The Shadows of the Sun

Chapter Two

          I awoke after I had about three hours of sleep. It was not a lot, but it was enough for now. There was a plate of food sitting next to me, long since gone cold. I ignored it, who knew what they had laced it with. I spent my next free chunk of time debating different ways to escape. My best bet would be in speed. I was fast, even by Atheris standards. I had to flare first though, not to mention the fact I needed weapons. If I was going to flare, I could only carry small knives. I carefully pulled extra metal from the plane, and shaped them into knives. I made sure they were reinforced as much as possible, normal knives would simply bend on the tough skin of a vampire. I strapped them to myself, two on my hips, and one in my boot. Easy to access, but hard to see. I finished just in time. I felt the plane begin to descend. I decided it would be easiest if the vampires thought I was asleep, it may put me at a point of disadvantage, but they would not be as prepared to fight. I had not moved much, nor had my breathing pattern changed much, so it should work. I quickly climbed back under the blankets and laid back against the pillows. The door began to open not five minutes later. It was careful, as though they were preparing for what faced them on my side. I could practically feel their relief when they saw my form still apparently asleep on the bed.

"She's still asleep?" One inquired.

"It's only been four hours. Plus she fought hard, not to mention the power it must have taken to get the collar off. Aro said it was nearly impossible for them." The other replied.

"Whatever, just makes our job easier." The first one answered, it was the mountainous one I think. Their footsteps came closer and it took every ounce of mental strength to remain limp.

"Who's carrying her?" The tracker asked.

"Not it!" The big one replied quickly. "I already got stabbed by her, I don't even want to know what will happen if she wakes up."

"Well, let's hope Alec and Jane will have the onyx and we won't have to find out." The tracker responded just before I felt his icy arms lift me up. They didn't trap me, rather they cradled me. It surprised me, but I did not let it show. I made sure to keep up the same rhythm of deep breaths. They didn't seem notice anything. I felt a slight jolt as the plane finally landed. They started walking and I could hear 

the big one's presence on my right side. I would have to go to the left then, I could work with that. I felt a slight change in the air as they exited the plane. There was no light that shone through my closed eyelids though, so it was night. I could see perfectly fine in the dark, although I was not as strong, and my golden coat stuck out. I had to at least try though. Suddenly there were more voices, drawing closer.

"Who knew it would be you two idiots who would finally succeed in this mission." It was the voice of a young girl. Maybe this was the Alec and Jane who were supposed to bring the onyx, in which case I had to move, now. Without any warning I flipped sideways out of the trackers arms, flaring midair. I landed on four golden paws and tore off in the only direction I could, leaving the curses of the vampires behind me. I heard their pursuit, but I was faster. I had my claws out as I whipped around trees and sharp turns desperate to throw them off my tail. I knew my scent would probably give me away though. Without thinking about the consequences I launched myself up the nearest tree using my claws to hoist myself up. I ran along a branch and leapt toward the next tree. I missed, barely. In a wild attempt to break my fall I latched onto the branch with one paw. The vampires were getting closer, and I was in plain sight. It was with sheer willpower that I pulled myself up, and hugged onto the branch with all my paws. I had to get down. The vampires were too close. I needed a distraction, but how to get one? It would be helpful if I had a bow, but I had to get rid of mine a while back. Archery was something the Kaera tribe excelled at, but I struggled to carry one all the time, so I had dropped it. A big mistake, I now realized. I was running out of time. I only had three knives and I could not afford to lose any of them. They would smell me if I stayed here and hid. I just had to risk it. Now moving with purpose in mind I leapt from branch to branch in order to get down to ground level. I could now see the vampires, there were four of them, and it was obvious that they could see me too. They ran even faster as my paws finally hit the ground. Once again I took off, my paws pounding as fast as I could make them, only to curve around and cut behind them, heading back the way we came. I heard them all slam into each other as they tried to stop quickly to turn and follow. Then the footsteps started up again, as well as shouts. They seemed to be planning something, another trap probably. I would have to be more careful this time, seeming as their last one succeeded. What would it be this time though, was my question. I hoped I could lose them soon. I was still exhausted, not to mention hungry, and sore. My terror of what would happen if I was caught kept me going strong though, for a while. 

            After another ten minutes I was beginning to tire. It was more of an effort to put one paw in front of the other and my breath was coming in ragged gasps. Usually I could keep up this pace for hours, but my energy was spent, and I was still feeling the effects of the onyx and sedatives they gave me earlier. I had not eaten in a few days either. I was in the process of hunting when they found me the first time, I had never gotten to finish it. I wondered what would happen when I lost them. I was in their home territory right now. It would be hard to leave undetected, but sometimes a little challenge could be fun. But for right now my first challenge was losing them, then I noticed something. There were only two sets of running feet behind me. Where did the others go? This was not good. I didn't even know who was missing, I could not look behind me well for fear of missing something in front. I was immediately glad I didn't. I heard a small crack and managed to jump to the side just in time. A younger male vampire I didn't recognize landed on the ground on the spot I had been seconds before. His obvious intent was to take me down. Not even a second after he had landed was another whoosh of air. I jumped to the side again, but this time I was not fast enough. The tracker managed to land a blow on my side, throwing me into a nearby tree. I hadn't even had time to lift my head before they were both on top of me. I fought like a wild cat. I kept throwing them off of me, thrashing and snarling. They were persistent. They were probably trying to distract me long enough for the other two to join them. I could deal with these two, but definitely not four of them. To my great dismay their plan was working once again. I could not shake them long enough to get away. As soon as I got rid of one, the other would be right there. Then I heard more feathery footfalls and I knew I was too late. Still I fought harder in a last attempt. I finally got them both off of me, only for the two others to come into my view. All four of them jumped on top of me, grinding my face into the dirt and rendering any movement impossible. So I just laid there, my flanks heaving as I got ready to start fighting again at the smallest possible trigger.

"Why didn't you have Alec get her?" One male voice asked.

"There was no time. Plus the masters said not to use our gifts on her just yet. They want her as unharmed and as clear minded as possible. Aro wants to be able to clearly read her right away. " Another male answered.

"How are we supposed to get her back?" The first male asked. I did not wait for the answer. My breathing was as normal as possible and the mention of going to wherever they wanted to take me was enough to give me another adrenaline boost. I kicked upward, twisting around and grabbing the vampire closest to me with my teeth. It happened to be the tracker, who I chucked sideways into a tree. With one leg free I erupted upward and whipped around trying to throw them all off me. The tracker crashed into me again with bone crushing force, knocking me off balance. They took advantage of my slight moment of weakness to haul me back down onto the ground. My golden pelt was now covered in dirt from the various scuffles I had been involved in today. I could barely hear their shouted conversation over my angry growls and snarls.

"Get the onyx!"

"We don't have it!"

"We left it by the jet!"

"Felix, the sedative!" There were suddenly fewer hands on me, and I tried my best to use it to my advantage. But I was exhausted, and there were three of them. I tried to get them off of me, but I could not succeed. At the very least I made it very difficult to hold onto.

"We don't have enough!"

"We don't need her knocked out, just weakened. Give it to her, quickly!" I knew I could not let that happen. So I took my last resort. In a second I flared back to my human form.