Chapter One

The screaming woke her.

Bolting upright, her head whipped around scanning the parameter of her camp before she realized the screams had come from her.

Raising her hand reflexively to rub away the burn her screams had caused she wondered if when this living nightmare ended if her dreams would ever be pleasant again. The panic that had begun in her dream and carried with her into her waking begun to recede and her breathing slowly returned to normal.

With one more quick glance at the darkness of the surrounding forest she added some branches she had gathered earlier to the fire watching it's hungry flames rise and envelope the branches. Leaning back into her pack she had been using as a pillow she thought forward to the next dawn and her journey, sighing heavily she closed her eyes knowing she'd need to gather strength before continuing. She had far to go before she reached her destination safely. Praying she wouldn't fail her people in the time to come she fell into a restless sleep.