Twice Lived, Twice Loved

Prologue

Her legs pump fast over the green dense forest and she can barely see where she is going. She leaps over a fallen log and keep running, faster than she has ever run in her life. Branches whip into her face and spines tear into her skin, whipping out blood like overeager adders but she pumps her fists in front of her and increases her pace even more. She can see the top of the hill now, but if she is not fast enough, she will never make it there.

Her sensitive ears pick up the sound of crashing through the bushes behind her and fear drenches her body. He is coming.  The dagger clutched in her hand pulses against her palm, responding to her fear, almost drinking it in. She clutches it tighter and flies over the terrain, barely a blur in the air as she sets her heels on fire to aid her speed.

She emerges out of the forest, not breaking a stride as she races for the craggy stone surface of the volcano hill. The hill steams and spits out toxic gases and it would boil the skin off a normal person but fire runs in her veins. She barely feels the scalding surface as she races up and up to the top of the volcano. She can feel him charge forward, faster than before and his unholy roar causes her to stumble on the sloping hills before she regains her balance and takes off again. She is almost there...

And then she is at the top and steam envelops her in its welcoming heat. She takes one step forward and then the floor drops from under her feet.