Reprisal (TSIMHBINM Book 2)

Chapter Three

 Colton trudged through the forest, leaning on nearly every tree for support. It was times like this when he was tired from walking and hungry that he would use his wings. They helped him stay balanced and if he had enough energy, he would fly.

Only they weren't there.

After having them for years, he didn't think he would ever get used to them not being there.

They were part of him.

After taking three more steps, Colton collapsed onto the ground, landing on the palms of his hands. He stayed there for awhile, taking deep breaths and trying to convince himself he could walk farther.

"I have to help Echo," he muttered quietly to himself.

Colton struggled to stand and once he did, he immediately fell against the nearest tree. His enhanced abilities didn't seem to be helping any bit, which made it strange they had earlier.

He sighed and took another shaky step, this time staying standing. He continued that until he heard a shout coming from the woods ahead of him.

"You should've died, Echo."

Colton couldn't quite place the voice, but he recognized it. He didn't want to risk being seen, but this person was talking to Echo. Colton sighed in relief. He had finally found her.

Before he could reach the voices, the sound of twigs cracking underneath shoes filled the forest. Yet despite the fear of being caught, Colton moved towards the sound. Soon he could see a white haired girl standing over a purple haired girl collapsed on the forest floor. Seconds later another girl appeared in the clearing with a boy half her size.

"Kai, what did you do?" yelled the new girl.

"She punched me in the face so I hit her back with an ice ball," said the white haired girl, or Kai, sounding slightly more panicked than the new girl.

The other girl sighed, kneeling next to the collapsed girl. "Let's hope you didn't kill her," she said as she motioned for the boy to come closer. He put his hands on her forehead and closed his eyes only to open them a second later.

"She doesn't seem to have suffered any physical damage. I don't know what's wrong." He removed his hands and stood back up, with the girl following suit. The three stood there, not saying a word.

It was then Colton decided to move closer, which of course was a stupid decision because he immediately stepped on a stick. The cracking sound echoed through the woods and three heads snapped his way. But before they could do anything, the girl on the ground woke up. Colton breathed out a sigh of relief. Normally this sigh would have been fine, except this time it ended in him having a coughing fit.

He fell to the ground against a tree which he immediately regretted. Among his coughs was the sudden cry of pain. Then out of nowhere, Colton's shoulders were grabbed and he was dragged away from the tree. With all of the noise he had been making, Colton wasn't surprised someone had managed to sneak up on him. He fought as best as he could, but his best was worse than his worst when Colton was fine.

When he was finally released, he didn't have the strength to stay sitting upright. Colton's fragile body collapsed onto the ground, with continuous gasps of pain. Once he had the strength to roll over and look at his attackers, he was met with a very familiar face with an expression he was not expecting.

Echo stood looking down on him and her eyes full of anger. She kneeled down and picked Colton up.

"Echo," Colton breathed out. "I found you."

Her expression did not change. If anything, she got more upset. The last thing Colton saw before falling to the ground was Echo's fist connecting with his cheek.

A/N 

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I am sooo sorry for not updating in so long. I'm not going to make up excuses so I'll tell you I haven't felt like writing in however many months its been. I'm not going to make any promises I can't keep about how often I'll update, but probably about one chapter a week.

-Paige