• I ran through the dark forest, legs struggling, lungs burning. The night was silent and unforgiving. The creatures of the night were silent. My feet slammed against the leafy ground, making loud thuds. My breathing was ragged and strained. The scraggly trees and horrendous, staring eyes of the demons created by my imagination where frightening, but what I couldn’t see or hear was more terrifying than anything, and all too real.
    I heard the whiz of something flying through the air, and I turned around. Flying towards my feet was a thin piece of rope, at each end a small stone ball. It was faster than I, and the clever contraption quickly wound itself around my ankles, tripping me. My face hit the cold and soggy ground with a hollow thud. I heard slow, heavy footsteps behind me.
    “Well, well, well.” Said a chilling voice behind me. “The king shall have his revenge after all, foolish girl. You can’t stop us. Now, where is it?”
    I was yanked up by my hair. I still couldn’t see my captor’s face. “I’ll never tell you where it is!” I shouted as rough hands tied my own behind my back. “You’ll never get it out of me!” I started to wriggle, and my captor pushed my back down to the cold earth. I rolled over to see who it was. It was a man, about a few inches taller than I was, with a gray three-cornered hat, a black cape, and a mischievous and evil smile.
    “Oh, you just wait and see” he said, throwing his head back and laughing.
    I wiggled around so my legs slammed against his.
    “Oof!” he grunted, jumping. At first his face was filled with anger, but then his smile returned. “It is a pity I can’t kill you yet.” He sneered.
    “Go ahead! I dare you!” I challenged, spitting on his boot.
    He sighed. “If you insist.” He pulled out a long sword, with a dragon as the handle. But instead of thrusting it through my heart, he slowly brushed the blade across my cheek. Blood trickled down my face. I wanted to scream, but he would not hear me beg for mercy. The flame of anger grew bigger in my soul.
    “Child, you are messing with the wrong person.” He whispered in a threatening voice. Then he put a handkerchief to my nose and mouth, and I began to feel dizzy and sleepy.
    “No! No! You’ll never get away with this! You can’t… win… No! No…. N…no…” the world around me slowly faded, as the gasses in the handkerchief drugged me to sleep.