Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
I didn’t even feel the impact.
This time?
I shook my head. It didn’t matter. I was free. I picked up my pace, breaking out into a run.
“Open the gates!” a voice shouted from behind me. “Now.”
A deep voice brimming with authority. One accustomed to giving commands and being obeyed.
A familiar one.
An important one.
The cork shoved deep into the neck of the vessel loosened. I started to slow down.
Ahead, the gates swung open, and bodies scattered. The urge to give chase, to hunt them down, hit me, but the desire to run was greater.
So, I did.
I ran.
I passed the gates and the different scents. I sprinted down the road, my ears twitching as I processed the sounds around me. Leaves rustled, shaken by the breeze. Farther up, near the starlight, wings beat the air. But closer, I heard the rush of water over rocks. I followed that sound, veering off the road. A channel of water came into view, and on the other side, a forest. There. I wanted to be there.
Steering clear of the crimson-and-silver flowers, taller grass grazed the sides of my stomach. I neared the river and eyed the churning water, searching for a way across. I found it in a series of rocks jutting from the surface. I dashed down the riverbank, my paws sinking into the softer, damp ground. Reaching the edge, I jumped, landing on a slick rock and sliding an inch or two. Cold water lapped at my legs and dampened my tail. Inching to the edge, I sank down and batted at the flying droplets until I focused on my clawed paw.
In the starlight, I could see that the fur appeared silver, but when the breeze ruffled the strands, I saw the gold underneath.
Sound caught my attention, and I flattened my ears. It was barely audible over the babbling of the water, but I heard something on all fours. Something running. Something larger than me.
I leapt to the next boulder and then the third before making the longer jump.
Water splashed, soaking my lower body as I landed in the shallow water near the riverbank. Making my way onto dry land, I shook the water from my fur and then took off once more.
I ran through the trees, leaping over rocks and fallen limbs. I ran straight into the thick darkness of the deeper forest, dashing between the trunks. I picked up different scents as I ran. Earthy tones. Floral notes of blossoming flowers. The hint of rain and sea salt. I ran right and then left.
I ran and ran, my taut muscles stretching and burning. Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes became hours. And still, I ran, my lungs taking in deep, filling breaths as the sky through the trees lightened to a deep violet-blue. I kept running, stopping every so often to inspect a small mound of rocks or investigate a strange scent.
A cluster of small, white-petaled flowers caught my eye. I sank down on my belly before them. They were some sort of daisy. My tail swished over the mossy forest floor as my ears picked up the sound of buzzing. Insects. I tracked a small, black bug hopping from petal to petal—
A different sound reached me. Heavier, repetitive thuds.
I rose, darting around the flowers. I ran, enjoying the feel of the wind in my fur, the air in my lungs, and the dirt beneath my paws. Eventually, the trees thinned, and the scent of the sea grew stronger. I slowed, crossing a meadow of thin reeds taller than me. The land dipped and then rose again as the sky above continued to lighten. I rushed up the hill, spotting a faint mist at the top—
Dirt crumbled under my feet. Hissing, I scrambled back from the edge of a cliff—a bluff. Staying on much more stable ground, I sank low to the ground and squinted. Through the mist, I saw blue.
A new scent reached me. I swung around, tracking the movement of the reeds several yards away. I prowled to the left. The stalks shuddered, foot by foot.
Throwing myself to the side, I dug into the ground and ran again, racing along the bluff. I picked up speed. It didn’t feel like I even touched the ground. I ran until the mist seeped over the cliff, forcing me back a few feet and into the reeds. Then I kept running, bursting from the reeds and onto a road.
A wall of thick, swirling mist rose in front of me. I skidded, kicking up loose dirt. The thick hairs all over my body stood on end as I eyed the mist. I knew this place.
I crept along the barrier, picking up the sound of something else in the reeds, moving closer. My muscles tensed. I’d been here before. This was a gateway to the mortal realm, to my…