Rhyn's Redemption (Book III, Rhyn Trilogy)

Chapter Four

Katie had barely closed her eyes when Gabriel shook her awake.

“We need to move,” he whispered. “Quickly.”

She pushed herself up, reaching into a pocket for a food and water cube.  Gabriel took her arm and pulled her to her feet.  She nearly choked on the cubes and swallowed them whole, struggling to keep up with the death-dealer as he darted into the forest.

“Did someone find us?” she asked.

“Yes.  Not sure how, but we’re going straight out of the forest.”

“Thank god!” she said. “I’m so sick of the forest.”

“Couldn’t agree more.  As fast as you can, Katie.  Things are looking bad.”

The forest was soon filled with the sound of pursuers.  Katie needed no further encouragement.  She pulled her arm free and ran behind Gabriel as he kept to the invisible path.  A shadow caught her attention.  She glanced over and froze, tripping.

Andre ran beside them a short distance away. He stopped when she did, never looking at her.

“Gabe!” she said and pointed.

He hauled her up with a glance in the direction she indicated.

“I see – “

“Katie, quiet!” the assassin ordered, body bristling with tension. “Follow this path until you reach a stream.  Follow the stream towards the smaller moon.  I’ll catch up with you.  Whatever you do, don’t leave the stream.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve gotta take care of whatever found us.” He tucked another dagger into her pocket. “Kill anything that gets near you.  And don’t feed the trees.”

“What is it with you and the damn –“

“Run. Now.”

His shove almost drove her to her knees again.  She steadied herself and looked up in time to see him disappear into the jungle.  Fear made her heart pound.  The strange path he’d been following appeared ahead of her, revealing itself only a few steps at a time.  She started at a walk and quickened to a jog, making sure the path wouldn’t close and trip her.  The path kept up with her, and she ran.

The phantom of Andre appeared to her right again, keeping pace with her.  She slowed to draw a heavy knife.  It slowed with her. She sped up, and so did the creature.  Katie stopped fast.  The shadow Immortal stopped with her. This time, it faced her and pointed into another direction.  It beckoned for her to follow and turned around, starting off in the direction he indicated.

Katie hesitated then continued onto the path Gabriel had told her to follow.  She didn’t know what the creature was.  He looked like Andre, but Andre was dead-dead, which meant the creature following them was something else.

Shivering, she began to run again on the trail.  She heard the fast moving stream long before she reached it and paused to catch her breath on its bank. The water looked … black in the moonlight.  She took a step back and looked up towards the moons.  As Gabriel indicated, one moon was lower than the other. In the distance, she heard the sounds of both fighting and pursuit.

Still breathless, Katie forced herself onward along the stream’s rocky bank. The sounds of fighting grew faint and then disappeared.  The stream wound through the jungle until it reached a small waterfall that fed into a massive lake whose black surface reflected the stars and moon.  Katie slid down the hill beside the waterfall to the lake’s edge, uncertain what to do.  Gabriel hadn’t mentioned the stream ending or the lake.