Lost

Chapter 29

Astrid's pov:

I throw my hands out blindly in front of me as I sprint through the trees. My feet pound against the uneven ground covered in branches and rocks. Sooner or later I'm gonna run into a fallen log. Honestly I have no idea where I'm going. How in the world am I supposed to find one specific tree out of the hundreds of trees surrounding me! THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME!

My shins slam into something rough and I'm thrown forward. I gasp and stretch my arms outwards braced for contact.

Bad choice.

My body slams against the ground with a grunt and a crack. I slide across the dirt and slam against another tree. I open my tightly shut eyes and sit up. Glancing behind me I find, of course, a fallen tree.

"Yep- totally saw that- coming," I puff out in between my rapid breathing. I roll my head around to loosen my stiff neck and take a deep breathe. A voice in the back of my head demands me to get up.

I lean forward to get up with the help of my arms and push down on my hands. A crack echoes through my body and I scream, falling forward onto my face in the process. I roll back onto my back and hold my throbbing left wrist to my chest. Pain ricochets up my arm.

"Ugh, ah- SHIT!"

That crack I heard was totally my bone. Great, just what I needed.
I inhale sharply and sit up using my upper strength.
"Get up Astrid, you're a warrior! Stop crying!" I mumble to myself as I feel teardrops run down my cheeks. With another deep breathe I stand up, still keeping my left wrist to my chest, and use my left hand to steady myself against the tree nearest to me.

Taking a deep breathe and releasing it slowly, I stand up tall and grab the ax Patch lent me, causing me to wince from my sore body, and I begin running in the same direction.

I'm not sure how long I'm running before I notice the ache in my legs, but I know my body is begging for a break. And I'm not in the mood to argue with it.

I slow down to a stop to catch my breath and lean against a tree. The cold air bites at my face and other parts of my skin not hidden in the cloak. How am I ever gonna find this special tree.

Suddenly my thoughts are answered as I hear a snap from the tree in front of me. I look up and am surprised at the size of the tree. Then a rope falls from the leaves above the tree and I grip my ax harder. This must be the tree, I haven't seen any other tree this big. The leaves block my view of what's above the branches. I walk to the base of the tree and hesitantly move the rope with the end of the ax while still holding my left wrist against my chest protectively. I stare into the leaves above where the rope disappears. Then I see a small movement in the branches above, but I brush it off. It was probably caused from a breeze. I squint harder into the dark leaves above and concentrate on any movement.