Page 5 of Up from the Earth

Faster, Cerri. You have to move faster.

I pushed myself harder, giving everything I had to the demands of my legs. I needed to hurry. Ineededto. Frigid air sliced across my skin, causing goosebumps to ripple to the surface. I could feel every inch of my skin, and the chilled wind coated me like water.

A twig jabbed into the arch of my foot. I ignored it, not caring for the sharp stick and stones that bit into my bare feet. I could sense it, my destination; it was just ahead. That pull was so strong in my bones—intense and all-consuming. I was so close.

Hurry, little bloom. I’m right behind you, and I can taste your fear…your excitement.

My steps faltered as the words knifed into my mind. I knew that voice—or lack thereof. I knew what was speaking into my mind. I’d heard it before.

The boom of my pulse screamed in my ears, and I just kept running. The forest whipped by me in a blur of color and smells. I could see the bright red tops of small mushrooms peeking out of the moss. Deep maroon berries clung to the tips of bramble branches. Those sharp points snatched at my nightgown, creating tiny nicks in my flesh.

Thoughts, both alien and familiar, washed over my mind, coloring it in shades of black and green. I could hear them rattling around inside my head.

Run, run, run. I will catch you. I will always catch you.

My skin hummed, electric and powerful. The tips of my breasts ached for the way my nipples hardened against the cold…against the voice.

That’s it, Cerri. Feed me your darkness.

All I could do was run. All I wanted to do was stop and turn around, face whatever presence loomed behind me. But the prospect was terrifying. Any yet…my sprinting slowed, if only slightly, and I snuck a glance back over my shoulder.

Massive, as big as the trees and bigger. Darkest black, and one with the shadows uniting the spaces between trunks. What I saw couldn’t possibly be real, except…I had no choice but to believe it.

A wolf.

Fur made of the stuff between the stars, the creature towered over the canopy, and yet it was all I could see when I looked back: only the wolf and its glowing red eyes. The glint of his gleaming fangs was stark white against the black, and I could feel his shadow fall over my face, the silhouettes of his teeth threatening to bite down around my eye.

Hurry up, little bloom. You must make it to the arch. And oh, how my mouth waters.

The arch. Yes, I remembered it. I would know it anywhere. Each night, visions of the stone creation framed in the multi-colored trunks of trees would haunt me. A winding path of russet brown earth appeared before my feet as I turned back around. I had to follow it.

Ihadto make it to the arch.

My throat was impossibly tight as I tried to suck in lungfuls of heavy air. The stuff was thick with the magic of these woods, copper and lavender dancing on my tongue with each desperate inhale. Everything ached from the furious work put into every step. My own heartbeat was too loud, my body a playground for the frenetic craving that pulsed within the leaves and pine needles of this ancient forest.

And then there it was—the gateway.

I reached out, long strands of gray-black shade stretching over my arm. The shadows of the ferns tattooed themselves on my flesh; the earth stained the soles of my feet.

Grrrrrrr!

The growl hollered through the somehow echoing forest, through my bones. I could feel the hot breath of the wolf on my skin, everywhere and gripping me as tight as any fist. Thunderous steps rocked the earth, nearly knocking me to my knees. The enormous creature barreled down, heading straight for me and closing the distance.

Panic fisted my heart, making breathing and swallowing down my terror almost impossible. Lightning strikes of fear zinged through my spine, and I shook from head to foot. I fell. The ground rose up to meet me hard.

No! Get up, Cerri.

I forced myself to my feet, clawing through the soft earth, which smelled of home and an unnamed place beyond. My legs only worked because I demanded them to, and I fought against the growing invisible weight on my back to move forward.

The wolf is hungry, little bloom….so veryhungry.

The high-pitched wail that leaped from my lungs filled the forest, cracking through the bark and shattering the ancient quiet. The voice and the furious beating of my heart were all that I could hear.

And I ran.

I ran until my feet bled. I ran until my thighs ached for release. I ran until the stone arch was beneath my numb fingers, and I threw myself into the wavering black that separated where I was from what lay beyond—without looking back.

Three

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