Colleen had long since lost any sense of direction.
The forest stretched endlessly around her, every towering pine and tangled thicket looking exactly like the last. She could have sworn she’d passed the same twisted oak three times already, yet every path she chose only seemed to lead her deeper into the wilderness. The silence was unnerving, broken only by the crunch of leaves beneath her boots and the occasional distant call of a bird hidden somewhere high above the canopy.
Earlier, she’d crossed paths with a manticore.
She had survived; but only barely
Its barbed tail had left deep gashes across her side, and claw marks traced angry lines along her arms and shoulders. Blood seeped steadily through the tears in her armor and soaked into her clothes, dripping onto the forest floor with each unsteady step she took. Every breath burned in her lungs, and every movement sent another wave of pain coursing through her exhausted body.
She wasn’t sure why anymore. Instinct, perhaps. Hope. The stubborn refusal to give up, even as her body begged her to stop. Her legs trembled beneath her weight, threatening to give out with every step. Her vision blurred at the edges, dark spots dancing before her eyes as dizziness settled in.
She knew enough about injuries to recognize what was happening.
Somewhere deep inside, beneath the determination that had kept her moving this far, a quiet realization settled over her like the evening mist.
She wasn’t going to make it back to camp.
The thought should have frightened her, but instead it brought an odd sense of peace. There was no panic left, only exhaustion.
Eventually her knees buckled.
She caught herself against the rough trunk of a massive tree, letting out a shaky breath as she slowly slid down until she was sitting on the cold earth. The bark pressed against her back while roots curled around her like silent sentinels. Above, thin beams of sunlight filtered through the branches, painting shifting patterns across the forest floor.
Colleen rested her head against the trunk and stared up through the canopy for a long moment. The world felt strangely quiet now, almost gentle. Maybe no one would find her.
Maybe the forest would simply reclaim her, another forgotten casualty of a quest gone wrong.
Her breathing became slower, weaker. Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy, refusing to stay open any longer. With one final, exhausted sigh, the daughter of Hades let her eyes drift shut.
Her body went still, slumped against the ancient tree as the forest carried on around her, indifferent to the silence that had settled over its newest visitor.
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