Writing Samples
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In the distance, Evnerth could hear the scrambling of the horses where they had left them, indicating that their pursuers had come upon them. They squealed and caused quite the disruption to the quiet of the forest around them. The redhead swallowed a hard knot in her throat, leaned the back of her head against the rough bark, and closed her eyes. Despite being very good at hiding her fear, Ev was terrified. Her mouth had gone dry and it took nearly everything she had to keep herself from trembling.

The three of them were being hunted, at least that’s what it felt like, and the longer she stood there, her fingers hooked around the end of a steadily burning arrow, the worse it felt. The last thing Ev had wanted to do was face the wizard’s soldiers without Dreq. The thought tightened her stomach and she bit the inside of her cheek. This was not the time for emotions to take over. That could come later if she even made it. She had to make it. There were so many reasons why they had to get away. And if there was one thing she and Dreq had in common, it was their viciousness in battle.

She opened her eyes when there was a sound closer to them now. She had to be ruthless with or without her dragon there to encourage her. Ev glanced towards the brush, making sure the two she had with her were effectively hidden. Best case scenario, she could drive their pursuers away without bringing Myrna and Idross into this. The young duo wasn’t nearly ready for something this real and she was painfully aware of this. She let a slow breath out through a small opening in her lips, staying as quiet as her pounding heart would allow.

Idross also opened his eyes and tried to get a better look through the small spaces in the brush without moving. Ev only said to move if they found us…Did this count as being found? As far as he was concerned, not yet. The dark form hadn’t shown any signs of acknowledging their hiding spot. They haven’t found us yet. They won’t find us. We’re going to be ok. Evnerth will be ok. Idross spoke these statements almost like they were mantra he was trying to get himself to believe. As brave as he was ready to be, Idross didn’t feel nearly ready for something like this. How could they be? Their training wasn’t done, it wasn’t close to being done. He sucked in a quiet breath that, despite how hard he tried, shuttered. He held it, hoping whoever was searching for them hadn’t heard it. Everything he did, every blink, every breath, felt far too loud.

The breathing of the dragon felt hot through the brush and Idross swallowed. How long would he hide, waiting for them to leave? He felt like a sitting duck and that, even worse than the scratchy branches, was a terrible feeling for a dragon to feel. He glanced at Myrna, noting the fear on her face. He would be a sitting duck as long as it kept her safe.

There was definitely something right outside their hiding spot now. Ev went through, in her mind, several defensive and offensive spells she would be able to cast on just her energy alone. She had to be creative with it – there were many different ways to skin a cat. She whispered another spell to her burning arrow, causing it to flicker a bit. When it hit its target, it would burst into an inferno rather than sputtering out. The spell would be more draining than just creating a flame, but she would be able to manage a few of them before it became too dangerous to cast that spell again.

Hopefully, by that point, they would either be scared away or Idross would be able to get away from Myrna to shift. He was bigger than most dragons, so hopefully, if it came to that, he would be enough to scare them off. There was more movement and the heavy breathing of a dragon that, even from her hiding spot, felt warm. The flame on her weapon was big now. It was, indeed, now or never.

Everything she did at that moment felt like slow motion when she would look back on it later. Evnerth pushed herself off the trunk of the tree and the rough bark scraped a layer of skin off the back of her arms. As she spun on the balls of her feet and around the tree, she pulled the bowstring taught and the creaking of both the wood and the string filled her ears. The tail of the arrow tickled her cheek just the slightest bit. The second she was vulnerable, two things happened, one moment after the other.

First, she let go of the arrow. The weapon sent it soaring with a thwap sound. Second, she made eye contact with Dreq. When Evnerth imagined first finding him, she imagined she would feel a lot of emotions. Sheer panic was not one of those. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth opened as if she was going to yell something, but couldn’t get the words out in time.

The panic came from the arrow. Although it was not aimed at a body, it still twisted forward, just barely missing one of the forms on his back, buried itself in a tree not 10 feet away with a dull sound. The moment it hit, the flame she had enchanted exploded into an inferno about the size of a person, moving up the tree. The heat of the flame hit Evnerth’s face and the energy the magic drew from her body caused her to suck in a sharp breath and flash of white came across her eyes.

In hiding, Idross heard movement from beside them. It was quick and based on what he could see of the figure, it was Evnerth. The snap of the bow was quickly followed by the whooshing sound of a fireball. The heat it gave off was intense and Idross decided that their mentor, while careful and kind with them, was not going to be the same way with their opponents. He made a split-second decision, only conveying this decision to Myrna with images before he was scrambling out of their hiding spot.

Evnerth tore her eyes away from Dreq as the brush began moving and she started yelling. “Idross! Idross no, Id-“ The large sapphire dragon was already erupting from the thin body of the man hiding in the brush. Trees snapped against his body, though he was able to keep that to a minimum. A low, bubbling growl came from his belly as he regarded the dark dragon in front of him. Evnerth was still yelling at him, and while he could hear her words, Idross still watched the other dragon with suspicion and a tense stature, clearly still in the mindset of protecting both Myrna and Ev.

It was apparent Idross wasn’t going to attack unless he was provoked, finally understanding Ev’s words but not quite believing them. Myr. Myrna, we weren’t being followed by soldiers. He looked at Dreq for a few seconds longer before letting out a puff of breath and snaking his head down towards where he had left Myrna just seconds before, still not taking his eyes off the newcomers as if he still didn’t trust them not to hurt her.

Evnerth let out a shuttering breath, out of exhaustion, relief, and disbelief at what was happening. Her body ached from the effort of the escape and the tense waiting game they played. She felt exhausted from the entire year previous. Finally, she released the block on her mind and, instead of feeling nothing, Dreq’s consciousness flooded her own as it had been for her entire life. The emotions from earlier rushed back and forced their way out in the form of big, rolling tears. Dreq! Dreq…did I hurt you?! Are you ok?! What are you doing here?!

She finally found the will to move her body, dropped the bow to the forest floor, and propelled herself towards her dragon. She wanted to explain what had happened, that they had believed they were being followed by soldiers. Evnerth had gone through multiple explanations for someone following them through the forest, but it being Dreq hadn’t been one of them. But she couldn’t seem to form many more words past her emotions except,

I missed you so much…