The Spark

Chapter 5.1: The Run

Kahlan

Luna wasted no time. With a sharp yank, she pulled me upward. Then, we were running, my hand squeezed in between hers, the demons' unholy screams trailing us. 

We sprinted across the street into the woods, the press of giant redwoods opening up to let us pass. The light faded the deeper we went, 'till there was nothing but darkness and the vague outlined of shadows milling within it. I couldn't breathe. Mom was crying in my ear, begging for dad to come back.

"Luna I can't see! Please!" I gasped.

"Just hold on to me, Kahlan, hold on! Don't stop running!" she commanded, her grip on my hand enough to shatter bone. I ignored the searing in my muscles and kept focusing on the sharp crunching of leaves, and snapping twigs ahead of me. But the sounds of Luna's feet slapping against the foliage weren't the only one echoing in the dark.

The stationary shadows whizzing past me began to move, and the sounds of thundering footsteps tripled. Rattling breaths assaulted me from all sides. I could feel dad's blood dripping down my face, soaking my clothes.

"Kahlan duck!" Luna shrieked. A sharp yank sent me toppling to the side. I dry heaved, blindly feeling through the darkness. Everything around me was damp and slimy. I could taste dirt.

-I'm gonna die.

The sounds of tumbling and hissing bounced around me in a nauseating swirl. I gasped, trying to crawl away from it. But they were everywhere, surrounding me from all sides, caging me in.

-No, no, please God, no!

A loud snap resonated right next to me. I screamed. Arctic fingers wrapped themselves around my leg.

"Kahlan close your eyes!" Luna's voice exploded through the darkness. I had a fraction of a second to comply before a flash of light bathed my closed lids, making everything turn a bright pink. The shriek accompanying it was the most soul-wrenching thing I'd ever heard. The grip on my leg vanished, and I curled into a ball, trying to muffle the sounds with my hands.

A spasming fit seized me when I felt more hands pawing at me. But these ones were burning hot.

"Get up, come on, come on!" My eyes shot open to find Luna's blazing sockets, a halo of light crowning her matted black hair. I had just the briefest moment to see the outline of the thick redwood trees illuminated by a viscous layer of gold. And behind it...

I dry heaved, just as the monster barely a foot away clawed against the yellow barrier.

"Move, move, move!"Luna screamed and I all but fell backward. Her hand crushing my forearm, we sprinted again. Hours condensed into what must have been minutes flew by. I whizzed past dark outlines of bushes and trees, their jagged limbs slashing at my flesh. I didn't care. I kept up my pace, even though the darkness around us was never-ending, even though my lungs felt as if they were shrinking, struggling to gulp down all the air my body needed.

I felt my legs falter at one point, the muscles howling.

"Luna!" I gasped. I was going numb. "Stop! I can't..."

"Crouch, now!"

I didn't have time to comply before the ground beneath me disappeared. There was a split second where I floated in midair, a knot in my stomach. Then, the earth rose up to meet me. The loud thudding cracks exploded in my ears as I rolled down some kind of slope. The pain came long before I stopped-something wet and warm bloomed down the length of my left forearm.

"Wardje metta!" Luna hissed. I felt her land beside me and I just about screamed when I gazed up to where I thought her face was. Two chicks of polished silver glistened in the darkness, like flicks of candlelight. Her eyes were glowing, like some stalking street cats. It vaguely dawned on me that this was how she could see in the dark.