Prince Attala Alternate Ending

The dawn was just some hours away. My eyes were heavy. I had not slept the entire night. My back ached. I had taken an alert stance for too long. My feet were dewy wet, by brow was icy and my jaw was clenched. With a slow breath, I skimmed my surroundings. The branches straggled into view. I shifted the brush with the tip of my arrow as I lingered forward.
I could feel my elbows stiffen. I hope I would be ready to shoot when time came. But I had begun to wonder whether the time would come all together.
Prince Attala had been killing demons in the Old Forest all week and here I was, trying to do the same thing. I had found none. There was nothing here. Had he managed to kill all the beasts that plagued our land? I wondered. If so, then why …show more content…
My machete had not left my waist. I sighed. I was tired and my body ached. I always thought it would be easy to perform surveillance like this. Prince Attala and his men did it the nights they fought demons. So it was doable. Now, I know it was such a daunting task. Worth mentioning is the toll it took on my limbs. The prince’s men were trained, no doubt. I wasn’t. I hoped to kill a beast here tonight. To sever its head and return to the village, a hero. I would be accepted into the fon’s taskforce and bring my family honour. That was the plan.
I marched into the sparse undergrowth. A footpath lay beyond. It led to Alarante. I was heading back when a strange feeling hit me.
I quickly scanned around me. I saw little. It was a foggy morning and beneath the trees, all was white. Something stirred. A twig snapped. I grabbed an arrow. Pulling it against the string of my bow, I aimed into the vast haze. Now, I was breathing quickly. The feeling of a watching presence grew. My noisy breath and almost as loud thump of my own heart played a spine-chilling rhythm—music that thrilled me to outright scare.
Then, I burst