Journey of Darkness: Escaping the Mechant Count's Dread Plan

Hiding in a ditch, covered in mud and blood, I heard the sound of hooves thundering past. I lay there shivering against the night air, trying to listen for any sign of pursuit, but all I could hear was my own muffled breathing.

I had hidden behind a large rock that was sticking up out of the ground, a rock that had been placed there by some ancient glacier long ago. The moon was high in the sky, and it cast its pale light across the tree-covered hills that surrounded me. I lay still, eyes closed, listening for anything out of place. Even though it was night, I could still feel the icy breath of winter on my face. Winter was my enemy; it made everything harder for me. Every day was a battle against this cruel season, and every day that passed made my fight against it more difficult. But I knew that if I gave up then... well, if I gave up then nothing would matter anymore anyway.

I had been fleeing from that devil Countess ever since she had taken over Castle... *I'm not going to think about that place*... Ever since she had taken over Castle Bonnythree three years ago, when her bastard son had finally turned twenty-one and inherited his father's lands and titles. She had never been content with being just Countess; she wanted more. She wanted to be a Queen! And she decided that our humble little village of Bunnyscotch would be her kingdom; her new capital city! Her soldiers burned down our beautiful town hall last year (they called it "remodeling") and tore up many of our farms and orchards (they called them "reclamation"). She even took away our name, calling us "Newcastle", as if we were some town under her rule rather than a proud people who lived here since before time began! We were NOT HER PEOPLE! We were BUNNYSCOTCH! And we would die before bowing to her tyranny!

But now, despite all of our efforts to stop her and her army (for they were indeed an army now), she saw us fleeing into the hills like rats: small groups scurrying here and there trying desperately to find somewhere else to hide while waiting for rescue, which didn't seem likely at all. But then again, what could anyone do? The King himself couldn't conquer her hold over Newcastle*!* It wasn't even our idea to flee into the wilderness; one of our old heroes came up with that plan instead. He was known by many names among us: The Bard, The Traveler... he went by many aliases in his youth back when he used to travel around the world looking for adventure. Some thought that he was mad because of the stories he told about his journeys: giant monsters roaming through countries far away from us; demons digging their way through mountains in search of treasure; evil sorcerers raising entire towns from the dead (and living underground!). Those stories sounded so fake and silly when you thought about them rationally. But now... well now I guess you can say they've come true.

At any rate, this "Traveler" figure appeared before us three days ago and begged us to follow him into the woods outside town where he has apparently been hiding for quite some time now (we'll get back to how he managed to stay hidden later). He told us that the Countess wasn't looking for him because she thought he had died years ago during his last journey around the world (the one where he encountered those horrible monsters: dragons, goblins, giant spiders!) Instead she only cared about us regular folk from Bunnyscotch Town; she wanted us dead so she could take over Newcastle once and for all! He said we should go into hiding in the woods until help arrived so we could rise up against her when the time was right (he didn't say how long we should wait or who exactly would be showing up but none of us really cared right now). So we followed him into these woods...

...and now here I am half-dead in a ditch somewhere outside Newcastle Town being hunted by an evil Countess who wants me dead because I helped destroy her castle and *because I might be able to help overthrow her from power*. No way am I going back there! No way am I going anywhere near there again!

After what felt like hours lying there in the mud next to that old rock in the middle of nowhere listening for hoof beats above me in case any soldiers were following me on horseback or something equally terrifying, I finally decided it was safe enough for me to get up off my stomach and start moving around again. My legs were sore from crawling around underground earlier today while avoiding those horrible demon dogs that were stalking me throughout my escape from Newcastle Town.* They looked like regular dogs except they moved real slow like they were half asleep or something but they just kept coming after you no matter how hard you tried running away from them until you died or they killed you or whatever.* When The Traveler told me about them he called them death dogs or something like that but maybe he meant life dogs? Now that sounds crazy doesn't it? Dogs bringing life? Well whatever they are, they're creepy as heck is what they are: big black eyes staring at you as they close in on your position so eventually you have no choice but to run into them hoping they don't eat you alive or whatever terrible fate might await you.*

Anyway after crawling around underground for what felt like forever (but probably wasn't too long) I finally got out of their territory through a hole in the side of their building.* It took awhile because The Traveler explained that these demon dogs always sleep standing up which made it hard for me to sneak past them without waking them up so there were lots of moments where I thought *well this is it then.* But eventually I got out alive... well mostly alive anyway.* There are parts missing from my body that shouldn't be missing according to my doctor back home but whatever: at least one thing can be said about this whole situation: things couldn't get much worse than this.*

But getting out alive wasn't nearly as easy as getting inside undetected was.* Before leaving town yesterday morning before sunrise (that's what The Traveler told us to do: leave before sunrise) everybody gathered together and waited anxiously behind a bunch of buildings near where those demon dogs slept until they spread out all over town patrolling their territory again.* This is why we weren't allowed inside their building ever since we arrived here several weeks ago; this is why we couldn't find any good food either because most of these buildings are locked up tight with no windows or doors leading inside.* We had no choice but to eat mice and drink water from ditches whenever possible because otherwise we would have starved already.* And now look at us: almost all dead from starvation already except for *me*.

After walking around aimlessly through the forest trying not pay attention to how hungry I've been feeling lately (feeling hungry isn't fun at all),* hoping not to trip over anything dangerous lurking below me on the forest floor as if waiting patiently just beneath my feet for me to step on them before snapping their jaws shut around part of my leg before dragging me down under here with them (which would suck),* hoping not to see anything scary crawling through trees above my head trying hard not make any noise so as not to attract their attention lest they fall down upon me out of those trees and kill me instantly before eating part of my brain while making scary noises while wearing funny hats shaped like skulls while wearing ugly masks shaped like human faces while hissing like snakes while licking their lips with sharp pointy teeth while laughing maniacally while jumping around clapping together their hands excitedly while doing other stuff along those lines which doesn't really make sense but oh well who cares anymore anyway?*