

This has to be the worst of them all. At least then, she had her heightened senses to defend herself with, but In this case, she'd never been to school before!

"But...,"

"No buts!!"

Aaliyah squirmed.

"But it's still too boring. Let's make it a lot more interesting,"

Just then, the wind started to gather and swirl around, packing it dust and debris till it turned into a hurricane. Aaliyah braced herself and hugged the tree as the pressure from the wind threatened to suck her into it.

What the hell was it doing? The suction began so much that her legs that had been wrapped around the tree loosened up and she had to grip the tree harder, her legs pulled into the air by the wind.

She was slowly losing grip, and a shackled scream left her she was tongue just as she was pulled away toward the hurricane.

At that same moment, the hurricane blasted and dispersed into nothing, hauling away everything it had picked up including her.

Aaliyah stood up shakily, spitting out the sand that had gotten into her eyes and those that were in her eyes. How many times now has she been flung away like nothing?

"That's much better,"

Aaliyah Froze. That sounded very different than the voice, and much closer to the one she was now familiar with. There was a slight difference in how deep the voice was, but it was just too piercing for her not to look.

She turned around...and there was Alastair standing.

With a grin on his face.

No way, absolutely no way.

"I believe you're much more uncomfortable with me in this form, right?" It asked, but Aaliyah was just dumbstruck.

Is that what Alastair would look like if he ever smiled? This was about to drive her crazy!