Sep 13, 2025
You're mixing present tense with past tense in this paragraph and it doesn't read well:
> She emerged from the woods to find three men on a dirt path. They point bows at her. She shrieks and covers her head. “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot!” One of the men approaches her with some visible hostility. “And why shouldn’t we, demon?” He spoke with clear disdain. She carefully peeks from under an arm at the man. “I… I’m lost, horribly lost, I’m not from here!” “You don’t say?” One of the men interrupted with sarcasm.
<puts on editor's hat> Here's how I would edit it to fix the tense and make it read a bit better:
> She emerged from the woods to find three men on a dirt path, bows drawn and aimed at her. She shrieked and covered her head. "Don’t shoot, don’t shoot!"
<new paragraph>
> One of the men stepped forward with visible hostility. “And why shouldn’t we, demon?” His voice dripped with disdain.
<new paragraph>
> Peeking out from under her arm, she spoke, "I… I’m lost, horribly lost. I’m not from here!"
<new paragraph>
> “You don’t say?” one of the men interrupted.
IMHO, you don't need the "with sarcasm" part since it's obvious (well, it is to me 🤷). Or you could have as something like, "one of the men spoke, his voice dripping with obvious sarcasm."