Chapter 16

One foot in front of the other.

She ran. Just like she had the day she met him, just like the day she'd first killed that uugari. She flew across the terrain, not daring to slow or stop, running past plums of steam and weaving around the giant rocks in hopes of disappearing from Draka's sight. Her heart hammered in her chest, sweat running down her chest and back, her legs and lungs burning.

She couldn't run forever. She needed to find a place to hide. She climbed down a set of rocks and ran ahead. From a distance, she could only see more towering rocks, several on their side or broken in half. There had to be other caves nearby, maybe around the mounds and sides of the boulders. But she wasn't going to have time to look around at all of them. She had to hope she'd spot something promising as she went by.

Far above, coming down from the northwest, was a thick layer of clouds, a storm threatening snow. She even saw little flashes of lightning within. If she was able to hide once that hit, it would give her more cover.

She heard something crack behind her, like rocks falling. Her heart leapt and she made the mistake of looking back behind her.

No sign. Not yet. But he had to be on her trail already.

She turned back to focus in front of her, then yelped out in surprise, sliding to a halt as she came to a small dip in the hillside, almost throwing herself off. She came down on her ass and dug her feet in so she didn't fall.

Shit.

She was forced to slow in order to carefully make her way down. Not good. She gripped one rock after the other, taking her time even though it pained her to do so, but she couldn't afford to get hurt. That would only slow her down more.

At the bottom, she took off again, but at a much slower rate. It hurt to breathe, and she was already beginning to tire. Now was a time to start looking to hide.

No signs of caves still but a few of the towering rocks were broken in some places. As she jogged past, she weaved around one of them and placed her back to one side.

Catching her breath, she looked around.

Something. Anything. There had to be somewhere…

She scanned the area, then paused on a set of rocks across the other side. She saw one smaller rock leaning low against a thick, stumpy boulder which had a piece missing on one side, making a shallow alcove.

It would have to do.

Taking a few more deep breaths, she counted to three, then bolted from the shadow of the rock, rushing across a small clearing. Once she got to the leaning rock, she climbed her way up, almost slipping halfway. Slowly, she dug her foot in and pulled herself up, straining her muscles until she got to the end between the rock and the boulder. She lifted herself into the little alcove and pressed herself to the rock wall. She flung off her pack and shoved it as far back as she could before lying flat on the cold rock. She tried to slow her breath while she listened, waiting to hear any sign of him, fearing he might have seen her cut across the clearing.

Several minutes passed and nothing. By now he would have come and found her.

She closed her eyes, her pulse in her ears, her feet throbbing. No, he hadn't seen her, not yet. She could take a moment here, but she couldn't stay. She couldn't stay in one place, or he'd find her, likely catching her scent on the wind.

But once the storm came, it would be harder for him to track her. And it was coming in fast.

She opened her eyes and watched the sky, watched as the clouds slipped over the sun, watched everything darken and grow quiet.

There she waited. Waited for the storm to give her cover. To give her a chance.

It was only a matter of time.