I can feel it, the blood. Staining and spreading through the fabric of my skirt. The sickening warm liquid covering my hand overcomes my mind with panic and regret.

I thought he loved me, and i thought i loved him. Those eyes once filled with beautiful passion and love, are now filled with ugly malice and hatred. I can't stand to stare into those eyes ever again, they now fill me with dread.

The branches of the claustrophobic forest snare my sleeves, vines threaten to trip me as my life lays on the line. If he finds me, I'm done for. All hope of living or even escape is lost. My heart squeezes and my vision hazes. My hands feel the cold damp ground before being covered in red. My insides start burning with a vengeance as i convulse and cough. Damn this dress.

My hands blindly pull at my bodice, breathing is becoming a straining task. Is this how i die? Murdered at the hands of my betrothed? Left to die in the Magic Grove?

I lay on my side, seeming to accept my fate as the cold makes me ache and takes what's left of my life. I don't know how long I've been running. Was it always this dark?

The autumn leaves responded in heartless cries, a cruel comfort to my skin now exposed to the wind. The sound of footsteps hit my gut with a terrible fear, making me groan out in pain.

"Please," i whimper and beg. "Please don't do this..." i feel the familiar fire of tears starting to streak down my face. Arms effortlessly cradle me. I'm too weak to fight him, my limbs feel numb, i let my head dangle. Why not finish me where i lie? What torture awaits me?

Then a voice, one i thought i hated. I used to hear it in my nightmares, feel it chip away at my nerves with every syllable. "I got you."

His voice is silk to my mind, smooth, soft and wraps me in warmth. My betrothed is far more of a threat to me right now than my hated enemy who seems to be helping me. The rhythm of his feet falling over the forest floor is like a heartbeat, careful and wary as he makes his way through woods he's made his own.

The ruins aren't far, I know that for sure. The sky once blocked by the treetops now becomes clearer and brighter. It's all too familiar to me.

My eyes become heavy, as the cold draws an even starker contrast to the warmth of my rescuer's torso and his name leaves my lips in a fading whimper. "Draven."

Before the darkness completely consumes my vision, his footfall becomes a panicked run. Grass then stone. "Stay with me." He pleads.