Shadewylf

23.1 - Beating

Run. Just run.

The word echoed over and over, growing louder with every thump of Lexi's paws, the only thing audible above the rasp of her own breath. The forest danced and blurred before her, all focus lost to the dizzy exhaustion that threatened to tug her down.

But she couldn't stop. Not even if she'd wanted to.

Blind fear drove her on, gifting her memories of the flash of fangs, the scrape of claws, the glint of narrowed eyes. Droplets of blood, scattered amongst fallen white bodies. Loss. Failure. Darkness closing in.

Whatever it took, she had to get away from that place.

A tingling ran through her fur, golden sparks clinging to her flank. That she couldn't stop either. The terror made it leap and dance, not crackling with readiness to strike but instead cowering against her, forcing her to run faster, hoping it could defend her from the danger she ran from.

She knew it couldn't. She knew they'd catch her. But still she pushed on.

Her claw caught against something, jolting to a stop and colliding with the earth, making her whole body fly forwards with the momentum. She landed on her side, chest heaving, knowing she wouldn't get back up. This was the end of the chase.

Lightning threaded across her snout, making the forest flicker before her. She gulped at the air. It seemed to scrape down her throat like sharpened rock. Perhaps even the atmosphere had claws of its own now, forever fighting, inflicting pain on whatever it came across.

The whole world was like that now. Fighting. Battle was all that was left.

Somehow, she managed to force the thrashing air into her lungs, and slowly the forest became clear. Dark trees, motionless as always, reaching upwards like rigid soldiers. Save the brown smudge of a bird as it flitted between the branches, nothing moved. She was alone.

Lexi let her head sink to the ground, doing her best to return her breathing to its normal pace. Gravity felt twice as powerful today - she was sure she could feel its force pressing into her side, turning her paws to lead, pinning her there on the ground.

The urge to run was gone now. There was no need. It had been stupid to think anyone would care enough to chase her all this way.

They were too busy fighting the wolves who'd had the courage to stay.

Swallowing fiercly to hold back the tears pricking at her eyes, she planted her forepaws flat against the ground and pushed upwards. Her body shook, still far from recovering from the racing pace she'd taken to flee the cave. Shaking her head, she tried to dislodge the nagging voice at the back of her mind - one she hadn't been able to hear until the pounding of the one telling her to run had subsided. This new voice called her a coward. It whispered of how a true hero would have stayed to fight, not given in to fear.

"It wasn't fear," she growled at it, knowing she was wasting breath but needing to hear her argument spoken aloud. "It was a calculated move. We were losing, and me being there wasn't going to change that. I escaped so that I could get help."

But what help can I bring? They're probably already dead.

Her head shook more vigorously. "The Shadewylves will have reasons to keep them alive. They must have. At least the Twilytra. I can get back to town and find the Wylfire. Surely not even they can deny that this is a noble cause."

She forced away any replying thoughts, and spurred her limbs into a run again. A more steady, controlled run this time, one she hoped would conserve more energy. All she had to do was keep going, and pray that she could reach town before sunrise. That would at least give her a whole day to organise and bring her rescue before the Shadewylves completed what they had planned.