She trusted it now to warn her, so she kept going.
She dared look up.
The treetops had settled. There was nothing there at all.
Another step.
She was close enough now to see the golden doors, perhaps thirty paces away.
She would yell for help when she was close enough to throw her body against them, to open them wide to the Aviary halls.
She risked two more steps, and nothing followed.
She was going to do this.
She would make it out of here, alive.
‘Go!’urged the whisper.
She was walking faster now, as fast as her tired legs could carry her. In her mind, she dared pray to the gods, if they were even listening. She didn’t know if it was them who had sent the ravens in the woods.
Or maybe it was Ervos, out there in the Ehver. Maybe they were sent by her mother and father, looking down on her from above, even though she never knew them.
Help me,she begged.Please.
Each step, more blood dripped from her nose, leaving a trail of crimson on the leaves.
Step.
Drip.
Something rustled in the trees behind her.
A whimper left her lips.
Step.
Drip.
Something cracked, not twenty yards back.
Step.
Drip.
She was running now, for she swore she could feel the eyes of the beast on her back.
She could sense that it had turned around, that it had followed the scent of her blood … that she was beinghunted.
She was nearly at the doors.
She opened her mouth to shout for help, too afraid to think clearly anymore, when the wind suddenly whispered a word it never had before.
‘Stop.’
A shadow passed over her head.
She heard the scratching of claws, the rustle of leaves as something large leapt from one tree to another.
