Indomitable

f i f t y - f o u r

A second rumble shook the ground beneath Remi's feet, this one louder and more powerful. It was a terrible growl from deep in the belly of the earth that struck fear into everything, the living and the dead alike.

Small trees toppled over, trampling everything and anything they fell on with no regard. Tiny forest animals scurried away with panicked cries.

Remi and Killure dashed forward into the center of the clearing of the huge Goldridge yard. Remi braced herself, but could hardly keep her thoughts straight. The entire island must be able to feel this shaking! But what could be powerful enough to make the gigantic island of Merricrest shake so violently?

Another shake, this time so powerful that it sent Remi to her knees. She narrowly dodged out of the way of a tall pine tree that was ferociously slicing through the air towards her. Her eyes darted this way and that, but all she could see were trees being shook so violently that they broke apart, and the roof of her house start to cave in, shingles and rafters plummeting downwards.

"We need a better vantage point."

Killure grabbed her around the waist and before she could protest, Remi was suddenly ascending into the sky, slowly at first and then all at once. Everything was a blur. She shut her eyes tightly closed, butterflies fluttering in her stomach from the sudden flurry of movement.

And then, all she could hear was the gentle but powerful flapping of Killure's big, feathery wings as they bobbed slowly up and down. When she hesitantly opened her eyes, Remi immediately tensed in shock, her eyebrows shooting to her forehead. Before her stretched an endless canvas of blue. She'd never been so high before--not even when she would climb trees as a kid.

The only thing holding her up was Killure's muscled arm. Her legs dangled beneath her.

Remi spared a glance down, and immediately inhaled sharply. She was so high off the ground that her mansion of a house looked about as large as her foot. As she watched the forest around her home crumble, the weakest trees and plants and shrubs were brought to their knees, spiraling to the cluttered ground in the wake of the rumbling and shaking.

Although she couldn't feel the shaking rattling her bones any longer, Remi could still hear the terrible sounds coming from beneath her. A deep, trembling roar, with a vicious ferocity that she'd never before encountered. It nearly burst her eardrums.

And then, as she watched her entire world fall apart, she realized something that should have been obvious from the start.

"The quaking . . . it's almost like . . ." she couldn't bring herself to finish—it was too crazy a thought to voice aloud. Not even relatively close to possible.

"Footsteps?" Killure's silky smooth voice finished for her, his breath fanning her ear. He'd read her mind. Perhaps he'd been suspecting as much all along—he always knew far more than he let on.

Remi suddenly became aware of just how close he was holding her to his body. Her skin prickled, and goosebumps spread rapidly across her arms. She could feel the muscled ridges of his chest through his skin tight shirt, pressed tightly against her back.

She wasn't able to suppress the involuntary shiver of delight that shook her body. When his body immediately tensed, she knew he noticed. When was the last time they'd stopped fighting long enough to remember what it had felt like to be this close? How good it felt?

Remi scowled at herself. This was not the time nor the place for such thoughts. Her head was spinning, and she wasn't thinking clearly, that was all.

Okay.

Killure continued on talking, pretending to be completely unaware of her internal conflict. "That's because they are footsteps, doll. Look," he murmured, using his free hand to tilt her chin to the right. His sharp claws lightly pricked her skin, but she hardly noticed.