THE ESCAPE

Sophia came to after what must have been several minutes, or even about an hour at the insistent tugging of her mother’s hands on her arms and her faint groans. They were still where they had fallen some meters away from the lair and the ongoing fight and chaos, which had died down a bit but was still ongoing. Taking a quick look at Maria, Sophia saw that her mother only looked slightly better than when they had first started running away from the clearing.

“Run… you need to run away, Sophia. They’re coming for us. I won’t let them have you…” Maria said once she was certain that she had Sophia’s attention, but Sophia was not having any of it. She got up on wobbly legs and tried to pull her mother along with her, but her mother resisted. Even in her weakened form, she was much stronger than Sophia, so it was like pulling a brick wall.

“Mom, I won’t leave you alone. They’ll kill you. I know they will.”

“They won’t.” Maria lied, knowing very well what would happen, but she had been a disa