Arrowan

A guard was coming through the portal behind me and would land any second. I pushed myself to my feet, grabbed my bag off the ground, and gritted my teeth through the pain that flared up in my back when I ran. For the first time, I took in my surroundings as they blurred past me.

Trees – lots of them. Snow – heaps of it. More snow falling down all around me. It was up to my knees and even though I pushed my aching body to run as fast as I could, it seemed almost impossible to make any real progress. That wasn't even the worst part of these heaps of snow, though – no, that honor was reserved for the fact it was making a trail behind me that clearly showed my pursuer every step I took. I glanced back at my tracks and sneered in disgust at the situation when I saw a clear line of blood splatters from the gashes in my back, highlighting my path for him – as though it wasn't obvious enough.

The light flared brighter and I ducked behind a tree so I at least wouldn't be in the guard's line of sight when he landed. While his footsteps slowly grew nearer, I closed my eyes and tried to calm my racing heart. It was no use – between the pain, adrenaline, fear, and excitement at finally making it to Earth, I was too worked up. Spots started dancing across my vision and I realized I was holding my breath like an idiot.

It didn't matter that I'd made it here, not while the guard was on my tail. He could take me back to Alterra if I didn't get away from him. Even if I escaped, as long as he was out there chasing me, it wouldn't be safe to go to my bond mate. So, my only option here was to fight, and fight hard.

Show no mercy, for you will receive none.

The footsteps stopped just on the other side of the tree. I knew about the guard's staff, but that couldn't be all he carried on him. Just as I thought that, I heard a tiny hissing noise and I threw myself away from the tree on instinct. When I looked back, the trunk was wrapped in glistening netting. Silvery threads of magic coursed along the wires that made up the net. I had a few guesses for what kind of magic that was, and none of them were pleasant. If I hadn't moved, he would have already caught me.

New plan, then – I was obviously unprepared and my pursuer had the upper hand.

Run if it means you fight another day.

I faintly heard the crunch of snow as the guard took a step forward and I ran behind the nearest tree. The snow slowed me down, and I had a feeling I was at more of a disadvantage than the guard was. He probably had ranged weapons with him. I had almost nothing.

A smarter person might have abandoned the bag that was slung over my shoulder, but it now represented the grand sum of all my worldly goods and besides, the guard could pick it up and use it to do a tracking spell on me. It would be almost impossible to evade him if he did that.

So, the bag stayed.

I slogged my way through the snow, zigzagging as much as I dared. It meant I had to cover a greater distance, but it also meant I'd be harder to hit with magic or projectiles. As I ran, the cold that saturated my clothes within seconds of landing seeped deeper and deeper into me, until I was running on numb toes with lungs that burned from the cold – not to mention my ears and my nose, which had lost all sensation ages ago.

Still, I ran. The guard followed behind, and for a while I thought I was just faster than him. As I inevitably tired and slowed down, though, I realized he must be keeping back intentionally. Where I was forcing each step through the knee-high snow, he was able to run in my footsteps. It gave him a huge advantage. He really should have caught me by now.

So, what did he gain from letting the chase go on?

I started to wheeze from the cold and my heart started to feel strange in my chest, almost disconnected. I really wasn't dressed for this weather. Even my mind felt sluggish, but I was still sharp enough to realize that this was exactly what the guard was waiting for. All he had to do was wait for me to tire myself out. I'd be much easier to subdue and much less dangerous to him if he did.

Fuck.

Experimentally, I slowed my pace just a little more. I had always been more of a sprinter than a long-distance runner, and if I was right then my speed didn't matter much. As long as I still kept moving, he wouldn't make a move to capture me – not yet. And just as I expected, the guard slowed his pace behind me.

The slower pace was nice, but it only made me want to slow down even more. I knew better than that, though – slow down too much and he'd take his chance. I would be too tempting a target.

While I ran, my mind still worked to come up with a plan, with some idea that would get me out of this situation. And I finally caught something that I might be able to use to my advantage. Up ahead, glinting fiercely in the sun, was a lake.

It looked massive, and the closer I got, the bigger it looked. Better yet, despite the snow all around me, it was completely unfrozen. Unfrozen and reflective.

If I could make it to the lake, I could jump into the mirror realm. It would be almost impossible for the guard to track me. He would have to return to Alterra and regroup. They would break into my apartment and my studio, seizing everything I had left behind, and they could use all of it to perform tracking spells on me. There were ways to block tracking spells, though.

As I grew closer to the lake, I heard the guard speeding up behind me. He must realize my plan, but no way was I letting him catch me now. I put on a burst of speed, running full-out as kicked-up snow flew through the air around me. My legs were shaky and I had lost enough sensation in my body that I felt simultaneously like I was floating and like I might fall over any second, but I gritted my teeth and ran.

I heard another hissing noise and threw myself to the side in time to watch another net fly through the space I had just occupied. Then I scrambled back to my feet and ran again. It was harder to move now that my body had gotten a small reprieve, but I was close to the lake – too close to give up.

I got close enough that I could cast my magic out to the surface of the lake, readying it to act as a portal to me. Just a few more steps. A faint whistling noise had me rolling forward and I dodged something that went flying overhead, something big that glinted like metal. It didn't matter. My roll carried me forward and I landed in the mirror realm.

The guard could follow me here if he was good at mirror magic, but in this in-between place, time and distance didn't flow quite the same. He would have to be very skilled to track me through the reflections, and I made sure to pick one that felt distant before stepping out of the mirror realm and into a shop.

I was in front of a vending machine filled with bottles of drinks whose labels I didn't recognize. Seeing them made my throat ache, but I had water in my bag and no time to pull it out, so I quickly shook that thought away and looked around for another reflection I could jump through. The guard might be able to follow me to this place, but he wouldn't be able to follow several jumps if I moved quickly enough.

Behind me were restroom doors, and I hurried into the men's room. Hanging on the wall was a full-length mirror and I grinned at my reflection before leaping in.

Three jumps later, my magic was low and I was woozy. I was on a beach – having just emerged from the ocean's reflection – and I decided I had gone far enough. There had been no hint of the guard, and I was sure I would have seen a glimpse of him if he had managed to follow my mirror leaping. I cast off my worries for a few minutes, shut my eyes, and lay down on the hot sand.

Even though I had plenty to worry about, like my aching body, the Unseelie that would do their best to hunt me down, and the hunger gnawing at my stomach, I let my mind drift. Specifically, I sent a thread of magic into my soul bond.

He was farther away than when I landed in the snowy forest, but that was okay. He was still much more in reach than he had ever been before in my life.

When I thought the world wouldn't be spinning anymore, I opened my eyes and turned my head enough to see the bag that was crushed between my body and the sand beneath it. I was stupidly relieved that I hadn't lost it. As my magic slowly regenerated and my adrenaline levels returned to normal, I started to feel shaky and my head ached. I recognized the signs of an adrenaline crash and knew it would take my body a while to recover. At least the view was nice. I sat up and tugged the bag out from under me, pulled out a bottled water and some jerky, and settled in for a while.

No one bothered me while I snacked on the beach and recovered, which was good since I didn't have much magic or strength left in my body to fight or to flee. I needed sleep and something more nourishing than jerky before I would be remotely back to normal. Once I had enough magic to do it, I wove a protective ward into the clothes I was wearing, one that would protect me from tracking spells. The effort left me shaking and empty, but it was a necessity.

And while I laid back on the sand fighting back nausea and shock from what I had just done, I couldn't help wondering why I was alone. The Seelie could travel much more easily than Unseelie could. Almost all of them could teleport, which meant my bond mate could probably find me at any moment, pulling on his magic to send him to my side in an instant. Either he was one of the few who couldn't teleport or he was choosing not to.

It wasn't a good sign, and I was trying really hard not to jump to conclusions. What else did I have to think about, though? The home I had just lost? The fact that everyone I had ever known must now be counted as an enemy? If any of them saw me again, they would be duty-bound to apprehend me and take me back to Alterra for punishment. That was hard enough to wrap my head around, but then I thought about my studio and my chest ached.

I always knew better than to get attached to it – it was always meant to be a way of supporting myself until I made my escape. I couldn't help the pang of regret when I thought of that quiet space full of the tools of my trade and blocks of stone I had carefully chosen. What would happen to them now?

I sighed and shoved the thoughts away. These were questions I could never answer, so there was no point in dwelling on them. Instead, I rearranged the things in my bag so that everything soft was on one end, and I used that part as a pillow. I'd have a nap, and when I woke up, hopefully I'd have enough magic to venture back into the mirror realm. I could find an exit closer to where my bond mate was. After all these years, we would finally meet.

I hope he likes me.

I snorted at the thought. What was I, thirteen years old?

And yet... I really hoped he liked me.