The SilentWhisperer

Chapter 11 (part 1)

So after a long day and restless night, Jade set off, determined to find the truth. She gave one last look at her home in the trees, then slung her satchel over her shoulder and turned her back on it without remorse. After all, she would come back to it. Someday.

She set her course along the river, following it deeper into the forest, its slow current guiding her toward the rebel's city. She stopped every half-hour to rest her leg, but pushed through the pain, wanting to reach her destination by the next day.

Before long, the stream wound away from the straight path Jade wanted to proceed on, and she stared at it for a second, knowing that she would have to leave it behind her. She took a few refreshing gulps from the stream before heading in the direction she had to follow. In this way, she traveled for hours, hobbling over the un-even ground with only the vaguest idea of where to go. Briars and twigs often caught on her bandaged leg, and ripped at the just-healing skin beneath.

Night fell, casting long shadows across the forest floor, like dark fingers reaching toward her. The stars glittered coldly above, and the moon was hidden in the thick clouds that had begun to roll in overhead. The wind whispered all about her, breaking branches and rustling leaves, telling her that she did not belong there; telling her to turn back.

Jade shivered, but ignored the faint feeling of dread; now seeing the nicks she had placed along the trunks of the trees when she had left Sha-Pere.

She was getting closer. The city couldn't be more than one or two miles away now.

Her marks guiding her, she continued until she grew too tired to walk, and she could no longer see through her bleary eyes. Then she found a tree with low hanging branches and was asleep in moments.

***

Smoke.

Jade opened her eyes, and instantly they smarted. Her lungs could not seem to get in enough air. Each time she took a breath, she choked on it.

Her eyes still heavy with sleep, she rolled off her branch, and tried to make sense of what was happening. Why couldn't she breathe? Her chest felt as if it were burning! What was that smell? It was still night, so why was the forest lit up like it was day?

Jade staggered to her feet, retching; confused by the sharp pops and crackles all around her. She clutched her chest, trying to breathe, when she realized what was happening.

Fire. The forest was on fire.

Eyes wide, she ran as well as she could, but searing pain raced up her clawed leg, making her stumble. She had no idea which direction the flames came from, she only knew that she had to get away. The fire raged toward her, eating up the ground faster than she had ever thought possible. It blazed up on all sides, and she looked for an escape route through streaming eyes. There was a small gap in the flames just ahead of her, between two bushes, and she streaked forward blindly, without thought of where she might be headed.

Flames licked at her cloak as she hurdled a bundle of burning twigs, bursting through the gap in the flames. She ran on, tripping over fallen branches and stumbling through patches of briars until her injured leg no longer supported her, and she tumbled to the ground.

On her knees, she heaved in what air she could through the smoke before pulling herself to her feet again and staggering on. Her mind grew foggy as she continued to inhale the smoke, and her head pounded. Through her haze, she thought she heard a faint rumbling, roaring sound, but dismissed it as the rush of the fire behind her.

The ground disappeared from beneath her feet.

For a moment, Jade felt nothing, heard nothing, and saw nothing. Then she plunged into ice-cold water, and the current pulled her down. It jabbed at her with icy hands, pummeling her deeper. She was rolled over and over against the rocks at the bottom, and she almost gasped as their sharp edges pierced her.