Dark Tide Rising (Book 1 of The Bright Eyes Trilogy) Page 2

The wind tore at her clothes and hair like violent claws. Cold and sharp.

  Layla ran into the forest as if her very life depended on it. She had left the house to the intruders, not risking a confrontation without backup. If they found her, if they managed to know what she knew then Layla and her companions' mission would have been for nothing.

  Her companions. They were out there somewhere in the night, running for the Gate. She had lost them when the intruders broke into Thomas' house. They had to run. There was no time to regroup.

  Soft, bare feet––she had discarded her shoes––carried Layla across the damp ground with little to no sound. Even when the forest-floor was strewn with rocks and branches she glided across them effortlessly without a scratch. The night time noises of the wild had returned now she was deeper in the forest, but all she could hear was her own heavy breathing and the pounding of her heart. Her soft-glowing white eyes aided her in the darkness and she did not stumble as much as she would have if she had been a normal human being––however her legs were slowly giving way to fatigue. Growling in anger at her slowing pace, Layla forced her legs to keep her up and running. She did not know where she was now or how far away from the house she was. She didn't even know if the intruders had picked up her scent and were following. All she knew was she had to run until she could run no more. And then run again.

  The crashing of branches and the shouting of voices behind her finally confirmed her fears.

  Layla reached up her hands to brush away some low hanging branches when she noticed the ring on her finger was glowing a fierce blue. The light curled and dissipated off of the band like fire but the girl could not feel any heat. It was a beacon, guiding her towards the Gate. The light would grow bright if she neared it and faint if she steered away from it. But where was it?

  The young woman felt she was almost at the end of her endurance when she threw a glance over her shoulder to see if she could see her pursuers...

  Her foot suddenly hooked under an exposed tree root and her world came crashing down. Her outstretched hands hit the ground heavily, which prevented a face-plant, but her momentum kept her moving and she tumbled and rolled down an unseen slope. When she reached the bottom of the empty ravine, everything went black.

  The sound of rustling in the underbrush brought her out of her unconsciousness. Layla sat straight up, and then quickly climbed to her feet in one motion. Her head was thumping from the fall but she shrugged it off and looked about to find a place to hide. The pursuers were close now, she could hear them. Somewhere out in the dark searching for her. Not wasting any time to rest, Layla's glowing white eyes scanned her environment for shelter. Nothing but a narrow strip of grassland for hundreds of feet.

  Then Layla saw it. On the opposite bank of the ravine was the sparkling white domes of mushrooms. She looked down at her shaking hand and saw the ring's blue light glowing extremely bright now, almost blinding. She had found what she was looking for. Frantic footprints in the soft soil nearby were telltale signs that her friends had beat her there.

  The young woman climbed out of the shallow side of the ravine and stumbled into the large ring of mushrooms that lay upon a grassy clearing under the bright gaze of a full moon. The fog seemed to have receded in this part of the woods, leaving the clearing exposed to the star-studded night sky. Not hesitating, Layla dropped to her hands and knees and began to dig into the soft earth near the edge of the ring where others had done just the same only moments before. Her fingers searching for something.

  Angry, incoherent voices in the distance suddenly broke her concentration. They echoed down off of the higher wall of the ravine from where she had fell; somewhere amongst the tall trees, like supernatural creatures of the night hunting their prey.

  She swallowed fearfully. Surely in this clearing and with this glowing ring they will see me! The girl thought as she continued to frantically dig. How did they get here so fast? After a few more shovels of soil her fingers struck a metallic surface, which cracked one of her nails. She held back a cry of pain then exhaled slowly.

  Layla smiled wearily, pushed her ring into a small crevice in the metallic surface like a key in a lock and then dropped onto her back with her arms stretched out, running her fingers through the dew-moist grass. She closed her eyes.

  The mushrooms began to glow even brighter––their white domes glistening like pearls in the moonlight. The large metallic ring beneath the ground was coming to life. Gradually the white domes changed to an eerie blue light––much like her ring––and a low humming sound rose up from the ground. It shook the woman's little body like a bean-shaker. Then the Gate's light rushed in from the mushroom ring's edge and consumed Layla in a pool of blue light.

  In the blink of an eye she was gone.