(Excerpt)

Together, they moved out of the clearing and back into the trees and into the darkness. No branch scratched her skin. Her feet no longer hurt. The moss continued on like someone had laid out a green carpet for visiting royalty. They traveled through the velvet-black. When they came out of the trees again, it was onto the shore of a small lake. Bara knew of no lake nearby. They weren't in the real-life forest surrounding Windfall. Not anymore. Above was a foreign star-scape of constellations and planets, unnaturally bright. They’d moved into another world.

The stars began to fall then. Light blazed down from the sky and hovered before piercing through the lake surface. Radiant rapiers cut through the watery depths and trailed down into the dark. The last shimmering trail dimmed and Bara was alone again. Her eyes searched the beach and what she could see of the forest. Nothing. The dark-haired boy was gone.

A victorious howl tore through the night. The Wolf turned now to Bara and began a menacingly slow approach through the water. She backed away. Her foot caught on a rock and land gave way. With a single bound, the Wolf cleared the space between them and landed on top of her. They were eye to eye. Her tranquil green battled its stormy silver. She smelled its breath. It was warm and metallic. It smelled of blood.