Falling Skyward

Chapter Fifty: Hunted

She pulled the covers up to her brother's chin, then fell back into her pillow, feeling the phoenix feathers settle beneath her cheek with radiant warmth. Cete's tears had dried now, but he still stared at the ceiling. "I saw her hanging there, her eyes gone. She floated in my dream," he said.

It was his mother he had seen, after she had hung herself. Only he didn't know that. Monsters and their mother's death had mixed in his mind, creating a macabre fantasy. Lark pulled him close, praying silently, "Please, let him never know I killed her."

But her words didn't echo her prayer. Instead, she sang lullabies and told silly stories until her brother's breathing slowed and all she could feel around her was the sound of her voice and the darkness.

The dream shifted. She was running now. It was dark as she threaded through the trees. No sounds followed Lark, yet she knew she was being pursued. She glanced back, seeing a flutter of black that became obscured by twigs and shadows. They were nearly upon her.

In desperation she fell to her knees in a circle of trees, feeling the damp moss seep around her. She spread her palms, feeling the minds near, their presence coming. They circled nearer, like vultures blocking out the light. She felt a hand grip her soul, causing her to shudder and convulse. The darkness was suffocating

Lana awoke covered with a sheen of sweat. Her hands were spread across the cold cave floor illuminated by spirals of blue light. Lana felt Ce'al surge within her as rage flooded her veins.

Remnants of the dream were still fresh in her mind, and Lana could taste the desperation. Intrinsically, she knew it was real. The girl in her dreams was not some phantom. Just as she had seen Gailen tortured and harassed, she knew this girl was enduring the same.

Lana's memory flashed to her last moment with the gypsy woman in her village. What were the words she had spoken as the nightstalkers descended? Something about the girl being the key to Lana's past and future? Lana shook her head, dim understanding washing over her.

The two were connected. Both were being hunted by the nightstalkers—systematically tracked down, toyed with, and trapped. As Lana had seen Gailen tortured in her dreams, she could now see Lark. She could see the nightstalkers' next prey.

Lana's chest burned with determination and cutting urgency. For once, her path was clear: Lana had to find this girl. She had to protect her from the coming darkness. And while she searched, Lana would repay with vengeance every scar the nightstalkers had inflected on those she loved. Lana would see them writhe and suffer before she destroyed them. She would no longer be prey. She would stand and fight.

Lana felt a pulse of power run along her veins, a smile touching her lips. The nightstalkers had no idea the enemy they had awakened.