A Disappointing Welcome 4

Then, silence. Everything stopped, and she belatedly realized that she should have run. Softly at first but growing louder with every second, the sound of crunching of leaves under foot invaded the clearing. She had to run now!

The dull ache in her ankle was nothing as she forced herself to flee. Crunch! The footsteps sounded much closer now. Crackle! Whatever it was had to be nearly on her, and she definitely didn't see yellow eyes. Sky turned and fled.

She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't care. She simply had to get away from the clearing immediately.

In the background, she heard what could have been a muttered oath ever so faintly. She ignored it and kept running as the dull ache in her right ankle settled into a throb that was getting worse by the second.

Sky tried to pay attention to her footing, but in the predawn glow, her eyes couldn't see the moss-covered rock protruding unevenly above the ground. Her right foot came down wrong and her injured ankle gave, twisting it even further. She staggered and fell, just barely catching herself on her hands. Something burst through the trees behind her with a snap of breaking twigs. 'Dammit!' Sky thought. Flinching, she anticipated pain, but there was no pain. Instead, something smooth and firm wrapped itself around her waist. Sky opened her eyes, turned around, and looked behind her. A long, dirty, white tree root extended from her waist, winding back through the trees in the direction she had just come. Sky had enough time to register confusion before it straightened, and she was yanked backwards.

As Sky flew passed the trees, she fully expected to be taken back to the clearing to be killed and eaten. She felt some sadness at this thought, but it seemed just so fitting somehow that her life was now, actually, going to end as soon as the chance at a better future was within her grasp.

That was just the way it always went for Sky. When she was eight, she had begged and begged her mother to pay for her to take the Magical Aptitude Tests early. She'd been elated when her mother finally told her she could. Sky couldn't help skipping around the house and garden, humming to herself. Her father saw her and called her into his office. She remembered how he spoke to her like the Chancellor spoke to her. She recalled what he asked: "What's gotten into you? Why are you so pleased with yourself?" She remembered how his voice somehow paralyzed her. When she couldn't answer, he preceded to beat her with his belt until she told him why she was happy. Afterwards, he went to her mother's room and took all the money she had, so Sky couldn't take the test. It would be two years before her mother saved enough for Sky to take the tests. Unfortunately, her mother died three weeks later. What she wouldn't give to see her again.

Just like that whenever something wonderful or evenly mildly good occurred, Sky experienced tragedy, terror, and trauma. She realized the world only helped her if she paid a heavy price. The world was a miserable place that beat her down and took vengeance for every moment of peace, pleasure, and passion she had ever felt.

Shapes flew passed her eyes. Sky blinked, tried to focus, and frowned. She caught a multitude of fleeting glimpses. She thought that she had just passed the clearing. Sky squinted and tried to see if it really had been the clearing, but it was impossible for her to be certain. The density of the trees and the speed of the movement made it impossible to judge. She gave up and simply waited as the trees pulled her through the forest.

***

Finally, it was over. Sky felt the warmth of the morning sun beat down upon her head, and in front of her eyes, she saw an unbroken line of dark trees. Although she loved trees, these particular trees did not seem very pleasant. The deep shadows under them filled her with unease. Sky's butt hit the ground with a thud as the white root dropped her.

She watched the root recede into the ground just in front of her. It shrank under the grass through a hole and disappeared. The only evidence of it was a small mound of dirt and a bit of upturned grass. She pursed her lips together ever so slightly as she stared at the grass, not really seeing it.

'What had just happened?' she wondered, 'And what is wrong with this grass?" Sky blinked. The blades were cut. This was a manicured lawn. 'Did it belong to the school?' Hope lit in Sky. She turned slowly, hardly daring to look, as her heart beat in wild lurches. Since she lost her tinted specs somewhere between the attempt on her life, the left for food thing, the attack, the rescue, and the retrieval, she couldn't hide the widening of her eyes. There it was, the school.

When she'd first arrived, her escort had brought her there by way of the school's indoor travelling room. She had not been permitted to see its landscape. This was Sky's first time seeing the school from the outside, and it was imposing yet magical. She remembered how she felt when she first arrived after finishing her Magical Aptitude Test. This was much more intense. She memorized the landscape. A vast sprawling meadow of well-manicured grass welcomed all newcomers. The lush green forest of somewhat ominous trees hugged the campus on three sides as a protective boundary. Perhaps, it was a type of prison wall.

She turned her attention to the castle. It appeared to be four stories high in most places with tall towers at each corner. Dwarfing the other towers, a central tower stood. It was massive. Sky had never seen anything so massive before—a marvel really. She tried to count the windows to figure out how tall it was but got lost once she'd hit ten stories. Off the back of the castle, there was a very long, very wide, lower addition. This had only one row of windows, but they looked too high to be normal windows.

Her gaze fell on a six-story building. It was set a little behind the addition and closer to the forest. The building looked a noble's home. It had numerous dark blue shutters, red brick walls, and two white front doors, facing the school building. In the distance, almost hidden behind the low building, Sky spied another large brick structure.

Sky continued orienting herself. Judging from the sun's position, it was still early. She was trying to decide where to go when a male voice interrupted her.

"Hey, you!" the voice yelled. Sky glanced to her right and saw a disheveled, male moving in her direction. His gate was heavy. He seemed to be stomping his way towards her. 'He's pissed,' she thought. Immediately, she limped as quickly as her ankle allowed toward the school. She did not want to be attacked again.

As the male neared her, Sky noticed that the male's nostrils flared, confirming her assumption. "Hey, wait!" he called again. Sky tried to ignore him and moved more quickly, but her ankle throbbed painfully, hindering her movements.

Wham!