Chapter 1: Run

Five figures dodged through the wyldwood, silent as the grave. Only a snapped twig or withered leaf underfoot to show they had ever been there. As they moved, the darkness of the moonless night seemed to cloak them, their passage going unnoticed by most of the wyldwoods' inhabitants, though the ones that did notice knew enough to stay away, and stay silent. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath, like some powerful force was controlling the very air they moved through.

The first of the figures wore a green hoodie and brown leather pants that were well worn and smooth. A hint of unruly red hair sneaked from under his hood. His glittering green eyes searched the area ahead, leading his four companions safely away from the ponds containing kelpies with cold silver eyes, and will o' the wisps like floating lanterns, radiating their eerie light. Next came the smallest figure, a cloak of white with cool grey edging hung from her shoulders and her hood concealed her face so that only a whisper of dark, chocolate brown hair could be seen. The girl exuded an air of intelligence and authority. Just behind her was the third of the five, wearing a dark grey cloak, made just like the former girls', which breezed behind her effortlessly. She ran with slightly more speed than her companion in front of her. Also like the previous girl she had a strong aura, not of wisdom or intelligence, but of grace and a certain degree of unpredictability.

The latter two girls were the ones that inspired the fear striking those in the wyldwood. The first of the two, running just ahead of the other, wore a cloak of grey wolf fur streaked with black, and like the other girls her face was concealed beneath the black under her hood. She radiated an aura as well, but whereas the other two had seemed almost pleasant, she was simply feral. She shifted between the gnarled dark trees with more conviction than the others.

The last of the group was the darkest of them all. She was shrouded in a pure black cloak that whipped around her as she danced through the trees after the others. Her face was invisible from the blackness that surrounded her, a blackness that was almost alive. The silence that was stopping any evidence of the groups' passing emanated from her entire being, like she was smothering their noise under a thick cover.

All of the four girls were dirty and smeared with dried blood stains and soot. Their cloaks had a ragged air, like they had seen better days. Much better days. But their owners were quite obviously still alive and kicking. If only just. Exhaustion clung to them, was exhaled by their every, tired, pained, breath.

The sounds of pursuit echoed through the trees, bouncing from trunk to trunk. Shouts and calls from one Thornguard to the other. Above it all Rowan's voice could be heard screaming orders, the Winter Prince was quite obviously livid that his quarry was escaping him. With him was a team of around ten drowsy looking Thornguards, who were becoming more awake by the second, though having been dragged from their beds at 1am, their reluctance to carry out the chase was understandable.

But despite their formidable hunters, the group of five continued to run through the wyldwood, heading towards their destination, and freedom.

All of a sudden, the first of the girls collapsed to the floor, her body limp and her eyes tightly closed.

"What's wrong with Fi?" whispered the grey-cloaked figure, urgency lacing her smooth voice. The figure all in black knelt down beside the unconscious girl, taking in her closed eyes and loose position.

A shout sounded from between the trees around 600 metres behind them and the girl in the wolf coat said softly, "Wake her up, Az, we need to go!"

"We can't wake her up, that's for sure." replied the girl in black. "She's out cold. Hey, Puck, how far are we from the clearing?" she inquired of the red-haired boy.

"Not far." he said. "Only about 400 metres…"

"Well, I'll just have to carry her then." sighed Az, reaching out to start wrapping her arms around the unconscious form.

"No, I'll take her," intervened Puck, lifting Fi into his arms so that she was curled against his chest and her head rested on his shoulder, "We need you to open the portal for us, which you're already nearly too exhausted to do as it is." he explained to Az, his eyes darting around anxiously.

The fur-coated girl began to usher them on, "He's catching up!" she insisted as the four broke into a sprint. Suddenly, a crash sounded from the trees behind and they glanced back to see three Thornguards catch sight of the group, and start to run towards them, but they were still a while back. Then their escape route came into view. Just ahead the trees opened out into a huge, beautiful clearing. Lush green rushes waved in a slight breeze that seemed to affect only them, bordering the edge of a gorgeous clear lake with a surface as flat and smooth as a pane of glass.

Puck stopped by the edge of the water, turning round as the girl in black, Az, strode to the front of the group.

"Watch them, Tal." she muttered, indicating the approaching Thornguards to the girl in the fur coat, who consequently turned and assumed a loose, ready-looking fighting stance facing the oncoming soldiers.

"Now stand back!" she warned the other two, who wisely heeded her warning and took a large step back.

Az let her arms drop to her sides and her cape started to whip around her shoulders with violent snaps and flicks. She slowly raised her arms, elbows held just away from her waist and forearms facing outwards horizontally. Her palms turned face up and her posture straightened, the previous signs of exhaustion leaving her body for those few precious seconds. As she stood there, blackness seemed to curl out of her hands like smoke, twisting and writhing and spreading out to form a loose, person-sized circle in the air in front of her. Wisps of visible blackness trailed from the edges of the circle into the surrounding area and polluting the lake water, turning it an icy, unfriendly black. Then a faint picture began to form in the centre of the ring. Hints of sunlight leaked through and the whole scene looked like the girl had wiped away the world in front of her with her black smoke, revealing a glistening picture underneath.

Her arms dropped back to her sides and her fatigue returned, even more pronounced than before. Her shoulders hunched and she swayed on her feet slightly before regaining her posture and spinning to face the others.

"Go, go, go!" she shouted.

Puck jumped through the circle unhesitatingly, Fi still limp in his arms. Then went Tal, her fur coat lashing the air behind her as she leaped through. Hot on her heels jumped the grey-coated girl, moving with as much grace as she could muster without dropping to the floor from exhaustion herself. All of them stayed suspended in the air for the briefest moment before vanishing from sight.

Finally went Az. Now the guards were only 50m away and closing fast. She had seconds to get herself through the portal that was already beginning to weaken and close. She caught a glimpse of the others through the flickering circle of smoke and gathered her strength to jump. She ran three steps, gaining speed, and leaped with all her might.

For an endless millisecond she was suspended in the space between the two worlds, flying soundlessly, weightless and free. Her cape flapped around her like soaring wings and the last traces of that inky darkness oozed from her skin, disappearing into The Between. Then her feet rammed into solid ground and she stumbled, her weakened legs barely taking her weight. As she rolled onto the ground she looked around, catching sight of two groups of people all staring at the five open-mouthed. The closest group seemed to be mainly girls, all dressed in some sort of blue uniform. The other group were dressed in a sort of white version of the other groups' uniform, and were headed by a group of five boys, all stood perfectly still, eyes wide, but she couldn't quite process their features as she only threw them a glance before setting her eyes on her friends, who she saw drop to the tarmac like stones, the 12-hours-of jet-lag sort of effect that using the portals had on them taking hold.

Puck had Fi still safely in his arms and they fell together silently. Tal and the girl with the dark grey coat crumpled under the weight of the exhaustion that had been haunting them all since…. Well, a long time. The added fatigue from the portal wasn't so bad for her though, as she was the one that had created it in the first place, but her remaining energy still felt like it was being drained from her body faster than she could think.

Then a sudden fiery lance of pain leapt through her left shoulder. White-hot fire burning its way into her flesh.

Her vision went black.