Separian - Book 1

Chapter 9

Several seconds out of the cabin and I was over a quarter of a mile away. The two of them were on my tail. I'd managed to evade Casey's grasp twice since taking off through the seemingly endless woods but the moment I was free, a bright red and orange light shot by my face and into the trees hundreds of yards ahead of me. I ether had to stop or change direction if I wanted to avoid the aftermath.

The voice inside my head was anything but quiet now. He repeatedly told me not too slow down; to duck out of the way; to watch the trees up ahead in case another blaze shot its way past me instead of hitting its mark on my back; to make sure I didn't trip on this rock over here or that root sticking out of the ground over there. I still didn't know who to believe yet. Ana's story was a lie, I knew that much, but to have taken over my body and intentionally put me into a life threatening circumstance just to teach me a lesson seemed out of character for anyone. And on top of all of that, there was the hole in Ana's chest. From what I'd gathered from her reaction, it wasn't far from the truth.

I knew where I was, just not how I'd gotten here or how I would escaped. With how close the two of them were to me, it didn't seem likely I'd be able to break free of them by simply running. Still, I could not even slightly control what I'd done to Casey just moments ago, breaking her nose and dislocating her jaw in the process of defending myself. I couldn't fight against her but even if I could, I wasn't sure I wanted to. My luck must have been running dry. Speed and power were one thing I had in reserve, within reason, but fire? How was I going to defend against that?

Whatever the two of them were, they weren't human; at least not anymore. I knew I couldn't pull something like that off with my limited capabilities. Enhanced physical attributes were all I had, and those weren't going to save me if one of these blazes made contact with my body. They were obliterating the bases of the trees before me and scorching the ground around them to a black crisp before I dove out of the way.

Go right. I did as I was instructed, seeing no feasible reason to ignore the voice in my head. If I was ever going to stand a chance of getting out of this mess, I knew I'd need his help. Two hundred meters, do you see the river? I tried to respond yes but I couldn't afford to take my attention away from my feet for too long without chancing a fall. Just before it is a tree about twice the size of any around it, he went on. Jump two meters from its base, land five meters up the trunk, and propel yourself backwards over Casey. Preferably fast enough so that she does not grab you. On the way past. One hundred meters... fifty meters... ten meters... at this speed, I would need to jump long before I reached the tree or I'd smack right into it. Two meters wasn't going to cut it.

I kicked off the ground instantly and sailed into the air. When my feet reached the tree, I planted my hands to protect my face from making contact with the rough bark and pushed off as hard as I could. A motion that I'd never performed, one I'd only ever seen in an exaggerated action film, was coming as naturally to me as breathing. I spun my head mid-flight and caught a brief sight of Casey with her fist raised and coming forward, not yet aware of my presence above her. When I touched down, Ana was a few feet in front of me. I dove right, careful not to shoot too far and used the base of another tree to halt my momentum and push me back on track, retracing the footsteps I'd just made.

This was actually happening. I was scared for my life, but I couldn't help but feel a sort of high as I moved further away from the two of them; a sense of relief.

It will not be that easy, he began. You may likely only get away with using that trick once more before they start reading between your movements.

So what would you advise that I do? I asked. Besides run, that is.

Normally I would suggest turning to fight, but given the current situation and your lack of combat experience, I believe your chances of survival are greatly increased if you continue to run. Still, you cannot run forever. Eventually you will need to turn and fight.