Until Forever (1st draft)

Part the Twenty-Ninth

She had no place to hide, no weapon to defend herself, no chance for survival. Yet still she ran with every ounce of strength she could muster. She ran for the sake of her mother's soul.

Kraw seemed to be playing with her, sprinting up close enough to make her pounding heart somehow increase its dangerously rapid pace, terrorizing her with the sound of his voice looming right on her heels, then lagging behind just enough to provide her with a false sense of security before starting the sadistic game all over again. Somewhere deep down she knew this but her brain was currently too preoccupied with panic, and besides there was no reassurance in that knowledge because it didn't change the foregone conclusion that she was about to die.

It was during one of those momentary respites, while her mind tried to conceive an escape plan as he purposely trailed further behind, that her legs simply gave out. Rubbery and numb from the marathon race, they were only still moving because of a subconscious command that was stuck on repeat: Run! Run! Run! Run! Run!

A calf wobbled, a knee buckled, an ankle rolled, and she fell into a violent tumble of flailing limbs that would have made any witness cringe. She could have given up right then. It would have been so easy to submit to her inevitable demise and finally be free from the mental and physical torment. But the Starheart had bounced out of her pocket and landed on the ground a few feet before her. Seeing that magical object—torn from the dead body of a dear friend and containing the soul of her beloved mother—inspired her to somehow rise again on trembling legs. As she scooped to retrieve the fallen Starheart, she realized that she was standing in a patch of Morning Spinners, their pale yellow flowers all slowly spinning in unison. Thank goodness she hadn't fallen into them and damaged the blossoms or else she might have agitated the...

The Loodwauns!

Geneva tucked the Starheart away in a pocket and hurriedly located a thick, fallen tree limb on the ground nearby. Then she waded into the Morning Spinners and began swinging the stick like a bat. Unlike softballs that she could never hit consistently because they were hurled past her at a fast pace, the flowers were easy targets because they stayed in place on their pulsing stems. The stick smashed each gelatinous blossom into a juicy explosion, showering her clothes and the forest alike in gooey spatters. She vividly remembered Steebunk's warning that any danger to the Morning Spinners would infuriate the protective male Loodwauns.

Kraw jogged onto the scene and stopped to watch her senseless destruction of the plants, bewildered as to what could possibly have motivated such strange behavior. Geneva intensified her assault on the flowers, spitting out globs of fragrant jelly that clung to her lips, impatiently waiting for some reaction from the mysterious Loodwauns.

Come on, come on, where are you?

And then the ground itself trembled. Was it an earthquake? No, something was coming! Tree limbs shook, creating a commotion of fluttering leaves, especially those tainted by the unnatural gray. The pounding of dozens of hooved legs roared like thunder, followed by a snarling chorus from a vast mob of angry creatures. Geneva raced toward a low hanging branch on a nearby tree and pulled herself up just as a thundering herd came crashing through the woods. She was able to hoist herself high enough to lean on her midsection over the bough, her legs dangling just inches about the massive beasts as they rumbled by below her. Their bulky bodies looked similar to rhinos, but were covered in mats of thick red hair. Rows of wide spines rose out of the hair, running all the way from their shoulders down their backs to their hips like miniature mountain ranges. When they opened their mouths to loudly express their anger, they revealed long pointed teeth that looked identical to the mass of spikes protruding from their faces. If ever Geneva had thought that Steekbunk was exaggerating the potential danger of disturbing these flower beds, she was now proved wrong. These beasts were nasty.

Thankfully she was safely suspended above the threat. In fact, her hastily designed plan worked to perfection. Kraw stood transfixed by the rampaging horde of spiked nastiness, which made him appear to be the culprit guilty of vandalizing the Morning Spinners. The herd closed in on him in an instant, but just before they reached him Geneva saw him draw a sword and...grin.

Did he just smile?

The graphic scene of carnage that followed was impossible to ignore. At first, Geneva saw Kraw's body get flung into the air a number of times, a result of one of the horned heads making impact, and she watched him occasionally disappear beneath the mob of thick, hooved legs that pulverized wood and stone with ease. Once she saw two of the animals playing tug of war with him, each holding his body within their clenched fangs. But then she heard cries of pain from the animals. Random spurts of blood escalated into a constant shower of gore, thick chunks of red-haired meat bounced off trees, and the deafening mob of snarling beasts dwindled in size and eventually went silent. Less than a dozen of the Loodwauns finally retreated, fleeing back into the cover of the woodlands.

Geneva hung on the branch, her aching legs still floating below her. The dust of the battle settled and she was left with no noise, no movement, no obvious outcome to the conflict. She pondered getting down and looking for Kraw's body amid the gruesome remains, but wasn't sure she had the courage to leave the tree.

Please be dead.

As it turns out, the decision was made for her. A hand grabbed hold of her ankle with enough force to grind bones together, and then it yanked her off the branch, causing her stomach to rake across the coarse tree bark and her forehead to smack the wood so hard that her jaw snapped shut on her tongue. She hit the ground before she even had a chance to think about shielding her body from the fall. Head spinning, she tried to ignore the intense pain radiating from her bloody mouth as she rolled over. Through blurred vision she looked up at Kraw standing triumphantly over her. His clothing was tattered but his soiled body was completely unscathed. Despite the Loodwauns' vicious attack that she had witnessed with her own eyes, there wasn't a cut, bruise, or even a scratch on him.

It was then that Geneva was struck with a terrifying realization---Kraw the Fallen could not be harmed. His flesh was not human---it was invulnerable, immortal. She remembered how he had walked right through the burning darkfireweed surrounding the Swithe city and been completely unharmed. Even if she could find a weapon and the courage to strike out against him (a very unlikely scenario considering her current predicament), there was nothing she could do to hurt him. Nothing. She was utterly helpless.

Kraw reached down and grabbed her by her hair, twisting it until her scalp was tight against his fist. Then he yanked her into the air and held her grimacing face close to his own. His breath no longer smelled like the inviting sweetness of honey, it was rank with the stench of the underworld.

"Your trickery accomplished nothing but wasting precious time. If I have lost my window of opportunity because of this delay, you will suffer beyond imagination."

He released an animalistic grunt of anger before hurling her face-first into the tree trunk.