Chatterbox: Inkwell

Aww man I feel awful I haven't posted any stories in so long! I was busy choosing classes for next school year and my writing competitions...but I'm back now! Okay, so I have this story I've been working on. It's longer, sixty pages on Microsoft Word so far. It's kind of bizzarre....fantasy meets historical fiction meets myth. So, just give me feedback, okay? Thanks! Here it is:

            Prologue

            The crescent moon dangled over the dark tree-tops, tiny wisps of fragile clouds floating before it. I tugged my cowl over my face, darting amongst the black tree trunks. To the side of me, I could see the other figures, the occasional flashes of skin, white in the moonlight, as they raced silently across the ground. Not a twig was broken, no leaves crackled under our silent feet. I felt my heart racing, red hot adrenaline pouring through my veins. A small shape came up beside me then veered into the darkness, thin, cold fingers brushing my wrist. Belle.

            A fiery arrow came racing through the air, but too slow, too slow for my ears. I ducked as it slammed into a tree, sending a fiery inferno racing up the trunk.  The shouts of the crowd behind us escalated wildly, the shadows of pitchforks dancing through the darkness. The fire spread to the trees around it, and I glanced wildly around for the small darting shadow that was Belle. A tall, wiry shape leaped into view ahead, running to catch up with the pack to my right.  His cowl fell back, revealing the sculpted gold curls.

            “Change.” The whisper was heard in the cracking of the fire, the whisper of the leaves in the wind. “Change.” Our lips barely moving. “Change.” The moon quivered in the sky. “Change.” The arrows of the hunters shooting past us, creating more flickering flames. “Change.” The mob faltering in fear as our hoods fell back and our hair shone in the firelight, as our black outlines seemed to dance and melt in the wall of fire. “Change.” As we became the nightmares that stalk the children in bed, that haunt the grown man's dream.

            I felt an inhuman scream pour from my lips, as all around me the forest exploded into the noises of animals, a flurry of nature. My vision shifted, then came into view again, clearer than ever before. I felt my ears elongating, swiveling back and forth as I heard each ant scurrying through the burning leaves. I didn't even falter as I came down from my leap, hitting the ground on four legs instead of two this time. My muscles stretched out far as I felt my claws digging into the soft peat. I raced through the burning brush, tasting each faint smell on the air. The hunters faded into the distance, the forest streaking past.

            As I felt my warm breath pass through my bared, pearly teeth, tiny claws dug into my scalp. The quiet ruffling of feathers alerted me. A tiny baby hawk, not even grown, was hunched over my head as I galloped through the night. So she had been able to find me again. Belle let out a shrill hunting cry, calling down the two full-grown hawks that swooped down from the heavens, soaring at my height, eyes a cross of both human and bird. One reached over and grasped Belle in his feet, as the other brushed my face with her wing in thanks.

            The air was cooling rapidly as the fire grew farther and farther behind. The loud drumming of feet closed in rapidly from behind, prompting me to swivel my head and snarl, never breaking my pace.  The golden lion, his curls flowing majestically from his mane, offered a playful snarl back. I forgot the peril we were in and nipped him on his shoulder. With a swipe of his paw, Thaddeus, the lion, bowled me over so I tumbled over the ground.

            All around us, the animals streaked past. A stallion there, a tiny fox beside them. Birds soaring overhead. We ran, until the sun streaked the sky with pink and gold as it peered over the horizon, until we faced the mighty ocean ahead of us. We ran until our earlier wounds began to bring on unbearable pain, the stabs and the glass shards and the burns.

            I waded into the ocean, the black fur on my sides slick with sweat and ocean spray. As I felt myself growing upright, I almost collapsed right there. The freezing cold salt water first stung my burns, then numbed them. As I lost all feeling and the water around me was clouded with scarlet, I passed out in the cool sand, Thaddeus still standing above me as a majestic lion, protecting my body with his own.

There's plenty more. I'll post it if you guys want more.