The Twilight Saga 3: Eclipse Chapter 24. SNAP DECISION

I LAY FACEDOWN ACROSS THE SLEEPING BAG, WAITING for justice to welcome me. Maybe an avalanche would veil me here. I wished it would. I neer wanted to spend a penny to experience my face in the mirror again.There was no sound to warn me. Out of nowhere, Edwards chilly hand stroked against my k nonted hair. I shuddered guiltily at his touch.Are you all in all right? he murmured, his vocalisation anxious.No. I want to die.That will never happen. I wont al unhopeful it.I groaned and then whispered, You might change your mind ab come out of the rightt that.Wheres Jacob?He went to fight, I mumbled into the floor.Jacob had left the secondary camp joyfully with a cheerful Ill be right punt running full tilt for the clearing, already quivering as he nimble to shift to his otherwise self. By now the solid pack knew allthing. readiness Clearwater, pacing alfresco the tent, was an intimate witness to my disgrace.Edward was silent for a long moment. Oh, he finally said.The t whiz of his voice worried me that my avalanche wasnt approaching fast enough. I peeked up at him and, sure enough, his eyes were un cerebrate as he listened to something Id rather die than be in possession of him hear. I dropped my face foul to the floor.It stunned me when Edward chuckled reluctantly.And I thought I fought dirty, he said with grudging admiration. He makes me vista handle the patron canonize of ethics. His hand brushed against the set forth of my cheek that was exposed. Im not mad at you, mania. Jacobs to a greater extent cunning than I gave him credit for. I do wish you hadnt asked him, though.Edward, I whispered to the rough nylon. I . . . I . . . Im -Shh, he hushed me, his fingers soothing against my cheek. Thats not what I meant. Its just that he would arrive at kissed you anyway however if you hadnt locomote for it and now I dont have an excuse to break his face. I would have really enjoyed that, withal.Fallen for it? I mumbled al to the highest de gree incomprehensibly.Bella, did you really believe he was that statuesque? That he would go out in a flame of glory just to clear the way for me?I raised my head slowly to put up his patient gaze. His expression was soft his eyes were full of understanding rather than the revulsion I deserved to see.Yes, I did believe that, I muttered, and then looked remote. precisely I didnt feel any anger at Jacob for tricking me. There wasnt enough room in my system to contain anything besides the hatred I mat up toward myself. Edward laughed softly again. Youre such a bad liar, youll believe any matchless who has the least bit of skill. wherefore arent you angry with me? I whispered. Why dont you hate me? Or havent you heard the whole story yet?I think I got a fairly comprehensive look, he said in a light, easy voice. Jacob makes vivid mental pictures. I feel almost as bad for his pack as I do for myself. Poor readiness was pullting nauseated. hardly Sam is reservation Jacob focus n ow.I closed my eyes and shook my head in agony. The sharp nylon fibers of the tent floor scraped against my skin.Youre only human, he whispered, stroking my hair again.Thats the most miserable defense Ive ever heard.But you are human, Bella. And, as much as I might wish otherwise, so is he. . . . There are holes in your life that I cant fill. I understand that.But thats not true. Thats what makes me so horrible. There are no holes.You love him, he murmured gently.Every cell in my body ached to deny it.I love you more, I said. It was the best I could do.Yes, I cut that, too. But . . . when I left you, Bella, I left you bleeding. Jacob was the one to stitch you back up again. That was bound to leave its mark on both of you. Im not sure those kinds of stitches dissolve on their own. I cant goddamn either of you for something I made necessary. I may gain forgiveness, however that doesnt let me escape the consequences.I should have known youd find some way to blame yourself. Please stop. I cant stand it.What would you like me to say?I want you to call me all bad name you can think of, in either language you know. I want you to tell me that youre disgusted with me and that youre button to leave so that I can beg and grovel on my knees for you to stay.Im sorry. He sighed. I cant do that.At least stop difficult to make me feel better. Let me suffer. I deserve it.No, he murmured.I nodded slowly. Youre right. Keep on organism too understanding. Thats probably worse.He was silent for a moment, and I sensed a charge in the atmosphere, a new urgency.Its getting close, I stated.Yes, a few more minutes now. Just enough time to say one more thing. . . .I waited. When he finally spoke again, he was murmuring. I can be noble, Bella. Im not going to make you choose between us. Just be happy, and you can have whatever part of me you want, or no(prenominal) at all, if thats better. Dont let any debt you feel you owe me influence your decision.I pushed off the floor, sho ving myself up onto my knees.Dammit, stop that I shouted at him.His eyes widened in rage. No you dont understand. Im not just trying to make you feel better, Bella, I really mean it.I know you do, I groaned. What happened to fighting back? Dont fasten on with the noble self-sacrifice now FightHow? he asked, and his eyes were ancient with their sadness.I scrambled into his lap, throwing my arms around him.I dont care that its cold here. I dont care that I stink like a dog right now. Make me lead how awful I am. Make me forget him. Make me forget my own name. Fight backI didnt wait for him to decide or to have the mishap to tell me he wasnt interested in a cruel, traitorous monster like me. I pulled myself against him and crushed my mouth to his snow-cold lips.Careful, love, he murmured under my urgent kiss.No, I growled.He gently pushed my face a few inches back. You dont have to prove anything to me.Im not trying to prove something. You said I could have any part of you I want ed. I want this part. I want both part. I wrapped my arms around his neck and strained to reach his lips. He bent his head to kiss me back, but his cool mouth was hesitant as my impatience grew more pronounced. My body was making my intentions clear, giving me away. Inevitably, his hands move to restrain me.Perhaps this isnt the best moment for that, he suggested, too root for my liking.Why not? I grumbled. There was no point in fighting if he was going to be rational I dropped my arms.Firstly, because it is cold. He reached out to pull the sleeping bag off the floor he wrapped it around me like a blanket.Wrong, I said. First, because you are bizarrely moral for a vampire.He chuckled. All right, Ill give you that. The cold is second. And thirdly . . . well, you do actually stink, love.He wrinkled his nose.I sighed.Fourthly, he murmured, dropping his face so that he was whispering in my ear. We will try, Bella. Ill make good on my promise. But Id much rather it wasnt in reaction to Jacob Black.I cringed, and buried my face against his shoulder.And fifthly . . .This is a very long list, I muttered.He laughed. Yes, but did you want to listen to the fight or not?As he spoke, solidification howled stridently outside(a) the tent.My body stiffened to the sound. I didnt realize my left hand was clenched into a fist, nails biting into my bandaged palm, until Edward took it and gently smoothed my fingers out.Its going to be fine, Bella, he promised. Weve got skill, training, and surprise on our side. It will be over very soon. If I didnt truly believe that, I would be down there now and youd be here, chain to a direct or something along those lines.Alice is so small, I moaned.He chuckled. That might be a problem . . . if it were possible for someone to catch her. readiness started to whimper.Whats wrong? I demanded.Hes just angry that hes stuck here with us. He knows the pack kept him out of the action to protect him. Hes salivating to join them.I scowled in Se ths world-wide direction.The newborns have reached the end of the trail it worked like a charm, Jaspers a genius and theyve caught the scent of the ones in the meadow, so theyre splitting into two groups now, as Alice said, Edward murmured, his eyes foc utilize on something far away. Sams taking us around to head off the ambush party. He was so intent on what he was hearing that he used the pack plural.Suddenly he looked down at me. Breathe, Bella.I struggled to do what he asked. I could hear Seths heavy panting just outside the tent wall, and I tried to keep my lungs on the same even pace, so that I wouldnt hyperventilate.The first group is in the clearing. We can hear the fighting.My teething locked together.He laughed once. We can hear Emmett hes enjoying himself.I made myself deem another(prenominal) breath with Seth.The second group is getting ready they arent paying attention, they havent heard us yet.Edward growled.What? I gasped.Theyre talking virtually you. His teet h clenched together. Theyre supposed to make sure you dont escape. . . . Nice move, Leah Mmm, shes quite fast, he murmured in approval. One of the newborns caught our scent, and Leah took him down in advance he could even turn. Sams helping her finish him off. Paul and Jacob got another one, but the others are on the defensive now. They have no idea what to make of us. twain sides are feinting. . . . No, let Sam lead. Stay out of the way, he muttered. Separate them dont let them protect each others backs.Seth whined.Thats better, drive them toward the clearing, Edward approved. His body was shifting unconsciously as he beared, tensing for moves he would have made. His hands still held mine I twisted my fingers through his. At least he wasnt down there.The emergent absence of sound was the only warning.The deep rush of Seths breathing cut off, and as Id paced my breaths with his I noticed.I stopped breathing, too too frightened to even make mylungs work as I realized that Ed ward had frozen into a block of ice beside me.Oh, no. No. No.Who had been lost? Theirs or ours? Mine, all mine. What was my loss?So quickly that I wasnt exactly sure how it happened, I was on my feet and the tent was collapsing in ragged shreds around me. Had Edward ripped our way out? Why?I blinked, shocked, into the promising light. Seth was all I could see, right beside us, his face only six inches from Edwards. They stared at each other with absolute concentration for one infinite second. The sun shattered off Edwards skin and sent sparkles dancing across Seths fur.And then Edward whispered urgently, Go, SethThe huge wolf wheeled and disappeared into the set shadows.Had two entire seconds passed? It felt like hours. I was terrified to the point of nausea by the knowledge that something horrible had gone(a) awry in the clearing. I laxed my mouth to demand that Edward take me there, and do it now. They needed him, and they needed me. If I had to bleed to save them, I would do it. I would die to do it, like the third wife. I had no silver dagger in my hand, but I would find a way Before I could get the first syllable out, I felt as if I was beingness flung through the air. But Edwards hands never let go of me I was only being moved, so quickly that the sensation was like falling side ways.I found myself with my back pressed against the sheer falling off face. Edward stood in front of me, holding a posture that I knew at once.Relief washed through my mind at the same time that my stomach dropped through the soles of my feet. Id misunderstood.Relief nothing had gone wrong in the clearing.Horror the crisis was here.Edward held a defensive position half-crouched, his arms extended slightly that I recognized with sickening certainty. The rock at my back could have been the ancient brick walls of the Italian alley where he had stood between me and the black-cloaked Volturi warriors.Something was coming for us.Who? I whispered.The words came through his teeth in a mat up that was louder than I expected. Too loud. It meant that it was far too late to hide. We were trapped, and it didnt matter who heard his answer.capital of Seychelles, he said, spitting the word, making it a curse. Shes not alone. She crossed my scent, following the newborns in to watch she never meant to fight with them. She made a spur-of-the-moment decision to find me, guessing that you would be wherever I was. She was right. You were right. It was always capital of Seychelles.She was close enough that he could hear her thoughts.Relief again. If it had been the Volturi, we were both dead. But with Victoria, it didnt have to be both. Edward could survive this. He was a good fighter, as good as Jasper. If she didnt bring too many others, he could fight his way out, back to his family. Edward was faster than anyone. He could make it.I was so glad hed sent Seth away. Of course, there was no one Seth could run to for help. Victoria had timed her decision utterly. B ut at least Seth was safe I couldnt see the huge sandy wolf in my head when I thought his name just the gangly fifteen-year-old boy.Edwards body shifted only infinitesimally, but it told me where to look. I stared at the black shadows of the forest. It was like having my nightmares walk forward to greet me.Two vampires edged slowly into the small opening of our camp, eyes intent, missing nothing. They glistened like diamonds in the sun.I could barely look at the blond boy yes, he was just a boy, though he was muscular and lofty, maybe my age when he was changed. His eyes a more vivid red than I had ever seen in the lead could not hold mine. Though he was closest to Edward, the nearest danger, I could not watch him.Because, a few feet to the side and a few feet back, Victoria was staring at me.Her orange hair was brighter than Id remembered, more like a flame. There was no go here, but the fire around her face seemed to shimmer slightly, as if it were alive.Her eyes were bla ck with thirst. She did not smile, as she always had in my nightmares her lips were pressed into a penny-pinching line. There was a striking feline quality to the way she held her coiled body, a lioness waiting for an opening to spring. Her restless, wild gaze flickered between Edward and me, but never rested on him for more than a half-second. She could not keep her eyes from my face any more than I could keep mine from hers.Tension involute off of her, nearly visible in the air. I could feel the desire, the all-consuming passion that held her in its grip. Almost as if I could hear her thoughts, too, I knew what she was thinking.She was so close to what she wanted the focus of her whole existence for more than a year now was just so close.My death.Her plan was as obvious as it was practical. The cosmic blond boy would attack Edward. As soon as Edward was sufficiently distracted, Victoria would finish me.It would be quick she had no time for games here but it would be thoroug h. Something that it would be impossible to recover from. Something that even vampire venom could not repair.Shed have to stop my heart. Perhaps a hand shoved through my chest, suppression it. Something along those lines.My heart beat furiously, loudly, as if to make her target more obvious.An immense distance away, from far across the black forest, a wolfs howl echoed in the still air. With Seth gone, there was no way to interpret the sound.The blond boy looked at Victoria from the corner of his eye, waiting on her command.He was boyish in more ways than one. I guessed from his brilliant crimson irises that he couldnt have been a vampire for very long. He would be strong, but inept. Edward would know how to fight him. Edward would survive.Victoria jerked her chin toward Edward, wordlessly ordering the boy forward.Riley, Edward said in a soft, pleading voice.The blond boy froze, his red eyes widening.Shes finesse to you, Riley, Edward told him. Listen to me. Shes lying to you jus t like she lied to the others who are dying now in the clearing. You know that shes lied to them, that she had you lie to them, that neither of you were ever going to help them. Is it so hard to believe that shes lied to you, too?Confusion swept across Rileys face.Edward shifted a few inches to the side, and Riley automatically compensated with an adjustment of his own.She doesnt love you, Riley. Edwards soft voice was compelling, almost hypnotic. She never has. She loved someone named James, and youre no more than a tool to her.When he said Jamess name, Victorias lips pulled back in a teeth-baring grimace. Her eyes stayed locked on me.Riley cast a frantic glance in her direction.Riley? Edward said.Riley automatically refocused on Edward.She knows that I will kill you, Riley. She wants you to die so that she doesnt have to keep up the pretense anymore. Yes youve seen that, havent you? Youve read the reluctance in her eyes, suspected a false note in her promises. You were right. She s never wanted you. Every kiss, every touch was a lie.Edward moved again, moved a few inches toward the boy, a few inches away from me.Victorias gaze zeroed in on the gap between us. It would take her less than a second to kill me she only needed the tiniest margin of opportunity.Slower this time, Riley repositioned himself.You dont have to die, Edward promised, his eyes holding the boys. There are other ways to live than the way shes shown you. Its not all lies and blood, Riley. You can walk away right now. You dont have to die for her lies.Edward slid his feet forward and to the side. There was a foot of distance between us now. Riley circled too far, overcompensating this time. Victoria leaned forward onto the balls of her feet.Last chance, Riley, Edward whispered.Rileys face was desperate as he looked to Victoria for answers.Hes the liar, Riley, Victoria said, and my mouth fell open in shock at the sound of her voice. I told you about their mind tricks. You know I love only yo u.Her voice was not the strong, wild, catlike growl I would have put with her face and stance. It was soft, it was high a babyish, soprano tinkling. The kind of voice that went with blond curls and pink bubble gum. It made no sense coming through her bared, glistening teeth.Rileys jaw tightened, and he squared his shoulders. His eyes emptied there was no more confusion, no more suspicion. There was no thought at all. He tensed himself to attack.Victorias body seemed to be trembling, she was so tightly wound. Her fingers were ready claws, waiting for Edward to move just one more inch away from me.The snarl came from none of them.A mammoth tan shape flew through the center of the opening, throwing Riley to the ground.No Victoria cried, her baby voice shrill with disbelief.A yard and a half in front of me, the huge wolf ripped and tore at the blond vampire beneath him. Something white and hard smacked into the rocks by my feet. I cringed away from it.Victoria did not spare one glance for the boy shed just pledged her love to. Her eyes were still on me, filled with a mortification so ferocious that she looked deranged.No, she said again, through her teeth, as Edward started to move toward her, blocking her path to me.Riley was on his feet again, looking misshapen and haggard, but he was able to delegate a vicious kick into Seths shoulder. I heard the bone crunch. Seth backed off and started to circle, limping. Riley had his arms out, ready, though he seemed to be missing part of one hand. . . .Only a few yards away from that fight, Edward and Victoria were dancing.Not quite circling, because Edward was not allowing her to position herself closer to me. She sashayed back, moving from side to side, trying to find a hole in his defense. He shadowed her footwork lithely, stalking her with perfect concentration. He began to move just a fraction of a second before she moved, reading her intentions in her thoughts.Seth lunged at Riley from the side, and something tor e with a hideous, grating screech. Another heavy white chunk flew into the forest with a thud. Riley roared in fury, and Seth skipped back amazingly light on his feet for his size as Riley took a swipe at him with one mangled hand.Victoria was weaving through the tree trunks at the far end of the little opening now. She was torn, her feet pulling her toward safety while her eyes yearned toward me as if I were a magnet, reeling her in. I could see the burning desire to kill warring with her survival instinct.Edward could see that, too.Dont go, Victoria, he murmured in that same hypnotic tone as before. Youll never get another chance like this.She showed her teeth and hissed at him, but she seemed unable to move farther away from me.You can always run later, Edward purred. Plenty of time for that. Its what you do, isnt it? Its why James kept you around. Useful, if you like to play deadly games. A partner with an uncanny instinct for escaping. He shouldnt have left you he could have used your skills when we caught up to him in Phoenix.A snarl ripped from between her lips.Thats all you ever were to him, though. Silly to waste so much energy avenging someone who had less adherence for you than a hunter for his mount. You were never more than a convenience to him. I would know.Edwards lips pulled up on one side as he tapped his temple.With a stifled screech, Victoria darted out of the trees again, feinting to the side. Edward responded, and the dance began again.Just then, Rileys fist caught Seths flank, and a low yelp coughed out of Seths throat. Seth backed away, his shoulders twitching as if he were trying to shake off the pain.Please, I wanted to plead with Riley, but I couldnt find the muscles to make my mouth open, to pull the air up from my lungs. Please, hes just a childWhy hadnt Seth run away? Why didnt he run now?Riley was closing the distance between them again, driving Seth toward the cliff face beside me. Victoria was suddenly interested in her par tners fate. I could see her, from the corner of her eyes, judge the distance between Riley and me. Seth snapped at Riley, forcing him back again, and Victoria hissed.Seth wasnt limping anymore. His circling took him within inches of Edward his tail brushed Edwards back, and Victorias eyes bulged.No, he wont turn on me, Edward said, answering the question in Victorias head. He used her perplexity to slide closer. You provided us with a common enemy. You allied us.She clenched her teeth, trying to keep her focus on Edward alone.Look more closely, Victoria, he murmured, pulling at the threads of her concentration. Is he really so much like the monster James tracked across Siberia?Her eyes popped wide open, and then began flickering wildly from Edward to Seth to me, around and around. Not the same? she snarled in her little girls soprano. ImpossibleNothing is impossible, Edward murmured, voice velvet soft as he moved another inch closer to her. Except what you want. Youll never touch h er.She shook her head, fast and jerky, fighting his diversions, and tried to duck around him, but he was in plaza to block her as soon as shed thought of the plan. Her face contorted in frustration, and then she shifted lower into her crouch, a lioness again, and stalked deliberately forward.Victoria was no inexperienced, instinct-driven newborn. She was lethal. Even I could tell the difference between her and Riley, and I knew that Seth wouldnt have lasted so long if hed been fighting this vampire.Edward shifted, too, as they closed on each other, and it was lion versus lioness.The dance increased in tempo.It was like Alice and Jasper in the meadow, a blurred spiraling of movement, only this dance was not as perfectly choreographed. Sharp crunches and breezeings reverberated off the cliff face whenever someone slipped in their formation. But they were moving too fast for me to see who was making the mistakes. . . .Riley was distracted by the groundless ballet, his eyes anxious f or his partner. Seth struck, crunching off another small piece of the vampire. Riley bellowed and launched a massive backhanded blow that caught Seth full in his large-minded chest. Seths huge body soared ten feet and crashed into the rocky wall over my head with a force that seemed to shake the whole peak. I heard the breath swoosh from his lungs, and I ducked out of the way as he rebounded off the stone and collapsed on the ground a few feet in front of me.A low whimper escaped through Seths teeth.Sharp fragments of gray stone showered down on my head, scratching my exposed skin. A jagged spike of rock turn down my right arm and I caught it reflexively. My fingers clenched around the long shard as my own survival instincts kicked in since there was no chance of flight, my body not caring how ineffectual the gesture was prepared for a fight.Adrenaline jolted through my veins. I knew the brace was cutting into my palm. I knew the crack in my knuckle was protesting. I knew it, b ut I could not feel the pain.Behind Riley, all I could see was the twisting flame of Victorias hair and a blur of white. The increasingly frequent metallic snaps and tears, the gasps and shocked hissings, made it clear that the dance was turning deadly for someone.But which someone?Riley lurched toward me, his red eyes brilliant with fury. He glared at the limp mountain of sand-colored fur between us, and his hands mangled, broken hands curled into talons. His mouth opened, widened, his teeth glistening, as he prepared to rip out Seths throat.A second kick of adrenaline hit like an electric shock, and everything was suddenly very clear.Both fights were too close. Seth was about to lose his, and I had no idea if Edward was winning or losing. They needed help. A distraction. Something to give them an edge.My hand gripped the stone spike so tightly that a support in the brace snapped.Was I strong enough? Was I brave enough? How hard could I shove the rough stone into my body? Would t his buy Seth enough time to get back on his feet? Would he heal fast enough for my sacrifice to do him any good?I raked the point of the shard up my arm, yanking my thick sweater back to expose the skin, and then pressed the sharp tip to the crease at my elbow. I already had a long scar there from my last birthday. That night, my flowing blood had been enough to catch every vampires attention, to freeze them all in place for an instant. I prayed it would work that way again. I steeled myself and sucked in one deep breath.Victoria was distracted by the sound of my gasp. Her eyes, holding still for one slender portion of a second, met mine. Fury and curiosity mingled strangely in her expression.I wasnt sure how I heard the low sound with all the other noises emit off the stone wall and hammering inside my head. My own heartbeat should have been enough to drown it out. But, in the split second that I stared into Victorias eyes, I thought I heard a familiar, exasperated sigh.In that s ame short second, the dance broke violently apart. It happened so quickly that it was over before I could follow the sequence of events. I tried to catch up in my head.Victoria had flown out of the blurred formation and smashed into a tall spruce about halfway up the tree. She dropped back to the earth already crouched to spring.Simultaneously, Edward all but invisible with speed had twisted backward and caught the unsuspecting Riley by the arm. It had looked like Edward planted his foot against Rileys back, and heaved The little campsite was filled with Rileys piercing shriek of agony.At the same time, Seth leaped to his feet, cutting off most of my view.But I could still see Victoria. And, though she looked oddly deformed as if she were unable to straighten up completely I could see the smile Id been stargaze of flash across her wild face.She coiled and sprang.Something small and white whistled through the air and collided with her mid-flight. The impact sounded like an explo sion, and it threw her against another tree this one snapped in half. She land on her feet again, crouched and ready, but Edward was already in place. Relief swelled in my heart when I saw that he stood straight and perfect.Victoria kicked something aside with a flick of her bare foot the missile that had crippled her attack. It rolled toward me, and I realized what it was.My stomach lurched.The fingers were still twitching grasping at blades of grass, Rileys arm began to puff up itself mindlessly across the ground.Seth was circling Riley again, and now Riley was retreating. He backed away from the advancing werewolf, his face rigid with pain. He raised his one arm defensively.Seth rushed Riley, and the vampire was clearly off-balance. I saw Seth sink his teeth into Rileys shoulder and tear, jumping back again.With an earsplitting metallic screech, Riley lost his other arm.Seth shook his head, flinging the arm into the woods. The broken hissing noise that came through Seths teeth sounded like snickering.Riley screamed out a tortured plea. VictoriaVictoria did not even flinch to the sound of her name. Her eyes did not flicker once toward her partner.Seth launched himself forward with the force of a wrecking ball. The thrust carried both Seth and Riley into the trees, where the metallic screeching was matched by Rileys screams. Screams that abruptly cut off, while the sounds of rock being ripped to shreds continued.Though she spared Riley no farewell glance, Victoria seemed to realize that she was on her own. She began to back away from Edward, frenzied disappointment blazing in her eyes. She threw me one short, agonized stare of longing, and then she started to retreat faster.No, Edward crooned, his voice seductive. Stay just a little longer.She wheeled and flew toward the refuge of the forest like an arrow from a bow.But Edward was faster a bullet from a gun.He caught her unprotected back at the edge of the trees and, with one last, simple step, the dance was over.Edwards mouth brushed once across her neck, like a caress. The squealing clamor coming from Seths efforts covered every other noise, so there was no discernible sound to make the image one of violence. He could have been kissing her.And then the fiery mat of hair was no longer connected to the rest of her body. The shivering orange waves fell to the ground, and bounced once before rolling toward the trees.