Chapter 3 - Endless

You will never be free. Not of me or of the never ending darkness that consumes your soul day after day.

People claim you were born with it, that you have been cursed since the day you first set foot on the land but you and I know different. 

So many years, with the opportunity to rid yourself of me. Chance after chance passed you by and why? Because you didn't want to be alone. Regretting that now aren't you?

Time to face another day Caitlin. Another day with endless running and fear, all that you will experience for the rest of your pitiful life because that's more than you deserve.

Rise and shine.

I bolted upright from my makeshift bed against a tree trunk, startling Star who was prepping a fire to cook breakfast on. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck, soothing the hot flush that flowed through my body. My fists were clenched, my knuckles tight and prominent on the edge of my skin - seeming as if they would break through my skin any moment. My breath came in harsh pants, the huffs appearing in the crisp winter air and vanishing as quick as they appeared. The thoughts that were held at bay during sleep all swamped over me once more, reminding me of my crimes and how much I truly deserved in life.

We'd been running for months now, looking for some sort of area that could work as a make shift base but the hunters were always there. It was irritating, because the powers we obtained could do nothing against their guns and torture weapons, we could only flee. I was tired of running, Star was sick of hiding and we just wanted one week of peace and quiet to train and develop our skills without fear of capture or injury.

'Breakfast or training first?'

Star's quiet voice broke through my thinking, her eyes full of concern to my pale and sweating form. She gestured to the small pile of eggs we had managed to scavenge from a nearby farm, enough to last us a couple of days if we didn't have to run. I shrugged and headed for the clearing, leaving Star to decide for herself whether she was coming with or not. She seemed to have accepted that I didn't like to talk much and despite her efforts to speak about my past she knew very little about me. I threw myself into training and surviving, refusing to think about my past or the ever present threat of the hunters. My skills had improved dramatically over the past months but the range of things I could do seemed to be endless, always requiring refining and expanding. It gave me a sense of purpose in the world that had cast me aside.

Blocking out the sounds of the nature surrounding me, I focused on the small sparks of darkness that danced across my hands, willing them to grow and bend to my will. Darkness didn't like to be tamed but I seemed to be an exception to this rule. I grinned as the darkness swirled in my hands, twisting around my fingers into a ball of pure energy that pulsed and writhed in my hand, begging to escape. I threw it up, watching as it disappeared into the clouds before beginning its plummet back to earth before exploding like a firework, cascading across the sky and floating back down as mere pitch black ashes. Taking a deep breath, I willed all my energy to flow to the surface and centre in my fist. I could feel the darkness flowing through my veins, travelling down and piercing into my skin drawing a hiss of pain from my still form. With a sudden movement I leaped upwards and launched my fist into the ground, watching with grim satisfaction as a shock wave of shadows ripped through the earth with ease.

I walked back to Star again, deciding that nourishment was required if I was going to keep up this level of training for the rest of the day but when I reached where our camp was situated almost everything was gone! Slinking back into the shadows of the forest, I scanned the surroundings looking for my friend only to spot her cowering in the branches of a huge oak tree. I clambered up as silently as I could before signalling to Star that I was here. Her head turned towards me with relief in her eyes, however her hands wouldn't stop shaking and concern filled me as I perched on the branch next to her, looking for the danger that must have spooked her. 

"What's going on? Why are you up here?"

"I saw them Caitlin. They always seem to know where we are and its driving me insane! We already checked for any tracking devices they might have planted on you during your short prison time and my magic is untraceable!"

"What about mine?"

"Yours is the rarest thing I've come across in a long time. A mixture of a shadow mage and a Flip. I doubt even if they could track one side of it that the other side wouldn't affect the readings."

"Shh! There's one there!"

We froze in our debate, barely breathing as one of the hunters came into view. His nose looked crooked and a jagged scar went down the left hand side of his face, presumably from some form of magic accident. His eyes were a cold steely grey, seemingly without emotion as he scanned our disassembled camp looking for some evidence of our presence. Dragging his fingers through the ashes of our extinguished campfire his eyes lit up with some form of delight as he announced to his fellow hunters:

"The ashes are still warm. The elemental and the dark one are nearby. Find them. NOW."

I shivered as his dark voice echoed around our camp, the pounding of footsteps and the distant shouts of men searching ringing in my ears as my fear grew in strength. I gripped Star's hand, trying to find some way to keep her as calm as I looked. Her whole body was shaking and utter horror filled her normally kind eyes, the terror I was experiencing as clear as day in her. I didn't know what we could do, I had no plan of attack or escape and I sure as hell wasn't trying to escape without Star. With all she had done for me there was no way I was going to leave her to face these monsters alone. I grabbed her hand and willed my darkness to flow to the surface, making her watch as shadows flowed out of my hand and into hers as they began to interweave with one another, forming a living bracelet of darkness that wrapped around her wrist, with the inscription 'I will never leave you.'

Her eyes were wide and full of fear as she watched this but as the bracelet fully formed and she read the inscription I saw a hint of determination and hope fill those eyes. She let go of my hand and mouthed 'Where's Fenris?'. A flash of confusion hit me as I stared around the woods, searching for my beloved wolf friend before I spotted him hiding behind a bush about 200m away, his yellow eyes staring up at me as if he was awaiting a command. A plan formed in my mind and I began to whisper to Star, explaining what we had to do whilst Fenris slunk over to underneath our tree. I leaped off of my perch, landing in the woodland with a soft THUMP. I knew the hunters would have heard it and the shouts that echoed around me confirmed my train of thought.

As the hunters approached, I focused on the never ending darkness that filled me day after day, willing it all to rise to the surface and overflow out of me, filling the space around me with black mist that made it impossible to see more than half a metre in front of your face. I could hear Fenris growling and attacking all those who dared to approach my cloak of darkness and I just continued to pray that I didn't run out of energy before Star managed to get away. A quick piercing pain gripped my side before the focus on my darkness caused it to vanish. The shouts and growls had faded to silence and not even nature began to make a sound. My field of darkness began to dissipate as I began to search around for any sign of life or of death.

I didn't feel safe, then again I never did but I grabbed my backpack and began to run. I whistled and Fenris began to give chase, occasionally barking at the random wildlife that poked its head out of its homes. A feeling of foreboding crept through me as the miles past and no signs of Star appeared to my vision nor to Fenris's sharp nose. I took a sharp turn and began to follow my instincts instead of my logic, finding my legs leading me towards the river and my sense of dread growing. A metallic smell reached my nose and Fenris began to whine, backing up ever so slightly when we exited the tree line to see a horrific site.

Star was curled in a ball, tear tracks sliding down her dirt caked face as she stared at the river - which had a body floating in it. Its skin was bloated and the skin was a light shade of blue, clear signs of death by asphyxiation. The water was mixed with red as blood seeped from the various sharp wounds scattered across the body. It was a man, that much I could tell but as I looked over at Star I could see it was so much more to her. I walked over and sat next to her, wrapping my arms around her and just letting her cry, her sobs echoing in the morning light and her tears wetting my shoulder.

"That was my father. He must've joined the hunt to get you but when he saw me... It was like I wasn't his daughter anymore. He tried to kill me. My own father. Oh god what did I do... I killed him..."

I didn't know what to do, I never had parents so I could merely imagine the agony she was experiencing. I merely kept my arms tight around her, not letting anything but kindness cross my face as my friend experienced pain. There was nothing I could do, I was powerless but to sit and listen to my friends tears as they fell onto the mossy riverbank. 

My blood dripped steadily onto the ground, sliding into the water and pooling with the clear warm liquid of Star's tears. Two different people, from two different lives stuck in a pool of blood with hunters all around. There seemed no way out, nowhere safe to go but to sit here and wait for the end to come.