Eliza In The Flesh!: the call of godspawn. V

The duchess stood in the middle of the forest surrounding the manor. She noticed, however, a distinct lack of the house in particular. The light of the moon dawned upon her as the grass swayed with the slow breeze. Fireflies flickered near the stumps of the trees. Eliza looked around frantically for the godspawn. As she looked, a small giggle echoed through the breeze, and the trees, for a moment, turned into twisted faces. 

 

As the giggle passed, so did the faces. Eliza swallowed harshly as she wandered around. The steeper she went, the brighter the moon became. Thick tree roots began to surface, grass was abnormally overgrown, and all this time, not a single hoot of an owl or a rustle in the bushes.

 

She had lost her sword, maybe her other glove, and now all she had was a crown in one hand and a fire stone in the other. Not that it would be of any use. By this time, she was starved. Her hair, instead of her usual too-yellow blonde, was a tangled mess of vinery and wavy brown locks. She picked out bits of torn rose petals in front of her eyes, blinked to clear them before angrily kicking a small pebble at her feet.

 

As the moon brightened her surroundings with such a light, she tried to adjust her view. Strangely enough, the trees only seemed to get thicker, and shaded. She looked up to stare directly at the source only to find that there was no moon. There were no stars.

 

Eliza braced her fists.