The roar of her mother's voice was like the snap of a gun along the firing line to a race that Indra had not signed up to. She could do nothing but run.
The sound of fighting came again behind her, but she did not look back. She ran. What else could she do? As she burst from the cover of the cave she expected to see light - but there wasn't any. Dawn was hours away.
What had the man said?
What was a lagoon?
Indra did not waste time. She did not think, she did not wait, she only gathered her limbs beneath herself and bolted again, one way or another. Every shudder of the trees became the giant shape of the man atop her; the glinting stars behind the boughs were his eye, watching.
Her chest was tight. She wanted to cry out for her mother; but she knew that Laurel was back there, trapped in the dark with that man.
A shape snaked from the shadows in her periphery and so she wheeled away from it, unsure if it was friend or foe.
Nothing looked familiar because nothing was - beyond the darkness of the black night, Indra would never have recognized this place for what it was.
She thought she had come upon a place to hide and hunkered there to catch her breath. A wreath of roots grasping at the earth. It smelled damp, and old, and rotten.
Something moved beside her.
She launched from her hiding place and scurried to another, this time holding herself low. Feeling like her ribs might crack. She couldn't take a deep breath. She couldn't see. Where was Laurel?
Behind her.
Her instinct was to raise her head and look for her mother—!
No!
Something hard smacked the back of her skull and
everything went
black.
The sound of fighting came again behind her, but she did not look back. She ran. What else could she do? As she burst from the cover of the cave she expected to see light - but there wasn't any. Dawn was hours away.
What had the man said?
Left along the lagoon.
What was a lagoon?
Indra did not waste time. She did not think, she did not wait, she only gathered her limbs beneath herself and bolted again, one way or another. Every shudder of the trees became the giant shape of the man atop her; the glinting stars behind the boughs were his eye, watching.
Her chest was tight. She wanted to cry out for her mother; but she knew that Laurel was back there, trapped in the dark with that man.
A shape snaked from the shadows in her periphery and so she wheeled away from it, unsure if it was friend or foe.
Nothing looked familiar because nothing was - beyond the darkness of the black night, Indra would never have recognized this place for what it was.
She thought she had come upon a place to hide and hunkered there to catch her breath. A wreath of roots grasping at the earth. It smelled damp, and old, and rotten.
Something moved beside her.
She launched from her hiding place and scurried to another, this time holding herself low. Feeling like her ribs might crack. She couldn't take a deep breath. She couldn't see. Where was Laurel?
Behind her.
Her instinct was to raise her head and look for her mother—!
No!
Something hard smacked the back of her skull and
everything went
black.
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