It Flows in her Veins

chapter 2

The edge square of Kelarenis was the main attraction. In the center held a fountain made of the clearest crystal, the floor made of different colored gems. Even the freaken flowers had crystals in them. During the sunrise and sunset, the rays would hit the top of the fountain and create different rainbows, reflecting off all the surrounding crystals. It really was magnificent at those times. But at night, it was a different story.

It was closed off to the public, too dark for anyone to even try going in because the only light source people had were the candles and the glowing crystals that somehow dimmed in the sector of the square. But to Ayreth, she still saw everything. Besides, the guards were pretty scary too. But all it took was a rock toss and a swift run through a hole in the fence, and she was able to enter, no problem.

But she didn't plan on staying in the area. Because the location of the square was perfectly placed right next to the area of the forest with the highest trees, With a quick runoff, Ayreth ran to one, scaling up the branches with ease. She did not need to be flexible or strong to get up, just clever. When she reached the top of the tree, she laid her weight to the left, right next to the top of the next one she planned on swinging on. The tree leaned and leaned and leaned and when it was just about to flick back to its natural position, she quickly dropped her weight off of it and tumbled onto the next branch. The original tree whipped itself back into its position.

On top of the tree, she stood up, looking down at everything.. There was a formidable fence that blocked off access to everyone. Except for Ayreth. She was somehow immune to the wards of the center.

The night was more dead than the day. But the guards were stationed in specific areas she knew to avoid. With Ayreth's nightmare right at her heels, she ran off. The tops of the trees were close enough that it was easy to jump from branch to branch. The wind whipped at her face, as if trying to hold her back from her cardio. Her hands burned from the peeling bark and the crack of the trees sent her heart racing every time she landed. But the physical hardships dimmed in the wake of the exhilaration she felt. The rough texture was no match for her, even with her previous injuries. She raced; outraced everything. The nightmares. Her reality. Her bloody existence. She didn't just sprint, she flew. She saw the hightops start to become more sparse, leading to a meadow. She braced herself as her feet still carried her.

Almost. Almost there. Just a little bit more. Not quite. Yes, almost.

She got ready and began to brace for a change in direction when the force of something ten times stronger than the gales blowing pushed her back, making her lose her balance and fall off one of the trees. A scream built up in her throat as she saw her death in the forms of grass blades. At least she wasn't dying on gray slats.

Only, it didn't happen. She felt a pull on her arm as a force projected her body to another tree. Instinct propelled her to hold on to the trunk when she landed. Again, her skin scraped. Older injuries awakened as she groaned in agony.

"Ow!" She growled, trying to breathe through the pain. But survival forced her to look around, wondering what the hell did that to her. She screamed as she saw a figure fall to the branch next to her. Again, she thanked her own ability to see in the dark as she saw a deep blue cloak. She was too high to see what the hood held underneath. She was on the defensive before she knew it, going into a fighting position even though the measly self defense classes her aunt forced her to take would probably be no match for this motherfucker. Whereas her cousin Milan was the fighter, Ayreth was the runner. But this motherfucker wasn't about to know that. She hoped.

Her bones groaned as she positioned her body, trying to see into the hood. But for the first time in her life, she couldn't see past the darkness.

"Who are you? Are you a guard?"

She knew they weren't, unless the usual uniform of green tunics with gold emblems changed to deep blue cloaks. And she sure as hell knew they weren't skilled enough to catch up to her and throw her body up from death. She knew; tested them herself. Ayreth's eyes darted everywhere, looking for an escape route. She hoped the hooded figure couldn't see well in the darkness. It just stood there. Black leather gloves covered hands that the cloak didn't conceal. She couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman.

They were at a standstill. Both possibly ending up in a death situation just by letting go of her balance and support. But still, no one moved.

And then she heard it.

The unmistakable howls of the Lupine Guard. Their vocals were disturbingly close. That's when the hooded figure suddenly vaulted towards her, so fast she couldn't even brace herself against the collision except to close her eyes.

But it never came except for a quick breeze. She peeled her peepers back open and saw nothing there. Then she turned around and saw the hooded figure, running away. It must have sidestepped her. She knew what that meant. It wasn't a guard. It was a criminal. One that saved her life.

Without even thinking about it, rushed after it. She heard the wolf howls on the ground, right behind her. She knew they would catch up to her soon. But she scaled these trees practically every night. She knew things they probably didn't. She saw the hooded figure head towards the meadow, but she knew that guards were stationed there. They would be ready for the cloaked figure. Doing the stupidest thing she could possibly think of, she broke off a branch without breaking her speed and threw it at the cloaked figure. It hit them square in the back of their head, her aim always lied true.

It whirled around, the fabric of the cloak spinning like an umbrella. She stared at the darkness as she quickly moved her hand in a "follow me" motion. Then pointed at the wolves and his direction and made a slicing motion in front of her neck with her finger.

"You will die if you don't follow me" was a pretty obvious statement. She then took off for an area she knew would keep her hidden. It was up to the mystery cloaked person to choose to follow her. After all, her gratitude only extended so far. She wasn't about to expose herself to the wolves. Although, she highly doubted the cloaked person would follow her. After all, who would trust a stranger; let alone to keep them safe? Then again, who would help a criminal? Her dumb bitch self would, that's who.

But surprisingly, she heard the rustling behind her, indicating the stranger was following her. She barely looked at it as she kept her focus on finding the hidden area. The wolves were gaining on them, but they were almost there anyway. Towards the end of the trees was a different clearing, one without guards. She quickly propelled herself over it and started dropping down. The landing was a grassy hill with a slow decline as she started rolling down it, landing in a pile of leaves. She was busy spitting out some of the leaves when a gloved hand suddenly reached out to her. She looked up at the cloaked figure, just standing there as if they were always there. No leaves. No dirt. No stray leaves. Her jaw dropped.

"How-"

The wolves' howls were getting closer. Without wasting a beat, she took their hand and they brought her up to stand. High off adrenaline, they ran with her leading. Past the sloping hills and many trees and even a river, they ran until they reached the place.

The cliff.