Excerpt: Rever

The night’s mist had cleared, leaving a fine, delicate cover of dew across the grass that covered the hills. Each tiny, moist drop reflected a grey sky where clouds hung expectantly or drifted impatiently, caught up in a sky-high breeze. At ground level a chill, wildly tumultuous wind picked up, restlessly tugging at the grass and dashing against hillsides. The air fell still again as the wind passed by, continuing its impassioned dance elsewhere. From the eastern marshes a bird, hidden amongst the trees, gave one long, loud scream that pierced through the otherwise silent air. Then came the sound of footsteps.

The first sound to be heard was a distant rumbling, almost akin to the sound of thunder. Then, as a small being crested the largest of the nearby hills, the sound of feet pounding at the grass. The rumbling grew louder behind the girl as she flew down the hill, so swift her feet barely touched the ground. Before long her pursuers became apparent – official-looking men, uniformed and on horse-back, galloping after her in a tight huddle. Though she ran as for her life, as rightly she should, the men were quickly gaining on her. She did not look back, but kept her sights on the outskirts of the forest that began at the bottom of the hill, leading out in a tapering tendril from the first of a series of mountains that stretched away from the rolling hills.