Skull Mask slides out behind a tree, and marches towards her with gloved handscurled into fists.
Goddess, he can see me! How is that possible?
She wobbles away, plunging deeper into the woods with abandon.
Despite Sigvid’s urging, she left the dagger he gifted her on a table in Blackwood. She steals a look as the masked beast dodges the winding maze of trees and begins to catch up to her.
If he reaches her, she will have no method of defending herself. She will succumb to whatever wretched debauchery the man has on his mind.
The snow only deepens the further she runs, catching her feet in trenches of unrelenting powder. Every step she believes is creating distance between her and her pursuer only serves to pull her closer.
At one turn in the forest, she swears that hot breath tickles down her neck.
Avina runs past a large blackwood tree and pauses to catch her breath. Exhaustion has her in its grasp so tightly that she fears she might faint.
A black gloved hand reaches from behind and rubs her forearm. The figure is even more terrifying up close. Its hollow black eyes are like soulless voids.
She screams in horror, losing her control. He clutches her wrist, pulling her towards him.
Her scream echoes seemingly forever across the frozen wasteland.
“Let me go!” She aims a shaky punch at the skull that her stalker catches.
“Please,” her tears are all dried up, leaving her a trembling mess of terror.
How can he see her with her invisibility active?
That shouldn't be possible!
The hands release, and Avina bolts away on the pulsing adrenaline. After stumbling through the snow a bit longer, a ramshackle building rises in the distance like a beacon of hope.
It's probably an old hunting cabin this far out from the city.
When she reaches the front door, she breathes a sigh of relief and nearly cries with happiness when she finds it unlocked. Avina locks the door and whips around.
She is right. It appears to be an unused one-room hunting cabin. She tears through the kitchen drawers but can’t find anything to defend herself with.
Could this be Sigvid toying with me? Why did he not reveal himself in the mausoleum?
The Skull Mask could not have been far away, even in the deep snow. She collapses on the sheetless bed in the corner to regain her breath. Everything is silent, save the sounds of her haggard breathing.
And then her heart stops beating.
Crunching footsteps stalk around the perimeter of the cabin. She dry sobs as the reality that she will not survive the night seeps into her frigid bones.
He found me.
A black figure creeps past the front windows, reminding her only a decrepit door sits between her and the pursuer. Scratches along the window above nearly have her relieving herself in her undergarments.
She slumps down on the bed, pressing a quivery hand over her mouth.
Why does he want me? He must know I am Queen Avina and seeks revenge for the war.
The figure passes by the window next to the door, and silence fills the space. Moments creep by, and she wonders if Skull Mask has chosen to spare her life.
And then the front door knob rattles.
Tears finally release.
