Hi, Readers!  If you'd like to watch the book trailer video, you can watch it in the previous chapter.  I venture to edit my work as I re-read it or have my fans message me about something. Please feel free to let me know, and I will edit as appropriate. **PLEASE do not copy my work in any way.**

 Hope you enjoy the book!

I gasped for breath with each fleeting step. With a glance back at the raging fire, my heart raced in despair. It was getting closer. My legs begged for me to stop. I ignored their exhausted plea and forced them to move faster. When I plunged through the underbrush and scattered berry patches, the thorns dug into my bare legs and tore at my arms. I clenched my teeth and held back a scream. Despite the stinging pain, I pressed on and yanked my nightshirt free of the remaining barbs and kept running.

The fiery woods crackled and snapped behind me. Fallen deadwood blocked my path at every turn. I jumped over a log and charged down the trail. Charred pine smoke clouded the air and made my lungs burn. I stumbled through the growing haze and tripped over an overgrown root. My hands and knees slammed onto the dirt with my foot lodged between a tree's roots.

Blinking back the tears, I heaved on my leg trying to escape the shackle of the twisted wooden jail. My pulse soared, I glanced over my shoulder again. Time was running out—he was coming. My boot cemented in place, I kicked at it with my other foot, trying to free myself.

"Stupid unyielding freaking..." I mumbled. It didn't budge an inch. I scanned the path again. He was getting close I could feel his presence. I had to get moving, or the flames would be the least of my worries.

Hey, sweetness. A little stuck? His voice echoed inside my head, invading my thoughts. Need some help? I'll be happy to escort you home. I felt him grin through our connection. His words floated in my head with a thick smugness that made my skin crawl.

"Not if I can help it," I said under my breath.

I reached down, grabbed the laces and wrenched with all my might. The boot cinched tighter until felt the old laces snap between my fingers. Winded and lying on my back, I tugged on my leg again. This time, my foot slid free of its wooden jail. Within a breath, I'd rolled over and hopped up and started my flight again, leaving my dusty boot behind.

"Ow!" Tears pricked my eyes, and I crumpled to the forest floor. My ankle screamed in agony. A swollen purple bruise marred the joint. I dug my fingernails into the dirt and crawled down the path to some fallen branches in the underbrush. Grabbing the thickest stick for a crutch, I staggered up on my good leg.

Squinting in the direction I just fled, I noticed the fire surged brighter and higher than it burned before. A fierce cloud of angry ash and smoke filled the air. My pursuer's frustration was beginning to show. I grabbed a firm hold of the branch and kept moving toward freedom.

I laughed and shook my head. "Now I know I'm crazy. Thinking I can follow my heart and get away with it." I said scolding myself. If they caught me—the torture would be unspeakable.

My foot tapped the side of a rock, and I winced holding back a whimper of pain. I didn't want to scream and let them know how close they were. The vision that woke me from my sleep and started my flight into the night gave one clear message—he was coming, run! That warning kept looping in my head as I pushed on.

Wren, someone called to me in my thoughts. His warm and tender voice, made me smile. Right now, I wished his arms were wrapped around me making me feel safe. We'll find a way—promise. Have faith, beautiful. Now, stay focused and keep moving. The power of his words strengthened me but broke me at the same time. Every step forward also took me farther away from him.

I drew in a deep breath then let out a long sigh, placed my crutch under my arm and hobbled ahead. The stick's bark bit into my arm and scraped against my ribs. I stopped. Another tree had fallen across the path. When I climbed over the log, I tore at the moss growing on the trunk. I placed the handful of soft green lichen over my stick and started down the trail with a small sense of relief.

"Wren!" my pursuers hollered getting closer. "You know you won't get away that easily. Wren? I know you can hear me."

When I looked ahead to see how much farther I had to go, a whirling gust of wind shook the trees around me. The leaves rustled and fell from the branches twisting in the breeze. "She found me," I whispered. A blue shimmering dreamlike mist gathered and dissipated as she solidified into form. Wasting no time, she turned and faced me, her golden locks catching the breeze.

"Darling, look at you." She reached out and plucked a leaf from my hair and rubbed something off my cheek with her thumb.

The lavender gown she wore was out of place with our forest surroundings and looked like she'd been sitting for an artist's portrait. Its bodice held her tight, while its skirts stirred about with the night's breeze. Her eyes glowed an unnatural aquamarine color that mesmerized me every time I looked into them. When she looked down at my foot, breaking the spell, I noticed the three round incandescent stones on her necklace were lit up cutting the darkness of the night.

"Come, we don't have much time." She reached out her hand.

"You're here..." I wiped my dirty hand across my brow. My chest felt heavy with the sight of her standing in front of me. "You can't be here if anything happened to you." I swallowed hard. "Oh god, if they find you helping me—"

Her eyes were glossy and bright. "You're my daughter. No matter what the costs, I'd come."

I took a deep breath and put on a brave face. It was an almost impossible task to conceal anything from my mother. She'd always find out in the end. I felt guilty not telling her my secret and before now— My heart sank, and I wanted to cry. "The problem is I've twisted my ankle," I commented and held up my makeshift crutch.

"I'm not sure that's where the problem lies. Is it?" She smiled, but before I could answer, she picked up my hand. "If I'd known— I could have better prepared you," her voice cracked.

"Wren! I know you're close by." His yelled, over the sounds of the flaming woods. She looked at me.

"Come, sweetheart, I can take you small jumps closer toward the ocean's water. I'm not able to take us both the whole distance all at once, so we need all the time we have."

Nodding, I peeked behind me. Two men had broken through the flames at the edge of the bramble, one on the heels of the other.

I stumbled to get closer to her. "All right, clear your mind. Think only of your breath. Everything begins and ends with your breath," she instructed. "Ready?"

"Yes," I said softly. I blinked, clearing my eyes of the surrounding smoke. I wanted to see if I could make out the men's faces. But I was jerked forward through space and their images were gone. When I opened my eyes again, the next thing I saw was a brief glimpse of the guard station that overlooked the ocean below, and then transported in a lightning motion, we were standing hand in hand at the bottom of the cliff's edge where the stairs led to the beach.

In our final mystical traverse, I felt like I was grabbed and dumped into the center of the beach, left lying in a dizzy heap. My head spun, and queasiness came over me leaving me retching and expelling the contents of my stomach all over the sand next to me. Once my stomach stopped its twisting rage against me, I managed to drag myself to standing with my makeshift prop under my arm while wiping my mouth across my other sleeve.

"Well, that's expected of a first-time traveler." She smirked. "Come on. We have to move into the water now. They're nearly here."

"Wait, the water?" I gasped—she knew. I don't know why I thought I could hide anything from her. When I looked toward the cliff, two figures were running down the stairs closing the distance between us.

I waded into the salty water behind her, my eyes stung with tears, and I dropped my crutch. The seawater scorched the myriad of fresh cuts and scrapes that littered my body. I clenched my teeth and searched for my stick, but a wave was carrying it out to sea.

"Uhhh," I quietly whimpered in protest. The buoyancy of water was already at chest level, washing over even more of my tiny wounds. Exhausted and disoriented, a wall of water surrounded us like a watery cavern. When the sea cave closed overhead, my mother faced me with her dress billowing in the water.

"Here, you'll need this." She tugged her necklace over her head then pulled it down over mine. When she let go of the string of stones, the three tiny aqua beads ceased glowing making my heart sink even further into despair. My mind began to race.

"What are you doing? You can't give me your necklace! I—I won't take it," I screamed at her. When I tried to pull it back over my head, she stopped me and pulled my hands away.

"When you wear it, remember me." Her eyes shimmered a bright green. "Be safe and know my love is always with you." She leaned in and kissed my forehead then touched the three aqua beads, rotating each of them around the leather string twice, then paused and smiled. "He will find you. Trust in your heart that you'll know the difference."

"No—no you can't," I stammered, knowing there wasn't any other way. "I love you too much," I choked out through my tears.

"I love you too." She pursed her lips, then grabbed two of the burnt-out looking beads and pulled them all the way around the necklace, so they touched behind my neck on either side of the ties. Everything went bright, flames scorched and ignited the beach in front of us. When I blinked, the flames had disappeared washing away from sight with a massive swell that overtook us from behind. Cocooned in the wave's protection the waters dragged us away from the beach.

On the verge of being pulled apart, she grabbed my hand hard trying not to lose her grip. She yanked me closer then touched her fingers to my forehead and like a dream I drifted away into the cold, empty darkness—waking up with an unceremonious thud of my head hitting the floor of my room.

I've dreamt this same nightmare every night since the accident three years ago. The torment of losing everyone I love over and over again has haunted and kept me awake at night. Just when I thought I couldn't take another night of my curse, everything changed on the first day of my senior year at school.

*A huge thank-you to ChayAvalerias for his suggestions for my re-write on this Prologue. His assistance was very helpful.*

READERS: Thanks for checking out The Dream Weaver! I know there isn't a ton of dialogue in the prologue. All that changes in chapter one (promise)! I appreciate your feedback. (I try to respond to all of my reader's comments.) 

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