Page 87 of What Lies Within Blood & Heirs

Satisfied with one last scan, Alora slipped behind the tree and tore off into a choppy sprint. Tripping over her boots as her vision narrowed in and out.

Camp. Her friends—Garrik.Garrik was out there.

She only had to get to them.

They were headed northwest toward Kadamar. Toward the Blackstone Mountains. She only had to work out her position and head southeast. Either that or find her way to the border. Find somewhere to rest and wait. But would Garrik move the army without her?

Trees glitched by as she battled the urge to look back. It would only slow her down and waste time she didn’t have.

She slammed into a tree and fingertips dug into the bark to steady her.

Had they hit her that hard? The wound on her head was dry. The effects should’ve worn off by now. The dizziness, the ache, and numbness in her fingers and toes. The dullness and fog spinning in her mind made it increasingly harder and harder to run, let alone find what she sought.

There had to be a way. The stars. A tree. A rock.Something.

Blinking, she shook her head once to fight off a wave of dizziness. Her eyes finally focused.

There.

Nearly ten feet in front of her. Growing on a boulder was moss.

A wave of hope bubbled in her chest.Thank every single star and Maker of the Skies. Thank her left boot if it had anything todo with it because there was a solid indication of what direction she needed to run.

Alora twisted to the southeast with a determined grit in her jaw and took off running.

Can you hear me?Please!

Shivers ruthlessly pricked down her spine when Garrik still didn’t answer.

Why can’t you hear me!?Frustration wanted to tear her throat apart, but she snuffed out her anger and threw it into what little strength her limbs still held.

She hadn’t run far. She knew that. Following the moon to her right shoulder, her movements were sluggish. Footsteps choppy. The ground moved like she swam against a merciless current, only gaining a few inches an hour.

The blow to the back of her head must’ve been a lot worse than she’d originally thought. What else could it be?

Cold air whispered around her hair, which whipped behind her like the tail of a shooting star. Pounding her footsteps into the leaves, pine needles scattered along the forest as trees flew by. One by one, she veered around them, brushing an aching shoulder or unsuccessfully avoiding cracking a knee when her reaction time couldn’t steady her legs.

Branches sliced into her sweater, bringing the warmth of blood soaking the fabric.

But none of that mattered. She didn’t feel any of it. Forced forward by pure determination and adrenaline.

Her legs refused to stop. Even when she saw a downed tree in front of her, she scrambled straight for it and jumped.

But the ground?—

It wasn’t there.

Unable to hold it in, Alora yelped as she fell. Rolling over rocks that slammed into her ribs, she desperately clawed at trees and bushes.

Alora plummeted further and further down a steep hill as the world attacked her body, catching glimpses of the sky as she was thrown around again and again.

Something was going to break. A leg or arm, so she pulled them into her body, giving up the hope of stopping herself.

Something cracked.

She continued to fall until the world finally stopped.

Alora had slammed into a pillow of grass, barely missing a rock a foot from her head.

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