(Synn)<br/>Kateri heard a man’s voice in the distance<i>. Shit shit </i>she thought as her blue eyes darted across the forest floor in a feeble attempt to pinpoint his location<i>. Surrender?</i>Hardly a choice, knowing what was waiting for her in the dungeons of the Prince’s castle. She knew he would not take pity on her or give her a drop of mercy nor would she beg for it. She chose not to answer him. She couldn’t find even a vague shadow of a figure as the dawn crept through the trees.<i>Should she try to reach the nearest town or stay in the comfort of the tree tops?</i>She asked herself knowing she had only minutes to decide before he would be right underneath her. Kateri wasn’t sure she could make it to the next town as she was exhausted but, it wasn’t safe to stay here either.<br/><br/>She carefully climbed down to the lowest branch and then jumped down, landing on both feet as she placed her right hand on the ground, so she didn’t topple over, her cloak flowing outwards like a blanket of night. She resituated the crossbow that was slung on her back as she scanned the area to see if this man was close as she was sure he heard her footfalls when she jumped down. Not noting anything significant, she darted for the small village, zigzagging through the trees. She murmured an incantation under her panting and called upon the wind to slow his movements.<br/><br/>As if the wind were her foot soldiers and bowed to her command, it started to pick up speed, rustling leaves and small twigs in a whirlwind that began to make it difficult to walk through. The large trees swayed from side to side, and the forest grew noisy with branches breaking and wolves howling to call their pack home for shelter. She looked back for a moment and smiled.<i>Yes, that would be enough of a buffer until she could reach the village </i>she thought and prayed.