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Chapter 15 (For all I’m worth)
We panted, darting between trees
as we ran.
The
figure’s body, wreathed in flame as it was, illuminated the woods with ease,
but the smell of burning pine and the heat kissing our backs made the
exhaustion and hunger seem irrelevant. No matter how fast we ran, the creature
slowly closed the distance. Animals of all sorts burst out of their hiding
places at our passing, but instead of bothering us, they bolted to the left and
right of us, out of the figure’s path.
I wasn’t
sure how far or for how long we had run, but we couldn’t stop.
Yalrein
tripped, landing in a prickly bush that ripped into his side and right thigh.
No time to
pull out the ointment and bandage him up, I skidded to a stop and picked him
up, placing his left arm around my shoulder and starting forward again. “Hang
in there.”
“Leave me.”
“Bugger
off.”
“Stop
imitating Ekanli.”
“Then stop
telling me to do something that would hurt her.”
Yalrein
gritted his teeth and worked his right leg as much as he could, unable to put a
lot of weight on it. But with me being half a foot taller than him, my hunched
form, no matter how trained my muscles were, couldn’t keep up the pace we had
been going. That was until the figure behind us let out a roar like an enraged
pentabull.
I hooked
Barges on my belt then scooped Yalrein up in my arms, running with him as my
burden for all I was worth.
“If you
ever mention this to anyone,” Yalrein said.
“Wouldn’t
dream of it.” I tried not to smile, and with another roar from the figure
behind us, this time sounding rather close, it wasn’t too hard not to.
The heat
behind me intensified and crunching footsteps followed close on my heels.
No looking
back. Just forward. Go. Watch out for trees. Watch out for bushes.
A blazing
hot hand pressed into my back, and like when I had gotten Weron’s way, the
melting of flesh blackened my vision.
This was
it. We were done for. But maybe …
“Roll and
crawl off to the left!” I tossed Yalrein with everything I had left then took
off in the opposite direction.
The hand on
my back shoved me forward then a wave of hot air threw me through the forest
into a massive pine. The heat vanished, and darkness overtook the woods.
I wasn’t
sure if it meant the figure had gone away, run out of time like the One or if I
was just passing out.
The slack
in my muscles and my heavy eyelids said it was probably just me passing out.
At least
Yalrein should be safe.
Next: Chapter 16
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