Chapter 139 - Follow The Bodies

In another part of Direwood forest, a band of elves followed behind prince Arawn among the significant heights of the trees. They moved swiftly, sliding down the branches, jumping and flipping acrobatically. They had been searching for Evanna for two days now, following Arawn's lead, who was becoming more and more frustrated. 

Arawn dropped to a branch below the others, crouched down, tilting his head to the side as a small smile played on his lips. Garrett landed heavily next to him but was still silent; he looked on at what the prince was humoured by and furrowed his brows. Before them was a dead faceless creature on the ground; their gazes followed the tree's broken branches above it and the black pool of blood surrounding it. 

Arawn knew Evanna passed through there. The men he left with the Demon prince had yet to contact him about any issues with the faceless creatures. So it was not them, and he knew how Evanna escaped the forbidden side of the forest where the faceless had been sealed away from the rest of the world. She was a remarkable woman, but there was nowhere to hide now when she escaped the faceless before she had somewhere where they could not enter. The seal was now broken, and anyone roaming the woods was in the most danger. 

In the days following up to Evanna's escape, the prince provided extra protection for the surrounding villages and set out more patrols to deal with the monsters. His father was aware of the situation with the faceless running loose; he was adamant they could solve the crisis before alerting the other kingdoms. Reports had been filed about the number of the creatures being killed daily. 

The prince hopped down and swung from a branch before front flipping and landing gracefully on the forest floor. His hair was still in place as though he had never moved, his attire mud-free even though they had been sleeping in the trees for two days. Arawn strolled forwards, his hands behind his back while his men surrounded the area above him, their bows readied as they kept a keen eye on their surroundings. Garrett and Cedric soon followed behind the prince, their eyes wary as they too searched the area. Arawn stepped up to the faceless beast, avoiding the bloodied ground, its long neck twisted to the side, its pincer sprawled behind it, half its long legs broken or curled together.

He dropped down into a low squat and smirked at the white-masked face of the creature. It had been stabbed in the face. Nodding his head, he stood back up and looked in the direction of the trees again. There were no footprints on the earth, and so, he knew without a doubt that his girl stuck to travelling across the trees. It was the quickest and safest place to be. He didn't expect any less.

Arawn heaved a long sigh before setting off in the direction he believed the princess to go in. He quickly joined his men again, only giving them a nod as a signal to move out. It wasn't long after they came across three other dead faceless creatures; Arawn's mood was beginning to pick up, they were heading in the correct direction, but he was still worried. He hoped the only bodies he was going to see were the monster's Evanna slain.

The group kept pushing forwards until it was past midday, and the prince could see his men growing tired. They needed to eat and rest; Arawn knew the river was close by and would use that as their resting point if there were no monsters there. They slowly approached their intended location, but Arawn held his hand up to stop them from jumping down from the trees. 

By one of the trees, there was a small pile of twigs and ash where a fire had been lit. Arawn raced across the trees and halted, leaning down and observing the area more. It was not newly created, but he could see footprints and track marks from multiple creatures when he looked behind him. If this was Evanna, she fled the area instead of staying to fight. 

"*Sire, the area doesn't deem safe for us to stay here,*" Garrett spoke after catching up to him and holding onto the branch above them. 

"*We will rest long enough to eat and drink. You are right; it is not safe. The faceless or other monsters might return,*" Arawn replied, his gaze still set on the footprints. He felt impatient again, Evanna seemed just out of reach, but he couldn't keep pushing his men. 

Arawn sat down on the branch, his legs dangling down while he took the waterskin from Garrett, greedily gulping on the water as he stared at the river bed. "*Did I do something wrong?*" Were Evanna's last words to him. She looked up at him, her gem-like eyes full of sadness at the idea of doing something to earn his cold attitude. His chest tightened at the memory; he wished he could have just enveloped her in his arms. 

Even now, with the knowledge that she was a princess of Dunhurst, he had no intention of giving her back to their kingdom. The prince was feeling withdrawal symptoms from not seeing Evanna; he was easily angered and constantly anxious. He felt like there was a void in his chest, as though something was missing. 

Now that he felt these raw emotions, he was not about to let them go. Arawn would find Evanna, and once they spoke properly, he would make her his. He knew she had feelings for him, she was just afraid, and now he knew why. 

Evanna was not stupid; she set out on a goal to steal that gemstone, which he still did not know why. But he knew her better now to realise how determined she was, and she would not risk a war for something small. Nothing was going to stop him now. Nothing, he would use his newly gained knowledge about her to his advantage.

"*Keep looking like that, your highness and I am afraid you will scare away any game,*" Garrett commented with a chuckle. Arawn glared at him. It appeared he was pulling a face. 

"*Let's head out,*" Arawn commanded quietly as he pushed off from the branch and continued to lead the way, following the footprints on the ground, which soon turned to uplifted roots twisting, nearly impossible to escape quickly from pursuers. 

Arawn clenched his teeth together as he saw the claw marks and mess left behind from the faceless. They left a path of destruction in their wake, and near an opening in the rooted ground were two faceless bodies entangled together, dead. The prince halted and waited as his men took out two faceless creatures that started to follow them. While they fought them, Arawn stared at the dead creatures and an area next to the hole where it looked like they had tried to cut through.

Without saying a word, he leapt down and slid across the roots until he side-flipped into the hole between the creatures, landing elegantly into what looked like a tunnel.

"*Prince!*"

Arawn heard his men call for him, but he couldn't help it. He felt Evanna's power, he didn't know what she did, but it was like a small vibration down the tunnel. Only he could tell if an elf was gifted or used their powers because it was another gift of his. Usually, it was pretty useless, but in cases such as this, it was helpful in tracking Evanna. 

Arawn started following the tunnel after hearing Garrett land in the tunnel of roots, followed by Cedric and Anwel, who by now had earned a little bit of forgiveness from the prince. Though they weren't aware of it, considering he had yet to speak to them directly. Only when his Evanna was found that they would not be punished.

The prince picked up the pace and started to call upon his gift of Letum. He could hear the low whispers and screeches of the faceless echoing down the tunnels. Garrett signalled with his hands for Cedric and Anwel to follow behind him in front of the prince. The remaining men pulled out their bows and arrows, ready to shoot at any moment. They followed the sounds and stopped upon seeing six faceless creatures; they were bickering among themselves and halted upon seeing elves in the same area as them. 

"*Stand back,*" Arawn ordered and stepped forwards. He was truly gifted, but he didn't want to use his power unnecessarily. But six of these filthy things would take too much time and effort. Plus, he could see four random trees that had been hacked multiple times behind the creatures; they almost shimmered with flecks of gold. 

The faceless screamed and started to run towards them, some of them crawling on the side of rooted walls and one upside down, its tail hanging loosely over its head. Arawn grinned, his eyes gleaming as the black mist started to swirl out of his hands and swiftly fly towards the creatures like a gust of wind in a storm. He spread his fingers, and the mist spread out, coating the monsters in a thick black fog. The creature above the others flopped to the ground and the faceless on the side of the tunnel. They all died within seconds. 

Arawn relaxed his hands, and the mist dissipated. "*Stay back until I say so,*" Arawn started stepping over the creatures until he reached the trees, a smile formed on his face; he knew instantly Evanna created them. He looked through a gap and could see the tangled roots becoming dense, and at the highest part of the tunnel was another hole. The roots looked destroyed; the gap was big enough for someone to crawl out of. 

By now, the toxic mist he created was no longer in the air, and he allowed the others to walk towards him. Arawn assessed the weakened point on the tree and knew it only needed a few more chops from a sword for the sturdy trunk to fall away and provide a big enough gap for them to climb through. He stepped back and called for Garrett. A job like this was for a big man like him with his seraph blade.

Within minutes the tree trunk fell down. The group started to climb through, up the roots and out of the ground. Arawn breathed in the fresh air once more before catching sight of drops of blood on the ground which led to the gait of the footsteps being inconsistent. The prince's hands clenched together by his sides, and his eyes hardened. Evanna was injured or had used too much of her powers; the tracks proved that she had crawled and then stumbled forwards.

Arawn followed the tracks that stopped at a tree he was about to climb until he heard Cedric's voice. "*Sire, look!*" Arawn looked in the direction the elf pointed at. The sun shone down in a gap from the tree leaves, revealing another hole in the ground. 

The prince jogged forwards and stopped, leaning towards the hole, and inhaled sharply. Garrett and the others caught up, and their eyes widened before looking at the prince. The sealed tomb had blood on it, and the body inside was gone. The cave below them was empty. 

"*Killian Dragomir has been released, *" Arawn stated in a grave voice. Would Killian kill Evanna? 

"*Lady Evanna is still alive.*"

Arawn slowly turned his head at the mention of Evanna's name, his icy stare meeting Cedric's light green eyes. "*If there is anything we now know of Lady Evanna, it is that she is a true warrior and survivor. Even if Killian is now free, he is not foolish to kill someone like that. *" The golden-haired elf continued before bowing his head in respect, knowing he had spoken out of turn.

"*How do you know he would not kill her?*" Arawn asked; his voice and face had darkened, the air becoming cold around them. 

Cedric cleared his throat and clutched at the handle of his sword by his hip. "*It is said that the last vampire was cunning and had incredible powers of the mind. If he could read her mind, then he would know she is more useful alive.*" 

"*Hope is a very dangerous gift, Cedric. If I were you, I would not speak so lightly of such things,*" Arawn drawled before releasing his gaze from Cedric's and following where Anwel had started to wander off to. 

"*Your highness! There are more dead faceless creatures! What should we do?*" Anwel asked from hiding behind a tree, his bow and arrow readied. 

His men looked at him for their orders. The prince glanced at Cedric; his eyes were brimming with confidence and determination. Arawn knew Evanna was special, but he now realised it was not just he who saw her in such away. His men had seen her fight and now know she has slaughtered and fought her fair share of monsters by herself. She had been acknowledged by his own people, making his chest swell with pride.

He nodded, "*We will continue to follow the bodies.. Be prepared, though, if Evanna is not alone now, we need to be ready for a vampire that could only be taken down by the great witch.*"