Prompt: Agenda | Genre: Fantasy | Word
count: 750 words
Over his laboured breaths, Einarr heard something whistle
closer. Glancing back as he ran, he saw a burning ball arc slowly towards them.
It hit a tree at the edge of the forest with a thud, the fire turning into thick
smoke. The ball of smoke fell through rustling leaves, cracking branches.
Einarr grinned. But not for long. “Run!!”, he pulled Runa,
shielding her with his arm over her shoulder.
Thousands of burning projectiles whistled behind them. They
hit the forest floor like heavy hailstones. Einarr turned to look. The stench
of burning flesh hit him, “Holy Gods! They are moving!”
“Don’t waste your arrows on them.”
Einarr held the arrow as he watched Raven spread out his
arms. They turned into large, black iridescent wings. He flapped them once.
Twice. Thrice.
A gust blasted out from him. It hurtled back the burning
creatures, dousing out their fire.
Einarr plugged his ears to stop it from ringing. The world
fell silent. Frowning, he looked up. The gust was gathering force. It slowly
began to recoil. Alarmed, Einarr ran towards Runa. His feet slid over the
leaves strewn on the forest floor. He used the momentum to steer, landing
beside her. He braced himself over Runa right before...
Thump.
Einarr raised his head to peek.
Raven stood tall, his wings spread out. Before him shimmered
a wall of air. A storm of dust and leaves hammered it on the other side.
Through the transparent wall, he saw small fires flicker back into life. A
tornado stood in their midst. When it began to move, the fires followed.
“Go!” Raven said, staring straight at the tornado.
“But...”
“I said go!!”
Einarr picked Runa up. Running, he peeked behind. The
tornado faced Raven on the other side of the wall. For a moment, it swirled
away to reveal a woman’s face. She glowered at Runa’s back. Einarr blinked. The
face was gone.
***
Scuttling sounds echoed in the dank space.
Einarr felt Runa squeeze his hand, “I’m scared.”
Her whisper sounded too loud. He squeezed her clammy hand
back, “Rest a while. The child....”
“Our child.”
Einarr didn’t respond. The unsaid words hung heavy in the
dark.
He let himself rest against the cold wall. He felt Runa
shuffle across the stone floor, to huddle close. He put his arm around her and
held her close.
Somewhere far to his left, he heard the sound of dripping
water.
“It’s because of the Spring of the Gods.”
“What?”
“Our child. Raven told me. She’ll grow in only nine weeks....”
“It’s unnatural.”
“The world needs...”
“That doesn’t change anything. Who knows what it...?”
“She!!” her voice rang across the enclosed space.
“Runa!” he whispered urgently. “We can’t....” his voice cut
off, as the scuttling noises came closer.
He felt Runa clutch his arm. He held his breath, the silence
pounding in his ears.
“It’s a good thing you came here”, he heard a woman say.
“Your voice... it doesn’t echo.”
“Of course, it doesn’t. This is my lair.”
***
Green and yellow flames rose around them.
Raven flung to his right. A stream of green light whistled
right past his ear. As he fell to the ground, he threw an orb of yellow flame.
Fála flicked
her hand to throw it off. It hit a tree. The tree burst into flames.
“You’ve lost your touch....”
A blast of yellow flames hit her face.
She flew back and slammed against the burning tree.
Raven got up. So did Fála.
Engulfed in flames, Einarr could only see her eyes. They
glowed red.
“I won’t let you take what’s mine!”, she raised her arms.
Raven planted his feet and faced her.
***
“You want us to go through that?”
They stared at the large web.
“Not you. Just her”, Spider pointed to Runa’s belly.
Runa stepped behind Einarr, “You won’t have my baby!”
“If you want her to live, you have to give her away.”
Einarr put his arm behind to shield Runa, “How can we trust
you?”
“How can I trust you?” Spider spat. “You... who have
always taken. Your greed fading us out... one species at a time! Even now....”
she stumbled, pale blue liquid oozing out from her.
“We didn’t ...”
“Your kind did! What did we
do to your kind?!” Spider crawled
closer.
Einarr nocked an arrow.
“Is that a threat, human?”
Einarr stepped back, “I’ve to protect my family.”
“Then to protect mine, maybe I should just spin you both...”
“Spider!”
Raven stumbled into the cave.
