Chapter 9

Pursuit. She fled from her hunter in the deep night of the jungle. Nothing mattered except survival. Not daring to look back, a growl revealed just how close the saltclaw had gotten. It would lunge at her any second, clamping down with deadly force. She risked a glance back, seeing a dark shadow leaping at her. She dove sideways, haphazardly, to get out of the way. Her arm was already wounded and would have scars she carried for the rest of her hopefully long life. One well placed bite from this creature would end her quickly. She couldn’t risk a direct encounter.

Anya’s leap was not a gracefully planned endeavor. It was pure survival instinct. She plunged off the trail, rolling into thick vegetation, scrambling to break free. Getting loose took vital moments, and she had lost her knife somewhere on the ground. The saltclaw stood circling, crouching, and preparing to pounce again. Anya ran, deeper into the thick of the jungle. This was no time for hesitation, and the game trail was blocked by this monster. She headed the opposite direction. Her foot snagged almost immediately, tripping her into a roll. She tumbled over an edge, descending uncontrolled down a steep slope.

Pain wracked her whole body. The bouncing, tumbling fall had battered her. Her arm was no longer the only thing bleeding. Minor cuts, and several bruises covered her body. Her clothes were ripped and torn in several places, ruined. She didn’t care. Death was the more immediate concern. She glanced up the hill, seeing no sign of the creature. Anya’s adrenaline was still coursing through her, driving action. You have to lose it! Keep moving!

She headed further away, trying to angle her path and get out of any direct sightlines. Could she hide? Probably not. This was its natural environment, and it was an expert hunter. It would probably find her. Keep moving, that’s the only choice. She was mentally tired, as well as physically. The constant state of heightened alert stressed her system. Convinced her enemy would appear at any moment, she was incapable of relaxing. Her emotions were a mess, a jumble of fear, anger, hatred, and indignation. They were mostly aimed at the saltclaw, but some of it was at her own choices. Why had she taken the shortcut? The long way around was much safer. She was no expert survivalist. Now you’re stuck in the jungle, with no weapons, supplies, or harmony to save you. Resonate you idiot! It’s not an option anymore! It’s your only chance!

Anya tried to make a large arc, heading back towards the hill, but she soon came upon high ridges, or hills that were too steep and muddy to climb in the downpour. She gave an attempt, but her wounded arm was failing her, and could not support her body weight.

Anya collapsed in the mud, crying softly in frustration. Booms of thunder covered her sobs as she tried to work out any inklings of plan. Could she signal anyone for help? No, they would never find her in this random spot of wilderness. She didn’t know where she was, and she didn’t have any method of signaling anyone. Besides, visibility was poor in the rain. All her supplies were gone, abandoned in her wild flight. If she was missing, the first place they would look for her was on the normal path to the west. She hadn’t told her parents she was taking a shortcut. She was truly alone.

The storm. It was her only option. If she resonated, she would make short work of the creature. But where was it? Maybe it abandoned the hunt? She hadn’t seen any sign of it for over an hour. Wishful thinking. You never even saw it before it was ready to murder you. Who knows how long it was stalking you before that. You won’t see it coming. I’m so foolish! Anya berated herself, feeling more like a child than she had in years. The brashness of youthful decisions had always been something the old folk talked about, but she had known better. They just didn’t understand. Now, the harsh reality proved them right all along.

“Alright, if I keep heading east, I’ll eventually reach the closest edge of the island. I can follow the waterline and head back home, or even get higher, closer to the storm if there’s a traversable route.”She reset herself mentally, ending the momentary self-pity.

Brushing herself off, she departed, determined to focus on only two things. First, she wouldn’t likely see the danger coming in this environment, so she couldn’t spare the effort. Her best path to survival was resonating. She would not stop until she succeeded. It was the only thing sure to save her. Second, she would try to move carefully. She had been lucky not to break a leg, or worse, when she fell. Bruises and cuts were a small price to pay for how far she had plunged.

Anya worked her way through the darkness. Progress was slower than she liked, but the saltclaw hadn’t reappeared yet. She knew they could let their prey wear themselves out, in favor of effortless kills. Perhaps that’s what this one was doing. She didn’t focus on it for long, instead focusing on her resonance. The storm had truly arrived now. The downpour was accompanied by thunder and lightning. It had blown in faster than she’d predicted. She probably couldn’t make it to the top of the mountain before it passed over. It was discouraging, but she was determined to find the secret to unlocking it all. She repeated her mental efforts for what was probably the hundredth time in the last two days.

“Lighting… it’s jagged, scarred, forking, deadly, bright, powerful, wild. How does that fit?”Anya looked at her sad state. “Well, wild certainly matches me currently. I am not exactly powerful… but I will be. I’m scarred now for sure, and my personality is bright, and hot! What else?”

She bent, twisted, flipped, and reframed every aspect she could come up with. She had moments of… something… and it felt like she was close, but it never clicked. “What the vrosh am I missing!”She raged at the sky, which was only visible periodically through tiny holes in the canopy. This went on for hours, and it wore her out. She almost gave up several times, but sheer defiance powered her forward. Finally, she saw light ahead. In the early morning hours, before sunrise, she stepped out of the jungle, onto a rocky cliff’s ledge. Only ten feet of path separated her from the edge, a drop to the rocky shallows below. It was far, maybe seventy-five feet below. The waves crashed carelessly against the rocky island. She didn’t see any path downward, so she continued south, heading back towards home. She would try again, later, to resonate, but first she needed to heal, to survive. Anya was ashamed. She knew she would be a disappointment to her family, to Howler’s Cove even. She would hide, heal, and set out again. She would be better prepared next time. The path ended abruptly with only thick jungle, or a dangerous climb downward against the cliff.

She clung to her hope desperately. It was all she had left. The small flicker of light in her darkness – resonance wasn’t a yes or no thing. You could keep trying, and everyone resonated in their own time if they found their Heartsong. She walked along the edge of the island, headed home, still trying desperately to resonate. She could feel exhaustion in her bones. Wounded, sleepless, and emotionally drained, she stared upwards at the dark, stormy clouds. Thunder boomed, and echoed off the mountains. Lightning blasted downwards, hitting the ocean, andisland alike. Some of it was close enough she could feel it vibrate the ground from the impact. She was as close to her element as she had ever been, so she committed.

Anya sat, legs dangling over the edge, and lay on her back, staring at the sky. Now or never.

She watched the swirling clouds, feeling the wind buffet her now that she was out of the tree cover. The thunder was loud, but it didn’t ever startle her. Lighting and thunder were linked after all. One always followed the other. It was predictable, nothing to be afraid of. Rain soaked her through. Her arm hurt, and it had clotted over nastily, mixed with the mud. She would have to clean that out carefully, and watch for signs of infection. That was a problem for later.

Struggle. That was the only word she could think of. She was struggling, and failing. She wasn’t going to resonate. Her singular childhood dream seemed so far out of reach now. Impossible. Was she a failure? Destined to be ordinary her whole life? Maybe she could try the bioconvergent route? No, she didn’t even like animals that much. They were dumb, and dirty. Nuisances. She would never be able to connect with one. She never understood Kiva’s fascination with them. She was probably having the time of her life cuddling with some fuzzy beast right now. But she knew one thing for certain. Kiva wouldn’t give up. Anya could be stubborn like her friend. She needed to be.

Flashing light, thunder, wind…movement to her left. No! Anya sat up. The saltclaw was back, staring at her from the branches of a tree as it picked its way along, leaping effortlessly to a closer branch. Seeing her lying there, it must have decided it was time. She looked behind her seeing only jungle. The beast was close now and would easily catch her in the jungles. It moved and climbed amongst the trees with grace. She was not fast in the jungle. She could make run for it, try to dart past… but as if reading her intentions, it leaped to the ground twenty feet away, blocking her narrow exit along the edge. No knife, no torch, and no resonance, she stared over the edge, where rocks and waves met in a violent dance of danger. Anya leapt over the edge, dropping into the waters below.