Her Dawning Empire: The Prophecy

Chapter 67

Crunch.

The sound of dying grass sounded under my shoes as we walked through the dark night.

Ayla had transported us to the border of the Centaurae province as we had been there before. From there, it was a 15 minute walk to where we were now, nearing the ruins of Babi. The walk had been mostly silent, save for the odd command from Emut. We needed the element of surprise here, if we were to not suffer from the same mistakes as in the sea caves.

The moon was shining high, for which I was glad as it gave me some sense of direction as we walked through the tall fluttering trees.

"There it is." Ayla whispered to me and I looked up eagerly, gasping when I saw the sandstone collapsed pillars ahead. They were toppled on top of each other and I was surprised at how tall they were.

"They're made of sand, can you move those?" I whispered curiously to Demir at the back and he rolled his eyes at my question before turning to look around cautiously.

Emut was stood at the front to lead and Demir at the far back to protect our backs whilst the rest of us stood in the middle.

I felt a small increase in temperature as we walked further, fanning myself off. I leaned towards Ayla with a frown.

"Is it me or did it just get ho-"

The sound of a menacing growl cut me off and I felt myself be shoved to the ground. I looked up to see Demir stood over us.

"Move!" He commanded and, without question, I ran ahead, crouching down behind a bush. Ayla toppled in after me and I peered into the darkness with heavy breaths. It was silent for a long moment and we waited with baited breaths for something to happen or see the others, but nothing came.

I ignored the sense of miserable nostalgia from crouching behind the bush, suppressing the darkness it bought up from the memories. Instead, I marvelled at how much this reminded me of a nightmare I had once had, on the night I left Earth.

I heard the sound of a scream, making me panic and without thought, I got up from my position to run towards the noise.

"Hanna!" Ayla screamed, chasing after me, but I ignored her words as I ran further in.

Suddenly, a body slammed against the tree right in front of me and I let out a loud yelp before running towards it.

"Abrax?! Are you okay?!" I shouted the question, leaning to his form and Ayla squatted near me as he stumbled up.

"Maya!" He shouted to the distance before running and I pulled myself up before chasing after him. Ayla called my name yet again, but I couldn't find myself to hide away. I wasn't here for that.

I ran until my legs ached and then something yanked at my leg, pulling me to the grass. I let out a groan which was immediately hushed by Demir who put a finger to his lip in warning. Beside him, was Emut; Maya and Abrax. Ayla soon followed in behind us and I looked to Maya who had blood seeping from her forehead.

"What was it?" I whispered frantically and Abrax shook his head, a horrified look in his eyes.

"A nightmare." He said vaguely and Maya leaned her head against the tree, blowing a long breath out and Abrax continued as Emut and Demir looked to our surroundings, just as they had once done before we went to Earth.

"They call her Ammit- the eater of hearts." He said in a simple whisper, but it was enough to make a shiver go up my spine.

Ayla tensed behind me and I looked to her as she bit her lip in fear.

"They used to tell us stories of her when we were little- a horrifying mix of all the predators in Aaru that can snatch out a heart with a single swipe." She whispered and I clenched my teeth in anger.