Clouds covered the moon as the storm rumbled around her. She ran in and out of the shadows of trees and rocks, always aware of the movement of branches and animals around her. Her blood pressure spiked as each crack of a twig sent her slinking behind another tree.
Her leg muscles burned and branches clawed her face and tore her hair but still she ran. The rain started coming down hard, making it too slippery to run. She found a cluster of trees that grew so close together, their trunks almost twisted around each other. She sat with her back against the rough bark and tipped her face up to catch a few drops of rain on her tongue.
The trees looked different here. The bark of the one closest to her had been peeled back and the flesh beneath shone ghostly-white in the rain. She rubbed her fingers over the bark. A symbol had been carved into it. When she looked around she saw that every other tree to her right bore the same marking: C. What does this mean? Fear made her want to run again but the icy numbness in her hands and feet prevented her.
The rain came in sheets, soaking into her tunic and sticking her hair to her face. She hugged herself as uncontrollable shivers assaulted her body. The back of her neck prickled like someone was watching her but she forced herself to stay sitting against the tree. She put her arms around her bent legs and leaned her chin on them. Ready to run, yet small enough to slip into the shadows if anyone approached. Her teeth chattered as the rain ran into her socks and boots. Cold became her new enemy.
A shout nearby made her crunch up tighter against the tree. She strained to hear the voices above the din of the downpour. "Over here! The rest we can worry about later!" It sounded like a young woman, not more than twenty feet away beyond a row of trees.
Shai leaned forward slightly and glimpsed a flickering orangey-glow. Another camp? She didn't want to meet another Borderless person for a long time. But the prickles along her arms and neck told her something was different. Something very wrong.
She got up and moved closer, keeping herself hidden behind the trees. She heard crying and shouting. And a roaring crackling sound. She ran to another tree. Smoke filled her throat constricting it, threatening to choke her. Fire. Everywhere.
People were running. Too many to count. Some carried children, some dragged others by their arms out of burning houses, and a few ran in circles with their hands over their mouths.
A woman in trousers, with a long braid down her back, walked toward Shai. She stopped a few feet away and pointed.
"You! Get into the water house! Now! And tell everyone else you see!" Shai couldn't move. Fear paralyzed every limb. Who are these people? They didn't live like those from the Borderless camp she'd just been through.
Flames licked at houses that stood cheerfully colored amidst the chaos. Through the glow of the fire she saw red and green roofs, little white fences and purple doors.
Someone grabbed her elbow and yanked her forward. A low voice spoke near her ear.
"You'll be safer inside. Not out here in the Borderless." Her feet moved, but her mind sunk into a fog. She looked at the man who was leading her to one of the few buildings that wasn't burning. Heavy brows over deep-set eyes, a prominent nose and wide mouth. Rain plastered his hair to his head and dripped off his ears. His face was pleasant, but not overly handsome. Every movement he made seemed slow, deliberate. Like he thought before he acted. He seemed like he was someone who was used to being in charge.
He gave her a small smile and guided her through the door. He released her arm when she found a spot along the wall between a woman and a young man. She slid down the wall. Confusion and fear settled like an iron shroud over her.
Muffled sobs, whispers and a distant hum droned in her ears. Spots danced in her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut then opened them. Her periphery grew dark and her heart raced. Anxiety tightened her chest making it difficult to breathe. Everything in her wanted to run. A hazy face appeared, smiling blue eyes, a dimpled chin.
Remiel.
She tried to focus on him and push the fear away, but everything faded to black.