19 A Terrifying Hunger

Even when the sun was above her head and descending, the princess still didn't react, only focusing on going forward. As for what was the forward she sought, she knew deep down that it was not really her original destination. She had walked weirdly and inconsistently, resulting in a path absolutely not straight. The only thing that she hoped was that she stayed inside the forest since the encampment was just outside it. With a little bit of luck on her side, maybe some of the soldiers patrolling around will find her and take her back. She didn't want to approach them because they were not part of the 1st and 2nd Legion, but she couldn't be demanding at this point. And they were still soldiers in the end, even if they were the lowest trash of human being.

After that long walk, she still felt the intense pain in her two feet. But it was not important enough to make her scream like at first. She was resigned now to live like that for the rest of inhuman life. But with her goal getting closer, the numerous implications of her current state were getting clearer and clearer in her mind. For the first time, instead of focusing only on the betrayal of someone important that cause the ambush and the revival of the dark gods, she thought about herself. Will she be able to live a normal life after that?

"No." Only someone profoundly naïve could think that the answer would be yes. And even if she came back thinking like that, her father would exile her instantly and that would be mercy from his side. The rest of the kingdom would ask for the head of the undead spirit but her family will at least protect her life. No matter what she will say, the moment she is discovered, everything will be gone and she will be hunted.

Because of those thoughts, she stopped walking. She was conflicted, between her loyalty or most importantly the fact that she needed to warn her family and her sense of self-preservation. At the same time, what if someone could help her, break that terrible spell that was chained around her neck. She quickly extinguished her embers of hope, at best she will return back to her ghostly form. That will not help her case at all. As for coming back and hoping that no one would notice anything unusual, she didn't have great confidence about that.

Grmblbblbgf

Suddenly, she heard her stomach gurgling. She was hungry, very hungry. But the pain that she experienced about that was so low compared to what she felt in her feet that she didn't pay attention. If she had her weapons, she would have hunted something, a hare or even a deer and cook them without any problem. But she only had a broken sword and her hands so she had to find something else. Looking around her and finding nothing alive, she searched the surroundings. It didn't take her long before she found a pack of deer. Three of them were calmly eating a small bush, not caring about the world.

Even if she was at her optimal state, she still couldn't catch one of them like that, with her bare hands. Some of the old knights and friends of her father were that strong, capable of just running at such a speed that they will catch one while he was running away. Even if she was praised as a genius and strong knight, she was clearly not their match yet. So instead of using her muscles, she will use her brain. She didn't dare to create a spear since she only had a few centimeters of metal on her sword. And she will never, ever, use her mouth to shape the head of the spear. Only an animal would do something like that. As for the taste that will stay in her mouth, she shuddered about that fact.

The trees around her were big and some branches were strong enough to support her. Looking above the pack of mammals, she found some spots that were far enough to allow her to not be detected before she fell on them. And if that failed, well, she would have to wait until she came back to the civilization.

The moment she began to climb that tree nearly made her scream and one of the deer raised his head, scouting around him. She bit her tongue but not that hard, since she couldn't taste blood in her mouth. Or maybe she will never bleed again? That question was particularly important for her future since it would easily cause suspicion if she won't bleed. While pondering, she reached her hunting spot and waited a minute, to appease the suspicious deer. When he finally started eating again, she took action. She unleashed her piece of sword and was ready to hit on the head of her prey with it. She couldn't pierce something, but the blunt force of her falling on them should be enough to stun them. And she only needed a moment to grab an animal and then strangle it.

The first part of her plan was flawless, she did fall on them. The second part about hitting one, not so much. Whether she encountered a pack of telepathic deer or not, they dodged her attack at the last moment, causing her body to meet the hard ground. The pain was so important that she screamed, a powerful and acute scream. By the time she raised her head, two of the mammals were gone. However, the one directly in front of her was frozen in place, not moving a muscle.

She could see the fear in its eyes and that he will escape at any second. But even with that, he was still immobile, barely a meter away from her. Pulling herself together and ignoring the pain, she got up and slowly walked toward the animal. Seeing its nightmare coming closer and closer, the deer finally broke through and escaped at a speed rarely seen. Prompting the young princess to shout at him multiple time.

"stop! STOP! STOP!!!" Even after doing that, the deer was getting away, until her voice turned and began to be extremely acute.

"STOP." The deer suddenly froze again but with its speed, it caused its fall. The animal hit a tree and ended up on the ground, his head slightly bleeding. Puzzled, Muirnë crouched near the bleeding mammal. If the first time was maybe a coincidence, the second time was definitely not an accident. What she had not yet been able to understand was how her voice changed. She felt it the second time, that her voice was not natural. Considering her previous form, and with her knowledge, she figured out that she wasn't an ordinary ghost. But something powerful enough to cause a living being to be immobile for a short period of time.

But all those considerations quickly were forgotten, since the smell of blood unleashed the hunger that the princess felt in her body. What followed became a blurry memory, but when she woke up, the carcass in front of her was unrecognizable. Even if she knew that it was a deer, she couldn't match her memory with what she was seeing. The corpse was dismembered and those limbs were scattered around her. The only intact part, the face, still showed her a pair of terrified eyes. The rest of the skull was destroyed and the brain entirely missing. Only the skin and some pieces of meat were still attached on the dispersed body parts.

Looking down, to see the amount of blood on her body, she found nothing unusual. Even a professional butcher or hunter could not do something like that without getting blood on them but she did. Or the blood was absorbed by her body. But after seeing the result of her "meal", she became really scared. For the first time, it was not about the dark gods, but it was about her. If she entered into such a state just after seeing blood, what will happen if she saw her family? What if her brother that is always training come back injured? Will she truly kill him and eat him?

In her state of panic, she didn't hear the voices that were getting closer and closer. Only when she heard the scream of a man behind her did she turned. She was still positioned in a way that no one could see her, but that will change in a few seconds. Hearing the multiple voices that were approaching, she understood that it was a group. Not a single bandit and criminal would be stupid enough to travel in this location, meaning that the most obvious possibility would a group of that army. Now was the time for her to choose, whether she will go back and tell everyone the terrible news or hide a little more, to understand her true nature. However, life rarely goes as planned, because when she finally lifted her foot, a sword was pressing on her neck.

"What do we have here, a cute and white little rabbit? Don't worry, we have time before he comes back, you will be able to accompany me and my friends, hehe."