Disclaimer: I own nothing

The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it snaps everything into perspective. Take right now for instance:

Dear Lord, save me!

I gasped for air and forced my legs to keep propelling me forward. Even the adrenaline coursing through my veins couldn't stop my legs from tiring, but I continued to run.

My brain felt as if it were about to explode. I ignored the throbbing pain in my head and fixated my attention back onto the path I was traveling on. The only important thing now was to escape.

Yes, to escape those wretched Erasers that were on my tail.

Escape and to lead them away from my family.

The briars that scratched and tore my skin? Whatever. The stinging pain I felt as my feet were scraped raw? Yawn. The only thing important was escape.

Please legs don't let me down now! You are stronger than anything, faster than anything, greater than anything. Kick it into gear!

Though I tried to trick myself, I was still worried. I had never been so far from the School before and I had not a clue where I was going.

I stopped for a moment and let my eyes scan anxiously in the half light. The noise was gone. The Erasers were gone.

Think again.

Like an explosion, I could hear the deafening snarls and barks of the bloodhounds the Erasers used. They crashed through the underbrush and barreled towards me. I shrieked and ran blindly away from them.

It seemed as if I had finally lost them. I sighed in relief and wiped off the beads of sweat that were traveling down my forehead, though I refused to slacken my pace.

Freedom!

And once again, think again.

I skidded to a halt. I now realized that I had inadvertently driven myself onto a cliff. Way to go Court. I gasped and felt my feet backpedaling away from the edge.

I slowly extended my neck forward to see how far the drop was.

My luck, it seemed like a dizzying 300 foot drop into the swirling black torrent of the rapids of a river. How delightful.

I heard faint chuckles behind me. Enraged, I swerved around.

An endless sea of Erasers had formed a circle around me. Each Eraser was smiling wickedly while cocking their pistols and struggling to restrain the rabid beasts at the ends of their leashes. Even the hounds seemed to be smirking as they gnashed their yellow fangs at me. I squirmed as an all too human shudder traveled down my spine.

"What's it gonna be Court?" One Eraser jeered.

The voice seemed painfully familiar, but the shadows masked the Eraser's face so I couldn't make out who it was.

Though, the Eraser did have a point. It was either a plummet off of a sheer face of a cliff and into bone crushing rapids or to stay and be torn apart by the Erasers and their pets. It was like picking either death or death. Either way, both options sucked.

I could see the Erasers were growing impatient and they began to step forward.

I had to think quickly. I glanced at the two indentations on my back and that's when the idea came to me.

"Well?" The lead Eraser growled.

I smirked and answered, "Neither!"

In a shocking instant, I had already jumped off the side of the cliff.

I took a deep breath and then quickly unfolded my wings.

I winced as I was jerked roughly upward and the air was knocked out of me. Note to self: Never unfold your wings too quickly.

The pain was nothing compared to the excitement of flying. My wings spread about fourteen feet across and rode the air like an ocean current.

I forced my wings down with all my strength then pulled them up and then repeated the action until I was a good thirty feet up in the air.

One of the Erasers howled in fury and held his gun up. He aimed at me and I saw a red dot appear on the torn fabric of my night shirt. I smiled and veered sharply due west. There was no way I was dying today.

My smirk grew bigger as I heard them yowl in frustration. I imagined their hate crazed eyes blinded by the sun and chuckled.

No, I'm not going today.

I hope you like it! This and the next chapter are kind of like the book but the 4th one is different