Chapter 60

*Earth Storm.*

The world around us turns to chaos as the tremors continue to build on themselves. Arden crouches over me, keeping me from being thrown around as the ground shakes so roughly that I have to clench my jaw together to keep my teeth from rattling.

"Hold on, Princess," Arden shouts to be heard over the groaning earth. Distantl,y I feel a warm trickle of blood trailing down my my hairline where I'm jostled over and over into the rough bark from the tree. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the chaos around me.

"Look out!" Xavier shouts.

My eyes shoot open at Xavier's warning, but I don't see the shattered remains of the massive tree trunk crashing towards us until it's too late. Arden swears loudly from beside me and I brace myself for the pain just as Xavier's bulky body rams into us, throwing us out of the way.

The three of us roll in a blurring pile of limbs along the ground as the tree lands in the exact spot Arden and I had just been crouched in. Stars flash across my vision as my head cracks against something hard- the sharp corner of a rock.

I don't have time to give attention to the pain as the world continues to roar wildly around us. Xavier, Arden, and I brace around each other, unable to do anything more than wait for the storm to wind down. The earth rumbles around us for long enough that I start to lose track of time. Eventually, the groaning ground begins to settle and eventually - blessedly - stills, coming to a stopping point.

Xavier groans as he rolls away from us and onto his back, all of us breathing hard. Arden leans over me to help me into a sitting position as the world starts to come back into focus in the ensuing stillness.

"You're bleeding," Arden says, as she looks over me, taking quick stock of my injuries, "Shit, Lily, are you alright?"

"I'm okay," I assure her. I gingerly press my fingers to the broken skin, and my fingers come away red with blood, "I'm pretty sure it's just a scratch. Are *you* both okay?"

I look over them both, and while they're both now caked in dirt and Arden has a few twigs in her hair, they look no worse for wear, thankfully.

The sound of shouting and crashing in the distance has me stiffening and I look over to see what it is as one of the shifters who had been checking the perimeter comes barreling into the clearing.

His voice is a panicked warning, "*Fog*! There's a fog coming!"

Xavier curses loudly, and suddenly both of my guards are on their feet, tugging me up to a standing position.

"Where's Erik?" Xavier demands, "Is he not still with you?"

"The fog already got him," the panicked shifter shouts on a wheezing breath.

Arden and Xavier are already in motion behind him, shoving me over to the waiting horses, "Lily, we have to go," Arden says, "*Right now*."

My pulse stutters as I stumble along with them, "What is it?"

"There's a scarlet fog rolling in," Xavier says, "We need to leave, *now*!"

It only takes a moment for me to remember where I'd heard of the scarlet fog before and I feel all the blood drain out of my face, my breaths turning to lead in my lungs when I do.

My guards had taught me about the fog during my first earth storm. *"The fog is not like the earth tremors, but it's just as deadly," Xavier had explained, "Usually around the time that the tremors happen, a scarlet fog comes through. It's poisonous to breathe in, and burns like fire if it comes in contact with skin."

"What do you do if there's a fog?" I'd asked him, "How do you escape it?"

"There's nothing you *can* do except pray to the Mother that you're able to outrun it."*

And it already took one of us. Erik.

The majority of the horses we had been riding on earlier had made a break for it during the storm, sprinting away through the trees and out of sight, leaving us with only two horses, both of them whinnying in panic. Xavier and the other guard climb onto one, while Arden and I scramble our way up onto the saddle of the other.

"Get her out of here!" Xavier shouts loudly just as Arden kicks our horse into a wild sprint.

As we start picking up speed, I risk a glance over my shoulder and catch a glimpse of a thick rolling wall of red - a red the exact shade of clotting blood - pouring over the tree line not thirty feet behind from us.

"Don't look back," Arden says, her voice barely audible over the rushing wind, "And hang on tight."

Our pair of horses race wildly through the trees, keeping pace with one another as we struggle to keep ahead of the rolling cloud of death careening toward us. I pray to every god I can think of that we'll be able to make it through this - that the horses will be able to outrun the horror that already claimed Erik's life.

Time moves at a snails' pace- a hazy blur of panic and horror.

But after what I imagine is an hour or so, we somehow manage to outpace the fog. The fog had stopped its creeping ascent up the mountain side, yet we continue on at our breakneck pace. We continue our barreling ride out of the forest and onto a clear road. Still, we don't bother to stop, going as quickly up the road as our horses can manage.

I almost cry in relief when the there's a slight break in the line of trees and the first glimpse of the shifter's castle come's into view. The familiar sight of a gray arched tunnel and the intensely looming cliff face ahead of us.

*We made it*. We finally made it.

We are back.

_________________________________________

Arden and Xavier hover around me as we make our way into the familiar mountain tunnels. After riding into the section of guarded tunnels that is used as stables for the horses, we're met with more than a few double takes and curious searching looks from the guards. A stable hand takes our horses and Xavier and Arden carry the saddle bags from the stables and into the connecting tunnels leading us further into the mountain.

There are so many shifters racing around us, passing by us in a rush as they work to find and repair the latest wave of damage from the storm, that no one notices our trek to the main tunnels. At my guard's insistence, our first stop is to the healer's wing to get the cuts on my face and back of my head looked at.

Every nerve and cell in my body wants to go find Damion, but I can't help but agree that it's better to get my injuries cleaned and healed first before he sees me. There's a spark of anticipation in the air that reminds me of the electric charge just before a storm.

We make our way to the level where the healer's wing is, climbing the inclined path. As we curve around the bended corner, my body freezes at the sound of a voice speaking to someone in the hallway. A deep, shadowy and familiar voice that make the corner of my eyes prick with relieved tears. I nearly trip over my feet as I spin toward the sound.

A gorgeous pair of black eyes meet mine from the dimly lit corridor where he stands talking to a pair of shifter guards. Those black eyes widen fractionally in shock while my heart stutters over itself in my chest, warmth spreading through every inch of me.

*Damion.*