Heart Over Sword

Evanna could still hear the faceless' frustrated screeches and talking to one another. It urged her to push up from her hands and knees and stumble forwards. She swayed, her legs unsteady as she tried to regain her balance; her hand went to her eyes, covering them from how much the trees were spinning around her. She calmed her breathing and let her heart settle before removing her hand from her face. With a sigh, she picked up her swords and sheathed them once more, finding the burden of holding them too heavy to grip onto now. 

The princess' brows furrowed as she glanced behind her from where she could still hear the faceless. Her back wasn't tingling; she knew now from experience that this should be the case. She used her powers and was extremely weak now, was her sixth sense also being recharged? Evanna had never been without it; it was just always there. She felt a little disturbed to continue through the forest without it, but then she reminded herself that Ger, Ronan and Axel brazenly walked through these woods without such a sense. 

Be brave.

Evanna gulped and trudged forwards, keeping her hand outstretched, brushing along the trees as she did so. If she had the energy and strength, she would run from there. She reached in her pocket for her watch and gasped at seeing the time; it was nearing midnight. She needed to get as far away from those creatures as possible and find somewhere safe to settle down for the night. 

The only problem was that those glowing balls were nowhere to be seen now. Had she missed the path the forest directed her on? But it helped her when she was in trouble with the faceless. Well, her priority was to get to a safe spot and quickly. 

Evanna moved on and searched the trees for a spot to climb up onto. After finding a low branch, she reached forwards and started to climb, her eyes on the task before her. The sounds of the faceless were long into the distance now, and she wondered just how long it would be until they made it out of the trees she created. 

Either way, she was not going to stop there. Evanna was only climbing to higher ground for safety, especially now with her body weak. She felt bruised all over and in need of a few days' rest, but she continued climbing and crouched onto another branch, testing its thickness. She was high but not high enough for the branches to be wide like a path. Evanna reached back and stood up, ready to start climbing once more but halted her actions when the sound of someone laughing echoed through the woods.

Startled, Evanna searched the trees, her eyes squinting, trying to look in the dark. But it was pointless; it was almost pitch black, the only light shining through from the moon and stars, which was not much. 

"Ha Ha HA!" The voice was closer, and she felt her heart sink at recognising it. 

"No," She whispered aloud before clasping her hands over her mouth and sinking down into a crouch, resting her back against the tree.

The branch she was on slumped down and vibrated from the impact of something landing on it. "Oh yes, sweetie." That voice.. The creature's slender silhouette slowly revealed itself as it walked towards her, one foot in front of the other, and he stopped to make an extravagant bow. "What a marvellous night this will be," Scarecrow smiled cruelly at her.

Evanna gulped and focused on her powers, trying to call to them, but a trickle of blood started to slide down her nose. She couldn't use anything against him, and she was in such a weak state. She glanced behind her, wondering if she could make it to the ground and run. But from what she remembered of the creature, he was powerful, so he was probably really fast too. 

"Hmmm, I can see you trying to work out what to do next. It's quite a sight to see. I knew the others wouldn't get to you, but I am rather happy I didn't make a move earlier; now that I see how weak you are, it will make this easier for me," Scarecrow tilted his head and somehow widened his smile, even more, making her whole body grow cold at the sight of it. 

"Well, that's just pitiful," Evanna began with a smirk, "you couldn't fight me at my strongest, so you waited for the ultimate moment."

Scarecrow chuckled and stepped towards her, making Evanna's smirk vanish as she slowly reached for a sword. "It is called using your brains. Why should I use my precious energy on someone like you? I just need a body until I get my hands on one who holds much more power and authority."

Evanna frowned at his comment. A body with power and authority, what was this creature's plan?

Scarecrow lunged towards her, and she raised her sword only for him to smack it out of her hands. Evanna's eyes widened, and she managed to block one of his blows, but the knock flew her off the tree and towards the ground. She hit the floor with a thud, the air left her lungs at the impact, and her scream died out. Scarecrow landed next to her casually and beamed at her. His slender fingers reached towards her face as he stepped closer to her. He stopped after hearing a snapping sound, and the ground beneath them started to crumble.

The creature jumped back as Evanna fell through the soil and landed awkwardly onto a concrete tomb, her ankle twisting and making her collapse onto her side, hitting her head with a loud thud into the concrete. Evanna's vision instantly went black, and her body went slack as a small pool of blood trickled onto the tomb. While she was knocked out to the world, Scarecrow above ground went to jump through the ground, but some invisible barrier sent him flying backwards. 

Scarecrow screeched and paced backwards and forwards before leaning over the gap without touching the area. He could see the girl lying unconscious on a tomb. She was just in reach, but he couldn't get to her, and after watching her for some time, the creature started to feel a dangerous energy growing in the cave below. Scarecrow screeched again before fleeing the area, the monster that was awakening a much greater threat than some little girl.

That 'little girl' was left lying on the tomb that slowly slid to the side, and a bony hand gripped onto the surface and reached for her waist, pulling the princess towards it.