"Bullshit!" Chase yells, slamming his fist against one of the walls. "It's all bullshit! They aren't going to save the humans from themselves, they're going to commit genocide and force them into real oppression. This horrible life of hiding we're supposedly living in, the humans don't know about it. They don't f****** know what they're doing and these New Gifted are going to slaughter them for it, it's sick!"

It was the explosions that woke us up, and it was the cracking that made us run faster. At first we assumed that the sounds were some kind of obstacle the others were facing somewhere in the maze, but then the speech had started. Chase had instantly frozen, eyes wide with horror. At first the voice had sounded rational, reasonable; a politician making a speech. But then it became angry, threatening, slowly losing its sanity until the words were being growled and spit into the open air. And with it, Chase's face became stormier and stormier until he looked ready to hit something. When the voice had finally died out and the faraway cheering ceased, he started pacing and ranting, making wide hand gestures and cursing for the first time since I've met him, I think. I agree with every word he said, though.

"We need to go," I tell him, nodding towards the passage.

He takes a couple of long, slow breaths. "Right. Let's go."

This time our run is fueled by anger, and filled with purpose as we whip around the endless turns of the never ending labyrinth. I'm really starting to hate this place. What if there really is no end to it? I mean, it is magical. What if we just run through the maze forever, unable to escape? I shiver at the thought. This whole cave makes me uneasy.

We run for a very long time. Of course, everything seems to slow down here, because of our inability to look at a clock, but I feel nauseous and lightheaded before I trip over my own shoes and crash to the floor. I don't even break my fall properly, so my shoulder hits the stone painfully. I'm too exhausted to make a sound, though, so I just lay there, gasping on the floor.

"Haven?" Chase asks. "Are you okay? Here, let's stop for a minute."

I let him help me to my feet, clutching my arm and wincing.

"Yeah, let me just. . ." I trail off, breathing hard. My throat feels so dry. I need water, desperately, but that's not going to happen and I know it. I just want to be out of here, and I pray that will happen soon.

I get to my feet shakily, leaning against the wall for support. Chase looks winded too. His chest rises and falls quickly, and his hair is damp with a sheen of sweat.

"We need to get to the Amulet," I tell him. "If we spend too much time in here, we could dehydrate." I feel like my throat is full of sand.

"I know, and that's. . ." He trails off, looking further down the hallway with an alarmed expression.

"What is that?" He asks, leaning in that direction.

I follow his line of sight, noticing a slightly whooshing sound, like the noise wind makes going through trees. There is something there, a few somethings, actually. This hall is particularly long, but way far in the distance I can see four dark dots moving towards us. And the sound is getting louder.

"That doesn't look good," I say, backing up slowly. The whooshing is getting more aggressive, and more ominous as time goes on. But Chase doesn't move. His eyes narrow into slits as he looks at the dots moving closer. Except. . . No, I can see it now, they're people, and they're running.

"Chase, we should go," I say, nervous.

"No, that's. . . That's the others! That's the rest of the clan!"

I frown, looking at them closer. He's right! I can see the body of an enormous bear and that of a sleek leopard beside the humanoid shapes. It must be Garret and Kara. They're coming towards us at a full out sprint. The noise has turned vicious now, a wailing, screaming, storm sound that scares me, honestly. And they're moving really fast.

"What are they saying?" Chase asks.

I listen too, and yes, they are saying something, yelling it over the wailing. I can't quite make it out though, but they're getting closer. I can see Garret, Morgan, Kara, and Anne, too, but my dad isn't there with them. Where is he? Did I miss him? No, I don't think so. . .

But I don't have time to dwell on it, because it's then that I finally figure out what they're screaming at us so frantically.

"RUN! GET OUT OF HERE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! RUN!!!!!!"

Just then, a giant wall of shadow and mist whips around the corner and barrels down the corridor towards us, the howling sound amplified to a defending roar. It travels at breakneck speeds, shifting and reforming like a sky of clouds on a time lapse video. The darkness seems to almost swallow up the ground in front of it, and I don't want to find out what it could do to us once it gets close enough.

A shiver of panic washes through me and I immediately spring into action, running frantically in the other direction. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Chase follow suit as we both scramble to get away. I can hear the shadow clouds behind me, gaining ground, getting closer. The other members of the Clan have reached us too, though my mind barely registers their moving shapes through my panic. The clouds are right behind us now. I can imagine them just feet away from my back, reaching out hungry tendrils to envelop me in its mist.

Somehow, I manage to make myself move faster, throwing myself around the turn and pressing my back against the adjacent wall. My heart pounds in my chest as the billowing clouds shoot past in a whoosh of sound and darkness that channels a powerful, rushing wind that whips my hair into a cyclone around me. I squeeze my eyes shut against the surrounding storm, turning my head away and clenching my jaw.

And then it's over. Suddenly the shadow just stops coming, the noise sucked away like someone pulled out some kind of plug. The wind dies down into a gust, and then a soft breeze. I watch the shadow rumble away far ahead, the growl growing softer and softer as it recedes.

"Chase! Haven! Are you guys okay?" Morgan asks. I turn towards the sound of her voice and find her standing with her husband and daughter on the other side of the hall we escaped down.

"Yeah, we're fine," I say, looking around at the others. "Where's my dad?"

No reply. I scan their faces for reassurance, but their expressions are stony, unyielding. I feel my stomach drop.

"We don't know," Garret says finally. "He was behind us after we ran into Anne and Kara, but after the mist came out he fell back. We were running so fast that we didn't see he was missing until he was just gone."

I close my eyes and stare at the floor, not wanting to believe it.

"There's no guarantee that he didn't end up somewhere else, possibly taken down another hall or something. . ." Morgan trails off, her eyes full of pity, and I can hear the unspoken meaning in her voice. These trials weren't meant for survivors.

"No," I whisper, passing a hand over my eyes. I feel weak, like I'm looking over the edge of a steep cliff, about to be pushed and knowing that I can't do anything about it. I'm going to fall; I'm going to break.

I feel Chase wrap his arms around my shoulders, holding me to him. With a shuddering breath I grip his shirt and press my face into his chest. I need to keep it together. I need to try.

"Haven, we're so sorry, I-"

"No," I interrupt loudly, pushing away from Chase and clenching my fists. "We need to go. Let's. . . Let's go."

Like I'm on autopilot, I start off in the direction we were heading originally. I hear my shoes tap quietly against the stone floor with every stride, and I decide to focus on that. One, two, three four, I remember my father saving Chase's life on the night of his brother's death. Seven, eight, nine, ten, I picture his face when we were reunited in Paris. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, I recall the day we ran from Raleigh, the worry in his face as I lost consciousness. Twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, he hid his true identity from me, his own daughter, my whole life. And it was all to protect me. Thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight, thirty nine, everything he did was to protect me, me and the human race I belong to, despite the fact that he never was human at all.

I'm so sorry I ever called him a coward.

Fortyseven-fortyeight-fortynine-fifty, I break into a full out run, fighting back tears. Crying, again. Why does it always end in crying? How many tears can one person shed? My feet hit the ground in rhythm, over and over and over, and one word cycles through my head with each step. Orphan. Orphan. Orphan. Orphan.

Desperately I push forward, digging into the turns and whipping around corners. I let myself go, ignoring the aching pain in my calves and dryness of my mouth. Nothing feels worse, and it couldn't be better.

My legs are starting to shake by the time I feel a hand on my arm and the ground is suddenly gone from beneath me. I see a flash of green eyes and a pale, sorrowful face. Morgan. My hair falls to hide my tear stained face as I hang my head, not resisting. She transfers my weight to Kara, the leopard, and I feel a layer of soft fur beneath me. For a second I tense, afraid of the prospect of riding the leopard, but then I relax, leaning down and wrapping my arms around her neck. It's different from riding a horse, and a little rougher, but I don't care. We're moving, we're getting closer to the Amulet. It's only a matter of time, and with this speed we might make it out by the next sunset. Holding on to the idea of the surface, I close my mind and lose myself in the rhythm of Kara's strides.

Okay guys. I am so sorry about the break in updates sand the length of this. Really. We are really, really close to the end, though, and I feel bad about not writing, but with school and band I just haven't had the time. So sorry. Please expect the next update within the next two weeks.

-iambibliophilic