Shadows of the Night | BOOK 2 DRAFT

20

I spent an hour mucking around yesterday when I should've been studying, and this is the result. The trailer for Shadows of the Night!

20.

The atmosphere when we meet on the beach is tense. Malik, Cassia and Eric are already there when I arrive, talking in hushed voices. Elias isn't far behind me, his backpack slung over his shoulder and his hair shoved back from his forehead. He doesn't look at me. I can tell he still doesn't want me here, but I don't care. I don't look at him, either.

"Ready?" Eric asks, eyes scanning over each of us. He pauses on me. "How does your arm feel?"

"Fine."

He nods. "We'll need to stop to change the bandages each day."

"Healer Abrams gave me a cream that should make the burn heal faster," Malik says. "She said to apply it when you change the bandage."

I force a tense smile. It's hard to think that less than an hour ago, they were all planning on leaving me here. The thought of waking up in this place all alone is enough to make me want to curl in on myself.

"Let's go," Elias says, staring ahead. "We need to make sure they're on our tail by midnight."

I look away from Eric and Cassia as they drop their packs, their bones clicking and breaking as they change forms. Malik takes a second longer before his huge wolf stands ahead of me. And even though all three of them are still there, it feels like it's only Elias and I. Eric nudges my hand with his nose, and I climb onto his back. And then we take off, sand skidding beneath their feet as they run around the bend, Elias a blur behind us.

~

It takes significantly less time to reach the shoreline that meets the island where we found Elias, probably considering they were able to run as wolves this time. We keep to the trees, Malik leading the group and keeping watch for any hollowers, and Elias lingering slightly behind, leaving an obvious trail, the shadow tucked safely in his bag. We reach the coast line by lunch time and head in land a couple of kilometres before stopping by a cliff face. When Cassia volunteers to get water, I go with her, antsy to keep moving. Unlike them, I've been sitting on Eric's back for the past few hours.

Cassia and I take the near empty bottles and head off into the forest, both armed with a dagger. I follow her trail, sticks crunching beneath my feet. I've learned to walk more quietly in the forest, but there's no comparison to the way a shifter moves—graceful and lithe, as if they can predict which leaves with crunch and which sticks will snap.

Cassia pauses for a few moments, lifting her chin to listen. Around us, birds sing, their calls echoing through the trees like a melody, but Cassia's hearing is more advanced than mine, and after a few moments, she nods and take a sharp turn to the right.

"How far now?" I ask.

"Just a few more minutes in this direction."

"I mean to my old village."

She pauses to look at me over her shoulder, sleek hair brushing her shoulders. "It's closer than our village, we could be there by tomorrow night if the hollowers pick up our trail soon."

As she said, we approach the stream. It's thin and winding, slithering through the forest like a snake. I kneel down and twist the bottle cap, holding it sideways to collect water.