Taken

Chapter 24

As we trek through the trees, I begin to notice something.

I can make out the grass under foot, it changing from a vibrant green, to a putrid yellow, and then to a dead brown. The other vegetation fares no better. It is as if this part of the forest is dead. Through the fog that has pooled around us I can make out scorch marks on the bark of a few trees, some having no leaves while others have no branches, its wood roughly chopped.

            "Where are we?" I whisper, my grip tightening on Leo's mane as I stare at the dreadful scene around us. When I look up, I see that the once blue sky is hidden behind heavy grey clouds. A rough breeze picks up around us, growing even stronger when we reach a meadow full of dead grass and wilted flowers.

            "The Fallows," Leo informs me as he picks up the pace through the meadow. Thunder rumbles in the distance.

            Well it definitely lives up to the name.

            I gaze across the meadow at all of the abandoned homes, my heart full of sorrow for the faded spirits. "But why does it look like this? Was it attacked?" I question.

Leo and Vul glance at each other, having another one of their silent conversations before Leo turns to me. He opens his mouth to reply, but never gets the chance when a bolt of lightning falls from the sky, striking the dead earth only a few feet away from us.

            I let out a shriek of surprise, nearly tumbling off Leo's back in the process.

            "Let's get out of here, now! We have to find shelter," Leo says as we race across the meadow. My grip tightens on Leo as he runs faster and faster and the wind hits me at full force.

            Another bolt of lightning strikes beside us and we bank left. I pick my head up enough to see over Leo, finding the tree line growing closer. I'm not sure where we are supposed to go, seeing that trees are the worst to be around when there's lighting.

            "Follow me!" Vul shouts. "I know a place that's close."

Leo does as his brother commands and another bolt of lightning strikes the ground as we enter the trees. The Arco brothers run at an unnaturally fast and graceful pace. Vul leads us through the trees with ease until a rock formation appears.

            Upon closer inspection, I notice an opening in the rocks.

            "Ari get ready," Leo says and I raise an eyebrow.

            "Ready for wh—?" I never get a chance to finish that thought because I am suddenly thrown into the air.

I quickly tuck in my legs, landing on the ground in a roll to help break my fall, but my knee still manages to collide with the hard soil. I let out a gasp in pain, but manage to climb to my feet to find Leo and Vul in their original form.

            "Come on Ari!" Leo calls from the cave's entrance and I take a step forward, only to fall on my uninjured knee. I wince as I try to stand; lightning strikes a tree only a few feet away. Vul races out of the cave and over to me, picking me up despite my cry of pain when he touches my leg.

            I bite my lip as Vul sprints to the cave. I remember seeing a flash of blue light and hearing my own scream before the world turns black.

.                                        .                                  .

I wake to a throbbing pain in my knee.

The back of my eyes burn, my throat is dry and my tongue feels as if it's made of cotton. With a groan I roll onto my side and slowly pry my eyes open, trying to remember what happened before I blacked out.