Myth's Friend (Book 3 of Seven Series)

Chapter 1- Zanaya's POV

I ran as fast as I could, tears streaming down my face. My heart thundered in my chest while I ran in fear and because of how much activity I had been through for the past few hours, running and trying to escape those that chased me. My lungs burned for air, begging me to stop, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop.

If I did, then it'd mean my death, and I didn't want to die. I couldn't, not yet, not after all my adopted parents had done for me.

Snarls and growls filled the air behind me, and I felt the hot breath of something on the back of my legs when they tried to get me to slow down or herd me into a direction that they wanted me to go in, but I didn't want to go in because I knew that I would die if I did.

And behind them, groaning sounded throughout the air from these... creatures that didn't look human in a way but looked human in others. Tufts of hair sat on top of its cone-shaped head, and bleak, soulless eyes stared at me. A place where the nose should be were only two slits in front of its oily skin.

The thing had grinned at me and showed two teeth. There was nothing human about this creature, and I knew that it was dangerous. I knew that it wasn't human, and it wasn't part of this world.

Help me, I prayed, silently turning in a different direction and going down an alleyway. Please! Someone help me!

I stepped into a puddle of something, but it didn't slow me down while I ran.

The shadows seemed to lengthen around me, reaching towards me and trying to get me to stop. They were dangerous, intimidating, and for some reason, I had this feeling that they were alive.

A small gasp of shock came out of my mouth when something grabbed my leg, and I fell forward, scratching my hands and knees.

No, no, no, I thought. I twisted around and stared at what was coming for me, backing away as quickly as I could.

Beady red eyes followed the path that I took, but there was no shape to this creature. It was as if it was just a shadow, waiting and watching me back up until I hit a fence. The creature seemed to know that I was stuck and grinned viciously.

Still, it moved closer and closer until something shoved me out of the way with such great force that I knocked my head into the wall next to me.

And the last thing that I saw before I blacked out was a man standing in front of me with a head of a bull replacing the normal head of a person.

But for some reason, I felt safe, as if I knew that he would protect me.

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"I think that she is waking up, Your Highness," a male said, talking to someone. "I apologize for th-"

"It's ok, Caden," someone else, a female, said. "You got her out of there, and I am more than thankful for you. If you hadn't..." Her voice trailed off, and she took a deep, shuddering breath. "He would have gotten her that time." She cleared her throat. "And we could have lost."

There was silence. "She will be scared when she sees me. Are you sure that I can't leave now?"

"I can't release you from the bond she placed you under," she replied. "I can't defy what another Holder does."

I furrowed my brows while I gained consciousness, and a wave of pain washed over me. I groaned out in pain and moved to one side.

Someone placed their hand on my back, and I felt this warmth that I hadn't felt, not after seeing the dead bodies of my parents a month ago.

Was it really a month? Had it been a month since they had died, and I had been on my own struggling with new powers?

Yes, it had to be. It had to be a month since I felt this comforting presence behind me. But who was it?

Quickly, I opened my eyes and gasped before I shifted away from the hand and turned around to face them. Fear fell onto me like a blanket when I saw two... people standing there.

One was a female with startling blue eyes and blonde hair. Her skin was pale, pale like Snow White's, and she had to be the princess that the... male was talking about.

She leaned against a staff and watched me as if she didn't know what was beside her. Her presence had that same warmth to it that I felt when someone placed their hand on my back, and I was sure that it was her.

I pulled my gaze from her and turned towards the... minotaur. He had thick brown... hair that covered all of his face. He had horns sticking out of his head, weapons that could pull me apart with one swipe from them. His ears flicked one way, and he snorted before he shook his head.

"She is afraid of me, Princess," he said. Hurt filled his voice, and I couldn't help but feel guilty. He took a step back but didn't leave before he tried to shrink his presence, trying to make himself less threatening.

The female cocked her head towards him but didn't take her gaze off of me. "Of course, she is," she said. "She doesn't understand what is happening. She hadn't seen what the Veil has covered from her eyes."

I furrowed my brows and shifted. "Veil?" I asked, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat and licked my lips. "What do you mean by Veil?"

"It's the thing that covers Huyters, and those that hadn't been called yet, eyes," she replied. "It's basically like a mist that lets them live amongst "us" without being detected."

I furrowed my brows, further confused. "Huh?"

The female didn't reply but looked around. Her blue eyes flashed, and she shifted until she was clutching her staff with a tight grip. "I will have to explain it on the way," she said, turning her gaze back to me. "Can you walk?"

"I-I think so," I replied. I moved until I was kneeling and got my legs underneath me. My heart started to pound as well as my head, and I winced. I tried to stand, but my left leg didn't want to work, and I fell to the ground with a startled gasp.

Pain resonated through my whole body, and I curled into a ball and gritted my teeth. Tears filled my eyes, and it took all of my self-control not to cry out, not wanting them to know how bad it was.

Please, I prayed, curling into a tighter ball and whimpered. Please, someone, stop this pain.