Cassandra sat with her back to a tree as she watched Nemesis crop what nearby plants he could. She sat under that great tree, and the darkness and coolness of the shade felt like a great weight upon her. Calmly she thought about everything that had happened. She was beginning to miss her home; beginning to wonder if she had been too rash in leaving. At least at home she’d had people who loved her. Out here she had nothing, no one but her horse and her visions. Of course, there was Jabi, but some days he was there and some days he wasn’t. He wasn’t really much of a help, but he was someone to talk to. She could always talk to her horse, though it was always a rather one-sided conversation. Not that it mattered. Not much mattered out here except staying alive.

    Water had been easy enough to find. They’d stayed along the stream as they continued on their way, and the water was cool and sweet. Nemesis had been able to scrounge around and find enough food to keep himself going, though she had not been quite so lucky. There were plants everywhere, though Cassandra did not really know what kind were good for food. She had sampled several things, some with good results and some with bad. Jabi, on one occasion, had pointed out several edible plants, and she had stuck to those ever since. Still, the variety was meager, and she missed real food.

    As she watched Nemesis, she was a bit jealous. He had plenty of food available. She watched the way he tore at the grass and small plants, his jaw muscles rippling as he chomped the greens. He flicked his tail at some pesky bugs, and switched the leg he was resting on. As she looked at him, she thought of something. Nemesis was one of the few survivors of their herd after the fire. She wondered if taking him was her right as a member of the family, or if it would be considered stealing. As if he knew he were the object of her thoughts, he stepped to a patch of grass closer to her and continued eating. She could’ve sworn he was watching her.

    She sat up stiffly as she felt a great shudder tear through the ground. Nemesis felt it too, and his great head jerked up. He blew through his nostrils and flicked his ears back and forth, his legs taut and his muscles tense. She crept over to him as the earth continued to tremble. Suddenly Jabi appeared right in front of her, not two feet away. His outline was faint, and she could barely see him against the darkness of the forest. He stood completely still, his piercing eyes wide open and his face completely emotionless. As the trembling grew closer he slowly put his finger to his lips. Nemesis snorted and his ears kept flicking, but he didn’t seem to see Jabi. In fact, he was looking in a completely different direction, even when Jabi spoke.

     “Shh,” whispered Jabi, his eyes so wide open Cassandra thought they might pop out. His hand slowly dropped back to his side. He flickered, his form vanishing for a moment. “Don’t let them find you,” he said as he continued to flicker; and then he disappeared.

    Nemesis baulked for a moment, and took a few uneasy steps around Cassandra. His ears were now pinned back, and he moved lithely around in anxious excitement and fear. Cassandra put out her hand against his neck in an attempt to calm him, and drew her cloak around herself a little tighter. She didn’t have time to think about much; the trembling was growing stronger.

    A scream sliced through the air, chilling Cassandra to the bone. It was no human noise; it was sharp and unearthly. She began to feel very small and very afraid. The darkness and shelter of the forest that had calmed her before now felt like it was trapping her. The ground continued to shake and she had no clue what was coming. She felt like something was coming for them, but she had no idea from where. The forest seemed to press in from ever side, as if it wanted to smother her.

    She snapped up her small pack from its place against the tree and quickly secured it to Nemesis’ saddle. She jumped up on him, and they were off. She let him lead the way, let him choose his path as they raced through the forest from the invisible enemy. She was afraid, but how many times had she had terrible dreams before, and terrible visions that turned out to be nothing? She was skeptical. It had all happened so many times before, and now it was hard to tell the real from the imaginary.

    As they raced along through that dark forest she realized something, and in an instant she was consumed with true fear. Nemesis could feel this. Nemesis had been wary and afraid too. Nemesis hadn’t seen Jabi; others could not see her visions, only she could. The terrible truth was that this – what was happening now – must be real.

    They broke out of the dense forest before she even realized they were nearing its edge. The trees were sparser, and the sunlight filtered down through the branches here. As the trees gave way to grassy dry plain, she reigned in Nemesis from the scant cover of the remaining trees. Nemesis was more than willing to comply after the hard run they’d had. As they stopped she realized the ground was no longer shaking. Everything was silent, the forest behind them dark and cool, and the grassy hillocks before them bright and undisturbed.

    What? What had happened? Had anything happened? Nemesis lowered his head and snorted loudly, his ears pricked forward. Cassandra breathed in deeply, her eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes scanned the horizon, but there was nothing. Nothing at all. She frowned. Now what?

    The sunlight vanished from above her head and Nemesis suddenly reared. She clung to the saddle and managed to stay on. Some terrible creature was above them, casting a sleek shadow that raced over them and then continued its way over the plain. Cassandra could not see the creature that was the owner of the shadow, but Nemesis was rapidly backing up towards the deeper forest, his ears pinned flat and his eyes rolling. The shadow suddenly stopped, turned, and wheeled back towards them; the ominous black shadow gliding back malevolently across the little grassy hills. Cassandra fitfully scanned the sky, trying to see what was there, but the trees blocked too much.

    And then it was upon them; the shadow racing over the plains and meeting the tree line in an instant. The trees above Cassandra and Nemesis shook; branches broke and crashed to the floor, leaves fell down in showers. Nemesis screamed in terror, and almost as if in malicious reply the creature screamed back, the noise so loud and terrible that it shattered in Cassandra’s ears, reverberating in her skull; and she could think of nothing. Absolute nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

    Then it was black.