{AURORA'S POV}
I could barely breathe.
The air was filled with screams and smoke, with the clash of steel and the hiss of spells ripping the forest apart, but all I could hear was the wild, frantic pounding of my own heartbeat. My chest locked tight, as if invisible hands were squeezing me from the inside.
My legs refused to move. They felt heavy like stones.
I stood there as the battle raged, my hands useless at my sides, the fear curling inside me like a parasite, rooting itself deep until it was all I could feel and hear in my head.
"Hide. Run. Don't look back."
I staggered backwards, the chaos blurring around me. I don't know how but I found myself hiding behind a tree, my back pressed against the thick trunk. I slid down the bark until I was crouched in the dirt, clutching at my arms to try and hold myself together.
Like a goddamn coward.
