Warrior Chapter One *Don't Get Caught*

Cora and her older sister Taryn illegally sneak out of their hometown's fort walls.

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." -Anonymous 

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I reached up for the next handhold. Another one of Taryn's dumb ideas. Wonderful. Then again, I'm stupid enough to follow her every freaking time.

I glanced down at my feet to find a good spot to step up. The ground below seemed to shrink away, and my stomach dropped, an icy fear gripping my sides. I hate heights. My one serious fear in the world is probably heights . . . and maybe spiders.

I took a calming breath, and forged on, reaching for the next makeshift handhold, all the while whispering to myself: don't look down, don't look down.

I glanced up to see Taryn crouching at the top, staring down at me with an impatient look on her face. "Could you go any slower?" She's always on my back about one thing or another. This morning she yelled at me for waking up late, and now apparently I wasn't defying my greatest fear fast enough. 

"I'm doing my best here." I panted, finally heaving myself up onto the walkway that spanned the top of the fort's walls. I rolled onto my back and just laid there for a moment, trying to catch my breath.

When I finally got to my feet, I looked out at the little town below me. The sun was barely up and all the houses were still dark and motionless. The way it looked from up here, no one would ever guess that it's a nightmare with grief running from house to house. 

In my mind's eye, I caught a glimpse of a memory all too vivid: flames eating away at my skin, my parents' deafening screams, and a feeling unlike anything else ripping me to shreds . . . 

  "Cora, come look at this." Taryn's voice brought me back to reality as she cursed under her breath. I swallowed the memory, pushing it back into the dark recesses of my mind.

I met Taryn at the opposite edge, and we peered over the side. She pointed at the guards who stood at the base a little ways off. They faced outward, glaring at the rough-looking path that left town through the endless woods. "See that?" She whispered, still pointing.

One of the guards, though both held scary-looking defensive arms, was clutching a sort of crossbow-looking thing. I wasn't familiar with the type of weapon, but notched and ready to fire was something I definitely knew of. 

"Damn." I uttered under my breath. I'd read about them. They're probably the most deadly thing you could throw at someone. Even if the spike only barely grazed you, the poison inside it would most likely end up killing you. 

Taryn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if one of those hits you, you're as good as dead. Just saying."

"Wow, thanks." I grumbled, deciding to look at something else.

"Hey," She said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We'll be fine." 

I remained silent for a moment, taking in the sheer stupidity of what we were doing. We were trying to sneak past military-trained guards to go God knows where just because Taryn thought it would be fun. 

I shook my head. "Why are we even sneaking out anyway?" 

She raised an eyebrow. "You really want to spend the day with the warden standing over you?" 

"No," I responded quietly. She was talking about René, the head of the orphanage. In short, she's the reason I hate that place.

A look of realization crossed Taryn's face and she let out a short laugh. "You're worried about getting caught. Aren't you?" I didn't answer, not wanting to admit it but knowing that if I opened my mouth my voice would betray me. Thankfully, she didn't wait for a response. "Trust me, she won't even notice we were gone. Besides," she contined, sweeping her dark hair over her shoulder. "I wanna show you something; it's about dad."

I immediately turned my attention to her, searching her face for some reason to think that she wasn't serious. Our dad was a touchy subject. She gave me a light push. "Just promise you won't fall." Before I had the chance to respond, Taryn vaulted over the railing and began picking her way down the wall. 

I let out a huge sigh and, against my better judgement, followed her. About halfway down the wall, I missed a foothold. I frantically grabbed at the wall for support, but all I got was a split nail and scrapes on my palms. A wave of fear washed over me, tightening my stomach into a knot. Taryn luckily caught the edge of my sleeve, but looked really annoyed about it. "Didn't I just say not to-" 

Riiiiip! Both of us watched in horror as my sleeve began to tear, threatening to let me fall. Goddamn cheap fabric.

Just then, as if things couldn't get any worse, Taryn's only hand-hold decided it didn't want to hold up our weight any longer and crumbled, sending us both tumbling down. 

I didn't scream as I fell; it was more of a shocked silence. It all happened so fast I barely remembered the fall at all - just hitting the ground hard.

I found myself lying face-down in the grass at the base of the fort wall. My entire body ached, but I hadn't broken anything. At least I hoped not.

I gathered my scattered nerves and slowly got to my feet. Taryn had already plastered herself against the wall and was frantically gesturing at me to do the same. Without a word, I obeyed.

Once I reached her, she looked me in the eye, frowned, and mimicked, "Okay, I won't fall." 

"Oh shut up, I don't even sound like that. You fell too, anyway."

"That was your fault." She hissed, leaning into my personal bubble. "You don't understand how stressful this is, do you? That screw-up could have costed us our lives, Cora. You know exactly what will happen if we get caught." 

"Do you seriously think I fell on purpose? Sneaking out of the stupid fort was your idea anyway. How about asking if I'm okay? Would it kill you to be nice?" I countered, not bothering to lower my tone.

"I am being ni-" Taryn stopped herself mid-shout and took a long breath before continuing in a softer tone, which sounded like she was trying to restrain herself from strangling me. "Let's just try to find a way to get to the path without getting caught, okay?" We were both silent for a long moment, giving us a chance to calm down.

"Maybe we could-" She clamped her hand over my mouth, cutting me off. My pet peeve, by the way, is when people interrupt me so of course she does that. 

After a long moment, I heard it: a few quiet clinks of metal - iron boots. She slowly removed her hand and silently motioned for me to follow her. She crept toward the corner and peered around it; immediately, she retreated back into the shadow of the wall. Her eyes darted around as if frantically searching for some kind of answer. 

Trying to help, I suggested, "There's a tree over there." 

She looked at me like I was an idiot. "Seriously?" 

"I mean, we could hide in the higher branches . . ." My confidence in the solution deflated. "At least it's something." I muttered angrily.

"Hey, did you hear something?" A deep voice asked. I assumed it was one of the guards talking to his buddy. Taryn and I froze in place, our eyes widening with the fear of being caught. 

"Nope." The second guard answered definitively. "C'mon, nobody's up this early. It was probably just a squirrel or something."

"I could've sworn I heard-" 

"Well then go check and quit bothering me about it." The boots clanked with every heavy footfall. The guard drew closer, clutching his bow to his chest, his finger on the trigger.

Taryn gently tugged the edge of my sleeve and nodded silently toward the closest tree whose branches were barely visible between the thick layers of leaves. I acknowledged with a quick nod, unable to get the icy fear out of my system. I didn't even ask her if she was serious.

Taryn reached into her pocket and produced a small silver sphere. She pressed the button on the side and released it just as the guard rounded the corner. The flash bomb exploded in his face, temporarily blinding him, and we took off at a sprint, heading for the path. I don't think I've ever run faster.

"D****t, we've got runners! Don't let them get away!" The second guard shouted at the first one, pointing angrily at us. "Move it! And if they've got one o' those phoenix patches, put 'em down!" The guard with the crossbow-like thing clumsily aimed the deadly weapon. For a second I wondered how he could possibly hit a target without a steady hand.

I clambered up the tree and balanced myself on the lowest, leaf-sheltered branch. I reached back for Taryn.

"You know the orders, come ON!" The other guard shouted at the crossbow man to shoot. 

Taryn and I locked wrists and, finding some reserve of strength, I hauled her up into the tree. The solid steel arrow wedged itself into the tree trunk right where Taryn had been a split second before.

Mental note: Don't underestimate people. 

Author's Note

If you have any ideas as to how I could improve this chapter, please let me know. Thanks :)