Jagged, cruel flakes of snow drifted down from above, enveloping the landscape with an unrelenting sheet of white. Llioti watched as shrubs and trees grew pale, slowly dying from the cold as she did. She pulled her animal skin cloak closer and turned around. She trudged through the snow, back to the small crevice where she would stay in until the weather warmed.
Llioti crawled into the small opening, uneven bits of rock biting her skin. The tiny cave had just enough space for her to sit relatively comfortably. Llioti pulled on her cloak, shivering. She had meant to go out for food, but it had been too cold. She would starve for another day. Eventually, Llioti lost consciousness, tired and hungry.
The loud sounds of crunching woke her up with a start. More people. Llioti sat up slowly, trying not to make a sound. People were almost certainly bad news. She was in territory occupied by the Enemy after all. She tried to slow her breathing. If Llioti were to be found by the Enemy, she was dead. Simple as that. Staying put was her best chance at survival. Llioti listened, alert, as the crunching of snow continued. Strangely, no communication between the people could be heard. Perhaps the Enemy had some form of nonverbal communication. Or they were soldiers on a mission involving stealth and silence.
It appeared as if the people were scouting around the area, as Llioti heard only at most a dozen individuals, but they had been walking around here for at least an hour. The sniffing of a wild animal could also be heard. Llioti was much to familiar with the sound of the beasts of war used by the enemy. The sounds slowed, then came to a complete halt.
Cautiously, Llioti peered out of her hole and came face to face with dangerous bloodshot eyes. It was the beast. Its long, narrow snout scowled to reveal teeth like daggers. Llioti’s eyes widened with fear as the beast called out to the Enemy with inhuman screeches. While the beast was too large to fit in the crevice, people certainly weren’t.
Taking this moment of distraction, Llioti threw herself out of the hole and ran. The beast turned and saw her running, letting out even more horrifying calls. Taking advantage of her smaller size, Llioti put her arms around a tree and began to climb. She hid herself in a particularly leafy branch and waited, breathing heavily.
Only moments later, soldiers arrived. They wore leathery armor embedded with the emblem of the Enemy, a bright red serpent with many pairs of legs on its body. The beasts also fully came into view. They were pale and white except for their grey snouts, which weirdly resembled those of a bloodthirsty bird. At least four pairs of muscular legs armed with claws the size of knives were present.
Llioti rubbed herself with the juice of the leaves around her, hopefully diluting her scent. After what seemed like hours, the lead soldier shouted something unintelligible, and they left, trudging through the snow.
