A Guardian's Possession. Amy Blankenship

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СКАЧАТЬ to climb down. “Hopefully without falling,” she contradicted herself in a whisper.

      She had to run as far away from Kyou as possible before he took something from her that she was not offering.

      Kyoko sighed inwardly as she made a silent wish. ‘Toya… I need you.’ The words seemed to echo within her and somehow she felt maybe… just maybe Toya had heard her. Memories untold seeped through her mind… Toya would never let her fall. Her lips parted in wonder for a moment before she shook the feeling off as imagination.

      She gripped the windowsill to steady her nerves. Straightening her shoulders and finding her courage, she decided she wasn’t holding out for a savior because even she knew Kyou was a force to reckon with. She really didn’t want Toya putting himself in that kind of danger. She also knew the longer she waited, the more of a chance Toya would try to rescue her.

      Kyoko climbed up on the ledge and threw her legs over. Turning around, she slowly felt for footing in the wall. She grimaced when the stone felt like it was cutting into her bare feet, but she would go through anything just to escape.

      As carefully as she could, she made her way down the side of the castle. What took only a few fleeting moments felt like hours. She spent the whole climb fearing being caught, but when her feet finally touched the ground all other thoughts fled except getting as far away as possible.

      Looking up at the window, she backed away from the wall half expecting to see Kyou appear and snatch her up again. She couldn’t go through another one of his ‘punishments’ as he called it.

      That thought spurred her into action. Kyoko turned and ran like Hyakuhei’s demons were after her through the surrounding maze of gardens and statues. Without stopping her headlong rush for freedom, her eyes took everything in, marveling at the surreal beauty of it even within the darkness.

      Only the fear of being found by Kyou kept her going when her lungs started burning and her legs cramped. She was startled when she made it to the end of the grounds only to find a very potent barrier shimmering with a luminous blue hue. She knew it would take all her priestess powers to break through something Kyou himself had made.

      Once more she looked over her shoulder at the imposing structure Kyou called home. There was no doubt in her mind he would know what she was doing if the barrier was brought down. She only needed to make an opening just big enough to let her through.

      Biting her bottom lip, she reached out one shaky hand and touched the surface of the barrier to test its strength and was rewarded with a slight shock wave that passed warningly through her body. It didn’t hurt her… instead; it felt like the barrier was trying to tell her that there was unknown danger on the other side and for her to stay inside where it was safe.

      She smiled in surprise realizing the shield was more for protection than to cause bodily harm… at least from the inside of the barrier. She had no doubt that if someone or something tried to get in from the outside without permission … that’s where the pain would be.

      She gave pause as the dream came back to her… the barrier Hyakuhei had placed around her for protection from the dragon he had fought… it also was only to keep her safe and she had felt safe… strange that she would think so softly toward the enemy.

      â€œI mean no harm… please,” Kyoko whispered as she again touched the barrier. To her amazement, an opening appeared and she quickly stepped through the milky-blue mist just as the shield closed behind her. It had given her exactly what she needed.

      Turning around to see if the barrier had really closed behind her to erase the fact that she had escaped, Kyoko was startled to only find a desolate overgrown forest and no lush grounds or castle anywhere in site. It looked as if gloom and sadness had descended to silence all living within its tangled web of limbs.

      Would Kyou know if someone breached the barrier he had placed around his home? Would some kind of alarm go off to alert him? She felt fear slither across her at the very thought of what he would do when he found her missing after warning her not to leave. Kyoko cocked a shaky eyebrow knowing she wasn’t going to be stupid enough to wait around to find out if the ice prince had a sense of humor or not.

      From there, she ran as fast as she could over the unstable ground and toward the unknown. Kyoko could feel the undergrowth of the forest tearing at her robe and skin. She ignored the branches as one scraped her cheek and others caught her hair and legs as her headlong flight continued.

      Her feet were screaming at her to stop as she continuously stepped on small pebbles and thorns. She could feel trickles of liquid running down her arms and legs but didn’t look to see if it was sweat or blood. If she stopped he would catch her!

      Looking back over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being pursued, Kyoko realized in the darkness of the forest… he could have been right behind her and she would never have seen him. The thought was chilling and made her move faster.

      She didn’t really know where she was, but on instinct, she stayed straight and prayed she was getting farther from the castle and from the possessive guardian that Kyou had become. Her foot caught on something stiff and the ground came up hard and fast. The impact made her disoriented for a few seconds, her breathing fast and shallow.

      Staying on hands and knees, Kyoko tried to catch her breath and slow her pounding heartbeat. Her body ached and she knew there were more wounds on her knees… they stung as only skinned knees can. She listened to the sounds around her and noticed the sounds had stopped… that frightened her.

      Kyoko looked down at herself and saw that the white robe she had on was glowing in the moonlight. She gritted her teeth realizing that from a distance she would look like a light in the heart of darkness.

      Swiftly, with shaking hands, she discarded the shimmering white material knowing she would have no covering but also that she would have a better chance at not being detected and recaptured. Kyoko tossed the silky robe away and took off again through the darkness of the forest, praying that the reason the forest was quiet wasn’t because Kyou had followed her.

      More limbs cut into her bare skin as she ran but she paid no heed. Turning her head while she was running, Kyoko looked over her shoulder feeling like something was closing in on her. She didn’t see the ledge where the ground disappeared… coming back into view several hundred feet below.

      Turning her head back just in time to see herself take the fatal step, the next thing Kyoko knew, she was falling. She didn’t even scream as she fell… it would do her no good. The same feeling she had during the dream came back… she had fallen inside the dark cave but Hyakuhei had saved her.

      â€œHyakuhei,” she closed her eyes wishing he was there.

      Then she felt it, the arm coming around her from behind. She could tell by the touch that it wasn’t Hyakuhei and she screamed in panic. Thinking it was Kyou; she clawed at the arm not noticing the shirtsleeve was the wrong color.

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