Rebecca ran through the forest, blood covering her face that wasn't her own, crying hard enough that she could barely breathe.
"He's dead! Luthra's dead!"
Behind her, roots thick as her waist tore through the earth, twisting and reaching with purpose. Black-and-red energy burst from her hands without control, the power coming from pure terror.
'I have to get out, have to tell someone.'
Two hours ago they'd walked into the hollow of that massive tree, and the entrance sealed behind them like a mouth closing. No monster waited inside, no enemy to fight. The tree itself was alive, its voice whispering through rustling leaves in their minds, telling them to rest, to stay, that everything would be peaceful if they just stopped moving.
Luthra had said no.
