Beyond the Walls [NEW VERSION]

Chapter 1

The world rattles in my ears, in my head. Dust billows towards me in great grey plumes, rolling and rumbling. The earth trembles, knocking me off my feet. I scramble backward with pitiful, frantic energy, trying to escape the clouds of dust. But the gritty smoke churns past me, pouring into my throat, burning my eyes. I cry out. Or, at least, I try to. But coughs and splutters tumble out instead. My hand flies to my throat with the desperate, primal urge to breathe air. Everything around me is screaming. The forest. The collapsing section of the wall. Me.

My lungs demand air.

A numbness ripples through my muscles and – and my mother's hand reaches out. "Come on, Elle. It's time to go home," she says.

My heart slows, and a strange feeling overwhelms me, pushing me towards her. A cosmic pull back to the stars. To my mother's arms. For a fleeting moment, I am okay with it. After all, I've done, it's probably time for me to lie low. But my mother brushes my red curls behind my ears and kisses my forehead. "The Stars made a mistake. It isn't your time, yet. Wake up, Elle. Live, while you can. Death is coming."

That deeply ingrained animalistic instinct for survival awakens something within me. Drive. Hope. My eyes fly open. I cry out as tiny needles spring into my retinas, drawing salty tears over my lips. The stench of stone and weeping forest coils around me as I shove my torn, rough sleeve over my mouth and scramble. Blind. I am blind. But I do not stop. My other hand flails in front of me, groping the air and the trees and the harsh, scratchy bark, guiding me through the fray.

And then a thought hits me. With so much venom that I almost keel over.

Where is he?

At long last, the thick dust begins to alleviate, and I can make out the dim silhouettes of trees. I push forward. Surely, I would have seen him, if he was walking with me, into the southern forest. My head spins. What the hell happened? Did a section of the Walls really... collapse? The Walls. The impenetrable, mighty stone Walls that have encompassed – and entrapped my people within the kingdom for 110 years.

I stumble onwards, through the gritty haze, coughing and spluttering. "Ruben!" I cry. "Ruben!"

My foot catches on the loop of a root and I curse, my arms flying out as I fall, pitiful and useless. As I bite the dust, literally, my vision blurs, coming in and out of focus and, for a moment, a figure swims into view. It's him. He is entirely unscathed. No blood. No rips in his shirt. Those eyes match the forest, dark and green and demanding. My heart thumps against my ribs. I scramble to my feet, calling his name. "Ruben?"

But his figure melts back into his surroundings and my stomach lurches into my closing throat. My eyes played a trick on me. It was just a tree.

Blood rushes past my ears and panic surges through my veins. A scream tears through the trees. Mine. He's gone. Lost. He could be dead.

But I keep moving, calling out for my friends, now, instead. "Ajax!" Nothing. "Aston!" Surely, my best friend would be nearby.

The coppery scent of blood curls through the air and a groan comes from somewhere in the murky treeline. I sob. He lays sprawled on the floor, his head bleeding on the rock next to him and into his hair, coming from a nasty gash on his forehead. My stomach drops as I crouch beside him, furiously wiping the tears out of my vision. His shirt is a torn, dirty, bloody mess and his eyes flutter before closing.

My hands fumble across his chest, and I shake his shoulder, gently. "Ruben."

He gasps and his eyes fly open. The usually bright jade, gold-flecked eyes are dull, glinting with pain as they dart around my face before settling. His brows relax. "Elle."