[Sarah]

Eirke stalked the narrowing path. The misty forest was great cover for his prey, but nothing would stop him from reaching his goal. Thick white clouds billowed around his feet and hung in the trees like leaves. The dark forest would have been trouble for tracking, but the wet path created footprints easily. No matter where the girl went he would find her.

"Where are you little thing?" he asked harshly.

[Sarah]

Sybella giggled softly. She ran lightly down the path through the forest. Eventually the path would taper off and get lost in the foliage. Then it would be her and miles of forest creatures. Sybella would be safe then, among the creatures that would not harm her. It was wishful thinking as she ran on. The beast would never stop hunter her or the others. Why he had chosen to chase her first was something she could not figure out.

[Sarah]

There was a roar some way behind her. The beast was getting angry. Sybella had never seen him get angry as a child. She had only ever heard the stories of his rampages. When they came of age, and ever since then, she had separated herself from them all. As the white mage she was seen as the weakest, and she knew the others would be more likely to hunt her. Meanwhile she had difficulties hunting them back. They'd been trained from birth to eventually kill each other, but she didn't want that and there were others who felt the same. Some, like Berserker, had their master's words too ingrained to think anything different.

[Sarah]

Sybella would do what she could to cure her siblings of their plight. Once they were released the master's could hold no more power over them. It would only be a matter of time before they stepped in or Sybella could forge a strong enough resistance to get rid of them. There was a greater evil at hand than just the menial task of killing each other. Sybella could feel the darkness rising around her even in the forest. It wasn't just the darkness of the masters either.

[Sarah]

A curdled snarl reverberated through the forest and Sybella picked up the pace. Berserker was apparently no longer amused by their game, no doubt his body would be taking on its horrific transformation. The sharp fear that twisted in her gut drove her forward. She would need to pick up the pace if she wanted to outrun berserker.

The foliage got thicker and thicker as she ran. Somehow she had to keep her eyes on the ground and ahead of her and also behind her at the same time. Sybella had expected the forest to help her. When she had been a child wildlife had always been on her side. Being considered the weakest of the classes she was bullied often, but she was always helping the wilderness, so it would assist her when she needed to be saved.

[Sarah]

Something happened... Sybella blacked out. When she came to she was gasping air, and her world was still darkness. Fear was still pulsing through her and it caused her to last out. She didn't come in contact with anything but the ground through her wailing.

"Be still my child," A voice cooed into her ear.

Sybella stiffened as cool air brushed over the back of her neck.

"You must be still and silent lest the beast find you," the voice continued.

When the voice fell silence the breeze stopped and Sybella had a chance to take in her surroundings. Where she hadn't felt anything but ground before she now felt three solid walls. One at her back and two at her sides. From their feel she figured she was in something wooden.

[Sarah]

Her eyes adjusted slowly and she could make out slivers of the forest. Was it night now? None of the outer world looked familiar. She was definitely in a different part of the forest. Maybe she was so deep that the fog created a night-like darkness? Who knew how long she was knocked out.

There were figures swaying in her view. They were probably just plants. If there was one thing she was certain of it was that she could recognize berserker. His form would take up a lot of the already broken view, so if that wasn't a giveaway his beast form reeked like almost nothing else.

[Sarah]

Unfortunately if she could smell him, that meant he could smell her. The voice, as strange as it was, had eased her fear a lot. Now, thinking about how she could be found, the fear was back. It hitched her breathing, but she found it easier to allow the fear to paralyze her. Such a system wouldn't work out. Her breathing was so irregular and quick that she was going to get light headed and she would probably pass out again. Through quite a bit of arguing she was able to slow her breathing down marginally. Not enough to make a difference though.

[Sarah]

Sybella was so petrified of being killed that she was going to waste the second chance she had been given. Instead of struggling with her mind she just clenched her fists. She kept the pressure up until they hurt so bad her muscles were shaking. Sybella hand;t ever been one to care for long nails, but her fists were clenched so tightly she could feel them digging into her palm.

The feeling both distracted her from her thoughts and stopped her breathing completely. She clenched and gasped in air as silently as possible. She wasn't much better off, but she had been able to break through her mind a little.

[Sarah]

Her hands fell limp and she breathed in a way that allowed oxygen into her system

"Good girl," the voice cooed. "That beast has lost your scent and picked up another hunt. You're free to go," it said.

Sybella let the cool air of the voice wash over her before pushing against the wood slats in front of her. They swung open easily and she was in the forest once again. She sighed in relief as the forest no longer felt like a death trap. She turned to close the slats only to find that there was just a normal tree behind her.