{AURORA'S POV}
My lungs were on fire.
Every breath I took felt like it was scraping the inside of my throat, but I kept running.
I couldn't stop.
I'd die if I did.
Branches whipped across my face, dirt crunching under my feet, and my heart pounded so hard I thought it was going to break through my ribs. Sweat rolled down my temples, into my eyes, and I could barely see where I was going—but I could hear them.
The horses. The shouts. The sound of armor clinking in the dark.
They're getting closer.
That's when I tripped over a rock and fell. My knee hit the ground hard and pain instantly shot up my leg. I bit back a cry, got on my feet again and forced myself forward.
I pushed harder, trying to make my legs move faster, but they felt like lead. Then something hissed past my ear, sharp and fast.
An arrow.
I screamed and ducked, stumbling over a root before catching myself. I turned just enough to see torchlight through the trees—the Severance, closing in.
No, no, no.
