Chapter 18: The Chase Begins
417 Words
Sienna stood frozen, heart hammering as Lorien disappeared into the shadows of the trees, the golden thread glinting in her grasp.
Darian groaned, clutching his ribs as he straightened. “Tell me we’re not letting her get away with that.”
Sienna barely hesitated. “We’re not.”
Without another word, she took off, her feet pounding against the damp earth. Darian cursed under his breath but followed, his breathing ragged.
The forest stretched endlessly ahead, moonlight barely filtering through the thick canopy. Lorien was fast—too fast—but Sienna wasn’t about to give up.
The thread wasn’t just a piece of history. It was hers.
It belonged with her.
The moment Lorien had snatched it away, Sienna had felt it—a cold, hollow pull deep in her chest, like something vital had been torn from her.
She pushed herself harder.
Darian fell in beside her, gritting his teeth. “You got a plan, or are we just running into another trap?”
Sienna’s eyes stayed locked on Lorien’s silhouette ahead. “We don’t need a plan. We just need to catch her.”
Darian huffed. “Fantastic.”
The terrain was uneven, roots jutting out from the earth like skeletal fingers. Sienna nearly tripped, but she kept going.
Lorien glanced back, smirking as she nimbly leapt over a fallen log. “You two are persistent. I’ll give you that.”
Sienna growled. “Give it back, Lorien!”
Lorien chuckled. “Oh, Keeper, you have no idea what you’re holding, do you?”
The way she said Keeper sent a chill down Sienna’s spine.
“Then tell me,” Sienna shot back.
Lorien tilted her head, amusement flickering in her green eyes. “I’d rather not.”
Then, she pivoted sharply, disappearing behind a cluster of trees.
Sienna cursed, skidding to a stop. “Where did she go?”
Darian scanned the area, breathing heavily. “She’s messing with us.”
Sienna’s fists clenched. “Not for long.”
She closed her eyes.
Breathed.
And reached.
A flicker of something—an echo—whispered through her mind. A thread of golden light, faint but steady, pulsed just ahead.
“There.”
She lunged forward, veering left.
Darian followed without question, though his voice was strained. “Are we guessing, or—”
“I know where she is.”
Darian muttered something about magic being unfair, but Sienna didn’t care.
She felt the thread.
And she wasn’t about to lose it again.
- Writer
