This is extremely rough material. There's not much detail or anything. I'm kind of experimenting. I mostly write poetry, so tell me if this is worth going with, or if I should stick to poetry. XD

They had already caught Marodai and now they were gaining on Kamyll and Drayden. They couldn’t go back for Marodai. They had to keep running.

Kamyll slid to a stop as she reached the edge of a cliff. Her brother stopped next to her and held her arm, pulling her away from the cliff.

“The river!” She cried looking down. The sound of the roaring river meshed with the thunder and the rain. Her feet began to slide in the mud as she stood so very close to the edge.

“Look! Over there! Go!” Drayden shouted back, pointing to their left. Kamyll strained her eyes in the dark to see what he had pointed at. In the distance, there was what looked like a bridge. As they grew closer to it, Kamyll realized that it was a fallen tree, old and rotting.

“We can’t! It’ll break!” Kamyll shook her head vigorously, stepping away from the exposed roots of the tree.

“Really, Kamyll, where’s your sense of adventure?” Drayden flashed a brilliant smile, his white teeth illuminated by a bolt of lighting.

He grabbed her hand, pulled her onto the log and began sprinting, his nimble feet criss-crossing each other in small swift motions.

A sleek, black arrow hissed through the air. Sloathe’s mouth twisted in a smirk wrought with malice. The arrow flew with grace and perfection. It struck Drayden’s right arm.

Kamyll didn’t let go of his hand as he let out a cry of pain, then slipped and fell, dragging Kamyll with him. He now hung over the edge, holding to nothing but Kamyll’s hand. She held him up by his left hand with both her arms, trying desperately to stay on the log. She was a petite little thing and he was a great deal taller and heavier than she.

“Hold on! I can pull you up!” Kamyll said, full of determination.

“No… It’s no use, Kamyll. I know you’re strong, you always have been, now use your strength and let go!” He shouted over the angry wind.

“No! I won’t!” Kamyll held on as tight as she could, but she and everything around her was rain-soaked and her palms were now gathering sweat.

“I’m going to toss the egg up to you, and you’re going to have to let go of me and catch it!” He said firmly as he took the egg from inside his cloak and held it in his right hand.

“No, Drayden! Don’t let go! They’ve got Marodai, and you know I can’t do this alone. I need you!” Kamyll pleaded.

“We’ve only got one shot! You must catch the egg! You must take it and keep running!” Until now he had remained calm and contained, but the thought of his little sister continuing alone, without protection, frightened him greatly.

“Please, brother… Don’t.” She whispered, looking into his great blue eyes. Her tears plummeted with the rain into the icy depths below.

“Don’t look back.” He mouthed, overwhelmed with emotion.

He let out a loud grunt -the arrow still protruding from his arm- as he sent the egg flying into the air above Kamyll. He loosened his grip and Kamyll couldn’t hold on any longer. Everything seemed to move so slowly as the egg continued to rise from the powerful thrust Drayden had given it and as he slipped away into the darkness, silently falling to his death.

Kamyll snapped back to reality and lifted her head just in time to reach out and catch the egg in her hands. She glared for a moment at its shell with white veins like spider-webs stretched across the glossy black surface.

Tears still flowing from her green eyes, she shoved the egg into her bag and kept running… and running… never once daring to look back.