Fallen Allegiance

Chapter Twenty Four

I dived round the tree, trying my best to get back to the fields. Behind me I could hear panting as Ryan tried to keep up, his footsteps thundering after me. I smiled, pushing myself harder as sunlight ripped through the trees, cutting through them like a knife. I knew Andor would be annoyed when he found out Ryan and I had ditched them for a run, but he'd get over it. Just like I'd get over him.

"You can run but you can't hide!" Ryan called after me, making me laugh.

"You bet I can," I shouted back, sliding behind a tree, leaning back against it trying to get my breath back. Closing my eyes, I focused on my breathing, listening to his footsteps getting louder and louder. A smirk etched itself onto my face, he wouldn't think to stop, would he? I knew Sayer and Andor were too head strong to stop, but Ryan might realise the sound of my feet crunching through the leaves had stopped and therefore stop himself.

Sure enough, soon his the sound of his footsteps grew silent as he began to pace through the forest. I quietly groaned to myself, knowing my chances of outrunning him again were slim. He had given me a minute head start to begin with, which had barely given me a lead.

My hands tightened around the scratchy bark of the tree as I heard him breathing behind me. The shuffle of leaves had me edging round the tree to avoid him. I could imagine the smirk on his face as he padded towards me slowly. He probably knew where I was but just wanted to make me think I had a chance of reaching the fields without him catching me.

Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed my arm. A high pitched squeal left my lips as my heart jumped out of my chest. Ryan's blue eyes sparkled in amusement as he appeared from behind the tree. I slapped his chest gently, unable to resist the smile which tugged at my lips.

"You idiot! You frightened me!" I giggled as he pulled me over to him and hugged me.

"Told you I'd win," He whispered in my ear. He spun me around so I facing him and smiled at me, "I feel like some sort of rebel, running away from camp."

"Soooo dangerous, aren't you?" I snickered and he pouted at me before shaking his head and wrapping an arm round my shoulders. He lead us towards the fields, somewhere I doubted Andor would follow us to. Andor seemed more like a forest/lake boy while Ryan preferred fields and caves. I wasn't really bothered, I loved watching the sun rise or set on mountains but I found lakes at night oddly magical for some reason.

When we arrived at the clearing the sun had already risen, a sign that the rest of the group back at camp were probably awake by now. I could imagine Andor pacing back forth shouting commands as he tried to find Ryan and I. I could imagine Sayer and Dwynwen sitting as far away from each other as possible but still taking sneak peaks at one another out of the corner of their eyes. I could imagine Ianthe glaring at Sayer while Melissa had a whole conversation with Zane who would silently nod as if he was paint attention. Then there would be Jayden, sitting on his own in the shadows, mulling over his life as he debated the chances on whether we would be able to save Ariadne or not. Then there would be Cozae, wondering around, lost in her own world, probably making something fly and ignoring everyone else.

Ryan crouched down in the grass, pulling out strands with his hands. I watched him before sitting down next to him. I frowned as he was still crouching and put a hand on his shoulder to push him on his back. Not surprisingly, it didn't do anything and Ryan barely noticed my push. He glanced at me questioningly before realising what I was trying to do and chuckling at my annoyed expression.

He placed his hands on my shoulders and pushed me back so was lying down and he was crouching over me like a skyscraper. I folded my arms and made my way to get back up when he pushed me down again. Judging by his amused expression, he was enjoying this.