Chapter 4 Marked By Destiny

• Olivia's heart thundered against her ribcage as she stumbled deeper into the lightless thicket, her boots sliding across the rain-slicked loam. Branches whipped at her face, scoring stinging lacerations as she fled blindly from the sounds of vicious snarling and crunching impacts erupting behind her.
• The daemonic bellows and bestial roars shredding the night made her crave any source of refuge, no matter how meager. But there existed no shelter, no sanctuary—only the endless, smothering expanse of darkness swallowing her whole.
• Her foot caught on an upraised root, sending her sprawling forward, chin cracking against the dank earth. A stunned groan bled from her split lip as waves of dizziness swamped her senses. Curling into a fetal ball, she dug her fingers into the mulch, fighting to stay grounded as the thunderous fracas behind her swelled to a disorienting fever pitch.