Run. Just run.

The word echoed over and over, growing louder with every thump of Lexi's paws, the only thing audible above the rasp of her own breath. The forest danced and blurred before her, all focus lost to the dizzy exhaustion that threatened to tug her down.

But she couldn't stop. Not even if she'd wanted to.

Blind fear drove her on, gifting her memories of the flash of fangs, the scrape of claws, the glint of narrowed eyes. Droplets of blood, scattered amongst fallen white bodies. Loss. Failure. Darkness closing in.

Whatever it took, she had to get away from that place.

A tingling ran through her fur, golden sparks clinging to her flank. That she couldn't stop either. The terror made it leap and dance, not crackling with readiness to strike but instead cowering against her, forcing her to run faster, hoping it could defend her from the danger she ran from.

She knew it couldn't. She knew they'd catch her. But still she pushed on.

Her claw caught against something, jolting to a stop and colliding with the earth, making her whole body fly forwards with the momentum. She landed on her side, chest heaving, knowing she wouldn't get back up. This was the end of the chase.

Lightning threaded across her snout, making the forest flicker before her. She gulped at the air. It seemed to scrape down her throat like sharpened rock. Perhaps even the atmosphere had claws of its own now, forever fighting, inflicting pain on whatever it came across.

The whole world was like that now. Fighting. Battle was all that was left.

Somehow, she managed to force the thrashing air into her lungs, and slowly the forest became clear. Dark trees, motionless as always, reaching upwards like rigid soldiers. Save the brown smudge of a bird as it flitted between the branches, nothing moved. She was alone.

Lexi let her head sink to the ground, doing her best to return her breathing to its normal pace. Gravity felt twice as powerful today - she was sure she could feel its force pressing into her side, turning her paws to lead, pinning her there on the ground.

The urge to run was gone now. There was no need. It had been stupid to think anyone would care enough to chase her all this way.

They were too busy fighting the wolves who'd had the courage to stay.

Swallowing fiercly to hold back the tears pricking at her eyes, she planted her forepaws flat against the ground and pushed upwards. Her body shook, still far from recovering from the racing pace she'd taken to flee the cave. Shaking her head, she tried to dislodge the nagging voice at the back of her mind - one she hadn't been able to hear until the pounding of the one telling her to run had subsided. This new voice called her a coward. It whispered of how a true hero would have stayed to fight, not given in to fear.

"It wasn't fear," she growled at it, knowing she was wasting breath but needing to hear her argument spoken aloud. "It was a calculated move. We were losing, and me being there wasn't going to change that. I escaped so that I could get help."

But what help can I bring? They're probably already dead.

Her head shook more vigorously. "The Shadewylves will have reasons to keep them alive. They must have. At least the Twilytra. I can get back to town and find the Wylfire. Surely not even they can deny that this is a noble cause."

She forced away any replying thoughts, and spurred her limbs into a run again. A more steady, controlled run this time, one she hoped would conserve more energy. All she had to do was keep going, and pray that she could reach town before sunrise. That would at least give her a whole day to organise and bring her rescue before the Shadewylves completed what they had planned.

Not that they do have something planned. The theory poked above the surface before she could squash it back down. You were their plan, you and Toivo. It was all bait.

As much as she tried to deny it, she couldn't find any other reason why the Shadewylves would have been so prepared. She'd told herself that they'd seen Angel escape, and been ready for the attack that way, but inside she knew that to be false. If they'd noticed Angel missing, their plan would have been to search the rest of the cave for her, and maybe a few extra guards would have investigated the cell, but not the whole army that had truly been waiting there.

The Shadewylves knew Toivo would be making a rescue attempt. Someone must have been watching for him in there and tracked his progress. The thought of their carefully-orchestrated plan being torn apart like that made Lexi feel as if something was being slowly crushed in her chest.

The fact that they knew about Toivo at all opened a whole new hoard of questions, twisting and tangling her thoughts.

She wanted to avoid even theorising answers, but as she pressed on, glancing at the sun hovering in the sky to her left and hoping the direction she travelled was vaguely south, she knew she needed something to think about. Ignoring the questions only made her mind focus on the way her paws throbbed as she slammed them against the packed dirt, and her muscles' cry for her to at least slow down.

The wolves back at the cave would have known about him because of Jaser. That was obvious. But as Lexi thought back to the time she'd spent watching the battle, she didn't recall a scrap of surprise from any of the Shadewylves present. They'd known before they even met him... maybe even before he knew himself.

It pricked at Lexi's fur constantly. Everything felt curiously set up. The Twilytra finding them both on the hilltop right before his Peltmark appeared, Deimos waiting in the woods, Jaser and Briar knowing just when the Twilytra would show up and being ready for it. Surely it couldn't be coincidence.

The more she thought about it, she more she realised that maybe the only thing the world hadn't anticipated was her involvement.

She narrowed her eyes, staring at the trees ahead and willing her racing paws to reach them faster. Perhaps she'd merely hitched a ride on a journey meant for her best friend. Toivo was the hero. She was the accidental sidekick. But not for much longer.

If I can convince the Wylfire, she told herself, I'll be responsible for them showing up at the cave. That will be my doing. Whatever the future had planned for Toivo, she could break through that simple move.

The nagging voice sighed at her, growling that she was just reading too much into things - being the overly-smart Thunderwylf who was just going to get herself killed. She growled back. Even if it's not true, let me believe it. I want to make some change in this world, whether I'm supposed to or not.

All she had to do was run.

For a while, much longer than she'd expected, that thought kept her moving. Bounding over streams and dodging trees, she sprinted onward, an unstoppable force. The world seemed to clear a path for her, allowing her to leap with the agility of a hare through the forest. At every opportunity she usually would have slowed and given in to exhaustion, she forced herself to keep running.

The lightning burst out again. She could feel it lending her strength. She was a flash of gold, bright and fierce, endlessly moving forwards. This was her destiny.

Yet, eventually, the electricity subsided, shrinking beneath that fur, and even as its faint crackles faded she knew that she'd run all she could.

Her body fell all at once, paws buckling and chest toppling sideways. She hit the ground on her side, eyes sliding to the sky, watching the sun gradually fall from its highest peak.

For more than an hour, maybe even two, she'd been running. The very thought startled her. It felt incredible. And yet still she was disappointed at herself for not keeping going.

A rest, she told herself sternly, letting her head lie flat and closing her eyes. Her heartbeat came into focus, racing far faster than her breathing could, and she did her best to calm it. All I need is a rest. I still have ages before tomorrow.

She also still had a long way to run, but she couldn't let herself dwell on that.

How long it took her to drift off, she wasn't sure, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. She wouldn't have been surprised if her exhaustion had pulled her deep into sleep in seconds. All she could be sure of was that she fell asleep right there, collapsed on her side, and the next thing she knew were paws grasping her shoulders, yanking her into conciousness.

They shook her. She let out a low moan. It wasn't time to wake up yet.

They shook harder. She rolled over, trying to evade their grasp.

They clutched for her again. A claw pricked her skin. Her eyes flew open.

Gasping, she scrambled away, blinking in the sunlight as she crawled as fast as she could through the long grass. How could she be so stupid? Sleeping out here in the open had to be the least logical thing she'd ever done. There were Shadewylves after her. And now one had caught her, and it was all her fault.

"Lexi."

She froze, her back resting against the base of a tree. Her ears pricked up.

"Lexi, come back," the voice said again, a hushed whisper from behind, purposeful and controlled. Even if she hadn't recognised it, she would have been compelled to turn around regardless.

A purple wolf, tall and lean, stood before her. Her fur shone in the sun, not the dancing sparkle Lexi's gold created but a pure, deep shine. Her snout was tilted downwards, and her silver eyes were alight with focus.

"Dawn," Lexi breathed. She bowed her head in greeting, partly to hide the embarrassment the twitch of her nose might convey. Her heart still pounded with the fear of being discovered. "How did you find me?" she asked after a moment.

A warm smile graced Dawn's narrowed snout. "Come, let us get you somewhere safer."

She held out her paw, and even in Lexi's waking state it didn't take her long to decipher what the Mystwylf was inviting her to do. Nodding, she stepped forward and twined her claw with Dawn's.

Her eyes automatically flicked shut at the sensation that followed. Even knowing what it now was didn't make it any less disorientating. The world flashed and danced behind her eyelids, and she could feel it pressing hard at her chest, compressing everything in a way she couldn't begin to comprehend. She expected this mode of transport was something that had taken Dawn a lot of getting used to.

When her paws finally touched grass once more, she braced herself, and somehow managed to remain upright. Dawn was still beside her, though the trees were more tightly arranged around them, and the air's touch held a little more warmth.

One glance around, a few gasping breaths, and Lexi's memory confirmed it. "The Twilytra base?"

"Yes," Dawn replied with a nod. She seemed less tired than she had last time Lexi had teleported beside her, but her pants were still noticeable. Inclining her head, she motioned to Lexi to sit.

As they both settled amongst the grass, Lexi stared at Dawn, debating whether or not to ask her question again. One silver-eyed glance was all it took for her to seal her snout shut and tell herself to wait.

"I had a vision about you, Lexi. Bhavisha allows me to see many things, and through her divine eyes, I saw the battle you ran from." Snout drooping, Dawn sighed. "Needless to say, I am disheartened to see your rescue fail, and I am sure you are too. But do not worry," she added, lifting her head to meet Lexi's eyes. "Our comrades are all alive, and if we act fast, they will stay that way."

Lexi nodded silently. Relief calmed her heart's pace for the first time since she'd entered the cave's tunnel for the first time. They were all alive, and she had a chance at saving them. Not only that, but Dawn's teleportation had allowed her to reach town much quicker than she would have otherwise.

But as she stared at Dawn, one of only three Twilytra who were not imprisoned far away in Nefaris, she couldn't help but feel a pang of shame.

Just as she opened her snout to apologise for her cowardice, she felt a familiar presence brush through her mind. Gulping, she stared into Dawn's eyes, trying to ignore the way they stared deep beneath her own.

As it left again, Dawn spoke. "You did the right thing running, Lexi."

Lexi's eyes widened. She'd been so sure of the Mystwylf's disappointment. "I did?"

"Of course." Dawn's smile briefly widened. "If I were to try to speak with the Wylfire, they would assume me to merely be searching for a following or plain crazy. All the things you've thought before."

Lexi bowed her head, the shame creeping back, but Dawn only shook her head. "I do not blame you - you are wise to be cautious. It is why I have faith in you, Lexi. You are wise." Her eyes sparkled. "It is up to you now to turn the Wylfire from foes to allies. But you have another task before that."

"What's that?" Lexi asked, tilting her head to the side as she rose.

"Go to see your parents." Dawn's smile faded, her expression turning serious. "You left home in the middle of the night and have not returned since. I do not need to be a mind reader to know of their worry."

Lexi's tail fell, its tip brushing the ground. She'd barely even spared her parents a thought. The guilt hardened in her throat now. How long had it been since she left them? Two days? Three? Far too long for them to be alone, wondering whether or not the same wolf she'd played with in their very house now had killed their daughter with powers of Shadow. She knew it would be at the forefront of her mind if she were them.

"You're right. Thank you, Dawn." She made to step away, but her eyes lingered on the base - empty besides the two of them. "Where are Morgan and Alvis?"

A flash of surprise crossed Dawn's eyes - perhaps surprise at the way the names slid so easily from Lexi's memory. "Hunting," she assured. Sorrow clouded her gaze. "It is better to keep them busy and distract them from the possible fate of their closest friends."

Lexi nodded. She tried to fill her own eyes with a hardened determination, hoping to somehow reassure the Mystwylf that her team were in capable paws, even if she wasn't entirely certain herself. "I'll make the Wylfire rescue them. I promise."

The smile tugged at Dawn's snout once more. "And I have faith in your promise, young hero."

The word meant more to Lexi than its speaker would ever know. "Thank you," she said again, before turning and setting off southwards once more. This time, the direction wasn't vague or estimated. It was a way she knew fairly well. Once the trees parted around paths and houses, she barely needed to think about her paws' movement.

Her head instinctively ducked as she passed the Wylfire headquarters. Part of her itched to burst in there right away and demand they raced to rescue her best friend, but she knew that would achieve nothing. Her parents were the priority. She needed to show them that she was alright. Besides, maybe if she explained things to them, they might be able to help her.

So, she turned her head away from the orange-painted building and instead focused on the gold one up ahead. The Thunderwylf labs. As much as she'd dreaded entering them every day, the familiar sight of her gleaming sign, hanging as usual above her shut-up lab, made her linger there for a moment.

After all that had happened, that shard of normality couldn't fail to make her relax.

Just as she gave her lab a respectful nod and made to move past it, a curious sound drew her attention. A shout. A yelp. Another familiar sound, but one she'd heard enough in the last few days to last her a lifetime.

The sound of fighting.