~RUNE
This was insane.
My heart was raging hard.
My chest was burning.
It felt as if I would come ablaze if I didn’t stop running any time soon.
I needed to catch my breath.
I needed to think of what my next move would be because running blindly was not going to get me anywhere.
I still couldn’t understand why Uriel was making me run.
I was about to stop when I heard a loud roar echo through the woods from somewhere behind me.
My body went cold instantly and I saw the way the forest around me began to darken, almost as if it was getting consumed— overtaken by complete darkness.
Was this the true power of the Orin?
The power that had made them terrifying for centuries?
My entire body started trembling at this point as I felt the temperature drop way too fast.
Every idea I had earlier of stopping to catch my breath died away.
I needed to keep moving.
I had to survive.
Perhaps this could be my ticket out.
What if I made it far away?
What if I found refuge in a sanctuary?
What if I could be free and leave all of this behind?
Suddenly, my left foot got stuck on a tree trunk that had snaked out of the ground.
It sent me off balance and I crashed hard to the floor.
A loud yelp escaped my lips as my body made contact with the ground.
I felt the tear of my skin against a sharp thorn and I didn’t have to think twice before I felt liquid exiting the cut.
I looked at it in horror.
Blood.
My heart sank to the deepest part of my core as the cold around me intensified.
I rose to my feet immediately and was about to resume running when a dark void suddenly flashed into existence before me.
I gasped and that was when Uriel materialized into place.
My eyes went wide with shock.
“Got you,” he whispered coldly as a dangerously dark smirk spread across his lips.
The sudden and high fear I felt made me change course too swiftly.
I turned in the other direction so fast that it surprised even myself and I tried to make a run for it.
My breath was out loud against the air and I was already believing I could make it when—
Uriel did his Orin trick again.
He materialized right in front of me, blocking off my path.
“Aah!” I screamed as I fell back and he instantly charged at me.
“You’re dead.”
And before another sound could leave my lips, he pushed me hard to the ground, against a tree and grabbed me by the neck.
He’s about to kill me!
Panic took over my heart, my fear reaching levels I never thought possible.
I shot my hands up at his hand in an attempt to break free.
But they remained nothing but pointless struggles against his hold.
His eyes blazed alive as he held me in place, almost as if he was actually considering going for the kill.
This is bad.
This is really bad.
I could no longer breathe.
My vision was beginning to blur and tears began to fill my eyes.
Was this how I would die?
After fighting so hard to survive?
As if he had read my mind, he finally let me go and pulled away, shaking his head in disappointment.
I took the time to regain my breath, coughing so hard that I was sure the entire forest heard me.
My tears came free, rolling down my cheeks uncontrollably. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
My body was still trembling as I had not yet recovered from whatever this was.
Yet who was I to question him?
I was too weak to stand up so I remained on the ground, resting against the tree helplessly.
That was when I dared to look up at him and he watched me from beneath his nose.
“You are weak, you stand no chance at surviving walking the Path of the Veil,” he finally said.
I stiffened.
Did he make me run just to test my survival chances?
Perhaps it was finally time to brave asking him the question.
So I released a breath before speaking.
“Everyone keeps expecting things from me… Yet no one has explained to me what it is about,” I muttered in a small shaky voice.
Uriel didn’t speak.
He only watched me with a dark expression for a while before he finally broke the silence.
“The Calling of Orakis is a festival that is sacred and ancient to the Orin. The Path of the Veil is one of the ceremonies that must take place that day.”
I released a shaky breath as I listened to him speak.
I was finally going to know what this festival was all about.
“Orin women are cast out into the sacred woods in search of Moonstones, while the men are sent out to hunt them,” he revealed.
I widened my eyes as I started to see the pattern.
The chase we just did, that was just a little taste of what the festival was.
“Any woman caught without a Moonstone is left at the mercy of whomever catches her. He can do to her whatever he pleases; Claim her, kill her or whatever dark thoughts he might have.”
My already wide eyes grew larger.
What type of sick tradition was this?
The women were basically prey at the hands of the men!
“The Moonstone gives you immunity and protection from the men until you leave the forest safely with it in your hands. And if you can’t find any Moonstones, you’ll have to fight your way out till the end of the woods.”
My body resumed its violent tremors.
None of this made sense to me.
“The Moonstones are the hardest to find so most women depend on fighting their way through, honing their speed in order to leave the forest as fast as possible,” then he stopped and looked at me.
“After hearing all of this, do you think you stand a chance at surviving the Path of the Veil?”
What if the hunter becomes the prey?