Page 82 of The Soul of the Dragon

Despite that, I didn’t love her idea to run. The sooner we got out of here, the better. I just didn’t like this not knowing where the hell we were going. I took off after her, jumping over decayed trees and other debris, some of which reminded me of human bones.

A shiver worked down my spine. I needed to catch up with her now. I pushed harder. She couldn’t haven’t gotten far, but suddenly we were enveloped in mists with visibility knocked down by half.

Dammit!

“Kitra!” I called out, while moving faster in the direction she’d gone. I was definitely adding a tick or two on her tally of punishments. It was the least she deserved for scaring the hell out of me.

The sounds behind me increased, indicating that whoever followed had also began running and they really didn’t care about hiding anymore.

Finally I saw her figure in the distance. The red dress the only thing I could make out in this mess. Thank fuck I didn’t get the black one. I caught up with her in a half dozen more strides and grabbed her arm to stop her.

“What are you doing?” she gasped, her breaths sawing heavy in and out of her lungs as she tried to catch her breath.

“We have to stay together,” I growled, struggling to maintain a calm I didn’t feel at all.

“You were right behind me.”

“The mist. It’s moved in thick and making it difficult to see.”

“That’s not mist.” Her voice went ice cold as she glanced around us. “We need to move.”

I wanted to ask what she meant, but it wasn’t as important as us getting the hell out of this Goddess forsaken forest. What kind of insane magic created a place so dark and dangerous?

This time I grabbed her arm and we ran together. If we were fleeing from the boogeyman to only run into the arms of our enemies, then we would do it together.

Once again I could feel the pressure of the forest creatures no matter how quickly we moved.But the instinct of danger prickled at my skin from every direction. It took everything I had to keep the dragon at bay. He wanted nothing more than to fly his mate out of danger and I couldn’t blame him.

However, a poison dart now and we’d be done. The only shot we had at making it to this castle came from our head start through the alternate portal. I had no doubt that by now the King’s guard and Magnus knew we were here.

Kitra squeezed my hand, and her fear and strength rippled through me. Goddess help me. This woman.

“The edge of the forest is just ahead. One hundred feet or so.”

I didn’t know how she knew that considering our hampered view, but I trusted her and her knowledge.

“We need to change direction. Go in at an angle. Just in case.”

She nodded and I redirected us, it would cost us several more minutes in this place, but my gut told me it was the right thing to do. Up ahead was too quiet. The creatures chasing us were trying to mask that fact, but I’d seen through it.

Finally, I could see the proverbial and literal light at the end of the tunnel. We were emerging from the darkness. Only a few feet more, and we’d be out of this fucking nightmare.

Kitra ran into the light, and I—

My body jerked backwards, and my grip on her loosened. She turned.

“No!” she screamed.

I tried to yell at her to keep going, but I couldn’t breathe let alone speak. I grabbed at whatever had wrapped around my throat and found nothing.

“Isaac. Keep going. Fight it. You only have to step into the light.”

Her words came to me through a thick fog, but I couldn’t fight against the tight hold keeping me in place. I lifted my arm and waved at her to keep going. Praying that she didn’t try to help me.

Of course she didn’t listen. She started to run in my direction, heading back into the darkness. No! I tried to scream at her. Warn her. But the grip on my throat had completely cut off my breath. Even my dragon seemed to be affected. I couldn’t call on him.

“Hold on. I’m coming,” she screamed, grabbing at her bow as if it could help us against a mystical being.

One step away from the darkness and she froze with a jerk. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth opened in shock. My heart seized, as she turned in slow motion and fell face first onto the ground, an arrow sticking out of her back.

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