Kai sprinted on all fours across the canyon floor, kicking up dust behind him. He breathed in and out, only concentrating on the road ahead of him, not looking back, and he counted the times his feet and his talons hit the dust.
He kept his ears and eyes open, using them as much as he could to track his family. The shouts were getting louder, and it was very obvious they were Turan. Their screeches and yells were so much different than a human's.
Moving faster, Kai felt himself speed up, and the wind began hitting his face, his heart beating faster. Kai let out a roar.
Then suddenly something clicked. It seemed to connect to something, something that had been missing a long time. It forced Kai to run faster, to roar, to let anger and adrenaline flow through him. It overtook him, carried him through the canyon at a speed he didn't know he could master. Everything ran by quickly, his heart beating faster. All he focused on was running, sprinting, breathing. Running. Sprinting. Breathing.
And then Kai was flying. Soaring across the dirt, a cloud forming behind him.
He was coming.
Jay's hand slipped, and he quickly regained balance. Nya, who was ahead of him, looked down. "You okay?" she called, but all Jay could do was nod.
By now they were a little ways off from the yelping and screaming Turans, cheering, hoping for them to fall. It wasn't hard to tell some of them had already bet on which one of them was going to die first.
Nya worked hard, and felt sweat form and run down her forehead. She hoped dearly it would not reach her fingers, and she would slip. That was all that it would take.
She anchored her feet into the footholds, trying to find something stable. She remembered that day on the cliff, with Jay, when she touched the ice for the first time. It was nailed into her mind, simply refusing to let go.
Jay looked up at her, worried. He too was beginning to sweat, to pant, to quit. It was a familiar feeling while climbing, and something he felt more than several times.
"Are you okay?" Nya asked once again, and Jay managed to call, "Fine. Let's go. We can do this."
Nya was not assured. She could hear clearly his heavy breaths and uncertainty in his voice, and it discouraged her.
What if they didn't make it to the top of the cliff?
Cole woke up with a jolt, choking on dust that had entered his mouth. His voice echoed, and the boy stopped immediately.
Where was he?
Forcing his legs to work, he got up. It was pitch black, with no sign of light anywhere. No sign of life.
"Hello?" he called, feeling with his hands around the blackness, hoping to catch something. "Hello? Anyone? Jay? Nya? Zane?"
No answer. Cole kept his hands out, searching, but found nothing.
"Looking for someone?"
"Ah!" Cole yelped, and fell backwards on rock ground. "Who said that? Show yourself!"
"Well it's too dark to do that." the voice replied. "Since you humans can't see in the dark."
"You're a Turan!" Cole exclaimed, stumbling back. "Who are you?"
"I'm unimportant, Cole." the voice said. "But you are not. You can do something. You have a purpose for our tribe."
Suddenly Cole felt hands on him, fur brushing his skin, hands over his mouth, and voices all around him. The hands were hitting him, taloned feet scratching and kicking him. Cole fell to the floor.
"You're smart. You're observant. And all you want is to be part of the action."
"Stop!" he said. "Please!"
"No!" the voice replied. "You are ours now. And you will help us find your friend Zane. He's escaped. You are our hope of finding that boy, and you are going to help us."
Fear was beginning to get the better of him. He should have never escaped. He should have never left them behind. What would Nya think?
Zane stumbled along in the forest, keeping eyes and ears open for any creatures to capture him again.
He groaned, clutching his shoulder, walking and limping past trees and only focusing on the journey ahead. All he could think about was getting away. Leaving. Abandoning.
He couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't keep up this act that he could do this. He couldn't. He knew from the beginning when the Turan first came to the Mayor's mansion, much earlier. When the door rattled, when the five hash marks appeared on that wooden door.
Zane felt terrible, terrible for leaving Nya. For giving up, something she would never do. He looked up to her, she inspired him. She became his girlfriend, and now how does Zane repay her? Leaving this to them.
He let a few tears fall freely, and continued to stumble. To walk.
Then he realized he no longer cared what happened to him. A Turan could just as well leap out of the bushes and slash a sword through his chest. A hole could appear in front of him, and make him fall through to his death. A sword could turn up in his hand, and Zane would...
What would he do?
Zane pondered this. He fingered his sheathed knife, a weapon that he had acquired, and thought.
If he didn't care, if he was this troubled, why not do it? Nya would be mad at him for escaping and abandoning them anyway. Jay wouldn't care. Cole is too young to understand. And Kai...well...isn't one of them anymore.
Zane pulled out his knife.
And he unsheathed it.
He stared at it's gleaming blade, shining though the Moon wasn't out. It's handle felt rough in the boy's hands, but comfortable. Zane touched the blade. It was sharp, and a small pinprick of blood appeared on his index finger. Zane quickly wiped the finger on his clothes.
How would it feel if that blade went through his chest? His stomach, at that moment? What would it sound like? What would the Turan find?
What would Nya think?