Sinister

VI

SIX

THE AIR WAS AS COLD AS THE CHILL IN HER BONES, THE WORLD AS DARK AS THE SHADOWS WITHIN HER.

Cyelena shivered as she tightened the thin cloak around her, relishing in slightest of protection that it provided her from the harsh night air. She felt guilty for taking the cloak – and the shoes – but she hoped that Ryker would one day understand why she had left him this way.

As she walked along the woods, she took felt herself drawn to a route that she had taken so many years ago. A part of her screamed against the idea, recoiled at the thought of seeing the scene once again. But Cyelena couldn’t help herself. She simply had to see her mother once again. To prove to herself that what she was going to do was for the best.

She had forgotten how long the walk had been. But she hadn’t forgotten the pain she had felt, how hopelessly she had stumbled and forced herself to walk on. Her wings were pressed flat against her back, the tattered pieces tickling and scraping against her skin. As Cyelena pushed her way through the trees in the darkness, she found herself becoming lost in the labyrinth of the forests.

Cyelena spun around only to face yet another harrowing tree that loomed above her, the same haunting stance as the previous tree, and the one before that. She struggled to manoeuvre in the darkness, as the moon had abandoned her once again. Instead, she had no other option but to aim hopelessly through the trees, cursing herself for not planning better, for not being able to fly.

That was a punch in the gut – like a heavy weight dropping down her body and pulling her determination down with it. Only desperation and frustration remained as Cyelena pushed on through the nature – the nature that she was beginning to really, really hate.

She had stopped to rest after mere hours, panting as she leant against a particularly grisly tree. It was then, over the racing of her heart and the thrumming of her blood, that she heard the blood-curdling howl that broke through her resolve.

Werewolves.

Cyelena cursed herself once again as she found herself reaching within her for her powers, for the shadows, but only finding more and more darkness within her. She felt defenceless as she turned her head this way and that, determined to keep on walking until she found somewhere to hide.

You know what I really need right now? A secret hut in the middle of the woods. But what are the chances of coming across two of those? Her bitter thoughts were her only company – along with the frightening howls that were growing louder and louder. Soon, she could no longer hear her thoughts anymore. And that was the moment that she began to run.

The dirt beneath her was rumbling as heavy paws rocked the earth, racing towards her with rapid growls and hungry howls. Cyelena gasped out for air as she found herself trapped amidst a vast stretch of trees that left no room for her to walk through, the branches stretching over one another like some form of fence, trapping her. She cried out in both annoyance and panic as she smelt the stench of wet fur and stale blood.

The moment she felt the air around her shift, turn cold and deadly, Cyelena knew that it was too late. She was backed against the trees, desperately attempting to summon up a flame, a spark of energy, anything that could protect her. But she was once again vulnerable, and she couldn’t figure out why.

The hulking shadows shifted as red eyes hovered amidst the trees. Her heard began to pound even harder as a thick, fury clawed hand grabbed at a trunk and snapped it. The tree began to collapse, leaving the beast to show off in all its glory. Cyelena couldn’t help but gape.