And now I’m actually getting somewhere with this story. Or not. Still just having fun, to be honest.

The woods around her felt safe. That wasn’t much to go by, but usually her instincts were reliable; she trusted them enough to sit down and breathe, while letting her thoughts stray. Like a spider in its web, she sent out threads, waiting for a tug on one of them.

Emic!

It was faint, but there. Aysela pushed off the tree she’d settled against and began running. The woods were dense, the air clean and cold, as if it had decided it was winter and the rest of nature hadn’t caught up to that yet. Rustling of leaves and broken branches told her there were other creatures nearby; animals, most likely.

The castle, when it came into view, had her hackles rising. There were armed guards on the walls and by the gate. The gate was open. That could mean anything.

Ducking behind some bushes, she reached out again. She felt the tug again, sharper this time. Not urgent, just closer.

Wonderful. The sword hit her leg as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, nearly tripping her from her crouched position and onto her ass. Fierce warrior like me, deterred by a castle? Like that is going to happen! I’ll scale those walls in the blink of an eye!

With a huff, she got to her feet and began running.