Knight by RA. Gil

jumping to her throat, Valeriana turned hot on her heels and bolted to a sprint. She went as fast as her feet could take her, throwing a look over her shoulder to find the guard scrambling to get up and eventually coming after her.
    She ran through the long, dim halls and turned to random directions hoping it would take her somewhere that led out of the building. The footsteps behind her grew louder. She heard the occasional demands for her to stop and their little chase apparently caught a lot of attention that a few more guards began to join in.
    “Stop! Stop right now!”
    “Oh my god!”
    She urged herself to run faster, throwing the things she found along the way towards them to slow them down. Her little tactic was old and overused, but it worked like a charm. The guards finally lost sight of her until the current path she took broke into two different directions. She took no time hesitating and dashed to the right, knowing that they would probably split up at that point to continue the chase.
    She saw a flight of stairs and dashed for it, taking two steps at a time until she finally reached the top.
    Air puffing from her mouth, she saw a door to her left. A woman dressed in a casual dress holding a woven basket entered it while humming. She caught a small peek of where it led to and saw a ray of bright light that hopefully came from the sun and . . . was that a garden?
    She dashed towards the door unhesitatingly. The door was closed by the woman right when she was in front of it.
    “Waittttt!” She exclaimed.
    She collided with her along the way, causing a bunch of fresh fruits to roll on the floor. She caught the frustrated glare of the woman, so she returned it with a sheepish smile instead. She whispered a small but sincere apology towards her before turning to face the door.
    “I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!”
    “Wait! That portal is—don't!”
    She burst through the doors and was mildly shocked when the garden she thought she saw was replaced by . . . something else.
    She looked back to the direction she came from and saw that she actually came out of a gate that led inside a small structure—like a storage room. She felt her brows furrow in confusion. She just went through a maze of corridors and she went out of a  small  building like that? How was that possible?
    A boy strutted by with a girl under his arms. They bore the same style of clothes, but that wasn't what Valeriana noticed—it was the thing he had strapped around his waist.
    It looked like a sword.
    “Sorry!” She exclaimed, pulling it off along with the scabbard.
    “Wha—hey! That's mine!”
    She scrammed to leave, hearing the guards chasing her catching up. She rounded a corner and pressed herself against the wall, panting. She held the sheathed sword in front of her.
    “Split up!” He heard a yell.
    She shut her eyes close and breathed in deeply, hearing footsteps coming her way. “Breathe, breathe . . .” She told herself. As the footsteps got louder, she swung her readied weapon and hit the unfortunate person right on the forehead.
    She heard a low grunt of pain as the person she bunked fell right on his behind. Looking past the current position she considered as her safety zone, she saw a guy—who wasn't a guard—lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. He seemed . . . not himself at the moment.
    Shrieking, she exclaimed and started helping him up. “Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you! I was—”
    She immediately dropped the weapon and tried to lend a hand towards the man while apologizing, only to be brushed off in a rather rude manner that made her cringe.
    “I'm really sorry. Are you hurt anywhere?” She asked worriedly.
    The guy dusted off his clothes and swept back a few strands of the ridiculously long hair he had. Seeing guys with long hair was a rare sight back home, so the girl couldn't help but gawk at the man before her. Although some males weren't suited to wear a hair of that length, it