Writen in the Stars - Working Title

Prologue

Sweat drips from her forehead, her breaths coming in short, sharp pants as she struggles to keep running. The intricately twisted vines and flowers of the maze walls feel like a barbed prison around her. It is hot, too hot even for these lands. Talia had always found the scorching sun of Akatina suffocating. The beams would bounce from the golden domed buildings below, further enhanced by the white rock walls and the glistening pathways. Yet, now, it is not the light from the sun creating a stifling heat, but the lick of flames as the kingdom burns, flashes of gold blending with the orange and red of fire as they blur past. Despite it all, she can't help herself but to look back, just a glance at the castle currently stood high over its kingdom, framed by sky smeared with sunset and fire and smoke. She can still make out the arched windows looking over the houses and the sea beyond. The salty taste of the waves coating her tongue, causing her to choke almost as much as the fire, which now scorches her throat. Her mothers gargled screams echo everywhere all at once, jolting her back to the current situation. Once before she had refused to run, refused to move at all, and she knew exactly what sights and sounds would await if she did not keep going. She had never been able to reach the warriors son before, but if she could just make it to him, maybe that would be enough. Maybe she could change everything for them both. So on and on, she pushes, her body protesting with pain and exhaustion as she fights against her own desire to stop. Long golden locks of hair whip against her face until she can hardly see at all, and yet still, she keeps moving forward. Twisting, full speed around the walls of the maze, cutting her hands open on the thorn as she grabs the corners to keep momentum. The walls shifting and changing, vines stretching and connecting with each other to block off exits she knows existed just moments before. Her feet start to slip on crimson blood, which drips and pools beneath her. Do not stop. Do not give up. Keep going. But before she can reach the maze exit, her eyes shoot open, and she once again slams back to reality with a force that makes her gag.