Beyond the Fairy Gate

Chapter 9

Nyline

"Nyline, are you okay?" Nyline jumped as she turned to see Jake and two other boys walking toward her. She focused on the two new boys for just a moment as she noticed that she did not know them. Jake walked closer to her, "You look a little pale and you have blood on your shirt."

"Hello Jake," Nyline paused as she looked at Ryan and Nathan, who were they? Where had they come from? She felt herself curse as she realized that they must be the prince's other scouts. "And others... I'm fine; I hit my head on my desk and got a bloody nose. Plus, I have a family emergency so I'm heading home."

Nyline glanced back out the window to see if the darkling was still there, it was. Of course, it was, it wasn't just going to leave now that it had her general location. Nyline looked back at the boys. They needed to go back to class so that they don't get caught up in this. Nyline paused as she raised her hand, maybe she could influence them to go back to class? She closed her eyes, she had never tried it before, but she had seen her mother use it before in the memories that she had stolen from Uncle John. She raised her hand and felt her aether seep out of it and waft towards them. "You need to head back to class or the teacher is going to be looking for you guys." She mumbled. Jakes' eyebrows knitted together for several seconds, which Nyline counted wondering if the influence had worked on them before dawning realization came across his features.

"Yeah, yeah. We're heading back now." Jake grinned,

"See ya," Nathan and Ryan spoke at the same time. The three of them turned and started to walk down the hallway. Nyline watched them as they went, she was happy it worked. Nyline walked into the office and over to the desk lady.

"I need to leave my stuff here; I don't have time to go back to my locker." She spoke as the desk lady looked at her and opened her mouth to give a sharp retort.

"That's fine," The lady spoke as her eyes glossed over.

Nyline gripped her hand tightly as she realized that she was still using her aether. It seeped out of her body and over the desk lady. Control. She needed control. So, with a breath she focused her aether and pulled it back into her body. Quickly she set her backpack down on the floor and opened one of the front pockets. Reaching in she pulled out a necklace and threw it over her head before tucking it into her shirt. The desk lady placed her bag under the desk next to her feet.

"Thanks!" Nyline spoke as she quickly headed towards the door. The darkling would still be on the football field. It wouldn't move until it had her location and so she stood at the door, her fingers drumming on the push bar.

It took only a split second before she let out a low breath, threw the door open, and sprinted out. She darted across the parking lot and it didn't take long before she heard rugged breathing behind her. The darkling must have vaulted over the roof in order to get to her faster. She can't say that it wasn't the obvious choice, but she had expected a little more time to get some distance before it showed up. She let out a breath as she looked ahead at the street and saw that there were no cars coming. Darting across the street she turned, the darklings claws gripping the asphalt as it tried to get traction to catch her. Gritting her teeth, she pressed her body to run faster, hoping that she was fast enough to get into a less open area so she could use her movement.

Nyline let out another long breath as she controlled her breathing and sprinted down the street, at the next intersection she took a right. Seconds later the hairs on the back of her head started to rise, the smell of rank breath right behind her. Forcing her body to run faster she put on yet another burst of speed as she darted down the closet alley way and jumped over a fence, hoping to land in the backyard.

The breath left her lungs as a large paw appeared out of no where and slammed her to the side. She was weightless as her trajectory changed. Bracing herself she tried to focus on the landing, hoping that she would be able to roll to deaden the impact.

"I got ya," Uncle Jon spoke as his arms wrapped around her body. He landed softly on the ground with her in his arms. Setting her down quickly he shoved her behind his back. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? You should have waited for me." He shouted at her as he glared at the approaching darkling.

"There wasn't time, the boy from earlier showed up." She breathed

"I'm aware." He gritted through his teeth as the darkling stopped a few feet from them and let out a roar. "Nyline get home." Nyline shook her head. Ever since she was little, she had seen her parents die from Uncle John's memories. She felt her chest well up as she looked at him.

"No, I can't. You can't leave me too," Nyline grabbed John's arm, the calm and collected mask that Nyline always wore, always fell off when it came to John. She felt the mask break as tears started to roll down her face. John looked at her for a moment before he sighed. "I'd rather stay and fight with you. I can help." Uncle John shook his head as he seemed to be thinking hard.

"Start running, I'll follow you... Now!"