***
I hit the ground so hard my breath was knocked out. I laid there, sucking in painful breaths and staring at the sky. There was something different about it, even though it was gloomy. There was more than gloom and sadness in the air this time, it was something cold, like death. I shivered because the ground was so cold and hard that it chilled me to the bone.
Seth’s head blocked out my vision. “Hey, you alright?”
I sat up and Seth helped me up. I rubbed my sore back and looked around, taking in the dead looking trees and shadows. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know, Jazell. The creature must have been a setup to bring us here,” he replied. “I think I know who did it.”
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, Seth,” I pointed out. I looked around. “Where are the others?”
Seth went pale. “I don’t know Jazell, they aren’t here. They’re just gone.”
My stomach twisted into a knot. We had always been a group of four and now it was just the two of us. The ghost girl’s words came back to me. The four of you were chosen because of your unbreakable bond, but even that can be broken. You are strongest when you are together, but don’t let yourselves be separated.
Kojas had separated us because he already knew that. The girl had warned us for a reason. She had known that Kojas was going to try to split us up into groups so that we would be weak. I watched Seth pace back and forth, nervously running his fingers through his hair and drumming the hilt of his sword.
I can also tell you to be careful about Kojas; he's tricky and will use your emotions against you. He'll find a way to get you to come to him instead of him coming to you.
The girl had told us more than we had thought. Maybe Kojas thought we would both imagine that he did something to the other two so that we would come running to him. I had a feeling that Emily and Jason were okay and just as confused as us.
That also meant that Kojas knew as much, and maybe more than us.
Fall of Igneeria: The Half-ling Page 16