Chapter 51 Dead
ZORA
I stood frozen for a few seconds paralyzed with fear, and my heart pounded loudly against my chest as I became hyper aware of my surroundings.
I contemplated making a run for it, but immediately decided against it as I'd be doing myself more harm than good, it was still early and so the moon had yet to leave the night sky fully.
With slow uncertain steps, I decided to proceed forward, I couldn't let the person know that I knew they were behind me, plus I needed more time to think of a way out of this.
My feet wobbled a couple of times but I continued forward regardless, my mind raced for what to do, I knew I couldn't take on a fight if the person decides to get violent, I'd loose miserably.
By now, cold sweat had begun to stream down my neck as my palm got all sweaty and clammy.
Craa..aak
The snap of another dried up twig rang out like a bell in the morning silence of the forest followed by a soft curse by the stranger.
They probably hadn't expected to step on another branch so soon. My hand began to tremble now, and I couldn't continue like this anymore. I had to escape and fast.
The footsteps grew louder all of a sudden, and a few extra twigs were snapped under their weight as they quickened their pace. The person must have given up on catching me off guard as I they must have figured out that I knew.
I increased my pace a little, hoping to create some distance, but as soon as whoever was behind me noticed, the person broke out into a run. Without a second thought, I screamed out of terror and began to run. My body was trembling as my legs pushed itself forward one after the other as fast as it could.
My heartbeat was far louder than my footsteps, and tears began to form in my eyes, blurring my sight and causing me to stumble a lot.
“Please, leave me alone!” I screamed to whoever it was.
I couldn't dare to look back.
A set of heavy breathing was drawing closer. It was apparent that they were a lot faster than I was.
Of course! Everyone was a normal wolf here but me. Low hanging tree branches wiped at my face and arms brutally as I ran, my legs ached terribly from exhaustion. I wasn't sure how long I could keep this up, I was growing weaker by the seconds.
Due to the darkness and blurry visibility, thanks to my tears, I didn't see the protruding thick root on the floor, and my foot got caught in it.
I screamed in excruciating pain as my foot made a sickening noise. The pain was unbearable as I fell face flat onto the floor.
I raised my head up disregarding the dirt that plastered my cheeks and strained my eyes to see the outline of my feet, I couldn't see it properly but I could tell it was in a position it was never meant to be.
Bile rose up to my throat, and I almost threw up, I raised my head even higher in time to see the silhouette of the person draw even closer.
Without wasting any more time, I summoned the little strength I had left and managed to lift my body up with the help of a tree nearby. I was out of breath, and my lungs were burning, but I couldn't relent, not now.
Whatever had caused them to come at me in the morning and still haven't said anything was far worse than what I was experiencing right now.
I had barely limped two steps forward when the person slammed right into me, throwing me back to the dirt filled ground. My head slammed against a rock, and a loud ringing sound pierced my head.
I screamed in pain.
“P— please, what do you want?”
“Your life” came the reply of voice that I knew would never leave my head. “You don't belong here and never will.”
With that, Jayna turned me around roughly to face her as she was on top of me, pinning me down with her body, now strong beyond what I can tolerate due to her wolf strength. I could barely make out her face, but I know her only intent towards me was devilish. But just how devilish?
Her hair dangled about her face, shadowing her expression.
I didn't see her move but suddenly, my neck began to feel tighter, I was finding it hard to breathe, and that's when I realized she was strangling me, cutting off air flow to my lungs. I couldn't scream. My mind was beginning to grow numb, my consciousness waned, and I began to lose the feeling of my body.
“No…” I gasped out with the last of my last strength in an attempt to persuade her to stop before she killed me.
Like drinking a hot tea on a winter night, I began to feel warm, too warm.
I could no longer feel the pressure on my neck, my head and mind began to feel much clearer, sharp even.
Slowly, I opened my eyes to the most confusing sight ever.
Her arms were still wrapped around my neck, but I felt no pain. I noticed she wasn't even moving anymore.
She just stared at me.
The cruel grin she wore when she began strangling me was clear now, but the expression was frozen, almost like time itself had stopped flowing. That's when the corner of my eyes caught something.
It glowed.
With just little effort, I was able to push her hands a bit, allowing my neck some space to turn properly.
Enough to see something glowing in a tree nearby. It was a silvery light in particles.
It looked like it was made of liquid as it flowed through the trunks, into the branches, and down the trunk once more.
Some particles seemed to be escaping, causing the liquid light to deem a little.
The tree itself was in a bad shape as it had only a few leaves left on its branches.
I looked around and noticed it wasn't the only tree in such condition. Some were even worse than the one I saw first, while others had no silvery liquid light at all. Those trees were entirely dead, with no leaves on them. What was I seeing?
I looked back at Jayna and noticed, for the first time, the same liquid light in her.
It flowed through her entire body and was even more vibrant and bright than others.
I could see it right through her skin.
I was more confused than I've ever been, not only that, it was also in the air though in smaller quantity,
Still present nonetheless.
Out of curiosity I lifted my arm up to touch one of the glowing particles, and watched as my hand flew right through it, but the period my hand was in sync with it, it felt very warm, like a warm blanket wrap around a body on a cold day.
I noticed how other particles began to drift around my hand.
Slowly, at first, until they gained momentum.
I noticed the same light began to flow out Jayna and wrap around my lifted hand.
I had no idea what was going on and could only stare.
Within a few seconds, the entire light particles were pulled out of her and were now rotating around my hand as if it was some sort of center of gravity.
It sped at an insanely crazy speed till it stopped all of a sudden, grew warmer for a second, and then burst out in a million more floating particles, diffusing back into the atmosphere.
Before I could make sense of what had just happened, I felt something heavy drop on me.
It was Jayna.
Somehow, time seemed to have resumed, but now she wasn't strangling me anymore. She just laid there on top of me, unmoving.
Her body not only felt heavy but strangely cold, making me miss the warm light suddenly.
I groaned as I shoved her slowly off me.
Had she fainted? Maybe she passed out due to exhaustion from the pursuit. I rose up quickly from beside her and scrambled to create some distance between us in case she woke up anytime soon.
I watched her for a minute and realized something was wrong.
Her chest was still, and I couldn't hear the faint heartbeat.
I approached her cautiously.
She laid there unmoving, her eyes wide open with that same expression on her face.
Chills ran down my spine as I watched her, expecting her to suddenly jump on me.
Nothing happened.
I leaned lower, placing my ear closer to her chest against my better judgment.
A shrill scream escaped my lips, I scramble back in my butt, my heart beating wildly fast.
Her heart wasn’t beating.
Her face was pale, and her lips were already bluish.
Jayna was dead.