Xenovia
As Xenovia awoke from her slumber to the bright light of the rising sun, the events of the night before came flooding back to her mind. With a jolt, she sat up and frantically glanced around at her surroundings. The threat of death and the fear of being eaten alive were still fresh in her memory, causing panic to rise. Thankfully there was no sign of the flytrap, causing her to relax.
“Wretched beast…” she muttered, trying to calm her racing heart.
After a moment, Xenovia mustered up the strength to leave her pitiful shelter. She stood up and crawled out from under the rock where she had slept. She noticed that there was a light frost on the floor of the forest, accompanied by a deep chill in the air. She began to rub her arms with her hands and wondered how it could be so cold when autumn had hardly even made its mark on the season.
As a sharp gust went by, it knocked the breath out of her. She let out a gasp and ran back inside her stone refuge. It was positively freezing! Thank goodness she decided to pack her mother’s warming gel, otherwise she might have been forced to head back to her father’s castle in defeat. As quickly as her shaky fingers could manage, Xenovia applied the gel to every exposed section of her skin, starting with her hands, ears, then the rest of her face. It did not take long before her whole body began to heat up, even in areas underneath her garments. The effect was sure to last a couple of hours, which should prove long enough for her to find her way out of this blasted forest of death.
When Xenovia was satisfied, she packed the gel away in her bag and stepped outside once more. Even when the breeze came, it felt warm and pleasant. So, she continued heading west. She only hoped the village of Judor was not too far away. After her run-in with the man-eater last night, she had been left too weak to setup a bed and so had slept in the dirt. Why, she could already feel the filth sticking to her hair and clothes! She couldn’t wait to find an inn with a hot bath and a tasty meal.
Speaking of food.
Without taking her eyes off the path in front of her, Xenovia reached into her pocket and pulled out a grain stick. It was a dense and hardy type of food ration that soldiers often had to survive on during long marches across the land. It was made with oats, nuts, raisins, dates, peanut butter, and dehydrated orange slices. It was baked slowly in a smoker oven and afterwards brushed with honey as a finishing touch. This gave it a robust flavor and made it so the food would not spoil easily. The fruit pieces also kept the inside of the bar moist, so it wouldn’t make the one eating it too thirsty.
As Xenovia took her first bite, she nearly sang out loud with joy. After going all night without anything to eat, this simple grain stick tasted quite heavenly! And snacking on just one of these should be enough to last her until the evening, when she would most likely stop to make camp. Unless she could somehow reach Judor before then.
“I can do it. I just have to focus!” she told herself.
And so, Xenovia spent the next four and a half hours walking. She didn’t stop for a single break, pausing only briefly to fill up her water canteen at a small river stream. But as the five hour mark neared, she could feel her legs starting to ache, more so than ever before. The physical training she had done back home was nothing compared to a miserable hike like this. Nevertheless, she pressed on, despite her complaints, walking until she could walk no more.
After seven whole hours, Xenovia allowed herself to sit down and rest, though it was only about mid-day. She was out of breath and feeling severely thirsty, but even after she took a few sips the dryness in her throat persisted. The only problem was that water was rather heavy to carry, so she only had three canteens. That would normally be enough for a one day trip, but Xenovia had no idea if she would come across another water source before reaching Judor, or even how long it would be before she reached her destination. Judging by the dense area of forest still ahead of her, she had not made it as far as she thought. It could take two or three more days to find Judor at this rate! And that’s if she came right out at the town entrance.
A princess lost in her own forest? Ha! What a joke.
Giving in to her thirst, Xenovia took another drink of water, nearly emptying one of her canteens. Now she only had two left.
“Don’t worry,” she told herself. “From now on, I’ll just have to take it a bit easier.”
Well, not much easier. Just enough to conserve energy and keep from chugging down too much water in one sitting. Considering the present circumstances, it seemed like the wisest course of action would be to take a break every two hours, so she could rub her sore feet and pause to catch her breath. This would prevent her from tiring out.
After a few minutes, Xenovia decided to get back on her feet, but right as she was about to stand up, something suddenly caused the hair on the back of her neck to prickle. Like the flytrap from the night before, she sensed a looming danger from somewhere close by. Very close by. Carefully, Xenovia started to scan her surroundings, searching for anything that might be out of place. Anxiety welled up in her chest, though she fought to keep panic at bay. Without skipping a beat, she bent down, grabbed a rock, and threw it in the direction her gut was telling her to. Xenovia prepared herself for the fight to come, as she was sure a coyote or perhaps a bear was about to emerge from the foliage, but what actually stepped out surprised her more than any other creature could. For it wasn’t an animal or a beast at all, but a man.
A rather handsome man.
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