Serena didn't remember when the forest stopped being a place and became an obstacle.
She ran until the world narrowed to breath and blood and the dull throb in her side that refused to fade. Every step sent pain lancing through her ribs, hot and deep, like something alive had lodged there and was slowly twisting.
She pressed a hand to it and came away wet.
Her legs shook, but she didn't slow.
Elara had made it into the trees. Serena clung to that thought like a talisman, repeating it with every step. Elara was fast. Elara was small. Elara knew how to hide.
Elara would survive.
Serena adjusted her path, angling toward rougher ground, letting roots and stone chew at her boots. When she reached a stream, she didn't hesitate.
There was no way around it.
Ice clung to the banks, thin sheets cracking as she stepped in. The water was freezing, a shock so sharp it stole her breath. She waded through anyway, teeth chattering, legs burning as the cold sank deep.
By the time she dragged herself out the other side, her vision swam.
Nausea rolled through her. If there had been anything in her stomach, she would have lost it. There was nothing. Only acid and pain.
Serena pushed off the tree and broke back into a run.
Heat flared in her chest, sharp enough to make her freeze.
Her senses snapped wide, heart hammering as she listened for pursuit. No footsteps. No snapping branches. No sound at all.
Still, the feeling lingered.
As if something vast had turned its attention toward her.
She shoved the thought aside and forced herself to move.
Light shifted strangely between the trees as dark spots crept into her vision.
She slipped again, this time crashing down hard on one knee.
A sound tore from her throat before she could stop it.
Serena stayed there for a moment, forehead pressed to the cold ground, breath coming in sharp, shallow pulls. The urge to lie down was overwhelming.
Just a moment.
Just to close her eyes.
No.
She forced herself upright and limped on until she found a shallow ravine tangled with brush. She slid into it, wedging herself between stone and thorn, forcing her breathing to slow.
Blood dripped steadily from her side, dark against the dirt.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and tasted iron.
"Elara," she whispered, the name barely more than breath.
The heat in her chest flared again, stronger this time, followed by a pull that made no sense.
Serena swallowed hard. She caught a whiff of Elara's scent.
Relief hit her hard enough to make her dizzy. Not safety. Not certainty.
Just proof she wasn't too late.
She changed direction and followed the trail, adrenaline surging as she forced herself not to break into another sprint.
Her vision blurred further. She pressed her back to a large rock, fingers digging into stone as she forced her eyes to stay open. If she passed out here, she might not wake again.
If she did wake, it might be in chains.
Serena swallowed hard at the thought. She knew, with absolute certainty, that she would die before allowing that to happen.
Her senses sharpened abruptly as she became aware of a presence nearby. Something was moving through the forest with purpose, closing the distance with every steady heartbeat.
She could not hear or smell it, which meant there was still a chance it had not sensed her.
Serena remained perfectly still.
She drew her knees in close, controlled her breathing, and waited in silence, aching and defiant, praying it would pass her by.