Twilight Divide: A dystopian novel - Where day and night collide in shadows by Melanie Bokstad Horev

Author:Melanie Bokstad Horev [Horev, Melanie Bokstad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

“Shit,” Nour said to herself, cursing her stupidity for leaving.

The smoke rose in the night as Nour approached the camp on rapid feet. The acrid smoke hung heavy in the air, causing her eyes to water and her throat to ache. She refused to slow down, her lungs screaming with every step. Her legs burned with exhaustion, but she pushed herself to keep running.

The journey back had been grueling, the distance feeling longer than she remembered. The thousands and thousands of sandspan she’d covered had made her legs ache, muscles scream, and her lungs gasping for breath. She couldn't afford to rest when the camp was in danger.

“Malik?” she shouted, slowing to orientate herself.

Flames flickered in the darkness, casting sporadic light over the campsite. Nour's eyes were fixed on the smoke as it swirled around her, casting shadows that seemed to dance on their own. Why was there a fire?

Closer now, her ragged breath pumped in her ears like drums. The familiar paths to the camp were strewn with debris and shattered remnants of crockery and camp equipment.

Why hadn’t they moved yet, damn it? They shouldn’t be there!

The thought left a bitter taste on her tongue. The sound of desperate cries and the clashing of swords filled the air, causing her to quicken her pace. They were still there, the Dwellers.

She squinted through the thick smoke and darkness, trying to locate Malik and Gerda's tent with her sharp-edged knife drawn. She moved with precision through the outskirt, the only sound the screams of the dying and the whisper of her breath. The tent was empty, the entrance doors flapping in the wind.

Drawing a shaky breath, she started coughing violently from the smoke. Where were they?

Nour's heart raced as she navigated through the chaotic scene, determined to find Malik. She could see the commotion in the distance and changed direction to head towards it.

She had to end this or die trying.

As she neared the middle of the camp, a chaotic battle scene came into view. Dwellers, with their black hair contrasting their luminescent skin, pressed forward, their movement swift and merciless. Cutting down Duets left and right as they passed. A primal fear urged her to run, but she didn’t.

Not until she found Malik.

Instead, she leaped onto a vantage point, a rocky outcrop that granted her a view of the chaos unfolding below. Every muscle of her body tensed.

Not again. She wouldn’t let it happen again.

Derry. Malik. Primal Nomads. Primal fire.

She let out a deep breath, letting her instincts take over. A loss of control flooded her, but it gave her something else in return: a purpose, a mission. With two fingers pressed against the pulsing scars on her neck, Nour drew a deep breath and unleashed an ear-splitting scream into the night.

“Rise, fire!” she bellowed. She swiftly nocked an arrow, her bowstring taut against her fingers. “For Derry!”

The first arrow sailed through the air, finding its mark in the torso of an unsuspecting Dweller. The second arrow grazed another,

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