Chapter Six The Last Escape
924 Words
"Asher" Elara gasped "we have to run!"
The forest around them was alive with whispers the red eyes multiplying with every heartbeat. The mist swirled thicker now curling between the trees like living fingers.
Asher tightened his grip on her hand.
"Stay behind me" he growled.
He shifted fully silver fur rippling down his body claws elongating teeth bared. The Wolf King unleashed.
But even he couldn’t fight an army.
The first creature lunged from the fog a twisted wolf-thing its body half-rotted eyes burning like coals. Asher met it mid-air ripping it apart with brutal efficiency.
"Move!" he barked.
Elara ran.
Branches tore at her skin as she sprinted through the woods Asher at her side carving a bloody path through the creatures that closed in from every direction. She barely registered the blood on her arms the stinging cuts the burning in her lungs.
All that mattered was getting away.
Getting away before the prophecy caught up with her.
They burst into a clearinga dead-end.
An ancient ravine yawned before them a hundred feet across mist boiling in its depths.
Trapped.
Asher cursed under his breath.
"We'll have to jump" he said.
Elara stared at the impossible gap.
"II can't"
"You can" he growled. "You have to trust me."
Another snarl ripped through the trees behind them.
The creatures were closing in fast.
Asher grabbed her waist.
"Hold onto me!"
Before she could argue he sprinted toward the edge at full speed.
Elara squeezed her eyes shut her scream swallowed by the rush of air as they leapt.
For a heart-stopping moment it felt like falling into nothingness.
Then impact.
They hit the other side hard rolling over rough ground. Pain shot through Elara’s shoulder but she barely noticed.
They were alive.
She scrambled to her feet glancing back.
The creatures clawed at the ravine’s edge but didn’t dare jump after them. They prowled back and forth red eyes burning with hatred.
But they didn’t cross.
"Why aren’t they following?" she asked breathless.
Asher didn’t answer immediately. He stared across the chasm golden eyes narrowed.
"They’re bound" he said finally. "Something ancient... something even they fear."
Elara shivered.
"Like Kaelen?"
Asher’s jaw tightened.
"Kaelen is just the beginning" he said grimly. "There’s worse waiting in these woods."
Elara hugged herself trying to stop shaking.
"What do we do now?"
He looked at her then really looked at her and for the first time she saw fear in his eyes.
"We find the old sanctuary" he said. "Before the next full moon."
"And then what?"
Asher hesitated.
"Then you’ll have to make a choice" he said quietly. "The wolf... or the monster."
The words chilled her more than the mist ever could.
They started moving again slower now deeper into the unknown part of the forest.
Each step felt heavier as if unseen hands tried to pull her backward.
Elara caught herself glancing at Asher constantly the way he moved the set of his jaw the tension in his muscles.
He was fighting something too.
Something he wasn’t telling her.
"Tell me the truth" she said suddenly. "All of it."
He glanced at her frowning.
"What do you mean?"
"You knew about the mark. About the prophecy. About me. From the beginning."
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
"I didn’t lie" he said.
"You didn’t tell me either."
They stopped walking the silence between them heavier than stone.
Finally Asher exhaled raking a hand through his hair.
"You were supposed to die at birth."
The words hit her like a slap.
"What?"
He nodded face grim.
"The eldersmy fatherthey made a pact. If any child was born with the Crimson Mark they were to be destroyed before the curse could spread."
Elara’s stomach twisted.
"But my parents"
"Your mother defied them" he said. "She fled with you. Hid you among the humans."
Elara staggered back a step.
"So I’m... a mistake?"
"No" he said fiercely grabbing her shoulders. "You’re a miracle."
She shook her head.
"This isn’t a miracle Asher. This is a nightmare."
His fingers tightened.
"You’re stronger than you think. Stronger than any of us."
Tears burned her eyes but she blinked them away.
"I don’t want to be" she whispered.
"You don’t have a choice anymore."
He let her go stepping back.
"We have until the next full moon to break the curse" he said. "After that... not even I can save you."
Elara swallowed hard.
"And if we fail?"
He looked away.
"You’ll become what Kaelen is" he said softly. "Or worse."
The forest around them seemed to lean in closer pressing them together suffocating.
Elara hugged herself tightly.
"Then we can’t fail" she said voice shaking.
Asher gave a grim nod.
"We won't."
They moved on the path narrowing the air growing colder.
Above them the first pale hints of moonlight pierced the clouds.
Elara glanced upward and froze.
The moon was wrong.
It wasn’t full yet but it glowed an unnatural red casting bloody shadows across the trees.
"Asher" she whispered.
He followed her gaze and swore violently.
"It’s too early" he said. "The Blood Moon… it’s coming early!"
A howl split the air not from a creature.
From Kaelen.
A victorious furious sound that echoed through the trees like a death knell.
Asher grabbed her hand.
"Run!" he shouted.
But it was too late.
The mist surged around them thick choking alive and from its depths Kaelen stepped into view.
His crimson eyes locked on Elara.
And he smiled.
"You can’t run from fate" he said.
- Writer
