BLOODLUST - DARK SOULS (THE CURSE OF THE BLOOD SERIES #1)

part one

Laith kept her head low, running in sync with her fastened heartbeat. Her head was as thick as a shield since the forest felt like it sunk into the hands of the darkness. Her fingers were frozen, blended with snow and hardened icy wind. The cold seeped into every inch of her skin, causing her lips to tremble nonstop. Her breath burned and trailed to the back, creating puffs each time. She raised her hand. A spark flickered a candle-size flame in her cupped palms, bright enough to lighten the endless path in front but not too big to be seen.

Run.

She didn't want to but the urge—it was sickening.

Faster.

It wasn't her fault.

 The rebels were the ones responsible for the fire. She only stayed there for a couple of weeks before bunches of fire users rose from the east of Daye. She was one of Invera, too. However, she had never wanted to join the rebels on their way to vengeance.

But still, it didn't end up well.

She couldn't be sure if that were the sound of the wolves or the wind chasing her relentlessly. Neither of them was enough to coax her head from turning around.

A pack of wolves sprinted beside her between the rising trees. She flapped her hand and shut the fire. She slid to the right, causing her almost slip.

Their ravenous whining kept pushing her aching legs, although her chest sickened as if it wanted to explode into pieces. Her body became heavier. She was tired of running away. Not from the fact that they mistook her as one of the rebellions. The fact that she was a true Invera. The only heat in this white, burning-cold land. Now she had to deal with such a miserable fate.

She ran into the sliding ground and smashed her back into a bulky tree beneath those tall bushes. Her temperature. Dammit! They must've sensed since they were close enough.

Her palm reached for the snow on the ground and pressed it onto her chest, concealing her escalating heat. She took a deep breath. Her enlarged eyes glued onto the incoming light throughout the leaves.

In front of her, the packs gathered, forming a circle as each of them raised their torches. Its dim light dipped the snow and woods with dusk shine. The shadows that lurked in the corner of their eyes; looked as if they smeared through her, giving leaped to her heartbeat.

Ren.

A man rode to the center. "Everyone splits! Leave the trackers in front. The rest will go to the east and west wings." He sneered beneath the thin silk hiding his face. "Find her no matter what."

The other riders whined along with their wolves as if they yearned for that moment in ages. The beasts ran forward while the rest of the riders split into three directions and swirled together in complete darkness.

Laith shivered; her muscles eased. But the moment of relief disappeared as quickly as it came. The forest blended with the dark in front, and she struggled to reach the way out in the middle. Tuvcan was the closest to her, yet it was nowhere in sight. There was no solid assurance she would be safe there, but that was the nearest place she could think of this time. She had to find other ways before the soldiers reached her. She stepped out of her hiding place, looking around as if to be sure, and turned to the back, starting to run between the blackness. She misled them to the west, which would give her time to get out of Daye.

   Are you lost, little child?

Laith's pupils dilated. She stopped, lifting her chin to the sky, looking for the voice she had heard.

Was she turning mad? Or did a voice just echo in her head?

Horror once again seeped into her arms, tracing such goosebumps on her skin. She sensed a presence; a dark mist lingered behind her body as if it was welcoming her presence in the dark. She couldn't see in a clear view, but it was refutable to notice its glimpse under the clouded moonlight. Varynx. But how?