chapter 1: retreat!

Clutching it closely, he ran through the night, his breath catching in his throat as he heard the footsteps behind him, hot on his trail. He ploughed through the snow, his hands bitter with the cold, but still he held on tight to the bundle in his hands. He ran straight into a forest, and hid behind a tree. He could hear the coarse breath of the creatures as they edged through the forest in search of him. He stood as silent as possible, his breathing quickened, and his heart raced as he felt them getting closer. Suddenly there was a rustling sound and they ran in its direction, grunting and snarling. He raced off in the other direction as silent as possible, until he came to a large tree. He tapped the tree twice, and there was a quick rustling sound. Suddenly a small gnome with a long white beard appeared. He must have only been 2 foot tall, and he was quite plump.
“Quickly Rompus, there isn’t much time” he said to the gnome while handing him the bundle in his arms. “Keep it safe; protect it with your life!”
“I won’t fail you king Edmund, I promise” said Rompus, cradling the bundle in his arms.
“Go now!” and with that Rompus turned into the tree and disappeared. King Edmund turned on his heels and started to run off into the dark of the forest, the creatures not far behind.
Over in the distance a sorceress screamed in terror.
“WHAT DO YOU MEEN GONE?”
“Yes my lady, king Edmund escaped, and he knocked out the guards and…” began one of the grunts.
“SILENCE! You incompetent fool! I want him found! Bring him to me… ALIVE!” She bellowed. “Well! Why are you still standing here!” she waved her arm in the direction of the door and everyone was thrown from the room. “STRUNDARMO GET IN HERE!” she yelled. A small creature made entirely of sticks, with glowing yellow eyes appeared in the room.
“Yes mistress, I’ve heard the news, what are we going to do?” he exclaimed
“What can we do? With out the Childs powers we will lose this war!” she said the panic sounding in her voice.
“Then we have no choice, we must retreat, fall back into the mountains until we can regain our strength, and find the child!”
“Retreat? Retreat! We can’t just retreat, not now!”
“We have no choice; they have the dragons on their side, and now the powers of the child! What else can we do?”
“We can stay and fight!”
“What use is that? More than half of our army is gone! Wiped out! There is nothing more we can do! Please my lady look to reason, you can not win this war!”
“Your right… but if we retreat they will know where we are hiding, then what use is it? No we can’t let them know are position…”
“What are you saying?”
“Gather up a few of your best men, we leave the castle tonight!”
“But…what about your army?”
“What about them?”
“You can’t be serious! Esmereld, my lady, these soldiers have served you with the utmost loyalty! You can’t just turn your back on them!”
“You have your orders! I suggest you obey, you know the penalty for disobedience!” Strundarmo look at her in disbelief, he saw the look in her eyes, and realised she was entirely serious.
“Yes mistress” he bowed, turned and headed for the doors. As he reached the door he stopped.
“Was there something else Strundarmo?” Esmereld bellowed across the room
“Yes” he started, as he turned around timidly “what about its mother?”
“Oh, just kill her”