Chasing Phoenix

Chapter 33

           The sun was setting gracefully under the colorful horizon, turning the forest a dark shade of soothing red. Autumn, Sky and I had been walking all day, our feet hurt and our legs were incredibly sore. They had been complaining for the past few hours, constantly asking me to stop and take a break. There was no way I was stopping now.

Not to mention the sky was being covered in dark grey clouds, moving threateningly over the forest. 

"Luna," Autumn groaned, finally stopping in her tracks. "Come on, can we stop? It looks like it's going to rain, and we've been walking all day-"

"I don't care," I whispered, focusing on the silver line in front of me, balling my fists.

"Luna!"

I felt someone grab my wrist, spinning me around reluctantly to face them. Sky stared into my eyes, tightening her grip as I struggled to pull away.

"We need to rest." She stated forcefully. "Luna, we're all tired, it's probably going to rain, and we can't help Phoenix if we're exhausted!"

I stared stubbornly into her pretty face, her silver eyes desperate and pleading. Her long blonde hair was ruffled and tangly. Autumn moved closer to her, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"We all miss her, Luna, it's okay to cry."

My hand moved to my tear-stained cheek. I hadn't even noticed I was crying. I hadn't even noticed I had finally broken from the stress. 

"I-" I spluttered awkwardly, embarrassment turning my cheeks ruby red. Glancing at the ground, I attempted to wipe my face with my shirt, squeezing my eyes shut. It didn't exactly help.

"Okay," I whispered, my throat tight and eyes flooding with unwelcome tears. "Let's stop then."

Then, Sky wrapped her arms around my waist, pulling me into a warm hug. Autumn joined only a second later, burying her face in my shoulder and squeezing me tightly. I choked out a giggle, welcoming the hug with open arms, my heart fluttering happily.

The rain finally began to drip down from the sky, the clouds releasing the weight from their nonexistent shoulders. All three of us stood there for just a second more, relishing the pure joy of the moment, using each others body heat as the cold rain splattered against our bodies. The rain soon grew more intense, though, and we were forced to dive under a thick-canopied tree.

Pulling some food out of my little backpack, I tossed a small sandwich and a water to Autumn and Sky. We ate in silence, listening to the gentle pattering of the rain above our heads, watching as the moonlight turned the raindrops a glowing, ghostly silver.

All three of us had short shorts on, which we seriously regretted as the cold began nipping at our open legs. Pushing closer together to attempt warming up, we soon finished our small amount of food and layed down against the soft grass. I tucked my backpack between some massive treeroots jutting out of the ground, then scooted back to Autumn and Sky to sleep.

It wasn't long before exhaustion kicked in, taking control of my entire body and putting invisible weights on my eyelids. I drifted off into calming, quiet sleep.

***

Animalistic yelling and howling echoed around the forest, snapping me awake again. It wasn't morning, the sky was still very dark and rain was still going strong. Autumn and Sky awoke grumpily just a few moments later, blinking in the darkness.

I rubbed my tired eyes, glancing nervously through the dark forest. The yelling and screaming was coming from ahead of us, making goosebumps spread across my skin, my heart pounding.

"What the-?" Autumn grunted, beautiful eyes widening as she finally sat up, rubbing her sore back from the uncomfortable sleeping position.

Blinking down at the ground, my eyes caught on the silver line, which, to my unwelcome shock, led straight to where the horrific sound was coming from. Scrambling slowly to my feet, I grunted in pain as soreness spread throughout my back and shoulders. The ground was a horrible place to sleep.

"We need to check it out," I rubbed my eyes once more, adjusting to the darkness. I could see quite well, my wolf vision coming in incredibly useful at the moment.

"Are you crazy?" Sky spluttered, getting painfully to her feet with Autumn. "Why in the hell would we do that?"

"Because," I bent over, picking up the backpack and pulling out the map. I took a fake glance at it before speaking. "The map says Phoenix is that way."

A tense silence filled the air, the only sound was the pattering of the rain against the forest canopy.

"Okay." Autumn choked out the word, glancing nervously at me. "Okay, I'm in. But we need to be careful."

"We need to be fast, too," Sky frowned, digging her nails into her palms. Fear was plastered across her face. "If Phoenix really is over there, she might be in trouble."

"Come on, the rain will hide our footsteps and the sound of our movement." I stated nervously, stuffing the map back in my bag and stepping out into the rain. Autumn and Sky followed me and we began picking up speed, step by step, until we were racing through the trees. 

Our clothes were soon soaked through as we ran, breathing hard and fast. It clung uncomfortably to our bodies along with our drenched hair. The howling and excited screaming was getting louder by the minute, I swerved carefully around fallen logs and skidded carelessly across millions of slippery leaves. 

The silver line was as vibrant as ever and I pressed on, aware that Autumn and Sky were slightly falling behind, unable to keep up with my wolve's pace.

But I soon spotted something looming in the distance, a deep, wide ravine, slicing through the ground as far as the eye could see. Skidding to a halt dangerously close to the edge, I screamed behind me.

"Slow down! Don't-"

But before I could even finish my sentence, Autumn and Sky came bolting out of the forest, unable to see the ravine through the darkness.

Without even thinking, I burst forward and slammed right into Autumn, knocking her roughly into Sky. We came toppling to the ground, the treacherous ravine waiting impatiently for one of us to fall into it's deep, murderous black mouth.

Sky's feet were literally hanging off the edge as I helped her backwards. Autumn and Sky soon realized how damn close that was. How incredibly close they had been to falling to their deaths.

"Oh my god," Autumn wheezed, clutching her chest and shaking with horror. Sky buried her face in her hands, taking deep, terrified breaths.

"I'm so sorry, Luna, we didn't hear you, I-" Sky choked on her words, forcing back horrified sobs.

But at the moment I wasn't paying attention as they regained mental stability. I could hear the chanting, the yelling, howling. I could hear what they were saying using my wolf's hearing.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Echoed around the forest, excited screaming followed it as a loud, piercing scrape of blades tore through the trees.

My eyes traveled, horrified, down to the ravine.

We were going to have to jump.