Cut Epilogue from Pursuer

In honor of the release of Dreamer I thought I would share a cut epilogue from Pursuer. I cut the scene because I thought it made the story between Zanas and Dressdon feel as though it ended. Although Dreamer is through Asenya's point of view, both Zanas and Dressdon make an entrance, with mainly Dressdon in the story. 

Although the story is far from over, this scene still holds a special place in my heart, the final words bring everything to full circle. ~enjoy!

Epilogue

Zanas laughed loudly as she pushed passed him and entered the secret entrance to the above first. She heard his replying laughter as he sped up, running beside her. They ran at the same pace, each matching the other’s steps naturally. They could see down the long tunnel to the brightly lit entranceway. It was a full moon.

They burst out into the night air, the bright stars shinning above them. She had never seen stars that looked so large, covering the sky with their splendor. Zanas found herself turning slowly with her arms outstretched, as she stared at the brilliance. She looked down and turned to see Dressdon watching her.

“What?” she asked.

“You look beautiful in the starlight,” Dressdon said in that serious voice he only used with her. She laughed.

“Let’s see how beautiful I look in the forest!” she called over her shoulder as she sped past him and into the jungle.

Her bare feet were screaming in joy, it felt wonderful to feel the living forest against them. Zanas ran with that burning happy freedom, holding back for no one. Needing to hold back for no one. She could hear the sound of Dressdon following behind her.

“Ahhhh… you want to play prey again. I like this game,” he purred, and their laughter echoed through the forest.

They ran like two acrobatic animals, diving and jumping over and under obstacles. There was a confidence in their steps, as if they could anticipate each bend or curve in the forest. It was just the two of them, running free in the green forest of the night. They ran through a field of pangerra flowers, each one bursting forth a brilliant shower of colors. As they ran through the pollen, they mixed and matched the colors, swirling the air, as they ran by.

Zanas heard the sound of water up ahead. She gave a graceful leap onto the streambed that lay in the small ravine below them, and Dressdon landed next to her. They stood staring at each other, their chests moving rapidly with the exertion of the run. Their face and bodies were streaked with the brilliant colors of the pangerra flowers. They looked like exotic alien peacocks displaying their colors in the brilliance of the night.

They had stood here once before on that long ago night they had first met. They were once again standing in the beauty of the forest, two hunters with one beating heart. He pulled her by the waist and held her close to him, bringing his lips to hers. Nothing else existed.

Two Pursuers in the forest…