Fading So Brightly- Book 2

2

Avin's skin prickled as the forest went utterly still around her. Twilight had settled, a dusky blanket tucking the earth in before darkness fell. Darkness, but for those three points rising in the northeast. Beacons, those stars were. Each one a message of hope. A better life. A better world. A better future.

Her feet thumping against the mossy floor as she ran, Avin felt each pounding step in her chest, each beat invigorating her, pushing her forward. If only she could run like this forever.

Unfortunately, her body demanded that she breath. Catching sight of a fallen trunk, Avin shot to the right. Throwing herself over, she gasped for air, trying desperately to control the volume of her breaths she could not hear. Long, black wisps of hair had escaped her braid, sticking to the sweat glistening on her brown skin. Just a few more breaths, and she'd be off again.

A single breath passed her lips before she felt the warning. A push in her mind, not quite words, not a picture. A feeling more than anything, but its meaning was clear. Run.

Avin flew forward, dodging limbs and brush as she scrambled through the growing darkness. Too late. She knew the moment before another body, a much larger body, slammed her from behind that she was too late.

Arms wrapped around her from behind, thick arms corded with muscle. Avin slammed an elbow back but the maneuver was ineffectual. She rolled her eyes as the massive chest pressed to her back vibrated with laughter. She smacked and clawed at the arms until they finally released her.

Whirling, Avin found herself nose to chest with her favorite person in the universe. Navarre. A name she could still remember the sound of, a sound she would never forget. Her brother, if not by blood then by every other thread that had tied their lives together. Stepping back, she took him in.

Navarre was a mess. Twigs caught in his shoulder length hair, the color matching her own perfectly. A bruise was forming on his cheek as though he'd smacked into something while chasing her. True, he always looked gruff, his face hard, sharp lines, his near black eyes piercing as daggers. But half covered in forest pieces, half dirt, Avin wanted to push him into the nearest body of water and hold him under for a good while.

Scrunching her nose, Avin flung her arm in a gesture toward him, her eyes going from his toes to his face. Matching her stare, Navarre raised a brow, smirking as he tilted his head toward her. Looking down, she saw that she was just as dirty. A leaf fluttered down from where it had tucked itself into her braid. Rolling her eyes, Avin huffed, shooting a half-hearted glare in her companions direction. He only laughed, giving her a shrug as if to say that none of it mattered since he'd won anyway.

The dark forest once more stilled. Navarre went rigid, just as Avin felt that same familiar push on her mind. No he didn't, it seemed to say.

Navarre whirled around, hearing something that Avin couldn't. Perched on the trunk she had hidden behind just moments earlier, its pelt rivaling the moonlight, sat an enormous mountain cat. It stared at Navarre for a single moment, tail twitching once, before meeting Avin's eyes. A moment more, then it lunged for them.