That night, I hugged Xander tightly as tears dampened both our cheeks.
* * *
Rough grass,brittle from too much sun and not enough rain, pricked the bottoms of my bare feet as I ran through the forest. Blackened twigs snapped beneath me, and a dozen tiny cuts bled on my face and arms as I ducked under branches and hurried through clusters of trees. My heart pounded and my lungs were tight, unable to get sufficient amounts of air, as I moved as fast as I could.
My muscles burned, and my entire body ached. Hours had passed since I first got here, wherever that was, but I kept running. My dress was torn and covered in mud from when I’d waded through the small stream crossing the river, thinking it would stop them.
It did not.
The sound of their pursuit chilled me to my bones.
They were getting closer. Leaves crunched and branches cracked as they drew near. The well within me was dry, having long since been depleted. Even my closeness to the earth was not helping my magic.
I pulled on the mating bond for the hundredth time, but there was no response. There wasn’t anything at all except an undercurrent of overwhelming pain and grief. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had seen Xander.
Where was my mate?
A field was up ahead. A break from this deadly forest.
My feet pounded, and I ran for it.
Maybe I could find a place to rest. Maybe my magic could replenish.
Maybe…
“Keep running, little elf,” a female voice mocked from behind me. It was deep—far deeper than was normal—and tinged with echoes of evil and violence. “You and your dragon are too late. No one can stop me. The balance is shattered beyond repair. Darkness is here. Power will be mine. Give into me, and I might let you live.”
Running around a tree, my heart drummed a frenzied beat, and my legs burned as I vaulted over a log. My feet tripped as I landed, and I stumbled into the field.
“Saena? Is that you?” My hands landed on my thighs, and I gasped for air as my pursuer finally came into view. Her long black hair was woven in a loose braid to her waist, but unlike me, she didn’t seem winded at all. “Xander’s so worried about you. He doesn’t know where you are—”
“Saena is no longer… available.” The female cackled, stepping out into the field. Black, lifeless eyes stared at me.
Dread pooled in my stomach. This felt wrong. Suddenly, the field wasn’t so appealing anymore.
That feeling only intensified as Saena tilted her head in a distinctly animalistic fashion and snarled, “I’m here now.”
Wishing I hadn’t lost my daggers somewhere in the forest, I stumbled away from her. “If you’re not Saena, who are you?”
“You know who I am.” A flash of white filled the air. A blue dragon burst forth in Saena’s place. No. Not a dragon. The draken.
Frigid fear ran through me and chilled my blood. My lungs tightened as fire erupted from the creature’s maw. Grass turned to ash, and I gasped, running away from the scorching heat.
Then the voice echoed in my head.“I’m your worst nightmare.”
I screamed.
* * *
Bolting upright,I hugged my cloak to my chest as I greedily sucked in gulps of air. Bad dream. It was just a bad dream.
Right?
But if it was just a nightmare, why did it feel so real? Why was the scent of smoke and ash burned into my nostrils? Why was my heart racing? If it was a nightmare, why was my stomach churning? If I’d eaten lately, I was certain I would be sick.
Shaken from my first—and hopefully last—encounter with a draken, I forced myself to take long breaths. In and out. Again and again.
It was dark, which wasn’t a surprise considering our surroundings, but low, steady snores came from beside me. Xander was on his back, his arm flung over his head as he slept. I didn’t want to wake him—the gods only knew that he was not getting nearly enough sleep—but I couldn’t sit still.