Six Years Earlier
"She went this way!"
The shout ripped through the trees like a blade.
Scarlett's heart hammered against her ribs as she sprinted barefoot across the forest floor, dead leaves and needles slicing at her soles. Her long, vividly red hair streamed behind her in a streak of fire, bright even in the suffocating darkness beneath the canopy. Her blue eyes, wide with panic, darted through the shifting shadows for any possible escape route from this place—this prison she had been forced to call home all her life.
A smooth rustle of wind pressed against her back.
Following close behind, weaving between the black oaks with fluid ease, flew a pearl-white dragon. Amino's serpentine body glowed faintly—moon-pale scales and translucent feather-fringes running down his spine, catching what little starlight cut through the branches. He kept low, forcing his wings to beat silently, terrified of being seen by the hunters chasing them.
Scarlett leapt over a fallen log—
And the ground suddenly vanished beneath her feet.
With a sharp cry she tumbled down a steep embankment, rolling violently until she slammed hard against the base of an ancient tree. Pain exploded through her side and a breathless, involuntary "oof" escaped her lips.
She slapped a hand over her mouth.
Footsteps thundered somewhere behind her.
Scarlett forced herself upright, gasping, every breath burning as though her lungs had been scraped raw. When she put weight on her left foot, agony shot up her leg. A sprain—maybe worse.
Her vision blurred.
Are you okay, Scarlett?
Amino's voice shivered through her mind, carrying raw panic and a fragile desperation. Though he spoke without sound, she felt every ounce of his fear.
"I'm fine," she whispered between ragged gulps of air. She wasn't—but that hardly mattered. Her body ached, the forest spun around her, and yet fear for herself was nothing compared to the fear clawing at her heart for him.
"We have to move. They're close. If they find us again—Amino, we can't let them—"
Let me carry you.
His voice trembled like a candle in the wind.
You're hurt. I can fly us out. Please. Just climb on—I won't let them catch us.
"No." Scarlett limped forward, forcing her body to obey despite the screaming pain. She glanced over her shoulder—the hunters' torches bobbed between the trees, distant but approaching.
"They'll shoot you down before we make it a hundred feet. They have mind-binders, snares, and dragons far bigger than you. If you get captured…" Her voice broke for a moment.
"I won't risk you."
Amino lowered his head, anguish swirling inside their shared soul.
I'm not afraid for myself. I'm afraid for you.
"I know," she answered softly, almost tenderly. "But we have to be smart. Just stay low. Stay hidden."
Still limping, she pressed her hand protectively against her stomach—fingers trembling as they hovered there, as if reassuring herself that the life within was still shielded.
"We need to reach Aziel," she whispered. "He'll keep us safe… both of us."
The forest seemed to hold its breath.
Behind them, the hunters' calls grew sharper. Closer.
Amino's long body coiled protectively around her as they vanished deeper into the night—two souls in two bodies, running for their freedom, running for a future that had not yet begun.