An excerpt from one of my favorite new authors

(Christian's newest beginning of a story....)

Sniffing the air, I slowly took a step forward. I could almost feel the animal in my hands. If I was right, she was just around the tree to my left.

I pulled out my bow as I took another step forward. Now I could nearly smell her, as if she was right in front of me. For all I knew, she could have been. I had my eyes closed. I opened them and pushed my back against the tree. Just as I was about to turn and shoot, I reconsidered my approach. As I slung my bow back over my shoulder, I pulled out my knife.

My body tensed up. If I made even the smallest mistake, it could not only mean my death but the people behind me, too. And if we died, a whole lot of people would as well.

My buddy gave me the 'okay' signal and I shot to the side, lodging my knife on the back end of the tree. But nothing was there. It was just me. I could have sworn she would have been there.

Just as I was about to yell at my friend, I felt a foot dig into my back. I flew forward and hit the bush in front of me.

I stood up and faced my attacker. It was her! She smiled. At least I thought she did. It was a mix of a scold and anger. All together it strangely looked like a smile.

"You've got to be faster than that!" she taunted. I charged. But she disappeared. She literally vanished. Now I was angry!

"Get her! Search every part of this cursed forest!" I screamed at my team. I watched as they scrambled over each other, looking everywhere. I was furious! How could the same stupid girl get away from the most skilled team in all of Alduraq?

I grabbed the end of my knife and tried to pull it out of the tree. I must have really tried to hurt her because I couldn't get it out. I spun the handle to make a bigger hole, until finally I got it out.

Now I was not going to let her get away.