Cassandra opened her eyes slowly, and then shut them again. Her head was pounding and her entire body felt like a massive bruise. What had happened? She struggled up into a sitting position, opening her eyes again. Something trickled into her vision and she touched her head gingerly. She was bleeding; carefully Cassandra wiped the blood away from her eyes and squinted at her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was the devastation of the surrounding forest. Trees had been ripped from the ground or snapped in half. Something terrible had happened recently and Cassandra felt her body shaking in fear. She forced herself to get to her feet.

What scared her most was the thought of Nemesis trapped under a tree or…or attacked by that monster. She turned when she heard a scream. Nemesis was backed against a pile of debris and some thing, some creature was moving closer to its prey. The creature was somewhat larger than Nemesis with a long neck. It had a reptilian look, and flicked out a forked tongue tasting the Nemesis’ fear. The giant lizard had black leathery wings and a wicked spiked head and tail. The rest of its body was sleek and black. It moved closer to Nemesis, waving its deadly tail.

She did not think, Cassandra grabbed a branch and ran towards the thing “Don’t you dare touch him! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you.” The monster turned its head towards her and her branch dropped from her hands. It hissed, and a steely voice said “You really don’t want to anger her.” Cassandra whirled around, almost falling over in the process. “Please sit, you wouldn’t want to injure yourself further.” Cassandra had to force herself to remain upright. A man was sitting on a fallen tree; he stared at her as if measuring her up for some task. She returned his stare with a glare.

The man was sitting nonchalantly as if he hadn’t just ripped a forest apart, one leg resting up on the other, a hand resting on one knee. She noticed the other hand was wrapped in what looked like bandages. His clothes were shades of green but they seemed unsubstantial as if they were not of this world. The man’s hair was blond and when he turned his face to look at her she saw that his right eye was milky white. A ragged scar ran down the right side of his face and down his neck. He might have been handsome once but something had changed him.

“Admiring my scar? She gave it too me,” he said nodding towards the giant lizard. “I don’t know who you are but if that thing kills my horse you will pay dearly for it,” growled Cassandra, trying to give her voice a threatening edge. “Never fear, she cares not for horse meant.” In response to this the giant lizard turned and walked away from Nemesis, who shuddered an insane fear in his eyes. “I suspect someone warned you of our coming and you tried to run but my Shade is a keen hunter,” he paused in his speech as if waiting for her to say something. Cassandra filled the silence, “Who are you?”

He nodded, “I am Tamesis, Lord of the spirit realm. We have been looking for you ever since you left your house. Something was protecting you but their defenses were weak. I have heard tales of you that you imagine events before they happen that you can see and converse with spirits. A rare gift.” Cassandra shrugged, a rare gift, right…it had only been a nuisance to her. “We would like you to come join us; we can offer you many things and I am sure that you will repay us for our kindness.” Cassandra could tell he was lying; she would be used for her gift and then when she had no more offer, she would be killed.

Tamesis’ voice had a lulling effect; she hadn’t realized that he was standing not two feet away. She could see his face clearly now, the scar was pink and his face twisted around it. As if awaking from a dream she shook her head vigorously, “No, I want nothing to do with spirits or shadows. I want them to leave me alone.” “You can’t just run away, the shadows and dreams will always be with you,” Tamesis whispered.

There was a thump nearby, they both turned to look in the direction that the sound came from. It grew louder into a steady beat and Cassandra heard whispering. Suddenly a clear voice rang out, “Run Cassandra, run now!” She obeyed, sprinting towards Nemesis just as Tamesis reached out to grab her. The ground shook with the beat causing Tamesis to fall; Cassandra was amazed that she remained upright. She mounted Nemesis, who whirled around bewildered. “To the plains Cassandra, to the plains,” shouted the voice.

She realized that it was Jabi who was shouting. There was so much noise. Tamesis was holding his head screaming and his mount writhed on the ground.  She watched as his fist punched the ground and a crack opened. It snaked towards her; Cassandra screamed and kicked Nemesis into a gallop. She felt Jabi’s presence behind her, “Yes to the plains and beyond,” he whispered, “We must make haste, my friends cannot hold Tamesis for long.” Cassandra clenched her teeth and nodded. She had to trust the spirits now, they had saved her, and she had to listen to their advice.

Nemesis sprinted onto the open plain leaving the dark forest behind them. The wind snatched at her hair and she lowered her head closer to Nemesis’ neck. She did not know what would happen next but she wanted to be as far away from that place as possible and she wanted answers. Nemesis covered a lot of ground, his fear gave him speed. Cassandra looked up and realized that the plain was ending. Woods lay in front of them. She slowed Nemesis and waited at the edge of the woods. Cassandra turned and looked behind her at the way they had come, a dark smear was on the horizon. Jabi appeared beside her and she dismounted. “Into the woods?” she asked. “There is a safe place in here that I will take you to,” he replied. Cassandra nodded, she wanted to ask a million questions but Jabi still looked terrified. She knew the danger was not behind them yet.