Princess and the Grey Hand

The darkened sky poured moonlight onto the forest floor below as Elorea crashed through the undergrowth of tangled plants and vines, swinging the blade she’d been taught to use by her father many years ago.

She knew she was being too loud, but the sounds of frenzied footsteps behind her let her know she couldn’t stop now. The queen’s men were following her and she had no idea why. Their black armor helped them blend into the surrounding darkness and she could barely see them as they came closer and closer.

Suddenly, the echoing footsteps ended, whirling her into confusion.

She blinked once and she was a child again out in the courtyard with her best friend. His floppy black hair swung into his face as she watched him running along the street towards his house. They waved at each other, ready to head in for dinner. Him, to his brothers and sisters and mother, and her to the empty house that her father never stayed in long.

“Bye, Aemon!” Elorea called out, excited for another day of games tomorrow.

“See you later, Princess.”

Elorea was catapulted out of the memory by the solitary hooting of the barn owl, not unlike the one that lived in the tree beside her house.

Her heart was pounding frantically and there didn’t seem anywhere to go. All these years on her own and she’d never been this scared. She knew these woods, but there was nowhere left for her to run and she was tiring quickly.

She focused on keeping her feet steady underneath herself, lifting her knees higher so that she could avoid tripping.

The dark shadows in the night looked ready to grab her out of the air and keep her there; whether out of a sense of possession or of love, she didn’t know. This forest had always been there for her when she needed peace and quiet. Its calming energy was wild and unkempt, but it felt like home.

Tonight, there was something different in the air. Something she couldn’t quite identify and it frightened her in a way that she hadn’t felt since that night long ago.

The queen’s soldiers had marched into town with swords at the ready and swathed in their armor. She was seventeen years old, watching them stream in, choking out the joy and laughter with their ominous shadows.

They'd been taking the eldest born for years now and she knew that it was his turn. It was his turn to be taken to the queen and placed upon the altar to the Red Dragon that ruled the skies.

The soldiers stared at him with single-minded focus, the blank looks on their faces making them look like Death Incarnate. The demon army she'd created wouldn't stop until they had him.

She couldn’t let them take him. She wouldn’t.

“Aemon!” she whispered loudly as she dragged him towards the forest, knowing he could hide in there like he always had. “You have to hide! They’re here.”

Aemon looked at her and she knew that this was the last time she’d see him for a long time, or maybe even ever. That their fun and games had come to an end and that their lives were taking a drastic turn.

Her heart sank as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her once before he stepped away, raising him arms in surrender.

“ They’ll kill my family if I don’t go with them. It’s going to be okay.”

The soldiers trudged towards him like solemn statues, moving as one and she watched him be swallowed up by them, knowing that nothing would ever be the same.

The eerie hoot of the owl woke her again from her dazed thoughts, watching her from above as she scrambled to get away. It sounded frantic, as if intent on waking her up.

Elorea only wished she could have the simplistic life of the owl, hunting and flying around, not a care in the world except when to eat or not.

Not worried about whether or not these soldiers were going to capture her or not and torture her within an inch of her life. Not running for her life through the forest she used to love.

Her hopelessness overwhelmed her and she wanted to stop, the exhaustion pushing hard on her heart.

Alas, she didn’t have the opportunity to hide as someone lunged past her and into her field of vision, catching her around her waist and pulling her into the air. The embrace felt familiar, but she didn't know why until the moonlight illuminated his face.

She stared at the smirk on the black-haired man’s face, realization dawning on her as she watched her first love smiling viciously at her, his soulless eyes verging on demonic.

“Aemon? But I thought you were dead.”

“Hey, Princess. Long time, no see.”

“What the hell is going on, Aemon? Let me go!”

Elorea thrashed and squirmed, kicking and screaming as the soldiers began to converge around her the way they'd turned on him all those years ago. The demon army she'd created was even more terrifying than the last time she'd seen them.

A flash of thought crossed his face and she prayed that he'd snap out of it.

There was something wrong with him. This wasn’t her Aemon. This wasn’t the boy she’d fallen in love with.

“Sorry, Princess. It’s nothing personal."

Off in the distance, the barn owl hooted one last time, but there was no waking her from this nightmare. There was no way out and she knew it.

"Let's get her back to the castle, boys. The sacrifice begins at dawn."