I Don't Want to Die!

Mahannana breathed heavily as she and Fang thundered through the forest, kicking up dirt as they went. She felt ill. ‘Is Kern going to be okay?’ The image of Thoren, face frozen forever in a grin, hacking up blood as the arrow entered his brain flashed in her mind. She gritted her teeth. ‘I should never have taken this request! I should have listened when my gut said that mama would think it was a bad idea!’ She let out a whimper. ‘I’m scared...I wanna go home...I want to be with mama and Aqua and Bisky...’ If something happened to her, would her mother ever find out? She hadn’t told anyone where she was going. She shouldn’t have been so careless. She summoned her staff into her left hand and clung to Fang with her right.

‘No one’s coming?’ She looked over her shoulder, clinging to the tentative hope that her pursuer would give up. Suddenly, she heard it; the same thudding sound that had made Kern sacrifice himself to get away. “No, no, no, no!” She panicked. “Fang, please, go faster!” She clutched her staff and the tiger tightly, feeling on the verge of a panic attack as she desperately prayed for the noise to stop. The bile rose in her throat as the jumping sounds not only continued but grew closer. Her shoulder and arm muscles tightened n fear. ‘You’re alone. No one’s going to save you if you can’t save yourself.’ Mahannana bit her lip, forcing herself to not look back.

With a metalic zinging sound, a sliver knife spun through the air and slashed open Mahannana’s right arm. She cried out at the sharp, searing pain. She’d cut herself while helping with dinner, but she’d never experienced pain on this level before. She looked down at the blood staining her pink dress. ‘That’s a lot of blood, but it’s nothing fatal. I don’t see bone and no major arteries got hit. I'll just have to hold on until I have time to wrap it up.’ She forced herself to ignore the pain and look ahead, her cloak and hair whipping wildly around her. A heavy Crack! came from above her.

‘Oh God-! No! Breath! You are a mage! You aren’t defenseless!’ Mahannana pointed her staff at the canopy of leaves above, tracking the person’s movements by sound alone. Out of seemingly nowhere, another knife whirled by, lightly grazing her cheek and taking a lock of hair with it. Mahannana clutched her staff so tightly that she broke the skin of her palm, but she had to focus on something else to keep her mind steady. ‘It sounds like they’re about to jump again...and...there!’ A beam of light shot out of her staff like a bullet from a gun, exploding on impact with the branches. Satisfied, Mahannana swiveled in the saddle and forced herself to take deep breaths. ‘That should slow them down! If I keep doing that, then eventually they’ll fall so far behind that they’ll give up!’ Just as she was starting to feel a hint of hope and confidence, a voice sounded clearly in her ear.

“As if something like that would work against me. Wretched human.” Mahannana gasped but, before she could turn around, something crashed into her with the weight of a wrecking ball.

She tumbled off Fang and what little breath she had left was quickly stolen as she rolled down a steep incline. On her way down, she bashed against rocks and trees but, despite the pain, she didn’t have the oxygen in her lungs to scream. Her momentum was so great that the collisions merely redirrected her. Her foot caught on something, and she heard the sickening *crunch!* of her ankle breaking. Mahannana’s eyes watered as she slid to a stop.

Her heart was pounding in her ears. She couldn’t hear the person who’d struck her, and that was the most terrifying part. Every fiber in her being screamed that they were here and she had to get away. There was so much pain in her body that it was like a radio playing in the background of her mind; she couldn’t feel individual injuries anymore. Hot, messy tears streamed from her eyes as she tried to crawl forward; barely managing to drag herself and her useless less with her arms.

‘Nononononononononono!’ She panicked, desperately reaching out in front of herself but going nowhere fast. ‘I want Aqua to teach me how to make his seafood curry! I want to be able to buy Bisky that scarf she thought was pretty! I want to go to another festival with my friends and learn more magic! I want to be smothered by Lir’s love while Omthor teases me! I want to finally earn Pip's trust and friendship! I want to work at the tavern and feel the dirt under my nails in the garden and read more books and taste more weird foods! I want to watch the stars and cuddle with mama! I don’t want to die!’

Someone kicked her in the back of the head, causing Mahannana to collapse. She cried out as her face hit the dirt. “Pathetic.” She slowly propped herself up. Whoever it was, they weren’t holding her down. Barely able to manage an awkward, splayed sitting position, she faced her attacker.

“What a disgusting display.” The voice was as cold as the appearance of its owner; a pale elf that looked just as Mahannana had imagined elves looked. He was pale and graceful looking, with long, flowing white hair. His entire outfit was composed of shades of white, silver, and turquoise and his clothes and weapons were finely made. His entire appearance was flawless...and deadly. The being in front of the girl radiated beauty and perfection yet, at the same time, its mere presence exerted an oppressive force of malice. It was like the aura of death itself.

Mahannana stared at the elf in wonder, unable to stop being curious despite her fear. She realized that he had some sort of black cloth tied around his eyes, hiding them from sight. ‘So, these are the beings that are so scary that Elfrida didn’t even want me to say their name allowed...’ As she stared at him, the elf stood motionless, as if he was sizing her up. Mahannana held her breath, afraid to shatter the fragile tension. The elf suddenly crouched in front of her.

“Strange...” He said in a soft, yet emotionless voice. Mahannana finally noticed the silver dagger in the elf’s hand and the blood on his face. “K-Kern? N-No...” She whimpered, unable to avoid the obvious evidence of her protector’s fate. “You’re not like the others.” The elf touched the edge of the blade of Mahannana’s cheek. The tears of fear were freely streaming down her face now, but she didn’t dare move or cry out. “No sign of aggression and you aren’t begging, either. No threats or posturing. Odd. Your kind are so deceitful and distastefully two-faced. I would have thought you’d be trying to fight or save yourself. But you’re not...and it’s not entirely because you’re frozen in fear, either. You’re not normal, are you?” Mahannana let out a little whimper.

“Well, no matter. You’re just as much an eyesore as the rest of your race and pretending to be brave isn’t going to change that, filthy human.” “P-pl-!" Mahannana wanted to beg, but she couldn’t force the words out. All the fear, all the physical and mental pain, all the disordered feelings; they were so overwhelming that she couldn’t do a damn thing but sit there as he moved the blade towards her neck. “Don’t worry. We don’t torture our prey like your kind do. It’ll be over before you realize it.”

Mahannana clamped her eyes shut. 'Mama! Mama I’m scared! I’m sorry, Mama!'

A roar shattered the quiet of the forest. Suddenly, the elf wasn’t on top of her anymore. Mahannana’s eyes shot open just as the elf was sent flying back. A familiar black and silver figure inserted itself between the mage and the elf.

“Don’t touch my daughter, you son of a bitch!” Selena screamed loud enough to shake the trees.