Leaving Temple, I was soon on a wide and flat lane gravitating toward the forest. I reached the Wall and stared at it. Each time I came here I asked myself the same question; was defying Sect Doctrine and stepping past this point worth it? The excited thump of my heart told me the answer. I glanced behind to scan the roadside and check I was not in sight. Confident I was alone, I slid through the sliver of space between the charged wires then held my breath for a beat. There was nothing but silence. I had no idea how I’d done it, but one morning I was tired of plodding the same ground and I’d looked out into the forest with its thick tree trunks and jutting roots, and seen a thrilling new route to push myself harder and faster. I had stood and stared at the webbing of steel, then wished for a hole to climb through. The wires had just unravelled without setting off the klaxon. I remembered thinking with a horrible kind of panic that I had somehow done witchcraft and was convinced I was the blackest kind of evil. Then I realised how ridiculous I was being and figured it was a coincidental gift from the universe, or something. Now every morning I had a new obstacle course to enjoy.

The trees were tall, and the air was fresh and clean and free. I ran, racing the beat of my own footfalls. Cold wind whipped past, pushing hair into my face. Gods, how I loved to run and revel in the illusion of freedom it gave. I was the fastest Disciple at the Temple, and the best at cross-country; it took a lot to tire me out. I ran until the forest became too dense for me to sprint without tripping over roots. The slight strain in breathing was a pleasant feeling I rarely got to experience, and only could experience when I ran Outside. Pushing at the long, dark tangle of my hair, I wished there was less of it. I snapped off a knobby twig from a shrub at my heel and pulled my hair back into a messy bun, using the twig to pin it there. I was distracted, and only because a raven boldly cut past and drew my attention from the task of managing my hair, did I see a movement at the corner of my eye.

A figure was striding away from me up a leafy incline, into the light side of the daybreak.

“Hai?” I called my voice low.

The retreating shape paused, only to dart deeper into the gloom. Cresting the slope it winked out of sight. I ran after it. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. Skidding to a stop at the slope summit, I let out a surprised grunt. I could see down and far out into the forest. There was nobody down there, nothing but more trees. Fear whispered in my ear, no humans are supposed to be Outside, but I shook it off. Such a thing was surely nothing but my imagination. No demon would be this close to Temple. It would be like a human who wanted to live a long life doing a jig with their eyes closed on the edge of a cliff.

Then I saw it again. The shadowed figure was there when I turned around, but was at the bottom of the slope. My feet skipped back then there was no more floor.

I remembered at the same time my head moved to where my feet had been, that I’d been standing on the apex of a steep and high slope. I went down. I tumbled backward and ended up rolling and rolling. The world churned around me, but levelled out abruptly as I crashed into the base of a tree at the slope’s underside.

My ass was up in the air and my shins mashed against my forehead. Oh gods it hurt. I rocked my body until I fell onto my side and pulled my legs back to curl them under me. I breathed in and out slowly, mentally checking myself over. Nothing felt broken. I sat up and stretched it out. No, nothing was broken. The pendant I wore around my neck pressed into my collarbone awkwardly. I fiddled with it until it hung properly and the leather cord was no longer choking me.

I stood and rubbed at my head, then tried to get my bearings.

The slope was too steep to climb back up and I wasn’t much into rock climbing. Like most people I was reasonably tolerant of heights, up to a certain point, and tolerant of deep water, up to a certain point. And even agreeable with confined spaces. Up to a certain point. Heights especially high were a stickler with me, despite my love of the things you could do when you were especially high. I had a way of pretending the floor was much closer than it truly was. Nevertheless, the slope was too high to pretend, so I was either going left or right. Determined to stay calm, I ignored the first curls of fear in my stomach. I hadn’t explored this far out into the forest yet, and based on how long I had run for I was at least ten miles from the Wall. I was not worried about the time; I could still get back for breakfast and with enough time to walk to class with Alex. Looking to the east the sky was lightening to blue, but the sunrise was always painfully slow. Classes did not start until the sun was in the sky.

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