Taken

Chapter 23

Aria!

 They call my name over and over again and with each call another copy of my sister appears.

I keep turning around and around, my eyes wide and head pounding. Sweat beads on my brow as my breath coming out in quick and shallow gasps. I fall to my knees as my hands clutch my head to try and block them out.

"Ari!"

 Aria!

"Ari!"

 I scream.

.                                          .                                      .

"Ari wake up!"

I gasp, my eyes blinking open in surprise. I whip my head around, finding myself in the forest with Leo and Vul instead of that hollow room. Yet the trees don't surround me, and I am no longer in my sleeping bag, but standing at the edge of a cliff and staring down at the rocky earth below me. My eyes widen and I make a noise of surprise as I stumble back from the edge.

"Calm down," Leo says, catching me before I could fall.

"H-How? W-When did I?" I question, stumbling over my own words.

 Leo steadies me before letting me go. I glance over at Vul who stands off to the side, deep in thought.

"You were sleep walking," Vul deadpanned without looking at me. Instead, his gaze is trained deeper into the trees behind us.

"We've been chasing you for two hours," Leo adds.

"But for some reason, we were unable to get close enough to stop you. All we could do was follow," Vul finishes.

"What do you mean?"

"There was some invisible force pushing us back," Leo replies. "We couldn't get any closer than a few feet. Once you got to the edge of the cliff you stopped and we were able to break through."

I glance over to the cliff's edge. I was that close to dying? One more step and I would have fallen.

I slowly sit down, my legs shaking. My trembling hands grab onto my head as my breaths grow ragged.

What's wrong with me? Why is all of this even happening? Why me? I could have died! And for what? How do I know that any of this is even real? It could all be some insane dream or—or just my imagination. This can't be real; Caelum, the Bratus, it's all too good to be true. This can't be—I can't be—

"Ari, you have to calm down," someone says as they grip my shoulders, but I'm too out of it to try and figure out who it is.

"Here, give her this." Something is pushed between my lips and they tell me to chew. I hesitantly oblige.

A familiar sweet taste runs over my tongue as I feel myself relax, both physically and mentally. The tension slowly subsides from my shaking limbs as my hands lower to my sides and my breaths turn calm.

"Sanitas." My head snaps up to find that it was Leo who spoke to me. "It also comes in a solidified form." I only nod, my mind too distracted by the plethora of thoughts to form coherent words.

"We should get moving," Vul says, his tone emotionless as he steps closer to Leo and I. Leo glances at his brother, watching him intently for a moment before he nods. He turns to me.

"Do you think you'll be okay to travel?" he asks me, his voice soft as if he is taking to a frightened animal.

Ignoring his sympathetic tone, I merely nod, thinking of the Nina I saw in my dream. She needs help, and soon.

Leo drapes the cloak around my shoulders, which I then tie at the nape of my neck. When Vul brushes by me, he tugs the hood over my head before changing into his animal form alongside Leo.

Lux pops out of my bag and lands on my shoulder.

"I'm glad you're okay," she says as I climb onto Leo's back. "I just woke up and you were gone. You had me worried."

A small smile touches my lips as I climb onto Leo's back. It's nice to know that someone cares.

"I'm sorry Lux," I say and she settles back into my pocket so she won't fly off of my shoulder. "I'll try not to let it happen again."

She doesn't respond.

I sigh as Leo rises to his full height. Once I'm comfortable, we take off into the woods once again.