Heart Over Sword
Chapter 190: Escaping Direwood Forest

Chapter 190: Escaping Direwood Forest

The trees rushed by in a blur while the rest of the forest remained in darkness except for the distant orange and light blue glows sparking up the trees and revealing the undead chasing the small group. Evanna ran between her elven guards, Cedric and Anwel, with Garrett ahead leading the way, his large seraph blade cutting through any bushes and trees in the way. Even with his large frame, and Ronan over his back, the elf still appeared brutally elegant.

As he hacked away at anything in his way, whether a creature or a tree, the others in the group ran with air cover from the archers in the trees. They let loose their arrows at any revenants getting too close to the trio behind Garrett. The chase set Evanna’s heart pummelling against her ribcage, beads of sweat on the back of her neck while her whole body remained chilled to the bone. Her senses told her the dead were charging at them from all angles, but only the Flori’s arrows kept them from reaching her.

But they didn’t have limitless arrows. At some point, they would run out, and as much as Evanna could fight her way through this, her gifts had drained her body to fatigue, and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Yet, she seemed to run mechanically through the aches and pains, just as her mother taught her. Just like how the arrows would run out, so would their energy to keep running from these beings.

"*We need to get to the trees," Evanna announced as she sheathed her swords behind her back. "They will keep coming until I am beside Conrad again.*"

Cedric’s eyes darted towards the dark elf ahead of them in response. "*Keep to the ground, Princess. The trees will lead us astray,*" Garrett grunted, his eyes wandering to the treetops that could not be seen. It was nighttime now, but during the day, the trees’ great heights seemed to never end, blocking out the views of the world around them.

"*I could-*"

"*We have been born and raised in Direwood, and know it much better than you, Princess. I know you are not used to taking orders, but trust me on this,* Garrett added before he suddenly darted to the left, off the path they had been following.

Garrett was right, of course, and although her suggestion was to ’speak to the trees’, she would not be able to manage it.

Evanna swiftly followed, her strides turning into large jumps as the roots of trees began to rise higher than her knees. The group had slowed down only marginally, as they were all highly skilled and gracious in their movements. Evanna looked behind her, and a grin tugged at her lips as she saw the revenants struggling to get past the roots. Although they seemed great at fighting and causing chaos to get her, this particular task seemed difficult.

That didn’t mean they were stopped entirely, though. Some followed behind, their movements similar to the group of elves. The only conclusion was that they were dead elves, which was more apparent the longer Evanna watched as they glided under and flipped over the roots.

With widened eyes, Evanna turned her head in time as arrows whizzed past her face. She followed the arrows’ direction, one slicing the side of her cheek and striking the eye of one of the undead merely a meter behind her. She inhaled sharply and ducked as the being swung a beautiful blade that rang out as it clanged into another sword. Cedric’s sword. He’d flipped over Evanna and sliced his sword down onto the revenants.

Evanna was momentarily distracted as she gazed upon the blade this revenant held onto, the hilt decorated with a single sapphire and a black dragon wrapped around it protectively, its tail wrapping around part of the blade. But its beauty faded to the sound of Anwel fighting another who caught up to them. She snapped out of her daze and instantly rolled to the side, her hand sliding into her boot to help Cedric finish the corpse, whose eye still had an arrow sticking out of it.

As Evanna started to move, her foot tugged on something, and she braced herself against the forest floor, her hands crashing into the ground. Her luck had her foot stuck inside a looped root so small it was ridiculous. While she kept pulling at her boot, Cedric fought around her protectively, keeping the creature from reaching for her. The moves of the revenant were swift and in such deadly graciousness it was hard for Cedric to cut him down quickly.

With a sword like that, the Princess knew the dead elf was no ordinary fighter. From the state of the revenant’s appearance, flesh rotting to the near bone, the elf may have been around when dragons roamed the realm and even fought them. But their clever tactic had now become problematic, slowing them down in the forest’s overly grown-rooted area.

With a groan, Evanna cut through the root and then swiftly threw the dagger into the revenant’s chest. What would have killed a mortal man did nothing to someone already dead, and it did not falter its movements either. The Princess jumped back after Cedric was tossed to the side like an irritating bug and the undead monster reached for her. She pulled her swords out and fought back, noting how it didn’t fight her so vigorously as it did with Cedric.

Again, with its golden glowing eyes, it was following Conrad’s instructions. The creature wasn’t there to kill her but take her back to him. Staring back at the rotting corpse as they crossed blades, Evanna felt her heart twist that these dead beings were being used and awoken from their rest to fetch her. And although what she was about to do was disgusting, she wanted to be free from the Demon Prince’s reach.

Evanna pushed its blade back with a powerful thrust, and in two strides, she jumped high, only to swing her swords down, one blocking its blade and the other she sliced its head from its shoulders. The head rolled across the ground, and for a moment, the body stilled in its position as she landed behind it. With her back turned, she heard more blades against flesh and turned to see the undead body fall to the ground, its legs separated from its body from the hip down.

"*Time to go.*" Cedric waited for her to jump over the twitching body on the ground, and as she did, he lowered down and took the sword. They started hurdling over the roots again. Evanna glanced at Cedric, who now held onto the dragon sword. "*A sword like this shouldn’t be left to the ages. It should be used, and its owner would prefer that.*"

"Its owner has been sliced to pieces," Evanna muttered to herself, looking away from the blade as the roots seemed to calmly return to the ground.

"*This way!*" Garrett’s voice echoed to them. They heard him before seeing his large form descend further down the sloping hill, leading to what Evanna assumed was the way out of Direwood forest.

Anwel was the first to follow after them, his slight frame faster than Cedric and Evanna as he sprinted forwards. Evanna followed but kept her eyes on the ground, looking for the occasional rock or uneven ground. Unlike the others, who ran freely like they weren’t being chased down by dead beings, Evanna was only part elf; she still had to be careful. Though it looked like she kept their pace, it was with great concentration. Her eyesight was better than that of humans but not as great as elves.

After making it down the hill and through more woods with thinner, crooked trees, mist formed again like it did that first day entering Direwood forest, and like before, it made the environment suffocating, making it hard to breathe and think. But before Evanna could ’speak to the trees’ again, she crashed into Garett’s back, where he abruptly stopped. Ronan murmured from the sudden jolt but remained unconscious while Garrett glared at her before looking ahead and bowing slightly.

Stepping away from behind Garrett, Evanna’s heart pounded against her ribcage, her breaths coming out in small chilled clouds before her as she stared back at the Florian Prince. His striking features were covered in dirt and blood, but besides that, he looked unharmed. Arawn’s gaze also swept across the Princess, his brows slightly pinched together that quickly relaxed upon seeing she was okay.

Though the pair were fine, Evanna couldn’t help but bite the inside of her cheek.

Did that mean Conrad was..

Her head whipped back from where they came from, but no dead beings were chasing after them. Nor could she hear them trying to get through the roots. She looked back at Arawn, concern flashing behind her jewelled eyes.

"*The Demon Prince is not dead,*" Arawn announced quietly, though the iciness of irritation seeped into his melodic voice, slightly revealing how much he would prefer the opposite to be true. "*But I doubt he will be unconscious for long.. Even in the icy coffin, I left him in.*"

Arawn’s lips pulled into a smirk, his eyes alight wickedly with the knowledge of how he’d left the Demon Prince. When Conrad was conscious once more, though, it wouldn’t take him long to get out of the ice formed around his body. Arawn looked back at his men and the state they were in, then back at Evanna, who, although she had muddy splodges across her face, strands of hair refusing to go into her plait, and eyes that revealed the fatigue of her body, she was positively bewitching. Now she was back in his sight; he would not let her leave it.

Reaching his hand out, he waited for Evanna to accept it and pulled her into his side. She gasped and averted her eyes from the surrounding elves and from him. "That will not do, Princess. I wish to see those eyes of yours.. and feel those ravenous lips," he whispered into her ear. The corners of his lips tugged up at the rosy blush flourishing her flawless cheeks.

Garrett cleared his throat, gaining his highness’ attention once more, and the Prince’s stoic features returned like a mask set in place. "*Let us be gone from Direwood before first light.*"

"*Where are we to go?*" Garrett asked, causing Evanna to peek out from Arawn’s chest and to the dark-skinned elf whose presence was as fierce as Arawn’s.

Arawn surveyed the surrounding trees. There were no signs of Conrad’s spies, but there were a few of his father’s in the shapes of white barn owls. Besides sending his men back, at least the King would know that Arawn would be departing Direwood for a while before their arrival. He looked back down at Evanna, who met his gaze, her eyes that always returned ferociously, looked more like a cute kitten blinking up at him full of trust.

"*To Lyvaria, until said otherwise.*"

⚔