Sleep didn't come easily. The many groans and cries of the criminals I found myself a part of kept me away. The only bed in my cell was a small lump of straw left over from the nearby horse stables. I felt cold, and was still wearing my thin night gown.
I kept on waking up to the haunting wails and shouts from my "neighbors". I didn't know whether to feel pity or annoyance. After all, who's to say they weren't trapped in there for the same reason I was?
After what felt like maybe a day or two, one of the guards approached my cell, holding a rusty metal tray full of moldy bread and some liquidy substance. He slid the tray under a gap under the barred cell door, and left without a word. They had to be crazy if they thought I would actually eat that.
Several days went by, and I hadn't eaten, and I spent most of my time trying to sleep. It was beginning to take a toll on my body. Just as I was considering eating the vile "food", the piercing shrieks and screams from who I recognized as my mother penetrated my ears. I quickly grabbed onto the bars on my cell door and peeled out.
"Mom?" I barely managed to push the words out. With only a glance, I knew then that was unmistakably my mother. I reached a hand out, desperate for my mother to acknowledge me.
"No! She did it! Freya is the one who killed tge shop merchant!" I froze, and my heart dropped. My mother screamed false accusations at me, her finger pointing frantically at my cell. Why was she doing this? I have never even considered harming anyone. She knew that.
Was that what my mother had done? Had she killed an innocent man? Why? Why did she do it? And why was she blaming me? I couldn't understand.
"Wait. Mom? What are you saying?" My words were cut off as my mouthed screamed, still pointing at me as she yelled more accusations.
"She framed me! If you go now, you'll find the bloodied knife under her mattress in her bedroom!" I shook my head in disbelief at her words. This was unfathomable. What was going on?
Before I could mutter anything else, two guards unlocked my cell door and brutally grabbed my wrists, pulling me out of my cell. I winced as they dragged me out of the dungeon and out of the village walls.
"We're taking you to the Raelstrom forest. You're now officially banished and shunned from here." One of the guards spoke after we neared the forest. I tried to break free from the guards' grasps, but to no avail. I was too weak to escape.
"No! I didn't do anything! I don't even know what happened!" I shook my head profusely, my eyes swelling up with tears that threatened to fall down my cheeks. The guards didn't even respond. They merely threw me down onto the ground and kicked me in the back of the head, causing me to black out.
I awoke with an excruciating headache. It was late at night, which was a bad sign. Monsters roamed the Raelstrom forest after dark. Many people who ventured into these parts never return.
I forced myself to stand, my malnourished body screaming with pain as I walked, searching for a safe place to hide. After only a few minutes, my eyes were met with another pair. Two bioluminescent orbs were floating in the distance behind a tree. I had been spotted, and there's no doubt about it. All rationality left me as I quickly turned and ran as fast as I could. I had to either run as fast as possible, or face inevitable death.
This creature that was en suite was a notorious beast. A Shadow Lurker. Very little is known about them, considering the fact that most people who encountered them didn't live to tell the tale, or were too shell shocked to even speak. Characterized by a long, black slender body, and bright blue eyes that glow in the dark, the Shadow Lurker was renowned for its exceptional ability to hunt prey at night, completely invisible aside from the eyes. There was only one documented to have been killed, but the cause of death was unknown.
I finally snapped back into my senses as I felt myself stumble over a rock, which sent me rolling down the hill that I hadn't realized that I had approached. I winced as I tumbled, feeling various rocks, roots, and sticks tearing at my skin. I tried to stand, but my ankle gave out with a sharp pain, causing me to fall back down to the ground.
The Shadow Lurker let out a horrifying shriek, instilling fear within my body. I knew then and there that I had to push through the pain if I wanted to make it out alive. I managed to stand, but limped as I forced myself to move.
Then, I saw it. My saving grace. A small entrance to a cave had caught my eye. All I had to do was push through. The terrifying sounds of the Shadow Lurker grew closer as I lunged into the blackness of the cave.
Safe at last. Or so I thought.