Page 47 of Stars in Aura

After all these years.

She shuddered, reliving the fight.

She’d recognized some faces among the astral hunters of Sacra she’d just obliterated.

Sorin, Seyrith, and even Ysaelis.

Accompanied by a host of new warriors she had never seen that had descended upon her like the wrath of the heavens.

Their obsidian armor and supernova eyes were searing reminders of the past she’d tried to outrun.

Though she sent up a Sacran prayer for their souls that she had taken, she had no regrets, for they had been out to hunt her, perhaps to the death.

How many more would come?

How long until her sins caught up to her and engulfed her?

Issa forced herself to focus on the present, then sighed as she attempted to ignore the bristling man by her side, and his scorching silver eyes filled with suspicion.

She put one foot before the other as the jungle around them pulsed with life.

The canopy stretched impossibly high, thick, gnarled trunks twisting into the sky. Their massive violet leaves filtered the dying radiance into scattered beams of deep indigo.

Bioluminescent vines encircled the bark, pulsing with soft blue light, illuminating the path in eerie, shifting glows.

The flora here was alive in ways that defied normal biology.

Luminescent spores drifted through the air, compact floating orbs that reacted to movement and altered color when they detected a foreign entity.

The distant howl of a predator rumbled through the jungle, echoing against the towering trees.

Small, sleek creatures with emerald-hued fur and six legs darted between the undergrowth, their luminous eyes flashing as they slunk into the shadows.

Through it all, she sensed Ki’Remi’s gaze sweeping the terrain, an ever-watchful presence that flickered in the periphery of her senses.

Always vigilant. Always calculating.

The man was freakin’ intense as the scorch of his stare bored into her back.

She fought not to sweat under his glare’s heavy, unwavering heat.

He wanted answers, and given his ruthless, relentless spirit, he would get them.

Just not now.

So far, the thick jungle had dampened any radio signals, but now static buzzed through their helmets out of the blue.

Issa glanced at Ki’Remi and found his eyes on her. ‘Got that?’

She nodded.

‘Juno, you read me?’ Ki’Remi rasped.

‘Sir, I do.’

‘Status?’

The medic’s voice was taut with tension. ‘Klash is still down, but I’m worried about Bear. I can’t stem his bleeding.’

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