Lokanir

She walked under a blood-red moon. Her long brown hair fell to the sides of her face in waves. Her hands were soaked from fingertips to elbows in a moist wetness. Long were her slender limbs as her toes curled through the damp moss and clay. Her pale skin reflected the moonlight as she stepped out from the grove of trees and into the clearing. It seemed that she had been here since the dawn of time, but no matter where she traveled, she could not escape her thoughts of him.

Long had she been trapped in this prison of a world and longingly she remembered the caress of his hand along her hips. The taste of his sweet breath against her cheek and the smell of his musk within her nose. She needed to find a way out of this nightmare. One minute she had been with him and the next they had been separated. She had lost all track of the passage of time. It could have been years for all she knew. She was naked and afraid. Moving but not alive. Had she died? Was this a dream? How did she get here?

She made her way to the other side of the clearing. The sound of mighty waters running clear and smoothly rose at the precipice of her hearing. She was getting closer. There had to be a way out of here and she was searching for a door. A way back to the man that she loved. The man that she promised forever to.

She ran her hands over her arms to warm herself as pimples formed across her skin and she shivered. The trees grew thicker around her, and she spotted some mushrooms among the undergrowth. Stooping down she plucked a few and turned them over in her hand to determine their edibleness. Satisfied, she popped them into her mouth and chewed hungrily. It had been some time since she had had a meal however scant it was.

As she moved through the trees, the moss clinging to the sides, she gazed up at the moon, yet she did not see any stars. For it was alien here with a bare and desolate sky. Up ahead the noise of the river grew louder until at last she saw the smooth stones at the water’s edge. She stood bathed in the red of the moon looking at her reflection in the water. She did not stir for some time until a creaking caught her attention.

Quickly she hurried from the edge of the river and hid herself in the bushes at the edge. It was just in time, for a moment longer and she would have been caught and killed. Her eyes peered from her hiding spot. She felt so exposed and held her breath as the creature’s shadow fell across her chest.

An abnormal shrieking sound like the braying of a dying friend filled her mind and she shut her eyes and pressed her hands against her ears to drown out the noise. Its massive form was covered in sickly fluid, and it looked right at her with sightless eyes. The top of its head had the flesh peeled back exposing the bone of its skull beneath it.

“Lokanir, is that you?”

She started and began to stand up. Then she realized that the creature had somehow projected her lover’s voice as if it were its own. This was a mockery, and it meant to do her harm. Yet it was too late. The creature had seen her.

Lokanir took off running. The creature pursued and slashed her legs. She jumped and dove deep into river water and its violent current. The creature stopped at the water’s edge.

“My love come back. Stay with me and we can be together forever,” it said.

She cried and she fought the current downstream. Eventually she could see the creature no longer, but the hope of escaping and being reunited with him dimmed to a sliver. It was at this point that unconsciousness took her, and she strayed out of thought.