A Missing Sheep – Part VI
Arthema burst out of the forest and into the clearing. What she had not known before was that the terrain in front of her suddenly dropped steeply. The girl wanted to stop but she was too fast and it was too late. She stumbled and crashed to the muddy ground where she skidded and rattled down the hill until a giant erratic block violently stopped her. Bright flashes of light exploded before her eyes as she hit the rock with her shoulder. Arthema screamed and cursed, gripping her hurt shoulder as new pain erupted from the impact. She wanted to move. She had to move but the impact made her head spin and the blinking and dancing lights before her eyes did not help either.
Finally, after many deep breaths she got herself slowly in an upright position, groaning and cursing with every move. Arthema tried to brush her black and wet hair out of her face to inspect her surroundings but the ever pouring rain washed them right back. She could see that the clearing was in some kind of valley. More boulders were scattered everywhere. The giant one that she was leaning against and the valley protected her a little from the storm.
A dozens of heartbeats later, Arthema still could not make out any movement from the timberline. Her tension eased and her muscles relaxed. After all, imitacs lived in trees and they were very slow on land. Maybe they gave up on hunting her down.
Lightning bathed the clearing in white light, revealing seven imitacs coming slowly out of the forest. The following thunder strike let the creatures flinch for one moment, before they continued towards Arthema.
